The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-27
CROWDS LOOK AT PICTURES
SUNDAYS DOUBLE SHOW AT rB1
ACADEMY Of DESIGN

People Who Know NothinE-An Ind
dental. woful Tale Effects Of str,,
Glimpses of P~aintinEs-Ths Art Student.
With q allow. steady shove. treadine india
criminately upon tres and heels and gowns a..
casting a puzzled look at stray glimpse, 40
canvas, the Sunday crowd swarms through IN.
Academy OF DeatEn. SundayS have been -.
days during the autumn exhibition. Hero.
the crowd, which Is the most picturesque one
Of It's size to be seen In New York. II man
could take on hls feet and put them into hls
pocket and could be hypnotized into q desire
to breathe bad air. q Sunday Afternoon a, the
Academy would be a red-letter occasion.
The crowd seems to come from the four
quarters Of the globe. II one listens to the
murmur Of voices, one hears half a dozen dt.
ferent languages and twice as many accents.
Black and white. seemingly rich and GER alnly
poor. rub elbows with each other and the pic.
lures. Rubbing SHOWS with the pictures con.
sIsts In taking the gilt OF the corners OF tho
frames. This isn't lone with malice or a de-
Rire for gold paint. but because the human
tide surEes so strongly now and then that n
almost sweeps the pictures OF the walls. OF
course. not one person In six can get more
than a glimpse OF the canvases on the lima
Those who do see them are obliged 70 get up "a
close that they have TO look cross-eyed. Only
the artists who's productions have been
'skyed" are introduced TO the Sunday crowd
at large.
The crowd itself. motley as It Is In many
ways. can be divided into two general classes
those who know nothing whatever about an
and those who know everything about IL The
latter class Is composed OF young students who
settle the standing OF one picture after an
other with great neatness and despatch. They
don't do things in any half-hearted way. Either
q man IL great or he IL hopelessly bad. They
%nnounce both opinions with confidence and
try to pretend that they are unconscious that
he crowd ls listening with open-mourhed awe.
For the crowd itself. while 1t has opinions. ha,
no desire to air those opinions where they are
likely to encounter the whitening blight Of
folks who know art" Secretly these men
and women who shuflle. gaping. before the
medley Of pictures have a deep scorn for the
poor creatures who produced such daubs, but
they know enough to do their chuckling only
into sympathetic ears. Once In q while,
though. an incautious tongue gets loosened.
and then-wel, II the artists could hear the
comments made on their MASTERPIECES they
would demand the abolition Of free days.
Last Sunday. when the throng was at It's
greatest. a stumpy. blond son Of toll edged
slowly by the array OF pictures. IL was prob
ably his wife who was with him. and. whatever
differences Of opinion they may entertain on
other points, they were one on the subject Of
group of impressionistic affairs in the north
gallery. aud they stared 10 silence awhile.
Thep: without preface OF any kind the man re-
They advertise them In the papers. you
mo" said the woman.
That was all. but the wonder expressed IN
their tones spoke volumes, They were, OF
could not make much out OF them beyond :
hodgepodRe OF coler. and, atter, q good deal
gave It up and got down to the two things they
were sure Of ,eolor and frames.
Purple" The man announced: in disGust
win you look ct that frame?" he demanded,
piansd against the grain and giided."
" could make one like 1t. couldn't vel"
Yes. an put a blamed prettier picture In.
Pretty soon they came to a picture In low.
""Hqmph." said the woman. 7 guess they
left that picture out in the sun and the colos
Hc:c I. re. [ rte<scc which attracted o
groHp Of young women.
Its Cleopatra." said one.
"CleopatraI" exclaimed a second. "It's Joan
thought it was a warship till I got up Close
While the crowd edged slowly by the few
die of the galleries sat with their feet tucked
up under them, and. since 1t was hopeless to try
a comfortable little gossip together. one
group. eight or ten strong. quite blocked the
east Raaers' Of Spd the sG pgbl Tse FaEe. e SRi!s one \
their humble told some tale OF woe. She was
giving all the details;
oh. Pete says !. how can you say suchs
Yes. true it was" echoed the absorbed
nrS efIa 4 that b sa the ; ;Gss , FEsos ss.; Eo9 s sys EiaH
Yes. he died that night said Maria, and
the weeping group betoOk itself to its hand.
What do you suppose that girl Is doing!
The one up in the top row with only one leg
Why, she's got two kneesl'
"Msbbe she has. but she amt got but one
II suppose that's a picture OF somebody
that one in the next room,
We'll. II 1t was a picture Of me I'd invite ths
there are Biz steam mn radiators s. s9yefs$ VIZ
girls who have taken up the study d art for
the sole reason that 1t introduces them to-
Lanky youths with downy chins aud strange
deuSs q green and blue on their hair. dalo.
snSssstiye Of studio skyIarkinS; hover nest
criticised them for their drawing Of ]turpips or
with Doin:ed boards and trim mustachss. say
things In other tongues. but with a chuckle
which would be plain English TO the artist II
he could overhear It, Here and there in the
crowd two or three negroes DRIFT with The eur
rent. They pay no more attention to the Pic
lures than as II there were no pictures there.
They simply drift In At one end Of the gal.
ieries and out at the other as II they Wsres
families Join the t~hrong-the mother lug
GinR a baby in her arms; the father carvings
topr-year-old child on his arm and leading an
other by the hand, The father and mother
seem 70 take as little interest as the children
do and wear as puzzled a look.
Apparently half Of the crowd goes, In be;
the visitors stay only long enough to make me
eircuit OF the rooms. so that the whole trair
looks like q procession; one OF the processions
81 people invited TO look at the remains, which
file slowly and solemnly up one aisle and down
the other. As far as its being a matter Of
education for the masses, IL Is scarcely ths
benefit from i. because. being masses. they
are not able to see anything except one an
other: But the wear and tear of the carrets
and the loss OF the gilt rubbed on the frames
10 all made up for, when. once In q while, tho
observer, comes upon some man or woman
with q piteous eaRerness TO see and q real de-
In the pictures.