The Washington times., 1919-10-31

- ANN1' Vi thC ACPdI tC0
American great which decor
ate the halls of various Gov
ernment departments and of the
Capitol here in Washington are
slowly going to/ruin for lack of
care. according to H. @. SeeboId, an
authority on paintings, ancient and
modern.
Mr.. Seebold says. that the ancient
masterpieces of the European gal
lerfes would have disappeared long
ago IL they were no better cared
for than the historic portraits in
our Government departments. He
says that the European pictures,
many of which are centuries old,
are watched and cared for like ail-
ing millionaires Once a wear Mt
least, each of them is given a coat
OF oil to preserve it from decay.
But not SO the valuable American
paintings. They are allowed 20 rot
and flake until even Cabinet OFF,
Ger can see that there is some
thing wrong with them. and then
they are turned over to some art
ist to be restored" Usually the
artist who gets the job is the one
who offers to do it for the least
money.
And the work should not be done
by artists at all, according. to Mr..
Seebold. 1t should be done by ex-
pert mechanics especially trained
for the work.
The most important of these i'm
periled Government portraits are
those or the Secretaries of State
and Assistant Secretaries of State
In the state Department, those of
the Attorney Generals in the De-
partment of Justice. and those of
the Secretaries of War in the War
Department. 1t has long been
the custom for the incumbents ot
these positions, upon retiring, to
have their portraits painted at Gov
ernment expense, and to leave them
hanging on the walls of their
offices. 1t is a perquisite which
secretarial vanity has seldom been
able to forego. Some men who
held their jobs only few, weeks
none-the-less left their likenesses
to gladden. posterity.
Some of the portraits are really
masterpieces of art, and some of
them are masterpieces of honor.
All of them. of course. have great
historical value. and will have
more, and more as time goes on.
They are really priceless things,
aid should be treated as such.
"PoliticaIIy Painted
One prominent Washington art
list who was asked how commis-~
sions for these portraits were
given out said that. the pictures
were politically painted. In other
words the artist is chosen through
pull or personal friendship. or his
ability TO fiatter. However, there
seems to be nothing particularly
political about that system. In ali
walks of life artists are chosen to
paint portraits for the same rea-
sons.
Some of the potraits are very
poor, but many of them are good
and a few excellent. Sorolla, Sar-
gent, Stewart, and Clarkson are a
few OF the better known artists
represented. Many of the pictures
are not signed, and the names of
the artists who did them will re-
main forever buried in the dusty
archives OF the country. But the
name of Herbert Vos will not be
one of these. His signature IL the
best executed bit OF painting in
his portrait of Richard Olney. as
it is certainly the most prominent
When various dignataries of the
Department of Justice were tact
lessly asked what the Government
paid for preserving the faces OF
it's great in oil, they. first looked
reproachfully at the inquisitive one.
then conferred among. themselves ,
at length. and finally decided that
it was a secret they wsS1S never