The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-11
Disqruntlement.

WALTER BLACKBURN HARTE.
DisgruntIement.
"a murrain seize this vulgar age!''
Beating my breast l cry aloud.
Art, music, literature. the stage,
Are cheapened by the madding mob.
They make most ungodly row,
And one is deafened by the din.
Culture was worth while once; but now
The Philistines are crowding in.
They overrun the concert hall,
And boost the price Of choicest chairs;
While I, who lack the wherewithal,
Must Chamber up six flights of stairs.
And even in the gallery
A decent seat is hard to win.
Allow, aloft, the bOurgeoisie-
The Philistines are crowding in.
c. Bernard Shaw is all the go;
But once I had him TO myself.
His plays, unknown then, stood arrow,
Well-thumbed, upon my study shelf.
Now, if try 20 see those plays
1 can't get in, bulletin
Announces S. r. o. for days;
The Philistines are crowding in
Grand opera, too, the mob devours;
They flock like sheep to see the Ring"
I have to stand in line for hours
The age IS vulgarlzed, one touch
OF culture makes the whole world chin.
And culture doesn't count for much
When all Philistia's crOwding in.
Have you joined the "See America
First Association" the mission Of which
is to turn the American tourist tide
westward? "See Naples and die!" if
you must, but "See America frst!"
The news that 'The House of Mirth"
is to be dramatized will be hailed with
delight by all lovers of the drama. OF
course it will be necessary to add
plot, but any stage carpenter can sup
ply that and what action the novel
lacks can be furnished with a pair of
low comedians and a male quartette.
Letters of An Art Student.
1t will be recalled that Charles Dana
Gibson sacrificed a tremendous income
a few months ago to go abroad and
study art. How successfully this ex-
pertinent is working out is shown in
his letters to his friends at home. a
few of which we have been privileged
to publish.
Paris, Jan. 10. 1906.
NY Dear Chambers:
Your splendid appreciate of me in
Golfers finds an echo on this side of
the Atlantic l seem to be as well
known in Paris as in New York. ] see
myself pointed out in the cafe or on
the boulevard, or wherever I may go.
With that mOdesty which you have
spoken of as one of my traits, 1 pre-
scented myself hUmbly before the old
French Academicians. informing them
that I wished to study art from the be-
ginning I feared they might take me
at my word and set me to drawing the
figure, but they finally acknowledged
that they could teach me nothing about
drawing, and advised me to begin at
once on color This I found extremely
interesting, and all that l had imagined
it. [ have made a great many expert
meEtS on my own account, with start
ling results. Yesterday I discovered
that by mixing red and blue one gets a
rich purple 1t was a revelation in i'm
pressiOnism. l FASTENED to the old mas
tiers, my teachers. To my disappOint
ment they were not surprised. Yes,
they said, red and blue undoubtedly
produced purple. They had happened
on the same discovery in earlier years
But, alas! thty had forgotten it. After
studying the figure indoors for years
and years one forgets almost every
thing else. I am sending you some Of
the purple by express. Don't you agree
that it would be a strong tonic color
for landscape? You will note that ii
is the exact tint Of Robert Reeds auto
mobile 1t was Reed who said to me
at the Players club the day before l
sailed, When in doubt, my boy, use
purple
/ heard today that Sargent uses a
mason's trowel to lay cOlOrs on pure.
and I spoke to the old masters about it.
But you can't teach an old master new
tricks. They advise me to paint very
thin at the beginning.
am receiving every day commits
sions for oil portraits from my agents
in the United States and Canada, but
I am resolved to study another fort
night or two before executing them.
One cannot know too much about color,
/ am convinced.
At present we are living very mod
estIy in hotel quarters that cost only a
thousand francs a week, but we expect
to move to more comfortable quarters
when the money from the portraits
flows in. Yours, for Arts Sake,
G. D. GIBSON.