Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-01
A RI N 0 T E s i.

c,,noroer &c st,nposed to be time of idle
moss in the art world-a season of suspend
cd activitv-the wears exhibitions are over,
MANY of the galleries are closed, and ma
ioritv of the town studios are vacated; but
IN spite of this external evidence of inertia
# will be found that the so-called holiday
months are in reality filled with continued
effort and go to make up period OF gen
uine recreation. 1t is in the time or the
long days that many of the coming exhlbl-
ton pictures are painted-that rnuch OF
the most valuable studio material is
gathered; it is at the summer art sales in
London and Paris that some or the cholc-
est foreign canYases 10 De seen III the
dealers and private collectors galleries
are obtained; and it is in this season OF
apparent torpidity that the plans for the
winters campaign are made ana that
schemes of far-reaching Importance have
their inception.
Not long ago a meeting was held in New
York of representative men from various
rarts of the country for the purpose Of urg-
ing In some forceful and at the same time
effectual way revision of the tariff duty
on works of art A course OF action was
outlined. counsel-Mr. Myron f. Pierce of
Boston-was appointed, and arrangements
were made to hold in the near future a
subsequent Injecting III 1ili' 49, -
sibiIitV of doing away with the tariff en-
trely does not seem to be entertained, put
it is thought that compromise may De ei-
fected by return to the customs laws eX-
listing under the Cleveland administration,
or to n specifc duty of S25 or 500 on every
imported work The Copley Society OF Bos-
ton Is in large measure responsible lot the
reagitation of this much-troubled question,
but the meeting was attended by delegates
from Chicago ST. Louis, Cincinnati, De-
troit, Cleveland Milwaukee, st. Paul,
Omaha, Denver, San francisco ana FORT
land, as well as from Philadelphia, New
York and Boston. Such men as j. Pierpont
Morgan, w. a. Clark and Henry Walters
are naturally deeply interested and taking
an active part in the crusade, but the Amer
lean artists for whose protection the pres
ent laws are supposed to exist are almost
without exception equally interested and
eager for the revision.
OF national and somewhat local interest
is a series of resolutions passed recently by
the Society of Beaux Arts Architects, which
sets forth the desirabilty of establishing
a department of fine arts in Washington
The objects of this establishment, it is
stated. are primarily the supervision of the
construction of new post Office buildings
custom houses and the like, and latterly 10
direct the development of the national pa rk
system, to pass upon the merits of designs
for national monuments and to generally
foster the fine arts of the country. This
seems to strike first at the office of the
supervising architect and secondly to ignore
the commission appointed by the President,
which is needless, but at the same time IL
exhibits a gratifying interest in the well
| fare of the national capital. and in
| trepid willingness 10 share In a good work.
| That such an organization as the one pro-
posed would be futile 1t is idle to suppose;
| but 1t is only fair in passing to give due
recognition TO the increasing excellence of
the work done under the direction of the
supervising architect of the treasury Dur
ing the past six or seven years this Office