The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-07
BIG PRICES FOR PICTURES
WORKS OF ENGLISH MASTERS
SOLD IN LONDON

Sale at Christie's Which Reached a
Total of $23O,OOO-"Venus Mir
ror" Brings the largest Price of
the Sale, Over sac, Pic
lures by MflIais Prove the sensa.
tionaI Feature of Another Sal.
Among the most notable of recent
picture sales in London was the Rus
ton sale. which occurred on the after
Moons Of May 81 and % at Christie's.
reaching total of 100000 for 237 pic
lures. The collection included both
oils and water colors. and ranged over
a Wide selection Of British and CONT
mental artists. While many Of the
PICTURES We're poor, the collection in
Guided some notable works. There
were early and late English painters
represented. including Constable,
ea1nsoorough, Romney, Reynolds, and
Turner, as well as Watts, Leighton,
Burne-Jones, and Rossetti, also MANY
of the lesser English painters. or
continental painters the list shows
rembrandt, Van Dyck.e Van Eek, Del
sarto. Mabuse. Moreelse, Matsys,
Francta, Honthorst, and other mas
ters. Of the Dutch, Flemish and
Italian schools. The. highest price
Tor the old pictures 900 in
even urnbers-was paid for Rem
brandt's Portrait Of Nicholas Ruts,"
dated 1881, and formerly in the
CORRECTION Of William H., King Of
Holland, when it was termed from its
appearance the PORTRAIT Of a Rabbi"
1t figured last in the Adrian Hope COL
lection in 1894 when 1t brought s23,-
800. Another Rembrandt Of
a Lady'-brought only $1,000, and a
Pieta," by Andrea Del Sarto, S., 100
Saints, Madonnas and Magdalens by
Old masters were somewhat numerous,
but Gid not fare well as to prices, be-
ing invariably surpassed by the por-
traits. Perhaps this is due to the fact
that such pictures cannot be readily
passed or by the purchasers as an
cestors. The surprise Of the sale was
the astonishing prices paid for pic
lures by Burne-Jones and Rossetti
Venus Mirror" the well-known pic
ture by Burne-Jones-abo Axe feet
in size-brought the largest price of
the sale-over $40, 000-and the same
artist's Chant d'Amour" over $4,000.
Even a pair Of drawings Of Dawn and
Night" brought over $1,000.
There were three examples of Ros-
setti IN the collection, Veronica Yer
onese," Dante at the Bier Of Beat
rice" and La Ghlrlandata" Gall well
known from their reproduction) which
sold for nearly $40,O0O-$S,OOO for the
hrst and SIS. $50 for each Of the two
last. "The Eve Of Peace" by Watts,
rose above $1,000, while his own por-
trait brought $1,000, and that OF Lady
LNford $4,000. making record prices for
these artists. the Leighton pictures,
of which there were five, did not do so
well, the highest price being $1,000 for
q bust of a girl termed "Moretta-"
Gainsborough's portrait of Lady
Charges" sold for $500, being. 5000 less
than 1T brought when last sold in 1895
at the Price sale, and the mediocre
examples of Romney and Reynolds
sold for less than $500 each. The Tur-
ner showing the "F'alls of the Clyde"
sold for $4,000, Van Dyck's Virgin and
Child" for $780, and two portraits by
Moreelse; Of Maria and Dirck Alewyn,
for $8,400 and $4,000 respectively.
One OF the sources of satisfaction in
following the English picture sales is
found In the loyalty with whuch En-
glish buyers support their own art
Fine works Of Constable, GadnHbor-
.ough, Reynolds, Romney, and men Of
u,
sure to find ready sale at good prices
Among more modern painters it. Is no.
ttced that the pictures by Lord Leigh
ton are not bringing the prices they did
during his lifetime, this falling off be-
ing due to the absence Of his personal
influence most powerful factor in an
artists financial success. On the 9TH
er hand, the prices for the works of
MtMais have shown an upward tend
fhn eo1N 80
lection In London few weeks ago,
five pictures by Millais proved to be
the sensational feature of the day,
bringing out much competition. While
the entire collection Of 1873 works
brought 1000, the prices for these
five alone aggregated $55,600, making
a very handsome average. Individual
ly they were 1.-THE Order Of Release"
we'll known from the engraving, which
sold for over $4,000; The Black
Brunswicker. which sold for $4,000;
noon Tea" which sold for $500, and
'fUrquhart Castle ON Lock Ness"
which sold for s3,40O. These magnifi-
cent prices are the tribute the English
public pays to a popular subject. It
Is difficult to imagine our buyers pay
ing from $4,000 to $4,000 for .Hoven-
.den's Breaking Home Ties" or his
JOnn BrOWn; or Tor UlriCh'S Land
Of Promise" or J. G.. Browns Long
shoreman's Noon Cboth of which, by
the way, are In the gallery Of Mr..
William T. Evans; or for Eastman
Johnson's Cranberry Pickers" or the
"Old Stage Coach" to cite but a few
popular pictures which have been
painted among us, and yet these are
quite aus good as the works of Millais
most artists will say ours show the
better art. 1t was. Beaudelaire who
said that a man without special tenn
permanent ought not to paint, however
good a craftsman he might be. With
Millais, however, the lack was on the
side Of craftsmanship.
In the same sale two paintings by
Sir Eward Poynter brought nearly
$4,000, showing that the presidency Of
the royal academy has an influence on
the market value of a painters work.
Neither of the two pictures could be
called important works, the largest be-
ing but two feet square, one "a Corner
of q Villa" showing some children
feeding pigeons, and the other IA
Corner of Market Place." with chill
dren binding q wreath.