The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-03-16
1ANDs0APES IN FOUR MINUTES.
A Lightning Artist Whose Pictures are
 Appreeiated.

A Lightning Artist Whose Pictures are
 Appreciated.
 Down in the lower part of Eighth av- enue there is a man who has this mo- tice painted in red and black letters on a piece of cloth stretched over the up per part of his shop window:
 Lightning artist. Elegant landscapes painted and finished in four minutes Walk in!
 A Sun reporter saw him do even bet ter than he promised. The artist stood in his shirt sleeves in the show win dow, his easel in front of him, and a packing case containing canvases about twelve by eighteen inches at his side. In his left hand he held his palette and brushes, the latter seemingly better flt- ted for house-painting purposes than for the delicate work of landscape painting. He had just placed a new canvas on his easel as the Sun man ap- preached.
 Taking one of his largest brushes he dipped it into a mound of paint on the palette, and then, with a nervous move ment of the hand, covered about third of the upper part of the canvas, leaving a gray-blue background. Then with another brush of equal size he laid in spots of white. After blending the two colors the effect, with a good imagination, might be construed into a representation of a cloudy sky. To the right side of the canvas he applied coat of mottled green, picking it out here and there with yellow and red-au- tumn foliage on the side of mountain. Standing off a moment to regard his work, he put a few extra touches on the mountain with his thumb. Then with the brush used for the first layer of sky, he filled in the lower part of the canvas with lead-colored paint, most of his strokes here being horizontal Then he added Q bit of high light in the cen- ter, and at the back daub of white indicated boat, the sail coming dan gerously near the trees on the top of the mountain. The presence of the boat explained the scheme in gray paint; it was a.placid lake, and when a few streaks of deep blue were laid in around the sides, one was sure of the artists intention.
 The canvas was now completely cov- cred, and to an amateur might have seemed finished, but there was still an other matter to- be considered. The ar tist disposed of his brushes, and taking his palette knife, mixed portions of some of the mounds of paint until he produced a pretty colored mass. Talk ing some of this oh the point of the knife he scraped it along the side of the green mountain, near the water A dusty road was the result. The road appeared rather tip tilted, and not alto gether safe for driving, but, no doubt it added interest to the composition.
 The picture was now finished, and the artist, leaving it unsigned, handed 1t to his assistant. He had beaten his record by half minute.
 After seeing a new canvas placed on the easel, and a sunset sky laid on, the Sun reporter walked into the store to see what disposition was made of the finished pictures. The store was filled with women, all of a type-that of the tenement life They all appeared middle-aged, were gowned in rusty black, and bonpeted in the old familiar way one becomes accustomed to at ear lJ lieiSS III lliG 1oluOllC CIluICI-d rusty black straw, topped with feathers, which show signs of conflict with much hard weather, and flowers that enjoyed their first artificial bloom several sea sons gone by. All were with ungloved hands, red with blunted finger nails, and the wedding ring on the left hand, always seeming too small for the finger wearing it.
 These women were grouped about the artists assistant, who placed the pie lures in cheap white and gold frames and auctioned them off The bidding was very spirited. Fifty cents was the lowest bid considered, and the picture with the frame thereon was usually knocked down for from one dollar to dollar and half, the successful bidder carrying away the prize in her hands, after paying heed to the auctioneer's caution to handle it carefully until 1t dried. In this manner at least ten were sold inside of as many minutes.-New York Sun.