The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-04

nm a luxurious "cozy nook" Of some
Famous hotel one may often find
rosy-faced painter, dressed like
farm hand in a barn and surrounded
E Dy- barn scenes, at work upon his can
vas. Generally the city is Chicago,
though the hotel varies. The painter
seldom pauses in his work to note the
various comments Of the interested on
lockers. There is one principal sub.
Ject In all his pictures; and
that Is Indian corn in the ear. There
are ears of seed-corn hanging by their
twisted husks from a nail in the wall
Of barn. There are heaps of corn on
barn floors. There are united sacks of
corn with ears protruding at the top
and with holes in the sides through
which the contents may be seen.
There are overturned barrels Of corn.
There are old bushel baskets of corn.
No two ears are just alike Some are
partly shelled off at the end, leaving
the cob projecting. There are ears
with grains in straight rows, and ears
with grains in spiral rows. There are
ears large and small and middle-sized
There are scattered grains upon the
barn floor.
artist has studied and painted corn in
its simple, homely surroundings of
the barn. until he has acquired
mastery OF the subject which probably
is unequaied in the world.
The painter is Montgomery; but his
name is seldom heard There are few
except his farm neighbors who know
that his first name Is Arthur. His
f-v- ic,
ward the center Of Illinois, and here he
is to be found at work save when he
makes a trip to some city to paint.
Montgomery has been called the
Whitcomb Riley or the Walt Whitman
OF the brush. Despite the compliment
he does not relish the comparison, for
he delights in originality and does not
wish his name coupled with that of any
other man.
He has become identified with Chi
cago, where he is the exact antipode of
the famous Chicagoan Of other days,
the artist Healy. whose portraits were
the wonder of the time of Louis
Philippe, and are conspicuous in the
gallery Of the palace of Versailles.
Healy was the brilliant, polished
man of the world, the companion of
| princes and dukes. and the painter of
| kings and OF presidents.
| Montgomery has the inverted pride Of
a man who makes no claim of family
or antecedentS, polish of manner or
| favor of the great. He denies vehe-
mently that he ever had a master or
any teacher except nature. AS to
merit. that is another thing. If his
| paintings possess it, they will speak
for themselves. He courts no favors.
| He asks no advice. He patronizes no
critics. 1t might be deemed daring
| thing to couple his name at all with
| that of Healy. But it must be remem-
bered that 1.-THE corn painter" is man
| Of international fame of certain
kind. OF all the American pictures
| exhibited at the Paris exposition of
/ 1900 his was one Of the most con-
| spicuous. 1t was, indeed, a wonder
| Of rustic art. For it's inner frame, in
stead of gilt, there was border of old
| fence boards which had endured. the
sun and rain and frost for fifty five
years on an old farm, near the scenes
of Lincoln's young manhood. The
i boards were scanned and gray, and
were covered with an exquisite tracery
| of slichens. The outer frame was
made of fence rails of a still earlier
date, which spoke of the tolls of the
| rail splitter. The picture was one of
still life. There was the inevitable
barn floor, with its rude accompani-
| ments of barrels, bags and baskets,
generally upset, and with corn, corn,
| corn on every hand.
| Paris remembers the blue yarn
| stockings worn by Benjamin Franklin
| at the gilded court of Louis XVI, and
it will long remember the tableau de
grange of the corn painter.
How does this rude but inimitable
artist stand with the critics? With
the professional critics of the schools,
not at all. With men of the world
who are not trained or professional
critics he is very popular. Governors
and senators, captains Of industry and