Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-04
IN THEIR OWN LAND
One Place Where American Artists
Are Without Honor.
IT'S A PITY, But IT'S TRUE
Famous Painter Talks on a Sub
lect of Great Interest.
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
PARIS October % 1899.
That the French artists have decided to
hold infexibly to their 80 per cent of the
| space in the new art palaces of the exposi-
| ton of 1900 Is regretted by none more than
| the Americans If the whole world is to
| have only one-third of what France has IT
| is cleas that the outsiders will be crowded.
| Germs ny is to exhibit as she never has ex-
hibited in Paris since the war. and the Rus
slams. Scandinavians and Spanish Roman
| school are to be practically newcomers.
The American space is small. and the fact
that yet no steps have been taken to
| divide it up is likely to increase the scram-
| bic at the last moment. AS | was dining
| with St Gaudens the sculptor, and Charles
Melville Dewey, the artist and cousin Of
| the admiral, talk of this state of things
| arose naturally. L asked Mr.. Deweys per
mission to put the talk in the form of
| interview with himself. and l was told to
| go ahead.
| In the first place we are not likely to be
| able to give the Europeans anything like
a representative American exhibit.
| The works of art will be selected by
jury. said Mr.. Dewey. and IT will be i'm
| possible, given the limited space, to have
| representative American exhibit selected by
| a jury. The collection ought to be made by
| one man of taste. You cannot put your
N
! one man makes IT he is responsible. There
| is Joe Smith, he knows that people will
| say, what wonderful taste he has. what
| splendid things he has brought together
| On the other hand, it is well known that
| the juries of the Paris salons-to go no
| further-are influenced to admit pictures
| that ought never to be hung. You admit
| my protege and I'll admit yours has been
| the cause of many a scandal in New York
| as in Paris"
Would a representative American ex-
| hibit be cause of surprise to the Euro
peans?' L asked.
Would Surprise Americans.
Not so much to the Americans them
selves" replied the New York artist cynio-
ally. mo such thing as American art is
recognized by the rich society people of
America. Look at the five or six great 9Th
avenue sales galleries in New York Not
! one of them makes an effort to advance
! American art. If q picture may be bought
| in Paris for 800 francs and sold in New
| York for 5000, how is business man to
| throw away the opportunity
| But they might corner the works of this
| or that American and wait till his death
after the fashion Of the dealers Of the Rue
| Laffitte?''
1T has been done. but not by the dealers
| There was T. b. Clark. who took UP In
ness. Look at Homer Martin, one Of the
| greatest men We ever had. As long As he
| was living he was unknown. and it is no
| a certain vogue today. l will say this" re-
| marked Mr.. Dewey, his cynicism turning
INTO humor the greatest surprise thar
| would result from a proper American col
| lection would be the surprise to the Amer
| lean public.
Americans know so little about their
own art!-and here st. Gaudens nodded
! his head approximately. 1T is the middle
| class who buy our pictures, real amateurs
! VINO, luckily for themselves, are not enough
| IN The swim TO be led by fashion. The
Ilg4fIE r .TSfF
| have known anything, and it is their lack
| OF taste that mas permitted the dealers to
| folst the modern French and old English
| masters on them to the exclusion of an
| others- l doubt now if even the dealers
| themselves could arouse the interest Of Tho
fashionables in the painters Of their own
| country. Before American art can be rec
| ognlzed the mass of the people must be
| educated, and this is why | look SO indul-
| gently on the pilgrimage of the American
| girl TO the Latin quarter, Objectionable as
| il is in ITSELF
| American painters really neglected bv
| the -Four Hundred l exclaimed. How
| that would surprise the fashionables of
| London and Paris 1t is their pride 10 be
| patriotic in art, at least!"
| Forced to Depend Upon Patrons.
Certainly, but it is not so at home. Our
great painters either are neglected or else
their pictures become known through the
| influence of one man of taste. Take Dew
been taking a special interest in Dewing
and Tryon. and he influences others now
| and then to buy. Aside from these sales
| the vogue of both is limited. Take Thayer
| and Brush. Sears and Freer are their
| Patrons. But among society people there
IS no attempt to compete for their pic
lures
Have any such far-seeing patrons been
| Justified financially later on?'
| These fellows are all living; but there is
n lprly and
| Evans really understood him. Now that
| he is dead, his pictures are way up; but
unhappily, tho dealers did not lay in stock
| OF them when they We're cheap, consequent
| ly society does not know Homer Martin
Wyant also Is dead. and he passed away
| with scarcely notice. He never was APP
preciated except by a few. OF course we
have nothing in America like the I.lxem-
bourg Gallcry-where the American negro
genius, Tanner, is hung already before the
Americans have heard of him-but they
! managed to get Wyant into the museum
| in New York. Luckily it did not meet the
| fate of the picture of Robinson, one of our
most talented young men. After his death
a lot of students bought one of his pictures
and gave 1t to the museum. 1t was calmly
refused. l ought. however to mention a
| new order Of patrons coming into existence
| Several New York men, actuated by real
| love of the beautiful have made important
collections of American pictures, which
they have been generous in lending here
| and there and everywhere, whenever re-
quested. Naturally it made them talked
about. Seeing good advertisement in this
| New York business men have begun col
| lecting-and exhibiting. No, do not smile
at the idea protested Mr. Dewey What
| ever the motive, the good act is there and
| it is educating"
American Originality.
Remembering certain things l had heard
| in the Latin quarter, l asked him if The
| Four Hundred were not rather wilfu than
! ignorant. Perhaps our society people have
| heard Frenchmen say that the American
painters are Only copyists of Frenchmen?"
| THAT is old story" he said never
| theless, our American painters who have
arrived are thoroughly original and distinc-
| tive. Take landscape painting, for example
| There are square acres of most excellent
landscape in every annual Paris salon. In
| color and in the representation of diffused
| light they have worked in France with such
| industry that even mediocre plodders are
not without real merit: but this is far from
a distinctive quality. That the distinctive
quality of American landscape painters is
color goes without saying, but it is in the
sense of space that they are happiest. 1t
is not the result of any local atmosphere.
The 'plein air school of France has some