New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-06-01
Sir Coutts Lindsay
ar FOUNDER THE GRosVEN eALLERY-wHY HE Sic.
IHs CEEDEO AND WHY HE FAILED
copyright, 1918. by c. ". smaliey,

,osd az this letter rather wonder
in' .hotbcr It will Ice strange to
ian readers It has been ha'c
,.-,otten even here. But for some ten
from 1871 II was familiar TO
..,odv That was the date of ,tne
.,,c Of the Grosvenor Gallery, IN
,., Rond street believe it was SIR
It's himself who conceived the idea.
IS certainly me who made himself
,c,all, responsible for tho enter
Else which % thc end cost him a
-. sum off money. "and ] do not re-
-..t it," said the gallant old soldier,
-, after. nor need ne. II was tho
s.st deliberate challenge to the Royal
,.,demy. and TO q is due in great
.,eas,irc tine spirit of revolt against
..,i pure commcrciulism in Art of
rbich the Royal Academy was then.
and stuI is. the expression. Tho Gros-
,enor Gallery Is dead and Sir Coutts
Lindsay is dead and the Academy lives
and thr.ves. but the honor OF that
struggle belongs not 90 the victor but
IN the yauqushcd. He died lass
wednesday at eighty nine.
He and his brother. Lord Vantage,
we're both soldiers. and both looked II.
Both wcr, iu the Crimcau War, from
which The younger Lindsay brought
away tlr y. g., The two letters more
coveted ] suppose. than any others in
the alphabet. The elder brother was
for time Captain in the Grcnadier
Guards You might go far before YOU
found "a finer pair of soldiers 10 look
At. or with more Of the true soldier
shirt burning quietly IN their souls.
But Sir Coutts turned away from war
10 art. where also thu was light 10
be fought He was eldest son TO sol
der. Lieutenant General James Lind
saw. grandson of the 18th Earl Of Bal
,srrcs For Il time he tried his hand
sf pauiu. PORTRAITS, duly exhibited IT
Inc ROYAL Academy itself the first IN
lSio the last ma 1870. II interests al
Of rs Americans to remember that ne
designed the frescos which decorate
the central hall of Dorchester House.
MANY thousa DIS Of Americans have
seen and admired them during the
seven years while Dorchester House
was the American Embassy; period
Of diplomatic achievement and social
snlendor never 10 be forgotten by
Americans.
But what Sir Coutts himself did by
way Of painting counts for little COM
pared with the opportunities he opened
10 other and far greater artists. II
GOES not matter whether you consider
the Grosvenor Gallery q rival to the
ACADEMY Forget the academy for Il
moment. and think Of sir Coutts AZ the
man who FIRST made known 10 the gen
eral public the greatest artists of mod
ern times. and q group Of others less
great but men of originality and rare
gifts. The Royal Academy had kicked
Whistler into the gutter. Sir Coutts
Lindsay invited him 10 contribute TO
thc first exhibition D.. the GrosvenOr
Gallery in 1871. and he did contribute;
Then and after. An the Incompatible
NOcturncs were first seen there, ana
the Valparaiso" and even the Con
ME GilchrIst" and other works in
which Whistler had emblazoned his
famous axiom that a picture is com
plete when il has expressed the ar
lists intention. The portrait OF Irving
was first seen on those walls, the poc-
trait Of a great artist by d great ar-
fist; each sympathetic TO the other. a
revelation and record of the genius Of
each.
Take lesser men. Burne-Jones was
first made known TO the British public
by the first exhibition at the Gros-
renor. The lovely "Venuss Mirror
was one Of the eight pictures he then
showed There were three Albert
Moores and four Holman Hunts, and
many pictures by young men whose
first nance it was. In order TO per
suado the public that the gallery was
opened in no spirit OF hostility 10 AGA
demicans. Sir Coutts asked the Prcsi-
dent OF the X val Academy, Sir Fran
els Grant. and such colleagues as Mil
iais, Watts, Leighton. Tadema, and
Poynter himself. now President Of the
Academy. 10 come in: and they came
H. Visitors had, therefore, the means
OF seeing for themselves what Acad-
envy art was like. and in what relation
i stood 10 the art Z the newer men
whose acquaintance they then made.
such men as Grant and Leighton and
Poynter, three Presidents, on the one
hand and Watts and Millais on the
other are not 10 be bracketed except
oy the mere fact Of their membership
o. he painting company at Burlington
House The three Presidents were
zach and an mon Of prose. Watts anu
9lillais, and prominently Watts, were
1Vels. But poetry in art is a thlng
which has 10 be explained to the Brit
lsh public and remains TO that great
sody Of Phnistines after the expiana-
uon as before. an impenetrable mys-
terry.
NeYerthelcss, the opening Of the
"osVenor and its successive exhibit
'Ohs year by year did give rise to
~afehings OF heart and new intel
'ual adventures. These private
news were social functions. Invita-
lllla WOE o.. nn,.l.. commit Sir EnulLs