Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-12-10

pendent judgment, anu ~ -
he veontation Of the artist Was, ne
| would not buy ! work which no did
mot understand and like. For this rea-
son there are many artists Of great
fame who are not represented IN bis
collection. Persons would call his at
tsn.;on to the works Of artists Of which
thew thought very highly, but ne would
saw. That may be very fine, but until
can appreciate its beauty | shallnotpur-
! chase III Nevertheless, he did not want
to buy picture which was not consid-
cred 4 fine example Of master. His
ambition was to make q very choice
collection, and this he accomplished.
He loved his pictures better than any
thing else in the world except, perhaps,
his horses. and he bought them early in
life, at time when he was not at all q
rich man. He kept as sourenir OF
former times a picture which he bought
some thirty years ago, and for which he
gave but $50. / remember one day,
when we were at his house rearranging
his pictures, he pointed ont this one to
his youngest son, George, who said 81
suppose, father, you would not take
$500 for that now No, nor $4,000,
or even sse,00O,' he replied.
"When Mr.. Vanderbilt came into
the possession Of large means he made
up his mind to purchase only pictures
of great value. He recognized the fact
that many persons could afford to buy
pictures by American artists, but that
it was not every one who was able and
willing to give the large prices neces-
sary for great foreign works, and he
looked upon the purchase of these
costly works Of art as benefit
TO those who wished to study.
lie did not buy pictures from
selfish motives. He was quite
fond of going to the old studio build
ing in Tenth street, and bought many
pictures by American artists. such as
TAFT, Hart, Brown, Beard, Hall, and
Guy, many of which he retained. He
had very nice taste in regard to SUBJ
jects. lie had no pictures Of an indeli-
cate or questionable character. One
picture by Diaz was the only approach
to what is called the nude. | hap
pened to be abroad with him, and we
often went together to see artists and
collections.
"0nce in Paris French nobleman
Of the Bonaparte family had written
Mr.. Vanderbilt that he wished to sell
his houseful of Sevres china, Louis
XVI. furniture, a Marie Antoinette
table, and numberless articles of rirtu,
and he had brought considerable pres
sure to bear upon him. Mr.. Wander
bilt and | went to this nobleman's
house. and he saw all these fine things.
When we got outside he said You are
supposed to know all about these things
and their intrinsic value, and you know
of the associations connected with them.
Well, do not know all that, and |
am too old to learn. If | should buy
these things and take them to New
York. and tell my friends this belonged
to Louis NV, or to Marie Antoinette,
or TO Nine. Pompadour, and should re-
late all the other things which make
them valuable. should be taking them
from field where they are appreciated
to a place where they would not be.
Perhaps | myself should know less
about them than any one else. 1t would
be mere afIectation for me to buy such
things, and to show them to people to
whom | should have to confess my ig-
norance of the qualities which make
them valuable
He never was ashamed to acknow-
ledge, with the utmost frankness and
simplicity, his former straitened cir
cumstances in life. | remember one
incident illustrating that. / went with
him TO Boucheron, the famous dealer Of
the Palais Royal, Paris, to see pic
ture by Troyon which Boucheron had
to sell. The picture represented yoke
of oxen turning to leave the field after
leaving the plough. COnnoisseurs spoke
very highly Of it, but took exception to
the action Of the cattle, said it was
forced and unnatural. Mr.. Vanderbilt
said We'll, | don't know as much
about the quality Of the picture as do
about the truth of the action Of those
cattle. | have seen them act like that
thousands Of times 1t was the same
when he bought Millet's Sower.' The
thing that struck him most fOrcibly IN
that picture was the fidelity to nature
of the action Of the man in the held
sowing the seed.
II have known great many picture
BUYERS in my time, but | have never
known one more modest in this par
ticular than Mr.. Vanderbilt. / think
his ambition was to use his love of pic
lures for the public good. lie certainly
made the collection with the intention
that it should never be separated and
that it should be for the public use.
lie was most liberal in opening his
house to the public, and some days as
many as 5000 visitors were admitted.
lie continued this until his privacy was
endangered and it became nuisance to
his family.
1.-The most costly painting in Mr..
Vanderbilt's collection is that of Meis-
sonier, General Desaix and the Cap
tured Peasant | will not say what
was the price paid for it, because do
not think the public ought to want to
know these things. Other important
pictures in his collection are Meissoner's
Artist at Work and The 0rdi-
nance: J. T. Millets Knitting Les
son. The Water-Carrier,' and The
Sower'; Blind Mans Buff by Diaz ;
Bouguereau's Going to the Bath j.
| L. Geromes Louis XIV. and the Grand
Condo; Twilight in Scotland by
Gustave Dore; a Rest by the Stile,
by Faed; The Reaper's Return
Home by Becker Beranger's Young
Mother An Arab Plucking Thorn
from His Foot by Leon Bonnat; Pay
ing the Rent by Erskine Nicol; 'Ru-
bens in his Studio by Sir John Gil
bert; Millais's Bride Of Lammermoor 4;
Attiring the Bride by Lefebvre
Rora Bonheur's MONDAY Repose, and
Ready for the Hunt (; J. NJ. W. Tur-
ner's Fountain of Incidence y Alma
Tadema's The Picture Gallery and
The Sculpture Gallery ; BOochmann's
Returning from the Fair and The