New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-03
THE RENWICK PAINTINGS.
,,o1v THE COLLECTION WAS FORMED BY
TWO WEALTHY MEN

,r INCLUDES THE PICTURES ACQUIRED DY WILL
lam II AsP1NwALI.-DoUBTs IN REGARD TO
sov,, OF THE ALLEGED OLD MASTERS
OPINIONS OF AN ART CRITIC.
,,,,,c collection of eighty eight paintings
.h, tho will Of James Renwick to the Metropoli-
49, Museum of Art is likely to prove one OF the
rs, notable accessons TO its treasures. The COL
me-" me- contains many works said to be by famous
s,rs and on oursory examination IL seems
".n.hie that some Of them at least will be found
=. Iva genuine Blu; even If the others are not gen.
nine productions of the old masters the limitations
-" ,o well done that they will be valuable acquisi-
,ons TO any art gallery formal or even an III
,rmal inspection Of the paintings has not yet oeen
oda and in fact the trustees OF the Museum nave
80, heen officially Informed that the gift has peeh
oae Such notice cannot be given Tor some DAYS
.ora for technical reasons, principal among
80, &c the difficulty OF getting all the witnesses
', the will together. The bequest was maze IN
th-ee codicils to James Renwicks VIII. 10 each oi
uhich there are four witnesses.
Tho history of this collection OF paintings II one
.,, Is not known except to the personal 1rehos o'
~" pcrvck That so large number. even OF al
,1osd nictrres Of such masters as Murhio' huoe"e'
cv,do. Titan. Paul Veronese, Corresgio brohz'ho'
yo.asouez Fillppo Lippi and Carlo Doci shoud nave
80, in this city for many years without peiis
,ovn generally to the public. is matter OF sur
y ,or,v wears by James Renwick and Wliham II.
,r,nNeu the well-known business man VINO uien
many wears ago. Mr.. Renwick married 'he cue
s,rb,er Of Mr. Aspinwall. and In later years po'n
an nassed much of their time in Europe, auui"e
- ,,sr store Of paintings. Both occupied houseS
=, Tenth-st and University Place. AS MI Asp"-
80 Collection of paintings gradually increased ne
sr,l, an extension TO his house, whch ne useu ''
r,c,ure gallery, and about six years ago MI N.
xi,k also built an extension to his house lot tne
same purpose The two men made IN All SUM
h,r,v trips TO Europe 10 crafty their 'as'o io'
w., They as a rule went together, devouhg an
.r,,re trip 10 a certain section or country ia"ou'
for its paintings. In their search ai'e' an 80"
uras they visited SPAIN Italy Germany anu ~
land and made digent inquiry AFTER the wins "
tho old masters In this way the eolec''o" "a
na,ntipss in their homes became greatly ei''e
viii enally it was difficult TO find suiicleh' room
for the pictures which were stacked against N
was IN snHnwaIrs death his collection was given
to his son-in-law. Mr.. Renwick VINO 'desIrable
add to the pictures some , G1 ' nc time so as to
make room for and more valued acq4as an re
duced in size but improved in quality; oi At ma
Ssen inspected by number OF noted iore'sIe yis
S SaeS Se S aisiiea this country by
well-known art critic Of this CITY was ssvn ps
70 his coecton: IF only half these pictures are
ssnuns, they y, viii The iCI@ Museum of
Il is extremely to ina paintings ron H, ,ne
hrush OF
gruS S ~ one pr,vaie gallery this country but
this collection is alleged 10 comprise nol ON! w.
By these but 81 OF G'hers Whose WORKS
are said to be in this collection would stamp the
Renwick gallery not only as being nNTap,e on
even for Europe l have my doubts however az
TO the genuineness Of these alleged woihs Oh NV nv
rio Lippi. Titan and Correggio d9t MEAN vi
thai TO say that it is impossible for MI Aspnwaan
and Mr.. Renwick to have secured genuine wo ths
OF these great masters. but must say 'hat the
last "As Understand it, they purchased their pict
o. expert art collectors. This is not ayng that
amateur collectors OF paintings cannot be as skilled
in picking good and genuine paintings as pro-
fessonaIs for i have met number OF amateurs
VINO have displayed extraordinary ski IN snch
know nothing about Mr. Aspinwall or Mr.. Renwick
but can easily imagine that men having large
pass.onately fond Of their hobby, could in short
tween the genuine and spurious works OF the old
masters OF course. some OF the limitations are
ase h once heg MAKES he of at
VaIde and any art collection would be benefited by
How expert Mr.. Aspnwall and Mr.. Renwck be-
came OF course cannot pretend to say, but the
chances are they were imposed upon. In some IN,
Sn pa a @ prvne coeeo where there is
every reason to believe that it has been for many
fed that att he si has got Mnro when he pays for it.
But when purchases Murillo or Titan
from the art dealers Of Italy spain Germany or
commences OF the picture: These two men. as
understand It, purchased their paintings from art
dealers rather than from museums and private
III reduced to money value supposng each
Of $4,000 a picture Some OF the paintings. II sen
three pictures the Duke OF Parma by velasquez:
the Virgin and Child and Two Angels By Nlippo
would suffice by themselves to make the collection
a notable one"