Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1910-02-04
THE TWO PATHS.
BY F. A. mitchell.

square in Florence. Italy. and turned
Into the entrance of the UHizi gallery
Passing through the rooms. he stopped
to look at the half finished copy of a
Titan. The cupyiSt. II shabbily dressed
man. looked up and. dvining that the
visitor was II capable critic. asked in
good American English for his opiu-
lon of his work
you being fellow countryman Of
NINE" replied the other. II will give
you a truthful opinion. You are MAX
Ing botch of it ID"
The copyist sighed
Let me take your seat. and | vii,
help you OUT
In half an hour under the visitors
touch the copy was an exact replica OF
the original painting.
"There!' said the man who had fin
shed it. Come and dine with me this
evening at my hotel Nothing remains
to complete the work but to take the
freshness out of it,
The stranger accepted. ate the first
good dinner he had had in month,
drank a quart of wine. lighted a
Havana cigar and asked:
ITO what do | owe this interest
from a stranger?"
sympathy. was once a strug-
Cling artist myself
And how. may | ask. did you come
to prosper?"
"By painting pictures.
The guest removed his cigar from
his lips and looked at his host in as
constituent.
Your name?"
TON Barrons.'
81 confess never heard of you"
81 have n great many aliases. all of
which you have heard often. Listen
and | will tell You the story of my
success. Having Il fancy for art,
became II painter. Having struggled
for recognition for ten years without
getting it. | began to ask myself why.
The answer was that could originate
nothing Then started in to make a
living copying noted pictures in for
eign galleries. | discovered that /
could not only copy; | could initiate.
Not long after this an art dealer
in Paris announced that an original
Giotto had been discovered in a Sc
cret chamber of a building that was
being torn down. He had purchased
It and offered it for sale. | shall not
mention the exact price he got for it,
but it was a fortune for any man.
One day an Italian from Florence ar
rived in New York with a Titian-a-
head of a girl stiff as a fourteenth
century girl, but lovely under head
of sunny hair. He sold it to a mer
chant prince fora fortune. Still lat
er one of the London picture shops
stumbled on q Guido REM. There
was no one in England rich enough to
buy it, and a subscription was started
to keep it in the kingdom. The crit
les vouched for its genuineness. and
thousands of pounds bought it. An
art journal published a long article by
a struggling critic enumerating TWEEN
ty-four points in the picture that were
found in all Guido Rents pictures.
This critic is now the Ruskin of
Europe.
This wine is not to my taste. Let
US try champagne That's better.
AT intervals original Correggios.
Rembrandts and pictures of other IA
nous artists were found in out of the
way places. most of them incrusted
with the dirt of centuries and the
names of the painters partly illegible.
They were always approved 10y critics.
though on some these gentlemen diff
fered Nevertheless they were snapped
up at enormous prices"
The speaker paused.
"And you are
"Giotto. Guido REM. Rembrandt and
a lot of others who lived before men
had learned how to paint"
And you perpetrate these?"
"Only as accessory before the fact.
/ painted the pictures. the dealers did
the rest"
There was Il or'- s''ence between the
two. after which he seely man said:
Il have garret across the Arno
with a number of my unsold pictures
in it. Will you go with me and look
at them?"
with pleasure"
Arriving ut the room. the occupant
displayed one painting after another
on an easel When the last had been
seen the rich man said:
You have what lack. originality.
while | have what you have not. the
power of imitation. Besides. you are
a genius. Possibly had you been born
in some village near Munich or Ores
den you might have been one of the
great modern painters AS it is you
must continue II be n bad copyfSt.
Fine pictures to be paid for in Amer
lea must bear foreign stamp. To
produce fortune they must bear the
name genuine or forged of an artist
who has been dead three or four cen
turtles
"Give me an opportunity to soothe
my conscience by accepting a gift from
me-
What gift?'
,.If n1nN mi In Into for Nnn To-