The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-29

First Recipient of the Awards.
That Washington is not backward in the
! encouragement of art and artists
is apparent to everyone who visits
the Corcoran School and witnesses
the work in operation there by
pupils under most excellent and COM
| petent instructors. Visitors to the Corco-
| ran Gallery whose attention is necessarily
! confined to the splendid exhibition Of
paintings and statuary on public view. can
scarcely realize the full scope Of the eff
forts in behalf Of art made by the late
| W. W. Corcoran.
One must enter by the north entrance
/ of the beautiful marble structure and so
| through the rooms devoted TO the class
| work of the pupils of the art school to
obtain an idea of course of instruction
which is sending out distinguished and
| competent artists over the entire country.
! The visitor is prepared for a sight of ex
! celent work from almost the very moment
! he enters. The walls of the first apart
meut on the right hand side of the hall
/ are embellished with the prize drawings
/ which have won the gold medal in past
| years. 1t is the ambition of every pupil
to obtain this medal. which is awarded au-
nually. and the competition is open to all
| who have attended the school for two
/ years. As the history of the medal is
! practically that OF the art school from its
/ inception to the present time, it may be
we'll to briefly review the same before
! describing the work now being done by
/ the pupils.
! In the year 1880 persons were first per-
/ mitted to draw from the casts in the
/ sculpture halls of the gallery, and, in or
! der to promote the excellence Of the work,
a resolution was offered on April H. 1888
/ by Mr. s, H. Kaufman, member OF the
| board of trustees, which proposed the
/ awarding of a gold medal Ito the pupil or
/ non professional copyist who shall, during
] each year show the greatest improvement
! or progress in drawing from the casts in
| the gallery selected for that purpose: pro-
( vided that such medal may be withheld
! whenever, in the judgment of the com
mttee of award. for the time being. no
drawing submitted shall be deemed Of suf-
! ficient merit to be justly entitled thereto.
| and provided further that no person shall
/ have the right to receive the same more
! than once" His resolution was unan-
/ mously adopted. The medal was designed
and the dies made by Mr. Henry Mitchell,
! of Boston, who received $500 for the work.
Ten medals in bronze were also struck
/ off at the same time and these are now
! awarded 10 the series of drawings next in
merit to that obtaining the gold medal.
! On January f5. 1885, occurred the first
/ awarding of the prizes. The, judges then,
I as now were necessarily non-rCsidents Of
I the District, and the drawings were sent
| to the Academy of Design in New York.
| At the present time the judges make the
/ selection Of meritoTious works in the gal
! lery where the drawings are hung for eX
/ hibition. These judges are three in num-
! ber, and besides being non residents of the
District, are strangers TO each other.
On the occasion of the first award the
work Of only eight pupils had to be con-
sidered. whilo at the forthcoming competi-
ton which will take place upon the last
Wednesday in May there viii probably be
over $50 exhibitors with about twenty
competitors for the medal.
The work Of each pupil has always been
marked by letter SO that not until the
award has been made do the judges know
the name OF the winner The first re
cipent Of the medal was Miss H. 4. Hart
I well, and she was presented with it by
DR.. James yelling President Of the
Board Of Trustees Of the Gallery.
The project for building separate
structure for the purpose of an art school
was first preached al a meeting Of the
Board of Trustees held April S, 1889.
The recommendation was adopted and the
edifce which was the home Of the art
school until the erection of the new gal
lery. was completed January l. 1890.
This was Immediately in the rear OF
the building formerly occupied by the
gallery and was erected at a total cost
Of 81 sos. The Board of Trustees we're
impelled to take this step in accordance
with the wishes expressed in the will Of
Mr.. Corcoran. who died in 1883. the year
previous to the erection of the building
and the practical founding of the art
school as it exists today. For the estab-
lishment and maintenance Of the school.
Mr.. Corcoran left in his will the sum Of
100000. The school was opened January
s, 1890, with forty pupils present and l03
names entered on the list of applicants.
For the first year 115 pupils received in
struction, while at present fully three
times that number are entered on the list
On January 80. 1890 the judges met for
the first time in the school building to
decide upon the merits of the contestants
This. too was the year when the first
public exhibit was made. These affairs
always attract a large amount of attention
and are, indeed very enjoyable Offering
perhaps the best opportunity for appreci-
ating the work Of the pupils and display
ing also great talent in some of the
highest and most artistic lines of work.
The date for the holding of the public
exhibitions, preparatory to the awarding
OF prizes has been changed from June 80,
the date Of closing the gallery to the latter
part OF May or the beginning OF June.
Last year for the first time in the his
tory Of the art school the main gallery
building was thrown open for the final eN-
ercises of the art school. The experiment
proved such marked success. and the Oc-
casOn was such a vast improvement over
similar ones in former years. that the
trustees believe it will prove Of iuestima-
bic advantage to the school, and they hope.
if the finances of the institution permit. to
carry out the same plan in the future
The work of the pupils is permitted to re
main on exhibition on the walls of he
atrium for one week and the awarding OF
the medals is the occasion for "a public
ceremony. which eycites great interest.
not only among the competitors themseve.
and their friends. but the public at large
who gather on the upper and lower floors
of he gallery where they can command a
view of the proceedings. The president
Of the board OF trustees presdes and dis
tributes the awards. The Marine Band IS
in attendance. and the announcements are
made and the prizes distributed from the
platform Of the main staircase of the
building, thus commanding the view and
hearing of the audience upon both the
upper and lower floors of the gallery.
The sealed pnVplODpS containing he YER