Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1885-07-30
THE 4" POT-BOILER."
THE ARTIST WHO TURNS OUT AN
OIL PAINTING IN TEN MINUTES.
An "Unrivaied Collection" OF Had Ma
rines. Hand-Me- Down Tropicals and
Imitation Turner's and Landseers
"A Pot-Boiler" at Work.
Chicago Tribune ]

"A pot-bollerf Certainly i know what o
pot-boiler' is"
Thus said the stranger, reg ariing his inter
locutor with almost a resentful air, as II TN
imputation Of ignorance had been cast upon
him. The two were standing in the door
way of a State street mock auction room,
regarding. with mingled feelings of curiosity
and amusement, IAN unrivaled collection Of
oil painting" whereof the putative authors
were among the most celebrated artists Of
Europe. The stranger had been moved by
the spectacle 10 mention the above named
subject He went on to say:
"All this stuff is the work Of 'pot-boilers;"
and, with a discursive sweep of his right
hand, he took in a Heterogeneous group of
bad marines, hand d-me-down tropicals. and
unforgivable copies Of Bonheur and Land
seer. There was one sacrilegious caricature
Of Turner. 'All that stuff sir" the in
dignant critic repeated was done under
great stress by pot boilers And now l will
tell you what that term means A pot
boiler is not. as you idiotically suggest. one
who boils pots. He is . species OF mechanic
Tor artist, ss he would prefer to DO
called who manufactures paintings
for this and similar markets by the
yard, piece or dozen, according to contract
He is Of. two kinds, gregarious or solitary.
The former work in groups at large facto-
ries in New York and Philadelphia Here
they string up row Of canvassss In q con-
venisnt light Then the pot-boiler goes
over the lot with Q pot OF hue, another
with green a third with red, and so on till
the canvases are all covered with land
scapes. etc, according as il happens. The
result is the very lowest grade OF work,
a. a. n. II Il r.
cents u copy. These Lere seem 20 be of
rather higher grade. They were done by
the other kind solitary pot boiler. he
Is genius in his way. ! think i can find
you one Of those fellows at work II you care
to come
The answer was a prompt expression of
willingness, AMI the stranger led the way
TO a tall building on Randolph street. at the
top of which was found "A little, dinyy room
containing the paraphernalia of a paint
shop. and parti-colorei jacket inclosing a
man. Tn. latter was hari at wJrk ON a
l2x2J-inch canvas rapidly approaching COM
pletion. Around about were numerous
completed works of art, some Of them not
vet cry. In the corner was a placard in
scribed: Paintings in oil while you wait,
the uses Of which were explained later on.
Inc dGtl-N KNEW tu| slIdii7ci- anu was VIII
ing 10 be seen and heard whils he worked
and talke
ayes be cyan Il am what they call a
t-boiIer and it don't make me feel bad u
admit IL. Time was though, when ! struck
out for the name Of artist and
hal yearnings-like all the other
beginner. But only a few see their
ambition realizsi. and | was ons Of
n a. 4.
to see Il before | starved for the want of
glory and bread, and turned my time ex-
ciusively t. the latter. am making money
now, but with an involuntary sigh i sup
pose Will never be an artist.
Daring this monolozus the speakers hanis
were as busy as his tongue. With increii-
BILE rapiiity he had planted a fine forest on
the eige of blue sheet OF water, and
caused the foreground to blossom as rose
Of several hues lie used his LETT forearm
for a mahl-.tick aud scornei the use Of
more than two brushes. The colors were
mixed as they were sedei, without the aid OF
a palette knife. A pine tree wa achieved
by a single downward stroke. and two more
rapid motions drapei il in ths graceful
hangings Of a woodland vine. A primrose
ON the rivers brim. a blotch of ocher was
10 MN dll hoNb4b- iut sii au-ti
remarked that he worked without the aid
II copy or crayon sketch.
20. certainly" was the careless rejoinder.
IL don't need them l carry my designs
i'm NV head; two or three flores as many
distances ami skies. ani miscellaneous,
and there's my outfit Tne difference IS in
the combinations Now, in this picture,
say, have No. sky, No. distance, No. 2
FORE AMI 50 on
The artist had already begun work ON an
other canvas.
"Thet placard | zee you looking at Is one
often use when | make nv trips Nes, /
go to state fairs and expeditions, take a
booto, hang that sign out, and literally
paint pictures while my customers wait for
them. How longs Well. say tsn minutes,
on small canvas. That sort of work
brings 81 copy, or - with a frame
Money in itf Well. rsther Five people
out of ten think they've got bargain at
the price I've made s7j day, with a
clean profit Of $50 Two of my friends dii
even better at the New Orleans exposition
last wi1tsr, and there wasn't any crowd TO
speak OF, either Where does most of my
work go -. That's one of the secrets OF ths
biz May be YOU know TO the strangerl.'
The stranger indicated by his conduct as
he led his companion out that he did.