The record-union., 1899-04-23

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The Van Dyck exhibition opened at
Antwerp on March 22d, the Booth ami
versary of the artists birth. AS pars
of the opening ceremonies, a grand can
tata, written by Peter Benoit, Flem-
ish composer, was performed by great
choral body in the open air. The MS
toric old Place Vert, with it's statue
of Rubens, upon which looks down the
famous old cathedral, was the theater
of the performance.
E. E.. Spencer, NJ. D., in "Gunton s
Magazine: The great propelling force
in human progress, then, is that Whlcn
initiates and stimulates an ever IN
creasing diversifcation of social tastes,
and this is the function of art. 1t re-
fines and expands the old and intro
duces the new The tastes stimulated
by the introduction of the new and
more beautiful is the germ of a. social
force which isedestined to develop an
economic interest which sets the world
in action. The desire for a more at
tractive form of anything habitually
entering into the social life Of a people
creates a demand for its production,
which sets the economic machinery in
motion to supply it. At first it is pro-
duced at an enormous cost, only for the
very rich, but, by the force of imitation
and contact, What the rich have the
less rich desire, and it's domain widens
from the monarch or aristocracy to
larger social groups, until it reaches the
masses and becomes The market basis
for profitable capitalistic production.
The american Art Annual" edited
by Florence n. Levy, will be published
in April by the Macmillan Company
(New York;. 1t is planned to meet the
demand for full, authentic and care
fully compiled annual record of the
progress of art and of the more i'm
portant interests directly connected
with art in America 1t will contain
complete record of painters, their works
for 1898, the reports of art museums,
art schools, galleries, societies and for
eign exhibitions. 1t will contain up
ward of ninety-th three half tone repro
ductions of pictures of the year, por-
traits etc. Other features OF interest
in the Annual will be directories of
artist-artisans and art dealers, together
with a list of art books and magazines
of the year.
The opportunities of Philadelphia in
the direction Of memorial municipal art
We're. discussed at the meeting of the
Contemporary Club there recently
James NJ. Beck, who presided, said il
was strange that in a city so rich IN
subjects for artistic commemoration so
little should have been done w. B.
Van Ingen, the artist, one of the deco
rators of. the Congressional Library in
Washington, discussed the many his
torical subjects connected with Phila-
delphia which could be commemorated
in art. He spoke of the benefit which
Paris had derived by cutting boulevards
through solid blocks of houses. He pic
tured the views toward the park along
the boulevard and said that a court of
honor such as that on Broad street dur
ing the peace jubilee would do to begin
it with He suggested two rostral col
umns, one decorated with models of the
prows of the ships sunk in the battle
off Santiago and the other with the
trophies of Dewey's victory and an
other suggestion was a tablet to Yeo-
man Ellis, the only American killed in
the two great naval battles of the re-
cent war Mr.. Van Ingens concluding
suggestion was a description of a. mural
painting, which might be placed on the
walls of the City Hall of men who had
made Philadelphia famous under the
guidance of liberty c. Hubbard Walker,
member of the Municipal Art Com
mission of Boston. surprised the club
by declaring that Boston was, in it's lost
opportunities for municipal art, su-
premely stupid and blind. EXCEPT for
4
thing had been done without stupidity.
The closing addresses were by F. S.
Lamb of New York and Professor War
ren P. Laird of the University of Penn
sylvania.
Louis Prang to New York Evening
Post: Your reviewer of How TO En-
joy Pictures" in the issue of Decem-
Der 18th, seems to me to take too scorn-
full view of average men and women.
People" he says. mot too uneducated
to read a book, who yet need to be told
that the way to enjoy a picture is to
look at it more than once. to
try to understand the charac-
ter in portrait, even the general lines
of composition in a landscape or figure
subject" The implication Of the review
seems to be that if people do not al
ready have thoroughly sympathetic
and appreciative way of looking at pic
lures, they are not worth considering
at ALL
I believe this is a wrong attitude to
take The average intelligent Ameri-
can, either man or woman has neces-
sarily grown up with very few chances
to see the original work of great paint
ers or to hear artists discuss such work
Books on art are plenty, to be sure,
but these are full of technical terms and
phases which no layman understands,
being published for those already rich
in money and opportunities, their price
is usually prohibitory to people with
moderate means. And what is the re-
suit? Look at the average man and
woman when visiting a picture gallery
or running through the pages of a we'll
illustrated magazine; ninetenths of the
pleasure they might derive from the
pictures is lost because they have never
had any adequate help from parents or
friends or school-teachers as to the way
to look at such things They are not
stupid; they are not hopeless cases.
Give them hint or two of what you
yourself see to admire in the picture
at which they have been gazing blankly,
and they are quick to follow it's lead for
themselves, discovering more and more
OF what the artist put into his work.
1t is no disgrace that they did not know
1t all at Erst and by instinct Most of
US are ignorant enough in one direc-
Il.