Gardnerville record. (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1898-1902, 1899-01-17
THE ROYAL ACADEMY
FACTS ABOUT ENcLAND'S GREAT AND
WEALTHY SOCIETY.

Y
WEALTHY SOCIETY.
Are EleeteA-The Instltutaonss Die
Fund and the Good Works That
Are Done VITA Il.
To become Royal academioian. or at
all events IN associate. 10 tho ambition
Of every young artist for membership
In the academy means much moro than
the mere right 70 put the letters R. A.
after ones name and TO exhibit pictures
in the flne galleries ct Burlington House.
In the arst place. an aoademician II an
esquire BY right and not merely BY
courtesy. and, further, he 10 entitled,
should he ever como on hard times, to
substantial pension Of between $3.50
and e4OO year. II be dies leaving bic
widow unprovided for. the academy al
lows her . liberal sum for her mainte-
nance.
The associates and the associates Wild
ows are also entitled to pensions on a
somewhat smaller scale, 70 that there
are many reasons apart from the honor
and glory why the painter. sculptor on
architect should wish to become q rnem-
ber Of the powerful and wealthy body.
When therefore young artist begins
to get on. when he has his pictures well
hung year after year. when they find
ready buyers and are talked about In
society, he takes the frat etep toward
election by suggesting 10 one Of the
aoademioians that he should put his
name down ON the list Of candidates.
Once down his name stays ON the list,
either until he dies or IL elected or vol
UNFAIRLY removes IL, and this explains
why ons flnds on the roll of candidates
the names Of many artists once popular.
but long since forgotten by the public.
When . vacancy occurs among the
associates. printed copies Of this list on
blue fOolscap paper are sent to all the
together with q request that
they shall attend At the academy on .
certain evening. when an election will
take place. The elections themselves are
conducted In singular and somewhat
complex fashion peculiar to the academy
IA method which took the place about
30 years ago Of the rough and ready sys-
tenn formerly In vogue.
Both academicians and associates are
allowed to take part in the election, and
when the members are gathered together
each scores out with u pencil the name
Of the artist for whom he wishes to
vote and hands the paper SO marked to
the secretary. These soorings ont are
known as scratches at the academy,
and the secretary, after examining all
the papers, duly announces how many
scratches" have been given to each
candidate.
The election Is then advanced another
stage. The president, who. by virtue OF
his Office. occupies the chair. directs
that the names Of all those candidates
who have received more than four
'scratches'' shall be inscribed in chalk
upon the blackboard, while those to
whom only one. two or three votes have
been given have NO further chance of
being elected.
The academicians and associates then
vote again for the candidates whose
names are ON the board. The two lead
ing men in this contest are now selected
for final ballot, the winner in which
becomes an associate of the Royal acad-
emy.
The academicians are elected in pre-
oisely the same manner, except that the
are the candidates instead Of
the outsiders. All this system Of
"scratohes'' and "blackboards" seems
cumbrous and unnecessary, but it is
said to work extremely we'll in practice.
Sometimes. though very rarely, tie
occurs, and in this case the president,
or, In his absence. the aoademician who
takes his place. has cast
ing vote. When Mr.. Ernest Crofts, the
battle painter, was elected, he tied in
the final ballot with Mr.. jackson, the
and to Mr.. Calderon (wbo in
the absence Of the late Sir John Millais
occupied the chair) fell the difficult
task Of making the final selection.
The associates have no voice in the
OAoOtAOn Va PkOcAuCots tAO RoWCk "a
voting resting entirely with the acade-
micians Sir John Millais, the late
president. was elected by the unani-
nous vote of the members. fact which
must have been extremely gratifying to
that great artist. But ON some other CO.
oasions the fight for the presidentship
has been very severe indeed.
The post is we'll worth q struggle, for
it carries with it substantial remunera-
tion, besides great social and artistic
distinction. The late Sir Francis Chan
trey left e1OO, 900 to the academy. out
Of the interest Of which a salary Of some
$500 or e900 year 10 provided for the
president,
The academy is immensely wealthy.
The receipts from the annual exhibitions
average from Gao, 600 to e26, 900, and
It 10 believed thss the money invested
In the hands of the trustees does not fall
far short Of $500. 900. Out Of this mon-
ey the schools Tin which 200 or 800 stu
dents are instructed gratuitously) are
supported and = great many pensions
and donations to deoayed artists are
given. Little is heard Of these charities
by the public, but they are very oonsid-
erable. and the declining years Of many
old painters and sculptors are made easi.
or hxv khovu