Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-02-14
Exhibit of
Paintings
to Be Held

! Conversing the other day with a
| gentleman who resides in New York,
! but whose business brings him often
to Newark, he remarked upon certain
aspects of commerce which he had
observed in this city.
II have often heard it said" he re-
marked, that there is no taste in
Newark; that it is solely and simply
an industrial city, and that no
| aesthetic feeling exists But every
time / come here and stroll in Broad
street, or even in Halsey street, I
notice more and more the growth of
the commerce that lies enshrined in
the specially shop, so-called.
Now where the specially shop
can live, where it's proprietor can find
it to his interest to display wares
which appeal only to an educated or
luxurious taste, there must be re-
fined sentiment, discriminating judg
ment and a love for art. Therefore, it
is quite time that the libel upon New
ark of declaring that only com
mercialism rules its people should be
silenced.
The latest attempt of the specialist
in trade to attract the lover of art
wares in Newark is made by a Ger
man, one August Willie, who has
established a shop for the sale of
paintings and art objects at 81 Hal
sey street.
Mr.. Willes business card announces
that he deals in fine paintings, mezzo-
tints, etchings and color prints; that
he is ready to undertake artistic
framing, and that he makes a
speciality of standard artists ma
terials.
I went into Mr.. Willes shop the
other day and found there himself,
his son and girl assistant of a naive
German type, whose manner alone
would attract the customer. There
was in her pose an absence of the
consequential affectation observed in
the conventional woman attendant in
certain art stores, and the proprietor
himself, evidently a. sanguine Teuton,
at once gained the goodwill of the
visitor and prospective purchaser by
his simplicity of address and his
| trust in the appreciative spirit of his
| future customers.
Unlike many foreign aspirants for
share of the trade of the American
derstand that if he were to succeed he
must let the people of the city know
that he was ready to serve them, and
| that, through the medium of advertis-
| ing, he must also let them know that
| he has something to offer them
worthy of their attention.
And it must be said that Mr.. Willie
has something distinctly deserving
the scrutiny and judgment of the ar
| fist or the art connoisseur.
| 1t is not necessary to publish cat
alogue raisonne of the stock of Mr..
Willie, but l wish to draw particular
attention to one feature of his collec-
/ ton, namely, his stock of water colors,
which is unusually large and inter-
esting. The pictures which he offers
are largely importations from Ger
many, and some scenes especially at
tractive to the residents of this sec
ton of the country. Among these are
some scenes in the immediate vicin-
ity of Newark.
One of these a sketch of the New
Jersey meadows in the autumn, must
appeal to the thousands who have al
this season of the year. as they jour-
neyed perhaps to Hackensack OF
Rutherford. enjoyed the transforms
ton wrought by nature in this lagoon
like bit of country. They have seen
! THESE salt TldTSHeS III ouiliheit iieli
waving carpet of coarse grass of the
richest green, thickly embossed with
the wild rose; then, as the air grew
crisp and the brown of an old Gre
mona fiddle stole over the surface
of the meadows, they have seen the
landscape change and sombre scene
succeed, russell tone, soothing to the
eve, but depressing to the mind.
Another sketch in Mr.. Wille's col
lection represents the stretch of road
from Hackensack to River Edge, a Bit
of color rich in sentiment and exc
cuted with delicacy and precision.
The collection is also especially full
in autumnal scenes. those tests of the
artists eye for color and his restraint
in its application. If there were moi
another thing to observe in the col
/; lection these alone should lure the art
lover.
I. noticeable point about the whole
interior of the art emporium is the
absence of those cheap, meretricious
adiuncts of the stock of the ordinary
art shop plated limitations of colo
nial silver, figures of imitation bronze
and feeble replicas of colonial furni-
\ ture.