The times., 1899-09-17

| III the shock.
james Whitcomb Riley.
True, Mr. Riley, we painters are sure of
1t and you are an artist, though you NAV
know practically nothing about painting
and painters. You don't need to--no more
than Lincoln neaded a college diploma to
make him great man. You have pene-
trated the veil. Nature has revealed her
/ self to You with less reserve than she does
I to many a man who comes to her with
! great confidence and Beaux Arts cer-
/ tihcate. Nature asks few questions of those
! devotees who adore her with whole hearts.
/ II man has the spark of genius and is
willing to be led. she is kindness itself
! and sunny vista opens out before him
and all the faithful
1t is great thing to be painter. Think
of it, you man with the BRUSH" and stop
complaining THE man with the hoe is
"a serious affair. Thoughtful people pause
before him, ask themselves questions, and
then find the swarming answers far from
| reassuring. But with you, ''the man with
the brush" it is different matter. You
are one of Fate's favored children. Flow
ter in the sunshine for you. Clouds swing
purple and crimson in the yellow splendor
| at the days end. Apple trees grow pink
| and white and snow their burdens of
| beauty across blue skies, all for you; and
the little lambs scamper in the tall grass
for your deleetation. For you my lady in
white is beautiful in thousand differ
ent ways and in a thousand different lights
The unconsciousness of her face is
| part of her beauty. She has not the mis-
fortune OF an acquaintance with you.
You are one of the atoms at high water
on this swift moving current of life, nor
do you desire acquaintance, to your credit
be it said. Your mission is to discover, to
enjoy, to reveal Perhaps ii is also to
! teach, but God alone may be sure OF arts
ethical influence and end. Do not concern
yourself about that-paint pictures and be
happy.
Art Before Commerce.
Let no thought of commerce enter yoir
soul while dreaming in the haze of early
autumn days. Let Nature speak straight
TO your unmortgaged heart. See the truth
and tell it with your magic brush. When
you have reached the studio, you may ex-
ercise your commercial ingenuity, but be-
ware of an ambition for commercial sue
cess.
Live frugal1y and be sure that in doing
so you are enjoying closer companion
ship with the Muse and living nearer to
the light. Above all, be cheerful. A true
artist is social sunbeam He and his
pictures are welcome everywhere, while a
melancholy painter is an unhappy sight
The world is short ON sympathy There is
not enough of the practical kind to go
around, and no one has so small right to
ask for it as the man with the brush.
Put your shoulder TO the wheel in local
organization, do your share toward that
effort OF the earnest men TO bring about
closer relations between the painter and
that part of the community which under
stands and cares for pictures. And do this
not for the town alone, nor for personal
ends, but for sweet arts sake and that in
terest here in refined and cultivated things
may be wisely directed and more widely en-
joyed.
The proper attitude of the painter to-
ward the product of his hand after it has
become an article of commerce was sensi-
bly, expressed by F. Hopkinson Smith in an
interview published in the Saturday Even
ing POST Mr.. Smith, as is generally
known, spends month or two each sum-
mer in Venice or some other picturesque
place. Once there, with an enjoyment and
than the mature man that he is, Mr.. Smith
enters into the work of filing his port
| folios with charming watercolors. No
| thought but the joy of doing and the de-
| light found in new scenes and a care free
vacation.
His summer over, he returns TO New
| York, where he Immediately makes plans
| for marketing his accumulation of pictures
precisely in the same way that any wise
| manufacturer seeks the best market for
| his manufactured article, with this differ
| ence mark you: While the manufact-
urer has calculated the probable demand
| for his wares and has made things with an
| eye single to the wishes and need of the
| public. MIR. Smith, and every ether true
artist, makes his pictures because he was
| drawn to do that particular thing in his
| own individual way. That the public
might or might not like it was matter
| of not the remotest concern to the painter
while he was producing it.
| When the moment comes TO dispose of
! this work trade it for money, the ar
| lists position is identical with that of any
| other person who has pictures or other
wares to sell. He may hold his head high
and treat his patrons with great conde-
seension and deplore the necessity of bus
| mess relations" but the situation is the
| same The frank, sincere painter who de-
| pends upon the product of his brush for
his living, will deal with his customers
| in an honest, sincere, straightforward
| way and, looking the world straight in
| the face speak respectfully of business
| that bridge which carries him safely over
| the embarrassing places in life, year after
| year.
| The Society of Washington Artists.
The coming winter promises to be an
| eventful one The Society of Washington
Artists condition and prospects are not as
bright as they ought to be. The city should
| feel deeper concern in the society's well
fare. Every Individual artist should spare
no effort to accomplish this end. The con-
troll of the society and its management is
entirely in the hands of the professionals
1t would help matters if the lay members
TO whom so large part of the societys
past successes is due, might be induced
10 take hand in its management.
The society has at last a fine gallery
with every facility for giving picture exhi-
bitions and for the exhibition of art work
OF all kinds. Apathy exists in some direc-
tions; this must be overcome. The success
OF clubs and local galleries in other cities
encourages the active members to hope on
Unless something is done, the artists must
return to the chaotic and hopeless condi-
tion that existed years ago.
1t is not likely THAI this will be permit
ted to happen. but it is a condition which
the strongest and most enthusiastic friends
OF the society foresee unless some radical
new course is mapped out and the artists
themselves unite in an effort to hold the
position already gained. Individual paint
ers should feel that they cannot afford to
nj no md in