The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-04-17

". painters or illus
I -. traitors. There
~ are now at least
twenty American artists who write
books or contribute occasionally to the
magazines. They illustrate their OWE
books and articles also, and thus have
a great advantage over their literary
brethren who are not artists. Howard
Pyle, w. Hamilton Gibson, George
Wharton Edwards, Frederic Reming-
ton and Francis HopIinson Smith are
some of the names which come to mind
of artists who are also authors, and il
was the announcement of an important
work by Mr.. Hopkinson Smith on the
"Venice of To-Day" which suggested
the idea of a chat with him about the
city he loves SO we'll
For several years New Workers and
the residents of one or two neighbor
ing cities have been treated each fall
to an exhibition Of paintings of Vene
tian scenes, representing Mr.. Smith:
work during the previous summer
These have been purchased by collect
ers Is they have appeared, but mean
while Mr.. Smith has been at work OF
a special series of water colors anG
drawings which are now being repro
duced for the art volume just men
toned "Veniee of To-Day" is proper
Nv book, however, which Mr.. Smith
has written about the island city, ans
the colored productions of his paint.
ings and the numerous sketches, are
intended to supplement the literary
work in accordance with a theory ex.
planned below. There is NO need OF
discussing Mr.. Smiths literary abil-
ity. He is, of course, one of the best
story-tellers in the country, as all who
have read his "CoL Carter, of Car.
tersville," will agree. In his new
work he aims to present with pen,
brush and crayon the impressions
which he has received during his So
jsurns ON the Adriatic.
Il went to Venice about ten years
ago for the first Time" Mr.. Smith said;
81 had never seen it before, and al
though had been in Europe and near
Venice 1 never got down as far as that.
Since then have been to Venice near
ly every year; there has hardly been q
year since 1882 that l have not been
there painting and enjoying the many
beautiful things to be seen.
MY idea about Venice is that of all
the cities of the earth it is the most
artistic, the NEST beautiful; it is or
should be the Mecca of every art-loving
person. Many peculiar conditions ex-
ist there. In the first place it is abso-
lutely an monumental city; 1t is q
city where there are palaces and
houses to accommodate two hundred
and fifty thousand people and yet there
is a population of only about one hun
dred and forty thousand. The
consequence is that you can hire .
palace on tho Grand canal, with
ceilings frescoed by s0mo great
artist, for six hundred dollars a year,
and you can hire a suite Of apartments
on the second or third floor of palace
for three hundred dollars q year.
Many men support their entire family
for less than three hundred dollars a
year know a man in Venice, who is
an American and one of the clerks in
the government post Office, who has q
salary of only one hundred francs a
month. He has grown children and a
wife, and with that amount they have
every comfort which they could wish
in their homes, clothing and little
money to spend at the cafes at night.
So say that if man has any particu-
lar object in view-if he wants to study
early architecture, early painting, get
Che best results of Venetian or Italian
schools. there is the place for him to
go. There he will find subjects which
retain all the beauties of five centuries
ago.
Venice Is an open air eity-every-
body lives In the open air. 1 am speak
ing, of course, of the summer time;
nobody, hardly, lives there in winter.
1t is too cold and bleak. In the sum-
mer, however, everybody lives out of
doors, and in the summer it Is the
ideal spot on earth.
when you think how much Europe
has become Europeanized, how the IL
illustrated newspaper and ready-made
>iothing men have gone all over Eu-
ope and changed the costumes, habits,