Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-10
THE NORTH WINDOW
By LeiLa MechLin.

tereSting and thought provoking. In
one instance, referring to a certain
composition by a Russian composer.
portion of which was rendered by
the orchestra, the author told of the
great difficulty experienced by the
composers musical friends to secure
this orchestration. The composer, it
seems. was not merely musician, or
even primarily musician, consequent
ly his music was done at odd times and
frequently left undone. For a concert
to be given by q music school one of
his works was to be rendered, and to
be so rendered had to be orchestrated.
At the eleventh hour he and two Of his
composer friends met together in the
evenings and worked like Trojans to
produce the score, using pencil rather
than ink, coating the sheets as they
were completed with gelatin, and
hanging them over line to dry like
an everyday wash, and then passing
them on, as rapidly as possible, for re-
production. 1t was no child's play; 1t
was tremendous effort, but the result
was q glorious piece of music, a great
work of art.
How little does one associate such
effort in connection with artistic pro
ductioni How absurd in comparison
is the performance of a single piece
by even the trained amateur. how lit
tie right has the latter to claim the
proud title of musiciani The same is
equally true in other fields Of art-in
painting. in sculpture, in architecture,
even in the handicrafts. Nothing that
is really great is produced without Ia
Dor, and oftentimes terrific mental, as
well as physical, labor. This is some
thing which few comprehend. A lack
Faf will gr,fy- 600 u DC Il c
has something to do with the great
quantity of mediocre work in art with
which the world today is flooded.
X = i
Joseph Pencil, IN his lately pub
llshed autobiography, entitled The
Adventures of an illustrator, says
that he was always an illustrator, that
as n child he looked at things with an
artists eye, but pages of his book are
given to a record of the struggles that
he had, as boy and youth, to gain a
footing in the world of art. More
fortunate than many, he was not
obliged to suffer physical privation be
cause he chose to be an illustrator, but
he did have to work hard. All sorts
OF difficulties beset his path, and had
he not had undaunted courage and
endless determination he would mover
have attained his end. one of his mot
toes was the advice of the Florentine
merchant to his son-"Never stint thy
self in thy work"
His theory is that the old apprentice
system, in which the young student
assisted, and at the same time learned
from, the experienced master, is the
best, far better than the modern art
school IF any one will study art, !"
he says, 'let him go to a master who
will teach and work with him. and
learn the trade and the craft. If the
student comes through he becomes an
artist"
Looking up the record of the early
American portrait painters and realiz-
ing the superior merit of much Of their
work, one cannot fail to wonder
whether there may not be something
after all. in this idea of regarding art
as something to be learned rather tina n
primarily esthetic expression. In all
probability Copley. Gilbert Stuart,
Chester Harding and all of those paint
ers who attained distinction in the
early days and whose works are now
included in the loan exhibition on view
in the National Gallery of Art, Ma
tional Museum, never used the word
"Self-eXpreSSiOn, never thought
whether they We're expressing them
selves or not. Their aim and object
was to faithfully set forth what they
saw, to do the thing they had to do
as well as 1t could be done with the
tools and the medium at their com
mand. These painters painted por.
traits in the first place because they
were wanted. in the second place be.
cause they found they could do 1t and
they enjoyed the doing. They did it as
a profeSsion-or, as you will, a trade
The majority began in a humble way
painting coaches, painting signs, and
from this advanced to painting por
traits. Each thing, however, they die
as well as it could be done by them
they were industrious and workman
like. They had no time to indulge
temperament, that is, not in Their
early days. They learned from one
another. The output of some of these
painters was tremendous, and the
average of that output reached an ex
traordinarily high level.
X * x *
The same is true of the early Ameri
can craftsmen, such as those who are
represented in the remarkable exhibit
ton of early American silver now or
display. 1t is customary for US to
think that we are uncommonly busy
in these modern days, but what is the
that of the patriot-craftsman, Paul
Revere, according to history?
In his excellent book on early
American Craftsmen" Walter A. Dyer
tells US that Paul Revere's activities
did not stop with his silvermaking. He
was an engraver and a publisher OF
historical and political cartoons. He
was a. manufacturer of gunpowder
church bells and rolled copper. He
even kept a hardware store in Boston
where he sold jewelry, picture frames
and false teeth. He was q high
Mason and an industrial organizer. a
Son of Liberty and a colonel in the
Army. Silver engraving interested
him so much that he began expert
menting on copper plate also, drawing
some of his own subjects, and by 1855
he became known as clever, If some
what crude. caricaturist, as we'll as 6
skilled engraver. He had time tc
twice ride to New York and Phila
delphia to secure support and co-opera
ton among the Colonies, once CARRYING
with him the Suffolk Resolves-the
forerunner Of the Declaration of indie
pendence. AT the time of the Revolu
ton he arranged to have his affairs
In Boston cared for while he moved
to Charleston and devoted himself
largely to public activities" 1t was
Paul Revere who was employed t.
repair the cannon left spiked at Castle
William by the British on the evacua
ton of Boston. 1t was Paul Revere
who was instructed, while in Phila
delphia the year previous, ITS, tc
inspect the powder mill there, as
assachusetts badly needed one II
was Paul Revere who built the powder
mill at Canton, Mass, and took
charge. 1t was under his direction
that the brass cannon ordered by the
newly established Government in the
year 1880 were cast. He was given
the contract by the Second Continen.
tai Congress for the printing of the
first Continental money, which he en-.
graVed himself, constructing his own