Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-05-13
THE PARIS EXPOSITION.
The Showing Which the United States
Makes There.

| @. W. 8. in the n. Y Tribune
The United States have. or will have many
| very important exhibits. Half dozen men,
| with Mr.. Edison at their head, will do much for
| American reputation, electrical and other.
| American machinery occupies its full proper
| ton of foreign space, about as much as
England, rather more than Switzerland, rather
less than Belgium.
But when we come to the general American
| section it is doubtful whether we shall make
much impression on the general public. We
| shall be ranked among those nations who have
| shown themselves careless of appearances.
Enter the English or any one of the numerous
French sections, and you find them carefully
constructed, on a uniform plan, each with its
| own architectural design uniformly carried
out, many of them elegant and costly. But
each American exhibitor seems to have been
at liberty to do as he liked with the space al
| loted him. No general scheme of design or
decoration has been insisted on, and no control
has been exercised over individual taste. or
want of taste. The result is sad tumble of
shops, booths and bazars, often unpleasing in
themselves and incongruous when taken to-
gether. The avenue which runs lengthwise
through the entire American section offered
every opportunity for artistic treatment, but
the opportunity has been worse than neglected
The effect of the good work is impaired by
the bad next to it. The silversmiths in the
middle, a small group by themselves, are at
tractlve. So are some other scattered exhibits
There Is really great deal that is excellent;
there are some things which would look better
at home than here; there are others which,
though they add nothing to the beauty of the
section, have solid merits of their own. have
heard competent judges express strong hopes
that America will win her fair share of prizes
but the stranger who walks past these singular
collections OF chemicals and corsets, of rubber
shoes hnraY nf fofS hair
spring mattresses, of carriages somewhat odd
In pattern, of wax figures and washing tubs
must ask himself whether this heterogeneous
display really represents the best America
conld do. 1t will be patriotic to tell him that
1t does not.
The space which we fill is not insignificant;
what We fill 1t with too often is We cover as
much ground as Switzerland and Italy together
who are our neighbors to the right Russia
with half our room, looks twice important
Little Belgium has sent more than America,
and knows a great deal better what to do with
1t Comparison with France would be absurd
France alone occupies perhaps four-ffths of
the whole Champ de Mars. 1t is pre-eminently
and Overwhelmingly French exhibition.
French bronzes alone have more room than all
America; French furniture. carpets and tapes
tries three times as much. Imperfect as every
French group still is, anybody can see that. as
whole, the French display will be magnifi-
cent. France is a competitor in all the indus
uicS. anu 10 lOrtluOeL III mdQy-mOst
of all in those where excellence depends on de-
sign on taste, on education, on art Her pic
ture galleries are crowded with masterpieces
and she has not excluded the work of artists
not living.
The American art gallery is not vet open to
the public, and is not likely to be for some
days. Mr.. Hawkins and tn rest of the COM
mittee have done their best. but French Off
Gals had to be dealt with and French workmen
to be depended on, and the question of time
was not within the committees control. Most
of the American pictures are, however hung
hope it is not rash to predict that American
art will stand far better than it did eleven years
ago. Besides the American painters well
known abroad, like Messrs. Sargent. Dannatt,
Story and Bridgman, some Americans who have
studied and painted at home will be heard of
for the first time. and some of them will, be-
lieve, do themselves and their country credit
Mr.. Porter has one of his most finished portraits
and Mr.. Thayer's work delights artists who
have seen it. Mr.. Wyant has charming land
scape, which NJ. Rousseau might have signed in
his younger days, and there are many other
works which show serious thought and techni-
cal knowledge. Nearly 400 American pictures
altogether will figure in these four upstairs gal
lerles which France has been good enough to
assign to US.
Why America was not thought worthy of
space below L cannot say. England. Spain,
Italy and Austria all on a level with France
Perhaps 1t is a compliment that we are placed
above with Denmark, Belgium and the Neither
lands. Two of the favored nations below
Spain and Italy-have not covered their walls.
We have more than covered ours and the pic
lures are overcrowded.