St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-27
PORTRAITS PORTRAYED.
Some Reportorial Musings About Min
neaDOlis Picture Galleries.
LIFE-SIZED AND LIFE-LiKE.
Peculiarities of People--.Altering, Eli
larging and Changing Old Pictures
Artistic Experiences.

True beauty-real, vivid representa-
tiOns of live, hea!thfui beauty; portraits
of handsome women, whose loneliness is
never Haunted before the public gaze.
but is reserved for the more sacred use
of home adornment; representations of
pretty girls, whose modesty keeps them
truly beautiful; images of hand
some men, so far as men can be
said to be handsome; that
is, gOod-looking men-yes ard per-
feet forms and figures OF the
more unretined sort: portraits of people
who are not handsome, portraits of ugly
old maids and frowning men-all are
daily being made in Minneapolis III
large, life-like, form to be sent out all
over Minnesota and to many distant
state to beautify with their loneliness,
awaken remembranceS of the lost eX-
preston erased by the advent of many
years, or of a face buried from earthly
sight; or simply to hang as the dutlful
meinento of relative who is gone.
There are in Minneapolis trne art
lists, men who have not only the Skill
of hand, but who possess the poetical
qualities that we read about. A GLOBE
reporter, in his search yesterday, found
man who looked every inch an artist,
buried in his work of finishing the por-
trait Of beautiful girl.
II have fallen in love with this pict-
ure,'' he said, though | have never
seen the young lady, and probably
would not be so much taken with her ii
| knew her. When become attached
to picture this way work for days
and days Oh them sometimes, for the
very pleasure of it. Once | remember
having done that, and when | thought it
nearly perfect, with feeling OF
work we'll done, delivered 1t to
the lady for whom it was made, and she
was not wholly satisfied, after all, but,
notwithstanding, gave. me another
picture to enlarge. Being disguised
because she was not elated with my first
work. L finished this picture III a day,
when, much to my surprise, she thought
it perfect, and was delighted with 1t. L
think the trouble was, | made too much
of an ideal picture of the first"
do you have many calls for pictures
of dead friends?"
Eyes, a great many mothers will
bring me photographs of children whom
they have lost, OF families will send in
the picture of the mother who has
passed away. l was much touched
yesterday by a young mother who came
for the picture of her little girl. When
| placed the portrait before her she
burst into tears, though she tried hard
to subdue her feelings. 1t is often the
case, for the large pictures are so much
more lifelille than the little photographs
from which | take them, as they are
often very old and faded"
Walking UP Nicollet. the fine crayon
ri IL aot nj
the artistic reporter. Going up stairs. he
entered Il room crowded with faces, but
as quiet as the grave. From every side
of the room his eyes meet with those of
men, many Of whom he had seen before
i'll prominent places, of ladies in their
best attire. of children looking out from
fields of bright colored flowers; mother
iy faces were there. some in odd, old
fashioned garments. The faces were so
real. and the thought impressed itself
that all of these people were living OF
Lad lived. The artist came in and
waited as though it were common
thing for his visitors to be carried away
by the happy delusion he had unwit-
tingly prepared and he was pleased
by it:
Your work at the door, though eX-
celIent, does not prepare one for this"
IL must be very careful of whom l
display Oh the street, you know, for
many ladies would not like it at all to
have their portraits hanging there"
From your work here it woulCeseem
your patrons were not confined to one
class of peeple?"
mo; and yet they may be said to be
of one class; the people who care
great deal for their friends. | have a
good many touching scenes here, and.
| imagine, see rather the gentler side of
human nature. Young men who
are working alone here in the
city come here with photographs