The Washington herald., 1912-06-30
TRIBUTES TO FRANK MILLET.
Appropriations of the Man and the
Artist by Five Writers.

The July number OF Art and Progress
is a MiIlet number. in which five writer's
join in a remarkable tribute to the la
mented American painter whose life
ended with the sinking of the Titanic.
1t is particularly fitting that Art and
Progress should make itself the vehicle
Of this tribute, since it is the official
organ OF the American Federation of
Arts of which he was secretary. The
writers who sign these articles are all
men who have been bound to Mr.. Millet
by ties Of friendship and who are, there
fore, especially qualified to make a just
estimate Of his worth in his various re-
lations OF life. Sylvester Baxter, his
brother-in-law, contributes an aPprecia-
ton of him as a man. which IS a Pc
culiarIy intimate and feeling testimony
ia the beauty and usefulness Of his ife
and character. William \. Coffin. the
landscape painter, writes Of Millet's easel
pictures. His work as a mural painter
IS treated by Edwin Howlard Blashfeld,
himself one Of the most accomplished
Americans in this FIELD OF work.
Mr.. Millet had general charge Of the
painted decorations for the Worlds Fair
at Chicago in lS13 Here. says Mr..
BlashncII. was a field 10 which MIIlet
kept during the remainder Of his life.
and TO those OF us who knew him We'll
this choice on his part was a foregOne
conclusion. No wonder Millet de-
cided to become mural painter; he had
demonstrated his possession of the most
needed qualities, the national trend. too.
was Indicated. the pace was set the
great quadrlEa upon the arch, the quad
riga of which visitors to the fair talked
so much. might serve as a symbol.
IanrgEp-rh IN n a arghireefrT-p
sculpture. painting and landscape plan
ming were driven four-in-hand and
abreast along the road of progress"
Mr.. BlashfeId notes Millets strong
bias toward organized completeness. He
loved significance in decorat tion. and the
significance Of realism rather than OF
abstraction. If he decorated a post
office, for instance. he at once har-
monizeG his preaching with the purpose
of the place. He pictured almost every
form of lCconotion possible to the mail
carrier, from the car of the Twentieth
Century Limited to the clumsy horned
beast with a West African pOstman
astride its hump. He had even included
in the decoration of the Cleveland post
offiCe-and as We saw it, just after the
Titanic disaster. We all felt the sharp
stab of its ppositiveness-the sailors
bottle bearing a message from a sinking
ship"
Again. in his Baltimore custom-house
decoration the fleets Of all past time
crowd sail upon walls and ceiling
baTges OF Cleopatra, Shakers of Vikings.
galleons OF Spain Nelson's high-pOoped
men-of-war. sp:dery-loOk!nE little river
steamers and big liners. are all tIere.
and there TO the delight of the captains
who stand underneath them. approving
their rigging. For with Millet, every de-
tail was verified by nature or document.
TIE other tributes to Millct are from
the pens CT Carroll Beckwith and George
w Maynard. and there is also an Gp-
peal for contributions TO the Francis
Davis Millct Memorial Fund for the puT-
pose of endJw.nG a chair OF the fine arts
in the American Academy Of Rome. The
illustrations include reproductions of
Augustus Saint-Gaudsn5' bas-re!tef pOr-
trait Of Millet in the Metropolitan