The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-07-01

IudL amount. IL COmer could not re-
ceive the compliment Of having one
OF his pictures purchased by this
fund, he vertainly should not be made
the victim Of dinky subscription
list. Mr.. Conner is too great an art
ist and has commanded too much adj
miration abroad to be relegated to the
rear in this fashion. If one of Com
er's best pictures isn't worth $500
it isn't worth anything.
DIR. Starbuck, new professor of
education at Earlham, who was in the
city recently and was taken a hur-
ried excursion to the art exhibit and
who is said to be critic of discrim-
ination, upon being asked which one
of two pictures by New York artists
the Ben Foster being one of them
he thougrt the best to be purchas-
ed by the art association, said, "nei-
ther,' and pointing out Girardin in
the local artists room, said that he
would take that picture in preference
u.
This particular canvas by Girardin
IS, by the way, an attractive one and
suggestive Of Inness AS said here be-
fore this is the time for people to in
vest in a canvasese by our local ar
fists because in a few years they will
command prohibitive prices to those
Of limited income. The fact is that
those who shout the loudest for cart
culture' and roll their eyes to heaven
in ecstacies Of artistic frenzy are the
very ones who never buy a picture
of local artist. Artists like other PEG
pie have to live and the very best en-
enlargement they can receive is the
purchase Of their pictures. Not sin
gle picture by local artist was sold
at the recent exhibition and this ar
CUES rather lily for the alleged good
feeling toward local art. There are
people, however, who purchase Indi-
ana pictures, and one Of these is Mrs.
l.. c. Boyd whose beautiful canvases
by Bundy and Steele were on exhibit.
Mrs. Boyd is to be heartily commend
ed for the taste displayed in the selec-
ton Of subjects as shown by these
pictures.
The writer Of this column is in
debted to Mr. Watson who represents
this district so brilliantly in Con-
gress, for an interesting volume is
sued from the government presses en-
titled Irrational Galleries of History
and Art in Washington" under the
general head of "Senate Documents
the contents being a petition by
Franklin Webster Smith for the site
of the old Naval Observatory for the
National Galleries Of History and Art
which was presented to the senate
by Mr.. Hoar This is a somewhat Sc
rious but extremely interesting vol
ume and should result in agitation to
the end so ardently desired by Mr..
Smith.
The most interesting article in the
July "F'ine Arts Journal is a re-
print article from the "Philadelphia
Item' with reference to the "Satu-
nalia,' of Signor Biondi, about
which he is having a controversy with
. the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in
! New York. Notwithstanding the
fact that this famous scul plural
group took the Grand P1ix, the high
est honors given by a jury Of sculp-
tors and painters Of all nations at the
exposition of 1900 in Paris, and was
exhibited at the Pan-American Ex-
position, and the fact that he had en-
tered into a contract with the trus-
tees of the Metropolitan to exhibit
this work Of art for one year, the
latter named gentleman sequestered
the group in a cellar because sundry
lobjected to it on moral grounds. Bio
ndi was amazed when he learned of
their acton and has arrived in this
country for proper explanations. To
quote Signor Biondi:
"I was stunned,' exclaimed Signor
Biondi yesterday, at his brothers.
apartments. "To thing that a moral
lesson like the 'Saturnalia,' designed
to show the decadence Of Rome under
the Emperors, soon to be given a
fresh lease Of life by the strength of
! the barbarians and the influence of
Christianity, should be smirched with
the epithet immoral! AS an artist I
was amazed that a group which re-
ceived the sunfrages Of the greatest