Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-12-29
OUR NEVYoRK LETTER.
'Or'ncO"ing Sale of W. T. Evans,
Collection Of Paintings

american. NJ
new YORK, Dec. 2s.-[speciall-Tbo
oOenV announcement that tbe noint
lnss collected by William Tudep ~
ans are soon to be offered for soIo ha.
Siealeu much interest among artists
picture buyers and art lovers onnoro1l,,
1t brings to mind the famors oa1i1Sy
IONS OF paintings made by Georgo
Seney and the equally famous solos
thereof. Vu' s"ies
Art For PROFITS Sake.
ne early career of Mr.. Senev was
Vpical. He began life without mon.
ey' His shrewdness and his u,illino
ness to work, his ability to 500 n goa5
tning and his willingness to take a
chahce now and then put him into tho
ranks OF the very rich at a comparo.
tNely early age. After he had become
wen nxed he yielded to hitherto sun.
pressed desire to buy works of art A.
nrst the pictures he purchased wara
certainly no better than mediocre hut
ne soon learned enough about art TO
insure better quality in his later pur-
chases. BY 1884 he had a really no.
BILE collection.
linen came financial reverses. Inst
what caused them is neither here nor
there but it is fact that one bv ono
In rapid succession all his choicest
schemes went to pieces, and George I.
Seney' whose name had>Neen synony-
nous with solidity in financial mat
tiers, whose rapidly acquired riches
were the talk of the monetary world.
was in desperate straits. However. he
owned his pictures free and clear and
he determined to sell them out.
The sale took place in 1885, and a
memorable one it was. Every impor-
tant dealer, every well known con-
noisseur and every noteworthy col
lector who could be present was in at
tendance, and, as the pictures were
/ really meritorlous convases in nearly
every case the prices received were
not less noteworthy than the sale, the
gross being $575,07942 and the aver
age per picture SLAB.
Undoubtedly Mr.. Seney's subsequent
resumption of n prominent place in the
world Of affairs was contributed to
materially by the money realized from
that sale.
The Second Seney Sale.
Mr.. Seney's second rise to fortune
was much more rapid than his first.
Within year or two after his greatest
distress he was again leading figure.
And, taking counsel from the past he
began as soon as possible to make an
other collection of paintings. 1t was
not only larger, but Of even better
quality than the first. Basing their
judgment of him upon previous expert
ences, dealers made few or no at
tempts to sell bad canvases to Mr..
Seney, and what few attempts of that
nature were made were unsuccessful.
BY 1890 he had one Of the finest collec-
lions of pictures owned by private in
dividual in the entire country.
Many persons supposed that it was
Mr.. Seney's intention to maintain the
second collection of paintings intact
to the day Of his death, but those who
were intimate with him knew from the
start that he thought as much about
possible profits when buying as any
professional art dealer. The second
Gale took place in February, 1871.
There were 3O7 pictures, which sold
for a gross Of $685., $50, or an average
of S2.167. 1t has never been known
whether Mr.. Seney really made prof
Il on the second sale or not. There
was n statement that he lost. There
were other statements that his profits
were at least $4,000.
curious thing about the second
Seney collection and one which show
cd conclusively that the pictures were
selected and bought solely that they
might be sold again was the fact that
until exposed for sale they were never
collected in one place, being deposited
in various storage warehouses ana oth-
or buildings where they could DE wen
taken care of and insured Tor some
thing like their real value. This was
not true of the first collection. 1t was
assembled at Mr.. Seney's own mousse
hut after his troubles in the middle
e,ghties he preferred hotel life TO the
looninq ND of big establishment ana
40 had no place of his own "heie no
could assemble his paintings.
Evans, Pictures All American
In collecting his pictures MI seney
oho,yod the most universal taste. lie
bought paintings of every school, OF
oUorv age and by artists of every ma
tionallty. His highest priced canvas canvas
was Niillet's waiting" whlcn SOU
NJ Evans paintings, however, are
-, From tbe easels Of native American
an.is+s Mr. Evans has been con
a. aia St nromoter of American ART Iol
snaorol wears, and his pictures lnciuue
% ovomn1es of the work OF that mos'
eminent native landscape PALMER, 'H :.
late George Inness. One OF these , -
.be famous "Winter Morning at 49,
oIoir" another is Georgia Flnes' anu
chi atior scNine O'Clock" Some con
us"-onrs believe Mr.. Inness toucheu
NJ SiCbest level in the superb canvas
ms t nis "a Gray, Lowery Day." pul
e emu oro others who consider the tnI '.'
oanvases in the Evans coiieS'i0
r oa GOOD examples of his WORK. mar,
a. 90 NJ the New YORK hewspapet'
que not Mr.. Evans will begin anoun
, says ,,Inction Immediately after the uls
Ell coil' 90 this one. Like 1t, the new
persia will be composed wholly o.
colle s,as nv American artists but tnt
paintings viii III be figure pieces and no mo-
p pictures Mr.. Evans thinks thinks ina ma.
landsG landscape landscape painting has