Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-19
VOLUNTEER ART CRITICS.
The Questions They Ask Copyists at
the Metropolitan Museum.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
Artists copying in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art are frequently regarded as
information bureaus by visitors. All sorts
of questions are put to thc~l. They are
asked about the system on which the
museum is maintained, what manner of
man Sir Purdon Clarke is, the biographies
Of old masters, what is their favorte pic
ture in the gallery, and, most of ALL do
they like to paint and how do tley match
the colors?
Besides the questions criticisms are VOL
unteered on the copy. In fact, anything is
said that will serve as a pretext for OPEN
ing conversation.
Some experiences were told in this line
by artist recently engaged in copying
the Bosco Reale frescoes These frescoes
comprising the four sides of a ROOM were
brought intact from long buried v:lla at
PompeH They are rather faded now. and
the painter was doing her best to initiate
the subdued melowness that hundreds of
years had worked in the originals.
But she knew she had tailed when a
young woman stepped up and asked:
THE museum hired you to copy that,
SUPPOSE"
No the artist told her.
No she repeated in disgust Why, I
should think they would want to throw
that dingy old thing away and put up your
beautiful bright new one in its place"
The copyist had barely time to be dis
courageu over this when an old lady look
ing over her shoulder called to a friend:
''Oh, look here. She's taking the pattern
Of that there wall paper. Matching the
colors pretty well, too, only she amt got
them reds bright enough
y little later a group who had been read
ing the printed description of the frescoes
asked whether the artist believed ey had
really been dug up at Pompeii? Next they
wanted to know whether she could possibly
hope to improve her drawing by copying
anything so crazy, and whether ii wouldn
be better to do something new-somethinS
IN the picture line, with fresh colors.
When they left they told her solemny
how grateful she ought to be to the 'luseum
for allowing her such opportunities for
study.
The artists next commission was to copy
one of the Cole tapestries. The set, telling
the story of Antony and Cleopatra hangs
close to the Fifth avenue entrance, and
people made bee line for her the minute
they were well inside the door
She asked al least once daily / give
a talk on Roman and Egyptian history.
Some wanted to know whether tapes
tries We're paintings or embroideries. one
old man startled her by inquirng:
rs that a Sheraton or a Chippendale,
please"
the old gentleman went on to explain that
all articles OF Observation-Disclosures. tapes
tries, pctures-belonged either to the
Sheraton or the Chippendale period. d he
thought that since she was copying the
tapestry she should have informed herself
which it
Later some young men stroling by lin
gcred near the easel. The subject WAS the
death of the queen-Cleopatra, with ashy,
agonzed face, is being bitten by the asp
After watching motionless while the face
was copied, one of them calculated with
contempt:
And they say Cleopatra was good
locker, Wef not for mine"
Some schoolboys, who would never have
noticed the tapestries but for the copy,
remained half hour with the artist. ply
ing her with questions about her work, and
radiant with JOY when she allowed them to
squirt out fresh paint on her palette. men
one ventured to ask what the tapestry was
about, anyway.
Oh she smiled, its a long story about
a beautiful queen named Cleopatra. You
ask your teacher to tel ii to you"
"Cleopatra?' and the elder boys eyes
flashed. Gee, l know ABOUT her and
then with a generous contempt for facts
he proceeded in this fashion,:
CLEOPATRA, she used to be queen Of Egypt,
and she was a heather and worshippcd cats.
And when the Romans they heard OF it.
they sent their best general over to Egypt
to turn her into a good Roman Catholic.
His name was Mark Antony; he used to be
u pal of Julius Caesars. But when Antony
got there he didn't pray with her at all
he just got busy making love to her. Some
body wrote home and told the Romans
about il. and they were awful mad They
sent another fellow to bring Antony back
| forget his name-'cauSe they were afraid
he'd turn into a hoIthen and worship cats
too. Antony defied Rome and said he
wouldn't come; so they had a bate and he
was killed. When Cleopatra heard he
dead she felt so bad she didn't want to live
no more and she says:
- Bring me a poison serpent
THAT was all she said So they brought
her one. and she let ii sting her to death
just like the lady's planting it,