The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-05
A GREAT PUGILIsT ON ART.
John l.. Sullivan Expresses Opinions
Paintings.

John l. Sullivan Expresses Opinions
Paintings
CFrom the New York Commercial Advertiser.)
John L. Sullivan sits in his corner in
his Broadway saloon. and all about the
the great round table before him bask the
men who admire greatness. Usually the
conversation Is of fighting; yesterday 1t
was of art. Usually the retinue talk yes
terday It was Mr. Sullivan himself.
Usually 1t goes Ike this:
Say, John, l heard feller sayin' he'd
seen you done up"
The man who said this ciuSehed his chair
as if ready to rise and run. while all the
others seemed 10 be amazed az his
temerity or nerve" Mr. Sullivan, who
has been looking down. lost In thought or
something. gradually grasps the import of
the remark and slowly settles his gaze
upon the speaker. His brow contracts and
his jaw sets II is evident he expects an
explanation. and the daring man begins TO
give one.
1T was by enc blow
The amazemeat increases, the patience
decreases.
1t was the corkscrew blow
The circle laughs, relieved Sullivan
ponders, understands, and approaching
the joke OF his fondness for the drinks
that are drawn upon By the corkserew,
pays Tor the pun. He waves his hand and
the drinks are on the house,
Then there is silence. The retinue is
not great al conversation themselves.
so they wait You have time 70 look ali
around al the paIntinCs on the wall, all
scenes from Dante's -anfeFao," and down
upon the black, beautiful carpet The car
pet seems ineongruous somehow. and you
wonder at the connection between these
fine things and the rest, till. with great
elaboration. Mr. Sullivan removes his big
cigar from his mouth and splits upon vel
vety things II is all right
This is all as usual On Tuesday last
however, Nj. Sullivan was called upon in
one Of the city courts to pass on the mer-
its Of large oil portrait OF himself Hav-
ing acquitted himself on this occasion with
great satisfaction TO himself and his
friends, Mr.. Sullivan has allowed art 10
receive a considerable elaim on his no
tice Of late" He is Ecw dispensing 10 the
satellites Of his corner table. in cOnnec-
ton with occasional rounds "cn the
house" most direct and forcible disquisi-
lions on canvas portrayal In general and
the artistic merits Of the immediate sur
roundings in particular. In short he was
reminded that he is q patron Of the fine as
well as the manly art
Very eandidly Mr.. Sullivan admitted
yesterday afternoon that although he had
never paid no particular notice TO the
picture work that Allen'd had stuck I'D
around" yet ne had begun 10 realize that
there might be something in il at that
fer guys that give up much appreciation
fer high art an all that To such be ad-
mltted he could see what an elegant ad-
vantage an art gallery Ike We put up
would afford. He added, however. the re-
gretful proviso that art lovers wuz never
good buyers
- &c Eel
and he spoke with the force and eonvie-
ten that come from a forty eight-ireh
chest. These art hsngings like what
got around here is different like people
cares fer EN- l mean this way: ] reads
what Dante says all the naked people
painted up here is an what they're Up
against an lets il 20 al that. / passes
EN- mp See? Maybe l cons the picture
sharl as comes III with guH on foreground
atmosphere. perspective. color scheme an
words like that. It's art, an some folks
likes it. Whatell. They likes It. an they
gets il; but. on the dead, not any art fer
mine. Not fer a regular thi1g. mean. A
man what runs q place like me here s got
ter be intelligent like on the art end but
outside general commenting. I passes it
up"
The gaze of Mr. Sullivan had wandered
over his art treasures and rested on the
gorgeous panel labeled. "Danton, Artist;
Dante. Poet: Dore, illustrator in Black
and White" Although Mr.. Sullivan con-
fessed an imperfect knowledge OF the more
ancient celebrities Of the pictured storieg
he testified, with some profanity and
length, to a complete knowledge Of the
artist This brought on painful reminis-
cences OF the difference between the artist
and himself that had lately been aired in
court.
II can't but admit" began Mr. Sullivan
but wot Danton done good on these here
paintings, at that. Why wouldn't he? He
wuz paid good fer the daubin'. But say
outsider art, that feller's bug-house; a
nutty Frenchman, that's wot he is You
seen the chrome lie done Of me? Well
say, that wuz the limit; all in, muffin
doin'l The lunch hooks he'd put on mel
Say. they wuz slender like; you'd think 1
wuz dancing master. An the feet-bub
Six sizes too large. Say he's good por-
trait painter. l guess not. suppose he's
wot they call a gerry painter, maybe.
Why. say. wot'd he do on the art here but
copy OIL Dory? That's wot he done. He
amt so much; why, say
It was with some difficulty that Mr.. Sui
livan was led at this point from personal
yituperation back to the broad field OF
art When bias and personal aggrieve-
ment had passed OF in some fifteen min
utes of inward rumbling, Mr.. Sullivan's
face cleared and with fresh round Of
drinks came his last word on art
Pictures Amt bad when they draws
trade. like here" he said. These pictures
of ours is god an convenient. They're
ell oil. see?'; humping Sharon with his
pouderous forefnger They all roll up.
an we've got boxes they can all be put
in
There might have been more of this. but
AIR. Sullivan suddenly seemed to become
suspicious He is, as the whole world
knows, a large man and strong. and when
he leaned forward and said in his express
siye way: Say young Teller. is yer kid
din me?" the young fellow elutehed the
chair, rose and went straight out. finging
reassurances over his shoulder at the
wrathful art connoisseur who, however,
remained seated only looking severely
after his interviewer.
An Inopportune Moment.
Gentle errino had oor,a n, voun,, ,rros- ur.s