New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-17
4VALGAM4TED ART.

The nlan TO bring the schools OF the Natonal
Academy of Design within the curriculum OF
Columbia University has provoked serious ue
bate among the AcademicianS, as me interview
printed in our news columns nave plainly
shown According to the spokesman 1or tue
majority which authorized the council 10 exc
cute the agreement, nothing but good coulu no"
from a scheme placing the art Studeht ulueI
university discipline and rewardtng him with
tho usf1aI diDIoma The minority rests its argu-
mont chiefly on the assumption that If Column
bia and the Academy were to join forces along
the lines proposed the loss of the latters iden-
THY would be only question OF time INTO the
subordinate aspects of what IS, in measure, a
private quarrel have no wish to enter
Whether ali the Academicians were informed
of the plan sufficiently in advance of the an
nual meeting at which it was voted upon or not
whether the scheme was 'railrOaded' through
or was adopted only after the full discussion
customary in such circumstances, are matters
with which the public has little, if any, con
Germ But the broad question as 10 whether or
not the university and the academy should com
bne is one of legitimate public interest
The spirit of organization" is in the air In
dustries are every day being "amalgamated,
and in taking, perhaps unconscously. n LEAF
from the book of the modern business man the
artists composing the majority in this contrO-
versv are onlr admitting their susceptibility to
p. .r.r.. ling teraeIo. ot ne time. 1t might be
....ri.- ,....-r t..g ar5 o. r. extent in the right
.n Ill. .r.u.i ..~ ana. American art is trueSt to
-zlr when IL is Developed 4 an American
almost ..e". y bold tlo-r.et might say that
since the Wheat Pit and the Steel Trust are ex-
pressions of the American genius an American
artist might easily cultivate his gifts in an
atmosphere redolent of those interests But
until some such fearful wild fowl arises among
our artists we shall continue to believe that the
painter. like the poet is better off an nd-
vidual than as part of a system. The purpose
Of the student in entering the Academy schools
is to learn how to paint. On the surface it
seems harmless, to say the least, TO give him
access to lectures and books al Columbia which
would aim at doing for his mind and magma
ton what his technical instructors would be do
ing for his fingers. We have ourselves in fact
been unceasin& in advocacy of intellectual slim
illus as a source Of benefit to the artist But in
his formative years he must take that intellect
ual stimulus in through the pores in the course
of his studio work and among his comrades; the
moment you begin to supply it to him accord
ing to rule, with all sorts of PROFESSIONAL anna
ratus, you run the risk Of difusing his energies
and turning him into n hybrid His first duty
is TO learn how to draw and paint and after
that 10 learn how TO paint and draw and still
again, after that to learn how TO draw and
paint. How is he TO do this If he has M tba
same time. 10 follow a university course in
art? The course might be invaluable TO him
but, human temperament being what II is ONLY
in so far as ii was made a thing outside of his
regular studies. thing to be adopted or not as
individual taste might direct The Academy
student whose nature demands this stimulus
will have no difficulty in finding it without the
aid of such a plan as that which has lust spIit
the institution into two camps
The point becomes the more imnor+on+ ,,,br,
it is considered, not in the light of theory but
with reference TO the world we live in Fpro-
pean precedent is suggestive but NOT necessarily,
conclusive method of art instruction suttobIo
for Paris is not as matter of course suitable
for New-Iork. 1t is customary 10 take # for
granted that have hundreds n NOT +bo,
sands of artistlcally gifted Young mon and
women on whose training we cannot bas+o,,. zoo
much thought Well rs a matter of Fact ,,o.t
ocrfty is rampant among the art students IN
this country. many of whom should he eorpinc,
Ihelr living as clerks or seamstresSeS instead ~
spollhs &ood paper and canvas: and the process
OF shtlng winch Is to bring out the few who
have talent is the good old process which ,,aa,
forward IN well appointed studio presided
over by an artist skilled in the practice of b,s
craft. University methods are no moro pooII
IN such a studio than course OF noIitics q
needed in chemical laboratory Considerino
that the wants Of the really promising few arc
amply supplied in New-York by schools amopo
which those of the Academy are honorahly CON.
spicuous. it would seem II there were NO
obvious occasion for the proposed amaIgamo.
ton Suppose, however. for the sake of arou
ment that the art student In this city Is nor ne
well instructed as he ought TO he. Then that il
the fault Of the schools they administered