The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-10
ARTISTS AGREE WITH WARING
MORE VIEWS or THU CT ANCE FOR
ANLAHERICAN RENAISSANCE.
Architect Harder Says That the Union
system DIscOnragcs the Turning Out
Of the Highest Glass OF NOrkmen
Public Needs Educating, He Says.

system llScOllraEcS the TURNING Out
of the Highest Glass OF NOrkmen
Public Needs Educating, He Says.
The DEVELOPMENT Of an art that should
be entirely American, referred to az an
American Renaissance by the English
decorator S. j. Waring, who arrived here
on Saturday, was the subject of general
conversation yesterday among artists, es-
pecially those who have to do with decora-
ton and the establishment Of architecture.
In Mondays SUN Charles NJ. Shean, the
portrait painter and mural artist, was
quoted as saying that to a certain degree
the architects were to blame for the lack
Of the artistic, especially in many of our
public buildings. julius F. Harder, the
well known architect, had this to say yes
terday from the standpoint Of his pro-
fession.
Mr.. Warnings remarks are interesting
as coming from an enlightened English
man. 1t is not entirely fair, however,
for some of Our artists to blame the archi-
tects for much of the inartistic work that
goes into our buildings. One thing may
be set down as absolutely true, The Ameri-
can public is willing to be sympathetic
with every form of the artistic that has
positive merit.
IF this country has not developed its
own school Of art, or If it has ceased to
develop it, for at one time, l think it will
be conceded, we were in the lead in art In
architecture, it is due to several potent
conditions. One is haste and hurry. Com
mercialism wants its buildings in a hurry.
Another cause is the lack of competent
workmen TO produce what is needed. We
.,,r T.. l. ,, n - -, $50 ,.l I,-l,N.,rI
And down at the bottom ! think we
would find, II we examined O! osely INTO
the matter, that the present union labor
system initiates against raising such skilled
workrnen. The days of the apprentice
are gone. Union labor is the outgrowth
of natural conditions-that's another mat
ter; but there can be no doubt that in limit
ing the apprentices much talent goes to
waste.
One great trouble Is that We study art
from the top down. 1t should be lone
from the bottom up. The Colonial style
was necessarily a wood workers art. 1t
had its foundation in the trade of carpentry.
If we had more competent mechanics
we could take the brighter ones, and from
the ranks of such men we should pro duce
men who work out the artistic in their
natures into truly beautiful structures.
There seem to be two ideas about art
in this country. One is that art should
be develop ed from within ourselves. An
other is that We should rob the tombs and
collections of Europe and elsewhere and
bring these treasures over here. put them
in a museum and say to all the people:
See what an artistic people we are. This
collection of pictures and wood and stone
shows it,
IF We are going to follow the art ideas,
say of the time of Louis XIV, or any other
period, there is no occasion for studying
p II being artistic is merely collect
Ing, specimens of the work of past ages
and exhibiting them in a museum then
let us stop where we are. What is the
Use of going on?
Every one would like to see what Mr..
Waring suggests. We could easily develop
the Colonial style where we left off. To
do that, the first step, it seems to me, would
be to train up a workmanship that should
aspire to the artistic. If the unions and
employers cannot arrange to give us back
the old system of apprenticeship, with it's
m possibilities of development, | am
convinced that in some way 1t should be
made part of the curriculum of public
education, a mere beginning of which
is snow found in our manual training schools.
The American people want the best in
art. They must be educated into it. They
have got the wrong idea in thinking they
must go to Europe and must slavishly copy
old styles to get the real thing. If all the
architects in the country should get to-
Gether and should highly resolve to pro-
duce only an American art it would be
futile. 1t must be a matter of evolution,
of educating the people first, of training up
competent workmen next and then of being
willing to wait for the completion of work
that must of necessity take more time than
Ia now given, especially to the construction
and establishment of buildings"
Another architect, who asked that his
name be not used, said that some of the
leading members of his profession were
most TO blame for copying European ideas.
They had taught their clients that a Louis
NV. or a Louis WI. or a Francis I, or
some other kind of a room was the thing to
have, The craze had spread until it way
to produce anything really
American.
Charles Y. Turner, the mural painter,
said that an American art would be easy
to create, because its foundation, it's raw
in incident and beauty, was all
around us.
The supply of material is ~inexhaustible,"
he said. Our public buildings are bare,
when there is an unlimited number of art
subjects that could be used in decorating
them and instructing the people in the
aspirations and struggles and achievements
of their forefathers. If we want European
art, all we have to do is to copy. In the
" OlutlOn OF american drU we can grow
The American colonial style, which / be-
lieve to have been of French, rather than
English, origin, lends itself peculiarly to
the development suggested by Mr.. Waring.
k.aEkReAMiihahi \ that it is time for this
10 begin % PfodaeNA1A1aW1aREtsx6
especially in the way of architecture, and
l must say the field is unlimited in it's range"
Another well known artist aid that one
was that architecture and the fur
of houses had come simply to be a
hYlinnGa n nd n nnttlar "a -, n rt rNr n mo
These great Offices of architects
he said, ARE simply plan factories. They
'tife art. They cause the people to be
willing to accept the inartistic. Take two