Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-06-23

StiltOn cheese From lGlD ID lOi3
there were 4.GOO pictures wlifully de
strOyed In the reign of Queen Eliza
beth it was the habit OF some people
to spend much of their time in knock
ing pictures to pieces. In the reign OF
Charles | 1t was ordered by par.
lament that all pictures Of Christ
be burned Painters were so badly
treated and humiliatcd In the begin
ming Of the eighteenth century that
they were lowered clear down out Of
the subllmity OF their art and obliged
to give accounts of what they did with
their colors. The oldest picture In
England. a portrait OF ChauceP. though
now OF great value. was picked out Of
q lumber garret. Great were the trials
Of Quentin Matsys. who toiled on from
blacksmiths anvil till. as painter,
he won wide recognition. The first
missionaries to Mexico made the fatal
mistake OF destroying pictures. for
the loss Of which art and religion must
ever lament. But why go so far back
when in ibis year Of our Lord to be a
painter, except In rare occasions,
means poverty and neglect. poorly
fed, poorly clad. poorly housed, be-
cause poorly appreclated2
Value of Art Galleries.
When | hear a man Is painter, |
| have two feelings-one OF admiration
for the greatness OF his soul and the
,f-., fnr 40
Of his body. But so II has been In all
departments OF noble work. Some Of
the mightitst have been hardly be-
stead. Oliver Goldsmith had such big
patch on the coat over his left breast
that when he went anywhere he kept
his hat In his hand closely pressed
over the patch The world renown-
ed Bishop Asbury had salary Of SGi
n year. Painters are not the only ones
who have endured the lack OF appreci-
alton. Let men OF wealth take under
their patronage the suffering men OF
art. They lift no complaint; they
make no strike for higher wages. But
with a keenness Of nervous organiZa-
ton which almost always character
ICES genius these artists suffer more
than any one but God can realize.
There needs be n concerted effort for
the suffering artists Of America. not
sentimental discourse about what we
owe to artists, but contracts that will
give them livelihood: for am in full
sympathy with the Christian farmer |
who was very busy gathering his fall
apples. and some one asked him to |
pray for a poor family. the father OF |
whom had broken his leg, and the busy |
farmer said 81 cannot stop now to |
pray. but you can go down into the |
cellar and get some corned beef and |
butter and eggs and potatoes. That is
all can do now"
Artists may wish for our prayers. !
but they also want practical help from |
men who can give them work. You
have heard scores Of sermons for all
other kinds OF suffering men and wom-
en-, but we need sermons that make
pleas for the suffering men and women
of American art Their work Is
more true to nature and life than some
bf the masterpieces that have become
immortal on the other side OF the sea,
but it is the fashion Of Americans to
mention foreign artists and to know
little or nothing about our own Copley
and Allston, and lnman and Gree
nough, and Kensett. Let the atfiuent
fling out Of their windows and into the
backyard valueless daubs on canvas
and call In these splendid but unre-
warded men and tell them TO adorn
your walls, not only with that which
shall please the taste, but enlarge the
minds and improve the morals and
save the souls Of those who gaze upon
them. All American cities need great
galleries Of art not only open annually
for few days on exhibition, but which
shall stand open all the year round,
and from early morning until 10 o'clock
ut night and free to all who would
come and go.
Build Art Galleries.
What preparation for the wear and
tear Of the day a five minutes look IN
the morning at some picture that VIII
open q door into some larger realm
than that In which our population
daily drudgel Or what a good thing
the half hour OF artistic opportunity |
on the way home In the evening from
exhaustion that demands recuperatlon
for mind and soul as well as body! |
Who will do for the city where you
live what w. W. Corcoran did for
Washington and what others have
done for Philadelphia and Boston and
New York? Men Of wealth, IL you are
too modest to build and endow such |
place during your lifetime. why not |
go to your iron safe and take out your
last will and testament and make
codicil that shall build for the city OF |
your residence a throne for American |
art? Take some OF that money that |
would otherwise spoil your children
and build an art gallery that shall as
sociate your name forever, not only |
with the great masters OF painting |
who are gone, but with the great mas |
ters who are trying to live, and also
win the admiration and love Of tens OF |
thousands OF people who. unable to |
have fine pictures Of their own. would |
be adyantaged. By your benefactions
build your own monuments and not |
leave 1t to the whims Of others. Some
Of the best people sleeping in Green
wood have no monuments at all, or |
some crumbling stones that In a few |
years will let the rain wash out name |
and epltaph. while some men whose
death was the abatement OF nuisance |
have a pile Of Aberdeen granite high |
enough for king and eulogium |
enough to embarrass a seraph.
Oh, man OF large wealth, Instead OF |
leaving 10 the whim Of others your |
monumental commemoratlon and cpl
taphology. to be looked at when people |
are going to and fro at the burial of !
others, build right down In the heart
of our great city. or the city where you
live. an immense free reading room or
n free musical conservatory or free