Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-19
AGAINST TAX ON ART
Artists Declare They Do Not
Desire Protection.
WANT PICTURES ADMITTED
Tariff Deprives the Country of Many
Treasures.
POLICY OF BARBAROUS LANDS
The United States Alone Of the Great
Nations Puts an Import Duty on
Work of Painter and Sculptor.
POLICY OF BARBARoUs LANDS

Work of Painter and Sculptor.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
There is an organized movement to secure
a removal of the duty on works Of art, be-
cause Of all the idiosyncrasies Of our tariff
that Is the most preposterous, except, per-
haps, the duty on books. If any man wants
to bring a picture into this country, a
painting, an engraving or even photo
graph, or If he send for q book that is
published abroad, he is compelled to pay a
fine to the government. Not long ago, at
the banquet of the Institute Of American
Architects, Mr.. Owen Wister, author of
1.-THE Virginian" and other charming sto-
res, made some remarks on this absurdity.
this tax upon knowledge, which ought to
be published in every newspaper in the
land. He said. among other things, that
we all believed in the Monroe doctrine,
but we did not want it applied to art or
literature.
bring to the United States the millions of
dollars worth of works OF art that he has
collected is because he would be compelled
to pay between two and half and three
instead of being in the museums of this
country for the benefit of our people, Mr..
Morgan has them scattered In the museums
of England. France, Germany and other
countries. The people Of Europe and the
students of art over there are getting the
benefit of them
Senator Clark of Nevada, who has one
Of the finest private collections Of pictures
in the world, told me the other day that
he had paid at least $25O,O00 in duties upon
his pictures during the last ten years Some
Of his collections are in the Corcoran Art
Gallery here in Washington. The remain
der are In New York.
Mostly Imported by individuals.
Over one-thrd of the pictures in the Cor
coran Art Gallery here in Washington,
valued at more than one-half of the whole
collection, are owned by private individuals.
like Senator Clark. who have paid duty
upon them, as required by our tariff laws,
and have loaned them for public exhibition.
OF 139 paintings by European artists In
the Art Museum of Boston 113 have paid
duty; Sc are loaned by private individuals
81 were presented to the museum, and the
remaining % were purchased from dealers
in this country who paid the duty when
they were imported. The same is true of
the pictures in the Art Institute of
Chicago, in the Metropolitan Gallery
lie collection in the United States. Pic
lures imported directly by museums are
exempt from duty, but very Few museums
are able to buy works OF art either IN the
foreign or home market. They depend upon
gifts More than twO-thirds of all the pic
lures Of value exhibited to the public in
the United States have been imported by
individuals and have either been presented
or loaned to the galleries In which they
hang. Most of them remained in the pos
session of the donor for time previous
to presentation, and there are millions OF
dollars worth of pictures, statuary and
other works of art now in private collec-
tions upon which duty has been paid that
will ultimately find their way in the same
manner into public galleries for the ben
eft of students and for the enjoyment of
the people. The next time you go through
a picture gallery observe from the cata-
logue the inscriptions upon the frames
how many have been presented. The next
time you attend loan exhibition make
similar inspection, and calculation as to
the amount of duty that has been paid by
the ''loaners'' of the pictures at the rate
of 20 per cent of their value.
Public Benefit.
1t is a mistake to assume that the gen.
eral public receives no benefit from private
importations Almost every collector loans
the contents of his galleries every year.
and some Of them several times year, for
public exhibition, and many collectors
throw their homes open to the public on
certain days in the week. They are actu-
ated both by pride and by patriotism.
Not long ago Mr.. Edward Robinson. d.
rector Of the Museum of Fine Arts In Bos-
ton borrowed the best one hundred pic
lures in the United States. They were in
sured for $S65,OO0. The larger part of
them naturally came from Boston and New
York but at least one-t third of the collec-
ton came from other cities Of the country
and from as far west as st. Paul. There
are several fine private collections in ST.
Paul, Minneapolis. Omaha, Detroit Cleve-
land, Kansas City, st. Louis, Buffalo and
other cities of that class
Not long ago the late Charles Parsons of
st. Louis left very valuable collection of
art works to that city and at least 80 per
cent of them had been taxed in our Gus
tom houses. Mr.. Parsons, like other pro-
gressive and generous men, had been pun
ished by the government of the United
States for his generosity.
Nor Is this penalty imposed upon rich
men alone. Every student in the United
States who buys a photograph of the Ro-
man Forum or the AcrOpolis or the Sistine
famous example of architecture sculp-
ture or painting is compelled to pay PEN
atty of 20 per cent. Every student who
buys a book printed in a foreign country
Is compelled to pay fine.
Congress Accused Of Cowardice.
This tax upon education and intelligence
is not for the protection of American in
dustries;' it is an illustration Of the cow
ardice Of our congressman. The tax was i'm
posed upon art py the D1ngley tar1n law
for fear some demagogue would say that
the republican party taxed the poor man
for his necessaries of life, but allowed the
rich man to bring in $4,000 paintings and
$50, 900 pieces of statuary free of duty. No
doubt the demagogues would have made
this charge. but they would not have re-
ferred to the fact that photographs. en-
cravings, picture cards and other cheap
works Of art, used by school children and
students and hung upon the walls of every
cottage in the country, are compelled to
pay duty also.
That is true. No book, no picture, no mat
ter what it's price, is admitted free into this
country, except such as are imported by
museums and libraries. The poor girl who
is trying to make an artist of .,erself by
studying Photographic copies of the works
of the great masters Is taxed as much in
proportion to what she buys as Pierpont
Morgan or Senator Clark. Our tariff does
not recognize sex, race, caste or condition.
Policy Of Nations.