New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-31

the New Gallery, could not have been forced w
to $500 guineas or 30 guineas beyond the pric,
obtained for tho mastery Mirror of Venus
nor could the unfinished pictures and rapid
sketches have been competed for with suct
ardor. The proportion of finished work was
small. and the bulk os the 90 lots represented
preliminary studies and experiments: yet the
sale yielded an aggregate of about 100 800 This
was most remarkable valuation at auction OF
these studio properties. The dealers have prob.
ably helped 20 make market for purchases Of
their own.
II was an exceptional tribute TO the genius Of
Sir Edward Burne-Jones that connoisseurs and
dealers alike should have been Impressed with
the fact that his works were destined TO have
pre-emnent value in collections Of Victorian art
This brisk competition for his crudest handi-
WORK implied conviction on their part that his
rank among English artists had been securely
and !rrevocably established. and that every am.
bilious art collector in future would consider II
necessary to have Burne-Jones even If il were
only drawing in gold on colored ground.
pastel study discarded by the painter himself as
unsatisfactory, or unfinished sketch in pencil
water-color or oil. High prices We're paid for
designs for stained glass windows: a pastel
study for tapestry fetched Clio guineas; a sketch
Of a design of the Tree Of Life for a mosaic com
manded 40 guineas. and an unfinished picture
of Elijah purchased for the Birmingham
Gallery for $50 guineas. Anything which his
hand had touched had a value in this clearance
Of his studio lumber beyond the expectation OF
his most ardent admirers.
1t may safely be added that no Academcian
could put up at auction his studio sketches and
unfinished work with any expectation Of rival
ling this remarkable sale. The Academicians
are. with the exception Of Mr. Watts the fash
ionabe and conventional painters Of the day
and they set the current style in art and they
have their reward. Sir Edward Burne-Jones
never sought to make his art marketa BILE: he
lived in his own dream world and worked in his
own way, consistent in purpose. serene and CON
slant in his ideas Of beauty; and when the end
came the essential originality Of his work en-
titled him TO pre-eminence nd impaired value
TO his slightest sketch. He. too. had his reward
although he was never accounted worthy Of com
partnership with the elect. The Academicians. il
must be added. are sometimes as quick in their
appreciation Of genius they were backward
and dull in the case OF Sir Edward Burne-Jones.
Mr. Sargent did not suffer from neglect when he
entered upon his career a portrait painter.
He was quickly admitted and speedily advanced
has surpassed all his competitors In the art Of
portrait painting.
London is the greatest curiosity-shop in the
world where every collector can mount his
hobby and ride at his own pace. There is mar
ket for everything rare or antique-from postage
stamps TO bric-i- brac or from snufboxes 10
playbils The most uncertain market is for
autograph letters and historical documents
which sometimes are sold for a song and then
again command high prices. A few days ago a
collection Of relics Of the Bronte family went
begging at auction. A miscellaneous collection
# autograph letters has now been sold at sothe
bis az fair prices and with considerable c1mpe-
t'.cn. Three days were required for auction
ing hem off and the receipts were about
$5.4r5. or barely ono-hfth Of the price bid for
The hest picture in the Burne-Jones collection.
Among these letters was one from Sir Isaac
Newton 10 Or. Errowsmith, for which f3J
offered. Four letters from Lord Nelson brought
from $40 to 80; one from Benjamin Franklin
describing his sufer.ngs from govt fetched fiG
Cromwell was quoted at 80. Henry VIII at a.
and the great Duke Of Marlborough at IS and
Burns Byron Scott Hume. Poe and Shelley
ranged between "a and 80. collection Of letters
from Frederick the Great to Voltaire. much the
worse for damppess was sold for f2G. Two let
tiers from Queen Victoria were auctioned off at
IA -s and &C. respectively. One was written
In 1897 to the Duke Of Sussex. and the other 10
the Duchess Of Gloucester. The quotations for
these letters were better than for similar docu-
ments signed by Marie Antoinette and other I'M
fortunate Queens: but there were signs OF dis
gust in the auction-house when they were put
I'D for bidding The improperly Of selling the