Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-11-17

S6ltOn cheese. From lO4O TO 1913 tnere were
1900 pictures willfulIy destroyed. In the
some people to spend much OF their time IN
knocking pictures to pieces. in the
reign II Charles the First It was
ordered by Parliament that all pictures
Of Christ be burnt. Painters were so
badly treated and Inundated in the begin
ming of the eighteenth century that they
were lowered clear down out of the sublimity
OF their art, and obliged to give minute
accounts Of what they did with their colors,
ms a painters bill which came to publication
in Scotland. in 1907, indicated. The painter
had been touching up some old pictures
in the church, and he sends in this itemized
bill to the vestry: ITO filling up
chink in the Red Sea and repairing the dam
ages to Pharoahs host" Ito new pair OF
hands for Daniel in the lions den, and new
set of teeth for the lioness;" Ito repairing
Nebuchadnezzar's heard:n ito giving a blush
to the cheek of Eve on presenting the apple
TO ADAM ''to making bride for the Good
Samaritan's horse, and mendng one of his
legs" ito putting on q new handle on
Moses basket and fitting bulrushes, and
adding more fuel to the fire in Nebuchad-
nezzar's furnace So painters were humil-
lated clear down below the majesty Of their
art The Oldest picture in England. a por-
trait of Changer, though now Of great value.
was picked out of lumber garrett. Great
on from backsmth's anvil. till as painter
he won wide recognition. The first mission
aries TO Mexico made the fatal mistake
of destroying pictures, for the loss OF which
art and religion must ever lament But why
20 so far back when in this year OF our Lord,
1888 and within twelve years of the twentieth
century, to be painter. except in rare ex-
ceptions, means poverty and neglect Poorly
fed. poorly clald. poorly housed, because
poorly appreciated When hear a man Is
painter, have two feelings, one Of admira
tion for the greatness of his soul, and the
other of commiseration for the needs Of his
body.
But SO it has been in all departments of
noble work. Some of tho mightiest have
been hardly bested Oliver Goldsmith had
such big patch on the coat of his left breast
that when he went anywhere he kept his hat
in his hand closely pressed over the patch.
The world renowned Bishop Asbury had
salary of $G4 year. Painters are not
the only ones who have endured the lack
o. appreciation. Let men Of wealth take
under their patronage the suffering men OF
art. They lift no complaint; they make no
strike for higher wages But with keenness
Of nervous organization which almost always
characterizes genius, these artists suffer
more than anyone but God can realize.
There needs to be concerted effort for
the suffering artists Of America, not
sentimental discourse about what we owe to
artists, but contracts that will give them a
livelihood: for l am in full sympathy with
the Christian farmer, who was very busy
gathering his fall apples, and some one
asked him TO pray for a poor family.
the father OF which had broken his
leg; and the busy farmer said "Icannot stop
now to pray, but you can go down into the
! cellar and get some corned beef, and butter,
and eggs and potatoes; that is all / can
do now" Artists may wish for our PRAYERS
yaIc halr
who can give them work. You have heard
scores of sermons for all other kinds Of suffer-
| ing men and women, but think this is the
first sermon ever preached that made
plea for the suffering men and women of
American art. Their work is more true to
nature and life than any OF the MASTER
| pieces 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 ouri
own Copley, and Allston and Inman and
Greenough and Kensett Let the affluent
| fling out of their windows and into the back
! yard valueless daubs on CANVAS, and call in:
| these splendid but unrewarded men, and tell
| them to adorn your walls, not 6nlf with,
| that which shall please the taste, but enlarge
the mind, and improve the morals, 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 exhibition, hut
which shall stand open all the year round,
and from early morning until ten o'clock at
night, and free to all who would come and
go. What a preparation for the wear
and tear of the day, five min
utes' look in the morning at some
picture that will open a door into some larger
realm than that in which our population
daily drudgel OF what good thing the half
hour of artistic opportunity on the way
home in the evening from exhaustion that
demands recuperation for mind and soul as
well as body Who will do for Brook
Ign or the city where you live what w.
w. Corcoran did for Washington, and what
am told John Wannamaker, by the dona-
ton of De Munkacsy's great picture, ''Christ
before Pilate,n is going to do for Philadel-
phias Men of wealth. il you are too modest
to build and endow sch place during your
| lifetime, why not go TO your iron safe, and
take out your last will and testament and
make a codicil that shall build for tine city Of
your residence, throns for American artl
Take some OF the money that would otherwise
| spoil your children and build an art gallery
That shall associate your name forever,
not only with the great masters OF
painting who are gone, but with the
great masters who are trying to live: and
also win the admiration and love OF tens Of
thousands OF people, who, unable to have
fine pictures of their own, would be .ad-
vantaged by your benefaction. Build your
own monuments, and not leave it to the
whim of others Some Of the best people Sleep
ing in Greenwood have no monuments at aft,
or some crumbling stones that in few years
will let the rain wash out name aud epitaph;
while some men whose death was the abate-
ment of nuisance, have pile of polished
Aberdeen high enough for king, and eulo-
GUM enough to embarrass seraph. Oh,
man OF large wealth. instead Of
leaving.to the whim of others your monumen-
tai colnmeinoratlon and epitaphioogy to be
looked at when people are going to and fro
at the burial Of others, build right down in
the heart of our great city, or the city where
yon live, an immense free reading room, or
a free musical conservatory, or a free
art gallery, the inches for sculpture,
and the walls abloom with the rise
and fall of nations, and lessons Of
courage for the dsheartened and rest for the
weary, and life for the dead: and one hun
dred and fifty years from now you will be
welding influences in this world for good
among those whose great-grandfather WIS
your great-grandchild How much better
than white marble that chilis you IL you
put your hand on it when you touch
1t in the cemetery would be a monument In
colors, in beaming eyes, in living possession.
in splendors which under the chandelier
WOuld be glowing and war1n and looked at