The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-27
FAMOUS PAINTER A SLAVE.
He Declares He Belongs to His Pic
ture Seller.

He Declares He Belongs to His Pic
ture Seller.
Pene Dubois in the New York Journal.
Il belong to my picture seller" said the
most fashionable of our painters last night
ourselves as one is bored in the society
that enjoys itself. Because of mis- avid
ity lost the right TO be a man and had
to resign myself to be a great man At
his word, by his order, l produce a guam
tity of masterpieces, delightful, awfully
original fine and exact and made TO cap
tivate the fashionable people.
"Oh. if my works were sometimes bad
a ray of hope might come TO me, but
fashionable painter has not the right TO
work badly! My pictures are always dis
couragingly perfect. My picture seller and
his silent partners live of them. marry
from them their daughters TO earls build
factories with them. They make of me
fashionable man, a sportsman, a nabob,
everything except an artist. for I have
not the permission TO create anything
other than marveis"
How did your picture seller manage TO
capture your" l asked.
The painter replied: My first can
vases, framed in ircandescent borders
resembling gardens of gold gathered
HIOuDO ms WINDOWS all InG TtCn strangers
that walk on Fifth avenue and were sold
to them easily for 500 each. He said, I
will agree TO pay you $3.50 for every paint
ing that you may make, be it OF piece
Of stuff, a nutshell or nothing, and you
may paint as many pictures a you wish
If he had been sincere, he would have
said as l wish
I signed contract that entangled me
in threads more complicated than those
that be 7 fffn1ltf1pS
yer. A clause of it said that my picture
seller, in consideration of the advertising
that he gave me, was 10 receive a third
of the prices paid for works sold in my
studio directly, without his intermediary"
That seems just" I said.
AS just" he replied ''as the electric
volt chat kills a man in chair. Soon.
orders of art lovers came direct to me in
masses To remain true artist, l should
nave restricted the number of my works;
but 20 remain a business man, my picture
seller had to force me to create master
pieces more numerous than grains of
sand on the beach. And he is business
man. clause of our contract that
may not recite to you. because il forms
an octave volume. gave to my Barnum
the task of furnishing my studio and of
giving TO me d material environment ex-
pressive of my glory
He bought the house where | live
filled it with art objects. Japanese EN-
broideries on satin swords, mother-of-
pearl stools and sunshades. l was to re-
pay him In installments. In less time
than it takes 10 write a tragedy in five
acts, l owed him 10000 l have paid
the debt SO easy it is nowadays to sell
pictures. l might have got rid of him,
then, but 1 did not dare to get rid of
him. because he is ever ready to advance
me 5000
And why do you ever want 5000 I
asked.
He looked at me curiousy. and seeing
that my question had been ingenious, re-
Piled Because l am a fashionable paint
err Thus I learned that slavery, abol-
ished az Dahomey. flourishes still in New
York
Poor. but not a slave" I said, lis good
old Bersstrom. translaring the "'Pentaur'
an Egyptian poem of $500 verses on the
campaigns Of the Ahmenoteps against the
Khetas." But the painter replied lacon-
ically He owes eight years of wages to
his cook