The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-19

ny tht
fessionaI-Farmers' Efforts in That
Direction-Thc Outing of an Artist.
WEST CORNWALL, Conn, Aug 16.-
These outing letters are mainly reflections
on artistic subjec-s, and since it is given
to a painter to live on "the sunny side
of the wall" it follows naturally that life,
places, and things have a fine significance
to him. His mind is likely to be more
acute to the beauty that lies on every
hand than is that of one who is mer'y
interested in the material or social side II
a locality.
As 1 write these lines in my old summer
studio in THE Hills of Cornwall" far up
by LitchfeId, in the extreme northwestern
corner of Connecticut, my thoughts revert
TO those other days, when 1 roamed about
here, year in and year out, painting the
lake, the hills, the brooks, and the beauti
full valleys. Those were the palmy days,
| when pictures sold themselves, blessing
the true artist can understand. What
delight it was. How happier than a king,
or Alma Tadema even, in his great art
! house" by London town, that bright day
when knocked out the north wall of the
big loft over the carriage house and put
| in studio window there, set up my eas-l
and launched out as landscape painter
I should in the midst, not of his patrons.
but of his material. No genial dealer
said TO me, Paint dozen of this" and
no good atured but misguided patron
! said, Change this" for that L don't
know anything about art, but know what
l like"
Nature, with infinite sympathy and the
most appealing look, pointed to the mas
1 tiers saying: Remember them and follow
me-" What joy it was, And when the
spring came and the portfolios were full
| 10 bursting with the years work, good Mr..
| Fischer would throw open his doors and
Invite his friends to see the Cornwall pic
| lures. Then my cup of happiness was
| full. So it came about that the Cornwall;
| hills are familiar TO Washington. 1t was
! In this studio that the Winter Nina
| lures" which pleased New York. were
| painted and brought that measure of sue
! cess which confirmed their makers opin
| ion that nature should be the landscape
| painters constant companion. J. D. Smile,
| n. A., said OF those winter studies
| (this was after their exhibition in New
|
wondered how you kept from perishing
with cold while you were making them
| out of doors" His establishment may be
| imagined when l told him they were all
| made in q warm, snug, country studio.
] from pencil notes of color and line made
| directly in the open air. / was living very
| close to nature then. There were no even
ings out, no sight of brick and mortar. and
| few houses; and the railroad and the store
three miles away. l have little or no faith
in talent, but unlimited confidence in in
dustry, intelligently directed when it is
performed with enjoyment and enthusiasm.
| This, students of landscape VIII do well
to remember, Stay by your material and
deliver the message nature has for you.
1t cannot be unworthy if you have MASTER
ed your medium and have learned to ex-
press yourself completely in it.
II is hard to realize that over half the
| summer has been spent wandering along
the beautiful shores Of the Potomac, so
| natural does 1t seem 20 be back in the
| country studio. l might doubt It's reality
| we're it not for the group of recently made
canal and river studies, spread out on
| easels here, in this picturesque studio.
| There are a group of sketches on the canal,
| and at Great Falls, moonlight effects along
J the river wherein glimmer the green
bridge lights and the moving orange glow
of trolley cars.
| CDIE db ilt AUOL VI lue DtIhSnii
| Hills is different country, but not less
charming; for here, melting away into the
| blue, one may see Monument Mountain
! and a bit of old Graylock, the Taghconic
! and Hoosic ranges bordering Berkshire,
/ that lovely valley of rest where Pitts
| field, Lenox, Stockbridge, and Great Bar
rington, ideal New England villages. nes
| tie in a vale of SURPRISING beauty. In the
early morning one may also see from here
| far away to the westward the Kaatskill
| Mountains. and on a fair day against that
ragged line of blue mountains, defined like
! the teeth of a saw against the sky shining
and white in the morning sun, the noun
| tain house shows plainly. ION every
| height there lies repose." And this is the
dearest height I know. Here on this old
| farm for generations back the grand
/ parents of my children have lived, loved
] toiled and served God in that good old
New England fashion which made a type
OF American men and women which are
! the admiration of the world. / never
! cease to wonder at the tidiness and es-
| thetie taste with which these New England
| people keep up all OF their unitarian sur
| roundings. Possessing artistic taste,
though they never dream of such a thing.
they are apt to call it neatness and look
| upon it as simply sign of thrift. That
nameless prophet who introduced, over a
century ago, the white pine classic" style
| OF architecture was the author of
an inestimable blessing. Brick, brown
stone, rubble, and rough cast, with
all the vagaries and alleged pic
turesqueness, have had their day. and al
though some OF the returning millionaires
have built palaces in those styles, the
humble white frame home and meeting
house still survive as the country and viii |
lage architecture.
There are two excellent reasons for this !
First, because they met every utilitarian |
need, and again because the motive and |
lines were Greek. There was, OF course, |
room in this style of architecture for in
dividual artistic expression, and so 1t has |
eliminated In an American style which |
has at last come to its own, and as the !
colonial" is the most respected and dis |
tinctively American style in which our |
architects are working today
Up about Lenox and Stoc1brdge are fine |
places where expert gardeners and land
scape architects vie with each other in an
effort to perfect the inclination OF nature
and direct II on artistic lines. but their
efforts are not more successful than the
landscape surroundings of many of these
New England farm houses Here they
keep up the roads and fences, plant trees
and vines, and lay out flower gardens with
the least concern as to the appropriate>
ness OF the locality and the character OF
the flowers planted there. 1t is entirely a
matter of Individual liking for the nosies |