The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-14
ART IN SAN FRANCISCO.

With the coming spring exhibition at
the Mark Hopkins Institute there will
probably be determined to a very g.eat
extent the proportionate progress recently
made by local artists. From the stand
point of the art-worker there are few por-
tons OF the United States so well fitted for
artistic reproduction. Atmospheric effects
and color are, with scenic composition,
more easily found in the State of California
than in any other State in the Union. Ma
ture has made the pictures in California,
and it remains only for the artist to repro
duce them.
As individuality in the artist and the
handling OF his work is always prime
factor in his success, so is it fact that the
artistic reproduction of California scenery
would, throughout the art world, maintain
an individuality of its own. The progress
made by native artists could not be more
clearly shown than it is by comparison
of the Avery collection of early California
paintings, Just donated to the Mark Hop
kins Institute and now being put IN place,
with the work being sent in for the spring
exhibition. In the collection mentioned
there are various early works by artists
who now are of acknowledged prominence.
To make an individual comparison, there
is picture by Keith, painted many years
ago in Maine. This picture, compared
with some of Keith S recent work in Cali
fornia, shows as clearly the artistic advan-
tages of Californian landscapes as it shows
the progress of the man during the inter-
vening years. 1t seems only necessary
hot tho ~ 1oxr
art should thoroughly understand what
the native artists are doing in order to
have them stop buying foreign signatures,
and give reasonable encouragement to the
men ana women who are painting here.
AS a rule the native Californian artist la
bors under severe disadvantages He is
filled with the artistic appreciation of the
beauties of his home, but he has been I'M
able to obtain tuition from masters. He is
generally poor; ne is always intelligent.
In any other walk in life he could prob
ably succeed, but through the sheer force
of his artistic instinct he works on for arts
sake. Sometimes he is enabled to take adj
vantage of the teachings of the Old World
art schools and he spends two or three
years abroad. When he comes back to
California he finds the galleries of the
wealthy filled with European pictures,
while he knows that the beauties of his
own home are unrepresented. That there
should be so little encouragement for the
native artists of California is a matter
which cannot but call forth wondering re-
greet from all those who appreciate not
only the beauties of nature here but also
their Inadequate representation 1t has
been said by one of the best artists in the
City that "When the California artist goes
abroad he should stay there if he cares to
succeed financially" There could be no
more severe criticism made upon the lack
ofart encouragement in the City. The CALL
has endeavored to do its share in encourage
ing the young artists of the City. But it
is only fair that the wealthy residents
should acknowledge the demands made by
native art and based upon actual merit,
while at the same time they prove that
acknowledgment on the walls of their
draWing-rOomS