Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-02-16
BUYING PIC ICTURE|sI.

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AsREPoRTER CHATS WITH SEVERAL:
WELL KNOWN ARTISTS.
Tho Painters Pretty Generally Agree
That one Should Buy the Paintings 1
which Please Him-Judement Is Ca
,.h1e n Cultivation and Will Improve,
aHow do people buy pictures? Colin
Campbell Cooper repeated. wen, !
suppose the majority Of collectors con-
suit the advice Of dealer or some ar
list, and yet there are those, not pre-
tentious :connoisseurs, either, that know
p good thing when they, see it, and
Iearyince unusual wisdom in their pur-
chases. To some, however, self reliance
in investing on large scale in paint.
ings has proved rather disastrous e1-
t neriment. The other day a collection
made by a man thirty or forty years
ago was sold. There was hardly half q
dozen good things in it, simply because
he bought and he did not know what he
was getting.
cart in this country is gradually wax
ing up. Perhaps the Centennial might
be called the American Renaissance.
We know infinitely more about art than
our grandparents did, and with oppor-
tunities increasing from year to year it
|. is fair to suppose our children will show
q still more marked improvement in
taste. Greater facilities for travelling
have done much to bring abouta change
in our little world, and the tendency OF
our art is rather toward the cosmopoi-
tan than provincial. Naturally, time is
renuired to educate the public taste
4 along artistic. lines.
81 think people will buy more pictures
4 when they understand painting is not an
4 accomplishment merely q. pleasure. 70
4 the eye, but that it is q part OF eduea-
4 lion. of civilization. II will require
Il time to realize this. Exhibitions a1e
j visited and the majority like to look at
4 pictures with an admiration rather
q ephemeral. When the picture is out OF
q lsight the impression is gone. With q
4 general diffusion of art paintings will
q be bought, not solely because they ap-
y |peeal to the senses, to personality, but
a for their artistic qualities; not simply
libecause the subjectillustrated is rathe,
Z d pretty idea, but because the work is
!, Technically good art production.
Stephen Ferris said: 1.-THE world is full
!. of good pictures to be bought for rea
Eso6able prices, but unfortunately many
!. thousands of dollars, many fortunes, art
n sbent for nonsense, while good work re-
!. mains unsought and unbonght. Com
Z mon sense is happy capital in picture
1 E.but,yying' as as in any other business. Ont
!, can hardly provide a set number of rules
s, 10 be observed in buying. .Msny books
7. have been written on military science
z vet the world has seen comparativel!
Il few fine generals. Judgment rules tn
world, and in picture buying one persol
is more successful than another becaus
IA spirit of superior intelligence dictate
!. his purchases
Thomas Eakins would like to hav'
a people buy pictures that please then
IN and appeal to their taste. 1.-THE major
ity are afraid to bny what they like
l. they must have some one else's advice
ssWell, if they start with bad art, pei
!. haps before long they will come to tn
" good. Let people buy what they want.
). 81 have not thought much about buy
"a ing pictures, !" said Mr. Frederick Waugh
Il eve artists are more chiefly concerne
al in trying to sell them. It IS the priv
"a lege of the artist to paint pictures whic
&. appeal to people; which they understan
81 and want to have for their own. BIZ
Iii he should have high standard, and b
n? n cannot succeed ifahe lower it to cater
Z silar taste. He is fortunate II
), His work may be appreciated by lare
numbers, but it is always certain th,
- some few will recognize his endeayc
and will want to buy it.
sIn the Old World art is accessible I
all. The Luxembourg and the Louy1
], are filed permanently with the master
a pieces of all ages, the best that hay
= been done. There, too, the spirit q
L union is strong among artists. The
9 gather together and talk of everythin
; pertaining to the art world, consequent
g ly they live entirely in congenial eli
8 mate and they grow and develop in q
J. essentially art atmosphere. Impression
8 ism9 Yes, this is the great word nova
, days. Many have IN idea that 1t is
y synonym for vaguely treated and par
y TALLY unfinished pictures. Impression
|. ism claims to record facts as observet
by the artist. Sincerity to nature il
. its aim. After all, there is nothing
so beautiful as truth, and the nearer
2 we get to it, as we find it in nature, thu
better artists we are.".
: "Many Americans buy pictures, !" Mr..
F. de B. Richards responded, "because
they have accumulated money, and
pictures are the proper thing to have.
! Generally they know very little about
it, and a dealer does the work for them,
If people purchase pictures to aatter
their vanity, let them spend big sums
and buy high priced pictures. If they
buy for pleasure, let them buy what in.
terests them. remember meeting Ed.
4 win Forrest after sale. I've bought a
PICTURE said he. They told me not to
do it, because very likely it Is not origi.
nal. But it pleases me, and should
buy it if it were By somebody I never
heard tell Of A picture pleasing to the
eye Is q source Of education for the time
being at least. Adverse criticism may
lead a man to scrutinizs It and study It
more closely than if he had bought one
he did not like half 80 we'll"
i u think should be inclined to buy
what ! liked personally" was the opin-
ion Of Edwin Swift Balch, 'not forget
ting that the pictorial qualities should