New-York tribune., 1910-01-20

gressional action in time, but the last
day is less than month distant, and 1t
is to be hoped that his efforts may every
where be instantly supported. There are
several reasons why we should be repre-
sented at Rome. There is, to begin with,
the question of international good WILL
Furthermore, the occasion clearly prom
ises TO be one uniting all the schools CT
European art in a full demonstration OF
their resources. 1t is scarcely fitting
that at such a time nothing should be
done to show the great progress made in
American architecture, painting and
sculpture. With all due modesty, it may
nevertheless be asserted that in these
matters we are abundantly qualified to-
compete with the artists of the world,
and to fail to do so would be an unpar-
donable omission. At the present mo-
ment private Individual Mr.. Hugo
Reisinger, is getting together num-
Der of American paintings to exhibit IN
Berlin, as a return for the compliment
shown us in the German exhibition at
the Metropolitan Museum. 1t ought not
to be left to unofficial Intervention of
this sort to enforce the claims Of Amer
1911.
The opportunity is ripe too, for the
courteous recognition of an unpayable
artistic debt which we owe to Italy.
That she has offered a second home to
certain of our painters and sculptors is
not to be forgotten, though we have in
recent years substituted new ideals for
those which drew so many Americans to
Rome about the middle of the last CEN
tury. Moreover, Italy remains to this
day an inexhaustible wellspring OF in
spiration, at which many an artist who
has received his training elsewhere is
only too glad to drink. How many
painters formed in the studios Of Paris,
have hastened to stimulate their imagi-
native powers, to broaden their taste
and to exercise their gifts amid the
lovely scenery and the unnumbered
monuments of the South, OF what i'm
mense value has Venice alone been to
them, But we may ignore all this; we
may ignore the incessant reaction of
Italy upon the artistic temperament ar
large. and still confess to an imneas-
urable obligation which incidentally
IOuCHeS our fHOSL pTdCLlcdl
The regeneration of American architect
ure has disclosed at countless points the
influence of the old Italian masters.
The establishment of the American
Academy at Rome, to which that distin-
guished architect, the late Charles F.
McKim, contributed so much, was very
far from marking the beginning of
new movement. It was, rather, the rati-
fication of one which had been going on
for years, the gathering up OF threads of
influence, the crystallization of a ira
dition. Many OF our architects had been
wont to make use of italian ideas. One
of the guild who had employed them
with peculiar effectiveness saw the de-
STABILITY OF making them more than
ever part and parcel of our artistic edu
cation. Hence the academy in question,
which is at once the assurance of a sys-.
tematization of our Italian studies in
the future ard monument to what we
have gained from them III the past.
Survey American architecture all over
the country, and repeatedly the merits of
balance and refinement encountered will
prove traceable to the influence of the
beautiful buildings of the Italian Renais-
sance. Are considerations like these too.
fine drawn to commend themselves to
the American legislator? We think not.
The remodellins of the tariff ON art is
conclusive enough instance of our readi-'
ness to pay tribute to the things of the
mind, and it is not conceivable that a
question of expense, perhaps 100000,
will be allowed to stand in the way of
our making 2 worthy appearance in the
Roman exhibition. -.