New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-12

,,.Aor the panterS 81 To-Day CoHFdf" I'VE Ia
.'.,., which they enjoy for their work with
..o rossessod 10y their predecessors century
,ao ago they must be forced to the con
,ou that 50 far as material help can 50
u-.' hoye an immense advantage over the
~" os,ers In former times when the artist
% set his palette he was Obliged 10 take
y. moments which he had obtained often at
,roub,e in their crude forms. and either
-, ,,aro himself or have this operation per-
,,red by a boy who was usually both his SER
.,,t and pupil The process OF grlndlhs UP the
80 substances in oil was a slow one, hut the
dis obtained by il We're good. The grinder
..,,urad TWO fat slabs Of stone, and. placing the
.,,rsnt between them h. first crushed IL 10 the
, NJ fine powder. and then. adding OH
..ousb 70 make soft paste. he continued the
.-,,ainc bv rotating the upper stone upon the
80, until the mixture was reduced L. perfect
oo,hness and The exact consistency which
.r,srence had proved TO be desirable. This
.tSs nrocess had 10 be repeated frequently 10
Sac. The colors fresh and because o; the i'm
,o-,ance Of having pigments Of good quality,
n. mos, celebrated painters used 10 give their
,s-sona attention 70 the work. thereby spend
=, much time upon the preparation Of ma
..-as when. llltl inherent ''li'l'i''''' N"N'
might have devoted To the painting itself.
Thu modern artist who is able to buy any
,scr be needs put up in an alright tube ready
Il, use has no occasion to occupy himself win
hp grinding. ~ with any other Of the processes
n manufacture Frequently he knows nothing
,,out how pigments are prepared. and buys
hem under tn labels put upon them by manu-
,,cturers Without knowing even Of what they
~ composed Many Of the most famous paint
r. however. anxious that their works snail De
s.hieyed in materials which will stand the e.
,cs Of Ugh, and age. have made study OF me
chemistry Of colors, and. although they d. not
,rpare them. are perfectly acquainted with
heir composition. and insist upon having ex-
.ty the kinds that they consider best
nAcuINE-MADE AND HANDMADE.
Many American artists still prefer the foreign
coors because ihcse are usually made by hand
Tradition asserts that this is the surer way. but
Il is necessarily slow and expensive There is
10 reason why machinery will not do tn, grind
ng equally well perhaps even more smoothly
than the hand process but the point regarding
which some painters are still anxious Is that OF
oyerheating by the action Of the machines
certain amount Of heat is generated. ana II thls
Is not counteractcd before IL becomes too great
he pigments and the oil are likely To be IN
!1red by tan injury which would not per-
LABS be Visible at first in the color. but would
aase il TO dsintegrate or darken in the course
ahme Methods Of cooling the machinery are
yacsed with success. but some painters are
sill ,rife sceptical and prefer To trust 10 the
.leign handmade cOlUrs.
0 these the pigments prepared by Eipuard'
aParis are regarded as Of especially excellent
,laly. and are used. at least for their finer
Txk by some Of the best-known New ork
,sinters The hand process Of tc-iay diners NJ
i. from that Il bid times But there is an ever
treasing demand for American machine-made
sos and artists are outspoken in their praise
Il them The utmost said against them il that
hey have not yet been subjected TO suiii-
.snty long trst Of time 10 enable II 10 be posi-
lively known how they viii last.
Indeed, the comparison Of modern cOiors with
eose Of three Or four centuries ago has given
'se to much argument and difference Of opinion.
Il IS urged in favor Of the pigments Of to-day
that they are manufactured with more intel
lgsnl -egard ID chemical purity than in former
lines and that Consequently they ought to be
si doubtless are more permanent. on the
'hx hand, it is alleged that the almost uni
'ssa custom Of adulterating expensive arti-
ts with cheaper substances Is probably prac-
| ised now TO a certain extent with paints. and
MAJ this must be allowed for somewhat in
@unting upon modern colors. Another point
'''lh noting is that pigments are continu-
NY being discovered, and it may well be that
sne Of these shall prove perishable after they
lave been tried by the lapse OF years
ViBERTS RESEARCHES
j. o. Vibert. the famous French painter. has
~@ae the chemistry Of cOlors an especial study
s1a mas written a book La Science de la |