The Washington herald., 1908-01-19


tween the site Of Fort Mauritius. az -.
later named Fort James. and the Heere9
! Gracht, whose house fronts once mirrored
! their gables and crowsteps on the smooth
waters OF the canal that ran I'D Broad
street, lies a restaurant frequentad bv
Germans. The landlord. portly Teutos.
famed for the dishes belonging 10 an
parts OF the Fatherland. which he holds
ready in order TO fatter the astronomical
patriotism OF his guests. might be a twen-
tieth-century reincarnation OF some inn
keeper from Brabant, who served the
motley citizens Of Amsterdam in the New
Netherlands with Spanish and Rhenisb
wines and his own brew Of beer during
the middle term Of the seventeenth cen
tury. saws the New York Evening Post
At that time the Netherlands were al
ready sc popuIous that the land could not
begin 10 support them. East and West
Indies and the hazardous Joys 81 captur-
Ing Spanish gaileons on the high seas en-
listed the cupidity Of capitalists who
found plenty Of daring Walloons. Braban-
ters Friesians. end EHglishmen. driven
out Of their own lands by the religious In
tolerance OF Catholics and PTotestauts.
ready 10 act as sailors or soldiers or set
tiers. OverpopulatIon produced singular
effect on the palnter-artists, for Il drove
people OF comparatively small means 20
the purchase and sale Of portable works
of art
John Evelyn Amazed.
At Rotterdam honest John Evelyn was
amazed" at the number Of pictures In
the fair there held. at their excellence and
cheapness. An earlier traveller, the French
man Boussingault, speaks about 1859 Of
Antwerp owning a special market for pic
lures in a building called the Pand. a
term that indicates its use at some time
fer a public loan Office, or Mont-de-Piete.
What surprised Evelyn most was the way
in which the peasants bought and sold
pictures d phenomenon he attributed 20
the costliness Of the land and necessity II
finding in luxuries q field for speculation.
What more natural than TO have found IN
New York at the same period an inn
keeper whose hobby was art?
Meyndert Hobbema, whose pictures dur
ing his own epoch We're ignored. or passed
of for landscapes By Ruysdael is said 10
have been a tavern keeper His pictures
were not salable, so he gave them away
to mis- friends, who very likely did net
prize them. Nowadays collectors fight for
them almost as eagerly as for works by
Rembrandt. Our host Of Beaver street is
likewise an artist Ike H0bbema. but
whether the next generation win fight FOR
his pictures only time can tell Nor Is 1t
known that colonial New York IN the
Dutch period had any painters. either sue
cessfuI or unsuccessful; much less have
we discovered an American parallel 10
Meyndert Hobbema in the seventeenth
century; ali We can say IS that figure
like his over here at that date would seem
only in NJ surroundings.
History May Repeat.
So history may be repeating itself in the
case Of Herr Wiehl. one Of the many
restaurant-keepers in Beaver street, to-
day. but certes not among the least.
when We find his walls covered with oil
paintings and water colors, prints and
decorated plaques, and discover that he
is an artist in whom the yearning f0r
creating something has not been sup
pressed by thirty years of playing the
host. One reads very often Of the young
artist-to-be. whom his stern father con-
to the retail shop or the factory, but
whose longing for expression oveTcomes
all obstacles. until he gets his desire and
becomes q master. But one rarely hears
Of the man who has obeyed the parental
mandate and is sorry for it ever after.
Well. Herr Wiehl is one OF these many
victims.
My father said that artists were Lum-
penhunde. and no boy Of his should be
one So here I am"
Despite prosperity and despite that flial
piety which brought him ease. the virus
OF the art impulse has worked Unremit-
tingly. and Yet has failed TO sour the
victims disposition. He IS an ideal Boni-
face. you Will allow, as YOU see him join
ing his old clients at their several Stamm-
tische-for our Teutonic fellow-citzens, IL
they cannot continue in the whirl Of New
York business life that leisurely habit OF
attending FTuhschOppen in the morning,
do not permit themselves TO eBgender dys-
pepsia by a hasty lunch, but give them
selves time for their midday meal-and
hear him discussing with his patrons the
latest German artist TO arrive in Hudson
means IN German journal
istic phrase our own tall Babyionish city
Itself.
Buys Now and Then,
"Oh. yes ] amuse myself with buying
a German picture now and then 10 keep
In touch with what is going on IN the
old home. sometimes merely to help a
poor fellow out. German art has no
standing here just now; but remember
the time when it was otherwise. And
from what I learn Of the progress over
there in such matters I have no doubt
that the works OF some Germans VIII be
recognized again in America"
And this picture in black and white
that looks ike a mezzotint, Herr Wiehl2"
THAT is a poor thing of my own, says
the landlord burying his blushing face
in beaker OF helles. That's a smoke pic
ture
Why, it's a simple matter. You take
plaque and cover II with a thick coating
Of SCOT. draw in the outlines. smoke It
again, draw some more, smoke it again.
rub here, rub there, and finally you get
your picture. Framed and glazed. Il will
not change. no matter what light 1t is
exposed to-
well, well! Then you are a regular
artist, eh?"
"Gott bewahre! learned long ago that
artists were not Lumpenhunde, as my
good father imagined; but then It was
too late One has to begin very early il
one intends to be an artist and Boni-
face sighed.
Paintings that proclaim their German
origin from q distance hang above the
bar and occupy all the available spaces
on the walls of small rooms and large on
again and stops. the inquisitlve Yankee