The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-10-30

reign OF Queen Elizabeth 1t was the habit Of
some people to spend much of their time in
knocking pictures to pieces. In the reign Of
Charles the First it was ordered by parlia-
ment that all pictures of Christ be burnt
Painters were so badly treated and huniated
IN the beginning Of the eighteenth century
that they we're lowered clear down ont Of the
snblimity Of their art, and obliged to give
minute accounts Of what they did with their
colOrs, as painters bill which cama TO pub
LEGATION in Scotland in 1907, indicated. The
painter had been touching up some old pictures
IN the church, and be sends ia this itemized
bill TO the vestry: ITO filling up a chink IN
the Red sea and repairing the damages to
Pharaohs hosts" ITO new pair Of
hands flor Daniel in the lions
for lioncss :" ito repairing Nebuchadnezzar' s
beard !" ito giving blush to the check of Eve
on presenting the apple to Adam !" "to max
ing bride for tho Good Samaritan's horse,
and mending one Of his legs" ITO putting on
new handle on Moses basket and fitting bull
rushes, and adding more fuel to She fire in
Nebuchadnezzar g furnace" So painters we're
humiiiated cleor down below the majesty Of
their art. The oldest picture in England, a POI
trait oil Chaucer, though now OF great value, was
picked out Of lumber garnet. Great were the
trials Of Quentin Matsys who toiled on from
blacksmiths anvil till as painter he won
wide recognition. The first missionaries 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 q painter, except in rare excep-
tons, means poverty and neglect 2" Poorly fed
poorly clad, poorly housed, because poorly APP
preciaiedl When / hear q man ia painter, 1
have two feelings, one Of admiration for the
greatness OF his soul, and the other OF consd-
Grafton for the needs Of his body.
But SO IL has been IN all departments Of
noble work. Some OF the mightest have
been hardly bestead Oliver Goldsmith had
such a big patch the coat over his left
breast. that when he went anywhere he
kept his hat in his hand closed pressed
over the patch The world~renowned Bishop
Asbury lad a salary Of sixty,fonr dollars a
year. Painters are not the only ones who
have endured the lack Of appreciation. Let
men Of wealth take under their patron
age the suffering men Of art. They lift
no complaints they make no strike for
higher wages. But with keenness of nerv-
Gus organization which almost always charac-
terizes genius, these artists suffer more than
anyone bnt 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 am in full sym
pathy with the Christian farmer, who was
very busy gathering bis fall apples, and some
one asked him to pray for a poor family the
father Of which mad broken his leg; and the
busy farmer said IL cannot stop now to pray,
but you can 20 down into the cellar and get
some corned beef, and butter, and eggs, aud
potatoes; that Is all ] can do now" Artists
may wish for our prayers, but
they also want practical help
from mon who can give them work
You have heard scores Of sermons for all other
kinds of suffering men and women, but |
think this Is the first sermon ever preached
that made a plea for the suffering men and
true TO nature and life than any of the MASTER
pieces that have become immortal on the other
side OF the sea, but 1t is the fashion of Amer-
cans TO mention foreign artists, and to know
little or nothing about our own Copiey, and
Allston, and Inman and Greenough and Ken
sett. Let the aflluent fling out of their win
dows and into the back yard yalueless daubs
ON canvass, and call in these splendid but I'M
rewarded mon, and tell them to adorn your
walls not only with that which shall please
the taste, but enlarge the mind, and improve
the morals. and save the sonls of those who
gaze upon them.
Brooklyn, and all other American cities,
need great galleries OF art, not only open annu-
ally for few days on exhibition, but which
shall stand open oil the year round, and from
early morning until ten O'Clock Mt night, and
free 70 all who would come and go,
What preparation for the wear and tear OF
the day five minutes look In the morning at
some picture that win open a door intosome
larger realm than that in which our population
daily drudge Or what good thing the half
hour of artistic opportunity on the way homo
in the evening from exhaustion that demands
recuperation FOR mind and soul as well as body!
Who viii do for Brooklyn or the city where
you live what w. w. Coreoran did for Wash
ington, and what l am told John Wannama-
ker, by the donation of De Munlkacsy's great
picture, "Christ before Pilate,' is going to do
for Philadelphia Men OF wealth, if you are
too modest to build and endoW such n place
during your lifetime, why not so to your iron
safe, and take out your last will and testament,
and mako a codeil that shall build for the city
of your residence throne for American art2
Take some OF that 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 10 live, and also win the admiration and
love of tens Of thousands Of people, who, UNI
able to have fine pictures of their own, would
be advantaged by your benefaction. Build
your own monuments, and not leave il to the
whm Of others Some OF the best people sleep
ing in Greenwood have no monuments
at all, or some crumbling stones that
in few years will let the rain
wash ont name and epitaph; while some
men, whose death was the abatement of
nuisance, have pile of polished Aberdeen
high enough for q king, and eulogium enough
TO embarrass n seraph. oh, man OF large
wealth, instead OF leaving TO the within OF
others your monumental cOmmemoration and
epitaphiology to be looked at when people are
going TO and fro at the burial Of others, build
night down IA the heart 81 our gleat city, or
the city where you live, an immense free read
ing ROOM or a free musical conservatory, or
free art gallery, the inches for sculpture. and
the walls abloom with the rise and fall OF ma
tions, and lessons Of courage for tho disheart-
eGed, ana rest for the weary, and life for tho
dead; and one hundred and fifty years from
now you will be welding influence in this
world Ter good among those whose great
grandfather was your great-grandchild How
much better than white marble that chhls
YOU II YOU put your hand on it when you
touch il in the cemetery would be monument
IN colors, in beaming eyes, in livfngposSeSsion,
ia splendors which under the chandelier would
be glowing and warm, and looked Mt by stroll
ing groups with catalogue in hand on January
night, when the metropolis where the body
sleeps is all showed under. The tower OF
David was hung with one thousand dented
shields Of battle; but you, oh man of wealth,
may have a grander tower named after YOU
one that shall he hung not with the symbols Of
carnage, hut with the victories OF that art
which was SO long ago recognized in my text
rs pleasant pictures Oh, the powers of pic
tnresl | can NOT degide, as some have done,
Cardinal Magarin, who when told that he
must die, took his last walk through tho art
gallery OF his palace. saying; Must quit all
tbts9 Look AZ TINT rtianf oDt ~ tbat