Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-02


for want of a better title might be called the
Artist of the Capitol The present holder of
this Office is William H. Duckstein 1t is his
duty to look after all statuary and pictures
owned by the Government in the Capitol; but
as matter of fact he does everything connected
with pictures, from framing them to touching
up old and faded oil paintings and sometimes
making almost new pictures.
There are several hundred plCtures-more or
less works of art-scattered throughout the
Capitol and in the various committee rooms.
These all have to be cleaned and the frames pol
ished every now and then Accidents are likely
to happen to almost anyone of them, and 1t IS
| the duty of the Capitol artist to patch them up.
Not long ago somebody tore big hole IN the
large painting in the rotunda representing the
Embarkation of the Pilgrims. The artist
patched it so that there is scarcely any sign of
its mutilaton.
The location of picture is also often changed.
as the superintendent of the Capitol may order
This is seldom done with the large ones, how
ever. The famous eight pictures IN the rotunda
have been removed only once in the last twenty
years in order to have the frames regilded and
waterproof backs put in. 1t was ticklish JOB;
but the pictures were put back without being
damaged
Tn 'arge full length picture of Washington,
painted by Charles Wilson Peale in IT'S. was
in bad shape when it was bought by Congress
in 1892. There was an irregular tear at the top
of it; but the artist has fixed this that no one
can notice it. This is the oldest picture IN the
Capitol and had varied career before it was
bought by the Government for five thousand
dollars. A description of its wanderlngs would
fill book. 1t was painted when Washington
was forty-eight years old. at the suggestion of
Washington himself. 1t has been exhibited in
various galleries in this country and France
AT one time it was hung in the Smithsonian In
stitution; but the Pcale family never gave up
the title to it until 1T was finally sold to the
Government.
Many of the pictures adjoining the walls
of the Capitol were originally left with Ccl-
gress on speculation; that is, the artists lent
them to the Government with the hope OF ultl-
mate sale. In many instances some OF these
pictures were so long in possession OF the Gov
eminent that everyone supposed they had &C
tually been purchased. until the artist put in
bill for the price This was the case with the
large painting of the battle of Chapultepec, and
the artist finally got his price. Later on, he
tried to have the Government agree to hang
very large picture of the battle of Gettysburg
in the Capitol; but Congress baked on this,
and gave him permission only to EXHIBIT 1T IN
room. AS yet it has not been bought. The
rule now is that no picture can be hung in the
Capitol except with permission of the Senate
and House committees on the library
When the Artist Forsets
TT sometimes happens that artist leaves
picture with the man in charge of Uncle Sam
picture store, and then forgets to get it back.
In course of time everyone else forgets about 1T,
and recently, when the Capitol artist moved
from his old quarters to more commodious
rooms. he found great many pictures that he
did not know anything about, of which there
were no records. Many were portraits, and
some had no names them whatever. They
were covered with dust and dirt. and it took
Mr.. Duckstein sometime to clean them up suffi-
GENTLY to tell what they were.
Among these were found two portraits of
President Taft's father. Judge Alphonso Taft.
painted when he was Secretary of War in 1876,
by Charles Thorpe. For many years these pic
lures must have been stored away in the lower
regions of the Capitol, and there is no record of
how they ever got there. The Capitol artist did
not know whose portraits they were, even after
he had thoroughly cleaned them. Their iden-
tity was accidentally discovered by news
paper man, and President Taft was told about
them. The pictures were taken to the White
House, and President Taft bought them. One
was retained by the President and the other
sent to Charles P. Taft. The President de-
clared that both were excellent ikenesses of
his father. though one was in better condition
than the other. 1t is said that the newspaper
man made good commission out of his acct
dental find: but the price paid for the pictures
is secret.
A large picture of Roscoe Conkling was also
discovered at the time. stored away
in the rubbish This picture is as big as a
double door, and is said by connoisseurs to be
u u h. IL ~