Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-02-03
,,,.,,, r,,,.r,,,o,,ls,,c, Of me Register.

writes 10 William H. Vanderbilt re-
OIL .,. his pictures gets an answer,
-. .C,riay, neatly prlhIeu caro- VI
sdu. siou. bearing the mlIilonatIeS
aur,. - \. AID the statement thtt IL
WI ,Ood for four Adults on any
TLu.sfay afternoon in this month or
mi Directions are also given TO enter
nv The mans On's side street doorway. l
f,urd this portal eXcee dinghy handsome,
despite It's pIaiuness as compared WITH
~, main one around on Fifth avenue.
Out,r doors If solid aud ornamental
bruuze, by be,ug swung back, formed
the sides ufthe Y estibule, the ceiling aud
floor, Of which were composed OF bits OF
cOlCred stone I'm intricate mosaic. n
pressure Of my finger on tiny button
q u tess raug bell OF electricity,
though the quickness with which Il
man servant came OUt suggested that
the wire was attached To his heels. He
was a Turnkey OF the English pattern,
axcept that bis livery did not include
Knee Brooches.
He wore a swallow tail coat and COM
mon. shape pantalOOns, the cloth of both
being maroon in color. while his vest
was white uucking, striped with BLACK.
The door which he opened to me was
one of pair remarkable for settings OF
stained ASS. He took my ticket and
puI away my hat and OvercOat IN q
small id. ROOM. | passed at once into
the picture galleries. There are two OF
them, adjoining, and each IS somewhat
like fify by seventy five feet, in floor
area, with a height equal 10 two or
three stories If an ordinary house. The
upper IwO-IhirdS OF the wall space pre-
sents surfaces OF carved wood, embrsSed
leall,r, and devices WORKED out IN
meta aud pottery. The hueS Ot these
are dark, the etftc massive, and VA
riUu~ curlaiued openings impart look
like the arrhitec' ure Of traditional
baroEial halls. These draperies, are
Aken away TN occasions OF entertain
mem, 50 a. tu give views Of the galleries
from the adjacent higher floors. ION
the lower portion of the sides hang a
hundred and siXty-niue paintings. |
had heard that most OF the people who
went O~trusibly to view them We're
really u.Ieut Oh satisfying their curiosity
as L.
YanderbiITs House.
and that they had to be restrained by
rudr n.r-,>ures from mtruding upon the
prIv.,.y of the family. About two hun
dred visitors were present during the
afternoon spent there, aud | dit MT
detgci once iutauce Of prying audacity.
No doubt many of them would have
liked to - through the entire establish
ment, but | saw nobody try the doors
leading into other rooms, though that
may have been because their com a N
seuse told them that bolts fOrud L. il
gre>s They gave attentive AMI a.
taIenly critical examination 10 the
pictures, and although | never saw q
more polite behaved assemblage. No
body knew how many of the seeing
guests were really watchmeu, to pro-
tect the treasures from wantom injury;
but no ratings keep Us of, and there
were absolutely no restraints TO conf
plete enjoyment Ci the show.
Whatever may be the technical judy
ment of artists - 10 the merits OF tue
collection, it is certain that no Otner in
AmeTi"a i more pleasing To persons "
merely general culture-lhUse who may
be styl.G amateurs in good taste. The
pictures are all modern and chiefly
French: the names Of the painters in
cludr every artist Of foreign contempO-
raTy 1ame; the subjects are almost al
ways attractive 10 lover OF decent
beauty, ihyrg be,uS no examples of hOr-
Tor o. tput>iNeness, and only
Two Md" .Figures,''
and the evidence Is clear that Wander
bit haU the uIs,IECt purpose, in making
his puTch $50, oi getting pleasant art
objects rather than merely tine OueS.
For Instance, his Turner is not ridiru.
lOus SCATTERING of cOiOrS, but partially
clear and meaSurably perfected view of
3 mystic valley full Of lOunging persons,
the title b. ing Tue Fountain OF lndO-
lenCe;" his Detaille has to be war
piece, of course, but there Is no death or
carnage in II; his Alma Taiemas lacked
grOte> Queness, aud his bOuguereau is q
woman Ion the way 10 Bath" not after
she has di>rUbed there. Therefore | de-
clare him TO be an intelligent buyer of
pictures Ii has been rumOIed that he is
the victim of fOrgers, some of his paint
ings being copies instead OF the origi-
nails which they purpOrt to be. He
came into the gallery for few minutes
and chatted III an Ott-hand way with
acpua ntauces and others. took occa-
sion L. Ialk with him on the subject of
the ext, LIS We frs u Is lately discovered
IN Iar>ian art traffic.
There's
Big, Ra>eaIiy Business
done in that line in Paris" he said,
f''and dOu't know that any buyer who
ideals with the merchants can ever be
sure that his pictures are what they pre-
TEND 10 ne. America seems to he good
ways off 81 those fellows, anG, once 3
bogus painting has been sent across the
Atlantic, they naturally feel pretty safe
about il. There are two kinds of the
swine copies Of original master
pieces 10y more or less clever fOrgerS,
and entirely new pictures by unknown
meE, ON whose work the names of
eelt hTitit are put. In the first instance
The poor devils Of unsuccessful artists
work in collision with uuprincipled
dealer>; in the second, the dealer Oper-
.Ates alone, and scoops in all the profits.
DE buys up pictures from the small
studies cheap, sorts out the best of them,
and attaches the names of such cele-
bratod painters as the style comes near
est To-. When the fOrgerieS have got
onto the walls Of an American house
here i no further danger, because the
owner, even If his suspicious are
arOuSed, doesn't feel like exposing the
counterfeit or his own greenness. / had
. letter from a friend in Paris the other
dsy, saying that there was plan on
Dol for an official stamping of genuine
picturs S-sOmething like the Hall mark
on sterling sIlverware IN England, Ii
nc ld be u good thing"
AID your own pictures, Mr.. Wander.
1Dt-have you any reason to feeldou0t-
" a. 10 any Of them?" | asked.
Not the slightest" was tine reply.
Nearly every one was personally pIr-
4ased by me from the artist himself.
%; there isn't bogus picture in nv
ctiOn-depend on that
Whether Vanderbilt got the worth OF
- money in his pictures is a question
nleh their geBuineneSs does not COM
ttely answer. The prices paid by him
eNtravagant, when IL is considered
At the pictures are by living artists.
does not give the aggregate cost of
collection, but the SUN cannot be
= than
Three Millions.
al lnconspicuOus corner is a p)r-
III OF himself. The canvas is only
- inches By thirteen. The likeness is
&eellent. The plentiful small wrinkles
the rich mans face are shown with
.ellty. the erowsfeet around the little,
I#1Dkling eyes are all there in minia.
fe, and there is in no respect the