The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-02-27
HOCUS POCUS IN ART.
HOW SOME PERSONS WHO THINK
THEY KNOW ARE SWINDLED.

Who Mndo His Ghost Famous.
Artists who sign their names to pic
lures that other men paint arc quite
plentiful in this town. In little store
on Fourth avenue, just around the cor
ner from the American Academy of De-
sign, there arc some very pretty exam
pies of water coloring for sale. The
signature in the corner of each canvas
'is that of n woman. The dealer was in
communicative mood the other day,
and as he was talking with reporter
he picked up one of the paintings and
held it to the light for observation and
discussion.
That woman brings some very good
work in here for mo to SELL" said he.
There is one popularity about her,
though. She always writes her sigma.
ture in my shop" The dealer paused
as though to be questioned
Why does she do that?" was asked.
well, suppose she doesn't like to
put it on at the studios where the pic
lures are painted.
''She doesn't paint her own pictures,
then?''
mot all of them. It's easier to pick
them up here and there and bring them
to mo to sell l don't know how much
she pays the artists who paint them, and
don t care. It's mono of my business.
All know is that the work is very good
and that | can get good prices for it.
suppose sho is building up reputation
on the strength of these canvases. Well,
why shouldn't she? Sho gives work
to lot of people who would probably
starve otherwise. You see, scores of
have tho knack of getting them sold.'
Sometimes an artist signs more than
one name to his own work. This hap
pens every day on some OF illustrat-
ed weeklies published 70. oadway
circulation. The publisher doesn't like
to see ono mans name signed to every
cartoon or full page picture. Ho does
not want it known that his staff of art
lists is so small. Not long ago ono of
the clevcrcst of tho illustrators used to
sign his own name to tho big two page
picture in the middle of the periodical
and nom de plume to the first page
drawing every week. In little while
he began to receive letters addressed to
the assumed name, giving orders for
work and full of compliments He had
built up reputation for the mythical
artist which no could not get for him
self. His pride was hurt. but he swal-
lowed tho humiliation and proceeded
to increase tho famo and the revenue
of his ghost.
A New York artist who draws for the
pictorial weeklies tells n story of his
experience in England at time when
all the publishers were demanding
French illustrators and had no use for
native talent. This particular artist
knew that he could cut corsages as low
and skirts as high as any Frenchman
that ever lived. He had spent several
vacations and lots of hard earned mon
ey In seeing the particular side of Pa
risian life that the publishers were howl
ing for at that particular time
He assumed very Frenchy name,
wrote in that language altogether and
submitted his sketches, which already
out-Frenched the Frenchmen in their
naughtiness. He made a big hit, his
mail orders were numerous, and for
many months he enjoyed Il lucrative in
como under his title of De Boulanger
or whatever it was, while all the other
English illustrators We're drawing for
tho religious weeklies, which cannot
afford to pay half as big prices to their
artists rs their more wicked and per-
haps moro interesting contemporaries.
In the window of a picture store in
Harlem there were exposed for sale not
long ago two small canvases with tho
magic namo of Corot in the corner. The
price of each was $3.50. Now, genu-
inc Corot is worth anywhere from 81,
900 up. Was it n mistake or an at
tempt at swindling? The pictures were
in Corot's style, and only an expert
could tell whether they were genuine or
not.
The dealer would give no written
guarantee. He said he believed the two
canvases were genuine, and he explain
ed the low price by saying that he
bought tho pictures from "a man in hard
luck who was ignorant of their value
The purchaser took all the risk. If the
pictures were not genuine Corots, their
real value was anywhere from So to
$50. That is one of the queer things in
the art business.
There are pawnbrokers in this town
who have been known to 60 into pic
ture swindling scheme, as more than
one credulous buyer has learned to his
cost 1t is not an infrequent occur
renee for an amateur in art to be ap-
preached with request to buy pawn
ticket calling for a lot of pictures pledg-
ed for, say, 500. The pictures, the
stranger says, are worth at least $780,