The Washington herald., 1914-03-15
WHERE ARE mn PIcIunEs,
y sosErH nDaAH OsaAMDnFLAIN

- - sASsA@ VHAA - -
The other day I stood in ! large ex.
Inhibition room with quiet citizen who
Is not much accustomed to seeing ar,
Ishows, but who was interested in the
eighty or more pictures that hung .on
the wall. Nearly ali Of the pictures
shown were good and pleasing. Some
of them were very good indeed. None
were really bad. All were painted by
women. My friend had never heard Of
a single one Of the twelve artists rep
resented. OF half Of them | had never
heard myself. They were young artists,
and their pictures were very promising.
All at once my friend turned to me
and asked, What is going to become OF
all these pictures! VIII they ever be
sold? Where win they go tor"
When ! told him that in all proba-
bility not one in twenty of them would
ever be sold, my friend insisted upon
knowing the fate of the many thousands
of other pictures that have been paint
ed in the last few years. Were they
painted merely to be packed away IN the
artists studios or bedrooms? If time
proves them quite unstable, what then ?
Do they go to the scrap heap?
This is hard and painful question.
The answer to it is that the great bulk
of the product of any painter whose
reputation is not well established ordi-
narily remains stored up, frameless, in
the studio of the painter, if he has one.
The average picture is never publicly ex-
hibited at all. II it is shown, it is in
a borrowed or hired frame. The art
:sts have a pleasant way of lending
frames to one another for exhibition
purposes. Certain frames of an accom-
modating nature have exhibited pictures
of poor artists until they are worn out
frames worn out and artists, too.
When a picture comes back from an
exhibition it is just stacked up with a
lot of others against the wall--and there
il may remain for years. If the artist
has an appreciative visitor it is trottet
out, to be slid into a frame and stood
on the floor or on an easel to be shown
and admired. Poor picture! To have
so much friendly admiration, and so lit
tie earning poweri
OF course the artist keeps it there
hoping that his luck will turn, and his
vogue increase, and the time come when
he can sell bis work for good prices.
But in the majority of cases that time
never comes.
All that has been said here is about
the pictures that do achieve some kind
of a public or semi-public exhibition in
the gallery of dealer, in that of club.
or even in an academy exhibition and
are never heard of again. What about
the thousands of pictures that are never
publicly exhibited at all? II picture
is publicly exhibited there, is at least
some chance for its sale. g..
The increasing number of these un-
exhibited pictures, gathering dust in a
studios and attics, has led to
very serious and somewhat angry situa-
ton in the art world. The artists are in
a state of revolt, like the unemployed l.
w. WIS. They are in open rebellion
against the academies and the managers
Of the other great art shows. They say
that meritorious artists have no chance
to exhibit their pictures.
The trouble is illustrated by the COM
plaint which Charles Vein, the president
of the Salmagundi Club, has made
against the managers of the Pennsyl-
vania Academy, apropos of its latest ex-
hibition. The Pennsylvania Academy
exhibitions have an excellent reputation
among the art shows of the country
They are certainly very good exhibitions.
But the fact is revealed that the walls of
the Pennsylvania Academy, on these-oc-l
casions, are covered principally with
pictures by well-known artists, which
these artists have been invited" to send.
That is to say, the pictures are mostly
picked out beforehand: and though all
the artists in the country are asked to
submit pictures, little regard is paid to
heir offerings. |
Mr.. Vein alleges that it is practically |
vain for an artist to submit picture for
the judgment of the jury of selection at
this and similar exhibitions, because |
.hese shows have become invitation af-
fairs. and, consequently, matters Of art
politics. He charges that the usual
artist has not square deal at all, that
he exhibition is a hoax on the artist
and the public.
Mr.. Vein has offered prize of SIoo, !
10 be given to students in its school,
4 the Pennsylvania Academy will tell
now many pictures that are shown in
is latest exhibition were invited, how
many were submitted (not invited spe-
tally, but only in general terms), and
low many of these were accepted and
ldng.
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