The Brookhaven leader., 1888-11-08

prophets and apostles in art! Angels in
art! Heaven in arti Tho world and the
church ought TO come to the higher APP
probation of the Divine mission Of pict-
ures, yet the authors of them have gem
orally been left to semi starvation. Wet
the great painter, toiled in ur spprecia-
tiop till, being great skater, while
onA ice he formed the acquaiu.an6o OF
Geral Howe, of the e. sttsh amy, and
through coming ~ admire West as a
SKATE, they gradually came to appreciate
as mGcn That which he accomplished By
hts hand as by his head. Poussin, the
mighty painter, was pursued, and had
nothing with which 60 defend himself
against the mob but the artists portfolio
which ho held over his head to keep off
the stones hurled at him. The pictures ct
Richard Wilson, of England, were sold
for fabulous sums OF money after his
death, bat the living painter was glad to
get for his "Alcyone" a piece Of Stiltoh
cheese From 1640 to 1919 thefe we're
4,GO0 pictures willfully destroyed. In
the reign of Queen L izabeth Il was the
habit Of some people 10 spend mrth OF
their time in knocking pictures to
pieces, In the reign of Charles l. it
was ordered by Parliament that all pitts
L
badly treated and humiliated in the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century that
they were lowered clear down out OF tho
sublimity OF their art, aud obliged to g1ve
minute accounts of what they lid with
their colOrs, as painters bill which
came to publication In Scotland, in 1907,
indicated. The painter had been touch
ing up some Old pictures "a the church,
and he sends in this itemizod bill to the
vestry: ITO filing up clink in the Red
Sea, and repairing the damages to Phara-
obs hosts" ITO a new pair Of hands for
Daniel in the lions den, and q new Set Of
teeth for the lioneSs;" ITO repairing Ne.
buchadnezzar's heaTdth 'to giving a
blush to the cheek of Eve on presentirg
the apple to Adam" "to making c bride
for the Good Samaritau's horse, and
mending one of his logs" ito quitting a
now handle On Moses EasSot aud fitting
bulruehes, and. adding more fuel
- the fire in Nebuchadnes3er's
turnace,' So painters We're humillate3
clear down below the m aiasty ~ their art.
The oldest picture ia England, portrait
of Chaucer, though now of great value,
was picked ont of lumber garret Great
were the trials Of Quentin Matsys, who
toiled on from Nldcksmith's anvil till as
painter he won wide recognition. The
first missionaries to Mexico MADE the
fatal mistake of destroying pictures, for
the loss of whi~f art and religion must
ever lament. But why go so far back,
when in this year of our Lord, 1888, and
within twelve years of the twentieth cent
ury, to be a painter, except in raro ex=
ccptions, means poverty and neglect?
poorly fed, poorly clad, poorly housed,
because poorly appreciated. When l
hear man IS painter have two feel
! ings-one Of admiration for the greatness
of his soul, and the other OF ecr. misera-
ton for the needs lis body.
But so It has been in all depar tments Of
noh'c work. Some of the mghtiest have
been hardly bestead Oliver Goldsmith
had such a big patch on the coat over his
| left breast that wilen be went any where
he kept his hat in his hand closely pressed
over the patch. The r'5rid- renowned
Bishop As bury be-. Il salary of sixty four
dollars Z year. Painters are not the
"uly ones who have endured the lack Of
| appreciation. Let men of wealth take
under their patronage the suffering men
of art They lift no complaints; they
make no strike for higher wages. But
with a keenness of nervous organization,
/ =
these artists suffer moro than any one
but Goa can realize. There needs to be
a concerted effort tor the suffering artists
of America, not sentimental discourse
| about what we owe to artists, but con-
tracts that will give them livelihood;
for l am in fell sympathy with the Chris
ttan iGtmer who was very busy gathering
his fall apples and some one asked him
to pray for poor family, the father of
which had broken his leg, and the busy
! farmer said: 81 can not stop now to
! pray, but you can go down in the cellar
and get some corned beef, and butter,
and eggs, and potatoes: that is all l can
| dc now" Artists may wish for our
prayers but they also want practical help
| from men who can give them work. You
have heard scores of sermons for all other
kinds of suffering men aud women, but
| think this is the first sermon ever
| preached that made plea for the suffer-
| ing men and women Of American art.
! Their work is more true to nature and life
than any of tho masterpieces that have
| become immortal on the other side of the
sea, but it is the fashion OF Americans to
| mention foreign artists and to know little
or nothing about our own Copley, and
! Allston, and Inman, and Gre ,nDIgh, and
Kensett. Let the aftl icHt fling out Of their
windows and into the back yard valueless
daubs on canvas aud call in these spleu-
| did but unrewardcd N IN, and tell them
to adOrn their walls, not only with that
which shall please tho taste, but ellarge
the mind, and improve tho IL rails, and
save the souls of those who gaze upon
| them.
| Brooklyn, and all other American
cities, need great galleries of art, not
only open annually for a few days on ex-
/ hibtion, but which shall stand open all
the year round, and from early morning
until ten o'clock at night, aud free to all
who would come and go. What a pre- para
ton for the wear and tear of the day a
FIVE minutes look in the morning at some
| picture that will OYeu door into some
! larger realm than that in which our
population daily drudge! Or, what n
good thing the half hour of artistic OPP
portunity on the way home in the evening
from exhaustion that demands recupera-
| ton for mind and soul as we'll as body !!
Who will do for brooklyn, or the city
where you live, what w. W. Corcoran did
| for Washington, and what am told John
Wanamaker, by the donation of De
Munkacsy's great picture, Christ Before
! PLATE, Is going to do for Philadelphia
| Men of wealth. if you are too modest TO
build and endow such a place during
your lifetime, why not go to your iron
safe and take out your last will and testa-
ment and make codicil that shall build
for the city Of your residence a throne for
American art? Take some of that mo ney
hot ~, oI,;l