The Savannah morning news., 1904-09-25

"soon after I came to America, in
1875 the year Of the Centennial Expo
sition at Philadelphia said Fernando
Miranda, whose sculptured group en-
titled Fame" has attracted much at
tention at the st. Louis Exposition. i
made up my mind that I had set foot
in a land where good taste was a
stranger and where the only art
thought worth while was the art of
making money.
The traits of the people which i'm
pressed me most were their hospitality,
which was delightful, and their ambl-
ton, which seemed boundless. The eff
feet OF American energy upon me, as
it is upon many newly arrived visitors,
was depressing. 1t fairly dazed me.
Everybody was busy all the time.
Everybody was rushing hither and yon
There was no rest for anybody. NO
body, it seemed. wanted to talk about
anything but dollars. There appeared
to be a rudimentary liking for beauty,
but the pictures, the statuary, the dec
orations the architecture with which
the native American sought to gratlty
his liking rarely rose above the com
monplace and often the taste displayed
was simply hideous.
There were plenty of statues set up
in public places, but nearly all were
bad. Paintings were hanging on walls,
but the canVases were mostly devoid
of art Many of the public parks were
anything but beautiful. With few ex-
ceptions the architecture was as bad
as the art in the pictures and the stat
uary. Utility seemed to be about the
only thing sought for except in pubic
buildings. A small minority of these
were good, though their merits were
due mainly to their borrowed features.
A Surprising Transformation.
To-day it is different. The people
are as energetic as ever, they are still
as deeply interested in the dollar. But
their taste has undergone a transfor-
nation. ] was told in 1876 by brother
sculptor that it would be hopeless to
try to get a rich American to spend
money for the intelligent beauti1cation
of his home. To-day rich Americans
are spending more money for art in
their houses than anybody else on
earth, and they are spending it with
taste and judgment as well as lavish
ly. Had | been told twenty-eight years
ago that any such transformation was
posi- BILE I would have laughed at the
prediction.
A surprising thing about this
change, though when you think 1t over
there should be no surprise at all in it,
is this: The very energy, the ceaseless
rushing about in search of something
to do, the very dollar-chasing which
so stunned me at first, is the main
cause for the development of taste and
the growth of art appreciation which
has taken place in this country. This
same restless energy, this same pursuit
of wealth. is going to create-has al
to nna To eynYN a
American art atmosphere, in the
broadest sense of the term.
In 1876 / did not understand that
there must be accumulated wealth in
a country before it can cultivate and
maintain the art spirit. There must
be rich men before artists, otherwise
the latter cannot be paid for their
work, and the wealthy men of America
to-day, more than those of any other
country, are ready-yes anxious-to
pour out their wealth for good statues
good paintings, good buildings and
fine parks.
Wealth in Art.
This is something upon which too
much emphasis cannot be laid. The
great expenditures in art-painting,
sculpture and architecture, all three
are made in most countries by the gov
eminent. This means that the whole
pay the bills. Here, at heavy expense,
the municipalities, the states and the
federal government, are all erecting
public buildings, and their quality is
steadily improving. But private gem
tlemen of wealth are spending much
more than the total of the public ex-
penditures for public buildings in the
creation of fine institutional buildings.
In other countries it is generally
the public purse that is drawn upon
when hospitals universities. public Ii
braries, art galleries and even churches
are to be erected, but in America
nearly all these semi-public structures
are built at private expense. In the
erection of fine residences America
leads every land, and while the public
money is sometimes laid out for pieces
of statuary and, more rarely. for pic
lures, in these two directions, also,
private expenditures so far outrun the
public outlay that there is no COMPARE
son whatever. No one who has made a
study of art development in America,
as / have, can fail to see that its
amazing progress has been due to the
very energy and the seemingly mad
rush for money that so awed me when
/ came here.
Wants the Best and VIII Pay.
Three other qualities. developed
here to a higher degree than any
where else. have been of vast benefit
TO art in this country. The American.
more than any other living man, wants
the best. More than any other living
man, he is ready to pay for it. More
than any other man, too. he will allow
whoever is selected to help him get the
best to do so in his own way. The
American has learned to do this in his
strenuous building of railroads, open
ing of mines and the general pursuit
of wealth, though l ought to say that,
really, ] do not think il is the dollar
so much as success for its own sake,
that the American is after.
When the railroad president wants
a lot of locomotives he selects the
engine builders who in his judgment
can produce the best, places the order
for the machines. with complete in
formation as to what they must be
capable of doing and leaves the build
ing of them alone. When the same
railroad president wants to build a
palace fit for prince he selects the
best architect he can find, instructs
him as TO the cost and his general de-
sires, and then leaves him to work out
his own salvation