The Washington herald., 1907-02-10
Art-Whv Put 4 Tax Upop It2

The enthusiasm with which the colIec-
ton Of oil paintings by contemporary
American artists is being viewed by
throngs of visitors to the Corcoran Gal
lery OF Art, and the prospect Of estab-
fishing great American salon as re-
suit of the exhibition, revives interest in
the subject long and eloquently discussed
by Congress as to the wisdom Of abolish
ing duty on works Of art
The zeal with which the American Free
Art League has fought. pleaded. and
argued against the tariff on paintings.
sculpture. &C. is enough to soften the
heart of the most cOmbatIve legislator
Well-knoWn artists, such as Abbey,
Brush, Kenyon Cox. Hdssam. Parrish.
Saint-Gaudens, and Hopkinson Smith
have had the cooperation of William Nc
Kinley Benjamin Harrison. Grover CIeve-
land, Chester A. Arthur. James c. Blaine.
Lew P. Morton, John Hay, Whitelaw
Reid. Cardinal Gibbons, Senator Vest,
Senator Hoar, Senator Lodge, and many
more besides, bat still the condition OBJ
tains that by the act Of 1897 a duty of
. per cent is imposed upon all imported
works Of art.
The picture OF distraught artists all over
the country tearing their abundant locks
i'm the frenzy Of Kenyon Cox's utterance:
For heavens sake, stop protecting usr'
is sufficient to convince the inartistic lay
man that "a repeal Of the present law is
earnestly advocated by those who appre-
Ciate the advantages Of more easily ac-
quiTed art, and thar the present duty is
a menace to art as a profession. The
average annual revenue collected since
the duty was imposed amounts TO about
half a million of dollars-certainly not a
sufficiently large sum 10 recommend the
tax as profitable source Of revenue.
The United States Is almost the only
civilized country which taxes art as "a
luxury. Elsewhere art is regarded as a
prime educational means. While it is
held that the present tariff does not ap-
ply TO works Of art brought here for pub
lie galleries, this is true only In a limited
sense, since the galleries themselves can
not afford TO purchase many valuable
works Of art and they are enriched
through private collections upon which
excessive duty has been paid. This duty,
being prohibitively high. impedes the
rapid collection Of great works OF art
by individuals, and thus retards the
growth Of the public galleries.
The museums are only exempt from
paying taxes when purchasing directly
from abroad More often their purchas-
ing opportunities arise directly at their
own doors, and the price of one treasure
covers the actual worth Of two. provided
the duty had not to be considered.
Were it not for the loan collections. the
value Of the Corcoran GaIIery-at present
recognized as important in the world Of
art-would deteriorate materially. perhaps
sink to d level of obscurityi because more
than One-third of all the pictures in the
gallery are privately owned. and the value
of this one-third proportion is estimated
at more than one-half the value of The
entire collection. It is apparent at once
that galleries must depend upon the gen
crosby Of Notwithstanding unable them
selves to acquire sufficiently numerous
valuable works Of art-tO place them on
a worthwhile plane as museums of fine
art. In this manner the general public
derives a vast benefit front privately
owned paintings. AS private ownership
is The great reservoir which constitutes
the chief source on which public art mu-
seums depend it is regrettabIe fact
that the tendency Of the art duty is TO
keep this source at low ebb.
The stand taken by many Americans
who are averse to removing the duty on
works Of art is that art itself is a luxury
The other faction, who are fighting for
free art, declare that art, being primarily
educational should be exempt from taxa
ton. This is the attitude taken by Sena-
tor Lodge. who, as long ago as sixteen
or seventeen years. supported Mckinley.
whose tariff bill-as it came from the
Committee on Ways and Means contain
ed a provision placing works of art on
the free list. and who. in speech deIiv-
cred in the House, rose to flights of elo-
quence in the interest Of free art. Sena-
tor Lodge advocated the taxing of luxu-
ries to the highest point compatible with
safe collection, but he stated emphaticaIIy
that works Of art could not be included
in this class Of articles
All the pictures and statues of great
value imported into this country md their
way sooner or later into he public mu-
seums, and become the property Of the
people for future generations.
If we are contemplating a salon" say
the artists, let us have free art to make
such d salon thing Of national pride,