The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-11-28
GRAND JURY HOLDS LO0NEY AND cox
FOR STEALING; 0RTELL FOR SvVINDLIN(
ARTIST SHORT
OFCASHOPENS
PHOTO STUDIO
Airs His Opinions of
ON n,erciaI
America
By CHAN DAVIS.
Consolidated Press Correspond

By CHAN DAVIS.
consolidated Press Correspondent
Copyright, 1922, BY The Argus
Chicago. Nov. 2s.-An artist must
be true to art but commercial
America will not permit him to be
30. .
That is the view of no less an
authority than Harry Lachman,
noted landscape artist. A chevalier
Of the legion Of honor and accepted
as one of the greatest artists of
modern times, he said today that
he plans to abandon painting for
q brief period.
The reason is lack of funds he
very frankly admits. His photogra-
ply will be limited to special sit
tinEs and he will pose his subjects
personally.
Why" he was asked today when
he told of his plans and also OF
having three of his canvases hung
in the Luxembourg, should a IA
nous painter open a photo studio ~
The tall, serious, black-haired in
dividual, who exactly a year ago
stirred all artistic America to its
foundations by charging that most
American painters produced mail
order stuff", that was "best fitted
for "a well appointed bathroom" !"
very frankly gave his reasons.
ITO follow his desire to improve
himself; to reach any heights at
all in painting" he said. '.an artist
must be unhampered in his endeav-
ors. My work for a few months in
New York as photographer will
furnish me the meager funds l re-
quire for a year Of painting in
Europe. The public taste here, as
well as abroad, is quite generally
stereotyped. II painter attempts
something different, something out
OF the ordinary, his work is ignor-
ed. Hence he either starves, makes
hts living aaother way or paints
the pot boilers, which come back
like ghosts later to trouble his
career.
Il plan something different and
intend to finance it myself. This is
not a new idea entirely. Every
painter. at some time in his career,
perhaps by chance, produces q sal
able picture. That is, he paints
something that by very virtue of its
subject has wide appeal. Imme-
diately dealers demand that he pro-
duce others of a similar character.
The artist needs ready money and
ne does SO. Very soon he gets
reputation as a painter Of waves
or 'sows', or sheep or something
Of the sort. The public will not
buy any other subject by him. He
becomes an 'automat' and his artis-
Tic progress is arrested This, too,
in the face of the fact that in most
cases the work he has been pro-
ducing is far from being of the best
ne can do along different lines. He
knows this full well and he tries
The other things but-the pictures
will not sell.
CVEVtS StTuESlcSs
"Corot, when a struggling youth,
painted q picture in silver gray
tones. Itiwas immensely popular
and for Is years the studios de-
nanded that he paint silver gray.
he rebelled and painted
what we now know as his italian
Period productions. These today
are in great demand from colors
while the earlier works are not
Claude Monet, the blind master
u France. Is years ago while al !
most starving, painted a picture in |
which was haystack. It sold anN
lealers demanded haystacks there
lfter. Monet painted 100 Of them
,efore he gave up in disgust. !
There's an American painter who |
las produced piles of cord wood |
or years, another who has done
with naked little girls
md still third who for II years
las done desert purples'. These
III can produce much better work |
'ut the dealers and the buying pub
ie won't let them.
AN artists future demands that
le be true to his art. / painted a !
ew Notre Danes through the
'pring sycamores but when they !
'ecame popular I stopped. l paint
d some red roofs and the dealer
'sked for 100 and l quit again. Yet
he paintings which the govern
nent purchased made no impress
ion on dealers or new rich buyers"
Asked what sort Of pictures he
vanted to paint, he replied in a
cry serious manner: +
The sort that the general public
vont buy" !