Evening star., 1902-03-29
A R T ES.

One of the most important and progress
sive movements toward the betterment of
art In Washington was set on foot by Mr..
Louis d. Melne ct a social gathering OF
artists, architects and business men held
q. his home last week 1t was a plea for
the establishment of an Arts and Crafts
Club. and met with enthusiastic approval.
Mr.. E. H. Miller was elected president
pro tempore and Mr.. Hobart Nichols sec
reSary, with instructions to appoint a com
n,ittee to thoughtfully review the plan and
formulate feasible scheme for organiza-
ton and future development.
Mr.. Meline. Mr.. Sawyer. Mr.. hampton.
DR.. Compton and ar. Nichols compose this
committee. and after several preliminary
meetings they have fulfilled already In a
measure these duties. The club is to be
somewhat modelled after the National Arts
Club of New York and other kindred in
stitutions, and Is to have as its object the
Increase Of civic pride. the furtherment of
mrEicipal art and The encouragement of the
arts and crafts ANY man VINO Is a gem
tleman and is sincerely interested In these
objects is eligible for membership. There
are to be one hundred charter members,
each subscribing $50. and when half of
these have been enrolled the club Is to be
formally organized and a home for 1t pro-
viGed.
1t is at present the purpose of the pro-
jectors to erect, IS soon as organization is
accomplished, a suitable building for its oc-
cupation, in which there shall be an assem-
bly, hall of sufficient size to house small
exhibitions. not only of paintings. but of the
rany objects embraced by the comprehen-
s.ve phrase the arts and crafts which
shall follow each other without intermis-
sion throughout the season. The quarters
OF the club will also, as Mr.. Meline has
said, be rendezvous where the dilettante
ana connoisseur. as well as the producer.
can exchange ideas, and, by social inter
course, not only be of mutual benefit, but
discuss projects for the public good. A lit
tie book Incorporating briefly the plan and
object Of the club, with spaces in which
the names of the charter members can be
enrolled, has already been put in print, and
1t is confidently telt that there are more
than enough men In Washington who will
be interested and anxious to further the
scheme to make its incorporation possible
and probable in the immediate future.
x
Much interest Is being manifested in a
collection of st. Memin portraits, which has
been quite lately placed on exhibition in
tho Library of Congress. Nj, Favret de
Saint Memin, 1t will be remembered, was a
political exile from France, who sought ref
Cge in American in 1896. and supported
himself by making portraits with the phys
iognotrace, which had been invented by
Chretien in.Paris ten years earlier. We are
tolG that he met with some difficulty at
first in making the necessary coulettes, but
that he finally succeeded is testified by the
fact that between 1871 and 1900 he engraved
by this method no less than 800 pictures. Sig
of which were portraits. During his stay
in America he worked chiefly in New York
and Philadelphia, but also visited Balti-
and Charleston, that among his sitters
were numbered most of the distinguished
Eien of those epoch-making years. When
he returned permanently to France he left
il this country two collections of engraved
portraits, all of which were choice proofs
and the other S1S portraits. The former
passed into the hands of a New York pub
Usher the latter is the property of the Cor
coran Art Gallery.
In the exhibition at the library there are
about $50 engravings. the most of which
belonged to the Peter c. Force collection
which was purchased by the government in
the late nfneties. A portrait of St Memin
himself is shown at the first of the series
with a brief sketch of his life and two of
his quaint advertisements, printed over a
century ago. One of these dated December
y runs as follows:
THE subscriber begs leave to inform the
public that he continues to take an en-
grave nkenesses as usual at No. IL South
Sd street, where may be seen a great num-
Der of portraits of distinguishes persons
who honored him with their patronage both
In New York and Philadelphia. The crayon
portrait, plate and twelve impressions shall
be delivered for the moderate price of So
for gentlemen and $50 for ladies. The por-
TRAIT without engraving may be had for
So"
This gives added testimony to the oft-re-
peated statement that women are much
| more difficult sitters than men, and may
I a hot ,,1c,., ~.
Bile absence of likenesses of the gentler sex
in the collection. Many of the portraits
now on exhibition are of the members of
Congress in those early days; goodly
number are of such men of distinction az
VIM. Henry Harrison, Governor De Witt
Clinton, Commodore Decatur and Col VIM.
Augustin Washington. and not few are
of peculiar local interest, representing
members of many of the best known
Georgetown and Washington families
The Society of Washington Artists and
Washington Architects Clubs annual exhi-
bition closes on Monday. 1t is to be greatly
regretted that more of the paintings shown
In the hemicycle will not find permanent
homes in Washington, but that they have
helped in measure to raise the standard
here, as well as given unending pleasure to
many who were unable to become nur-
chaSerS, should be reckoned in the sum-
ming up of successful accomplishment and
Mr.. Arthur Dow, who was for several
years curator of the Japanese collection in
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and is
now the instructor Of the design and nor
NAL classes in the Pratt Institute, gave an
interesting illustrated lecture on art and its
teaching at the Phoebe Hearst Kindergar-
ten Training School, in this city, last Sat-
,,~1o
broadest sense. and laid special emphasis
on the close relation of the arts and crafts
Certain elements, he said, were potent fac
tors in all the branches Of art; the fouuda-
tion of all virtually the same. He dwelt at
some length upon the meaning of lines,
the value of correct spacing of masses, and
the development of light and shade, advis-
ing a close adherence to the japanese
| methods. Mr.. Dow believes that the art
impulse is universal, and needs ra ther to be
awakened than instilled, and urged strong