Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-08-19
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.
The TRACING Of Artist-Artlssns by the
New system.


To ne Editor Of ne Register:
SIR.-M uch has bssn said il favor OF In
dustrial Schools, in your columns, lately,
and read with such interest, that I am
prompted 70 offer some thoughts upon The
| above subject, Cleaned from q Tetrospectiv;
/ experience o. a quarter OF a century,
teachings in our public schools.
It has been ssid 0y critics Of cur pres
ent system of education, that IL is one
which has been handed down frcm the
DAYS of the Renasceuce, one fitted fol
priests and gentlemen, not for those who
have their own way to make in world oil
hard realities. Whether these structures
upon the too purely literary character OF
common school education sre we'll founded
OF not it is unnecessary at present to con-
slider.
Yet the fact mast be recognized that
there Is q rapidly increasing demand for
manual training as a part OF even the regu-
lar school curriculum, and there Is coming
10 be among us parallel demand for the
| teachisg of art, not "a IA accomplishment
or q luxury, but e8 something to be actually
applied IN everyday life.
Cunously enough, if We have kept the
traditions of the Renaissance as regards lit
erory education, We have departed from
them in cur estimation OF art.
Ia the DAYS OF the great Italian schools
Of art. DO work which offered chances for
beauty ofdesign was beneath the dignity
/ of the masters. To-day there are many
EXISTS who would be driven only By neces-
sity 10 frsscO painting, and yet Michael
/ Angelo Raphael, aud C0rregiO, earned i'm
Ipsrishable fsme by painting ceilings ard
wallis. 10 vas no, beneath tue dignity OF
the Italian masters 70 make designs for
/ tsoestries. aud to interest themselves in
architectural details. With them there
was no question OF the superior dignity"
OF academic or applied art.
The designing of salt-Cellar was a task
"a worthy of az artist SO the painting OF
pieture up0u canvas The distinction be-
tween academic and applied which Is msds
30 much OF in cur time, is one Of modern
origin. It's influence has been so general
ami 80 mischievOus that with the majority
of ueOole art has come to he synonymous
with costly easel or exhibition paintings,
or marble or bronze statues-objscts Of
luxury which are viewed, perhaps, with
unreasouing admiration, but always az
something quite spart from the daily life
Of the admirers.
But perfectly evident that if inter.
est ia art Is 70 remain so artificial, end II
art itself is to continue to be dollhouse
exotic itcan never have healthy growth,
ror become a vital influence. The prob
lem is, therefore, to apply art to the needs
and uses of everyday lie so familiarity
thss beauty of design and color may be
strange TO 40 one. This Is the ;esthetc con
siderstion, and there is also the practical
argument, often illustrated by the differ
ences IN price between raw clay, clay in
brick, clay IN finely nodded vase, and clay
In q noble statue.
liz ia The practical side of the question
which naturally carries the most weight.
Ii was this more shan anything else which
led 20 the foundation Of the South Ken
singtoa School of ID sign il England some
forty years.
Certain se'Esutlicient apostles Of art for
the elect, ike Mr.. Whistler, hold South
Keusipg.oa and all its works 20 be vul-
gar abomination; but Air. Whistler, for
tuns,ely. is an erGing mortal like the rest
of us. The fact remaius that this
Fnglish trairicg school has i'm
proved the quality aud increased the
amount If certain manufacturers, notably
silk. 1t has exercised an influence upon
the batteries -D1ulton, for example-snd
in other departments of applied AFT 1t has
6esn provided that intelligent instruction
in applied art brings not only an Tithetic,
bat q pecuniary return. Ia Belgium the
imnorIsnce of this subject has bsen reccg-
nizsd for many years, and the training Of
/ Belgium artisans has made itself felt IN
/ the markets OF the world.
The same may bs said of Germany,
where nearly svesy city has its school and
museum Of applied art Results like tie
/ iron works and pO.tecies Of Nuremberg
/ Usenbsrg ard other towns, to cite no
| further instances, have met with abund-
ant appreciation. n France, where srt Is
encouraged By official patronage unknown
/ 20 us, tbsre is a strong party which COZ
stantly demands that the government give
more attention and support to applied art.
/ Yet Paris has the DaiOn Industrial, and
/ in addition 10 the Partisan schools and
/ museums. the provinces are, as II would
seem. we'll equipped with collections
and schoOls II we are TO balieve
In. Eugene Vernon, editor OF LArt,
The French have been far Outstripped by
the English IN many branches, and are
losing their artistic supremacy Ia the
markets of the world. NJ. Vernon has
even done us the honor of finding enough
American in applied art to serve as re-
proach to the French authorities.
I "a NJ NJ
portance Of this subject is of comparatively
recent growth, and is as yet limited. In
Philadelphia more has been done, possibly,
than elsewhere 10 the way Of schools for
practical ars training, aud the attainment
Of this result has been helped by the influ-
ercs of Mr.. Charles c. Island Massa-
ehusetts undertook to import some of the
South KsnsiDglOn methods about twenty
years ogo, and to apply them in her
schools.
| IN tho results have not been all that was
hoped. vet something has been accom-
lpIshed, and more viii be done in the
| nturo. In st. Louis the admirably etfsc-
tive art school and museum have been
directed by Prof Ives with the purpose of
teaching the lesson that there Is
no essential difference between ac-
ademic and applied art, and every
efflrt is made TO interest the
people at large in art and to stimulate
artisans 10 en- emnlous interest in speci-
mems Of artistic irOnworS, or pottery, or
woodwork. The same idea is preached
aud uracticed, SO far IS opportunity per
mits, by mr.. W. n. r. French, ne direc-
tor Of the Chicago Art Institute, which
opened it's new building little more tn, n
one year ago In Cincinnati, although
the Academic idea is still strcOg, the d.
rec,or's theories incline toward applied
art, end some branches receive attention.
| Ia New York City We tud five
public art schools, Decides societies, exhi-