Evening star., 1926-02-04
THE NORTH WINDOW
By Leila MechIin.

So many things are not what they
appear to be; 1t is very perplexing to
the amateur. For instance, according
to Prof. John Van Dyke, the majority
OF Rembrandts are not Rembrandts.
According to other experts, perhaps
10 per cent Of the so-called Corots were
not painted by Corot at all. More late
~ those who are best qualified to
judge have declared that quite num-
Der OF miniatures, supposedly by Cop
ley and Gilbert Stuart were painted
In the last 10 or 20 years-in fact, are
completely fraudulent And now Mr..
Cesclnsky, one of the leading British
authorities on furniture, is lecturing
in this country and letting it be wide
ly known that Chippendale was not
Chlppendale, craftsman, a furniture
maker, but rather a style, and de-
partment store style at that.
How bewildering. What are we to
believe? Are we to throw up our
hands and declare that we will have
none OF 1t: that since we cannot be
sure that what We see is correctly
labeled we Will look elsewhere? How
much better instead it would be to de-
eide TO disregard the label and to look
at the thing itself, to get enjoyment
from what is, rather than from what
Is supposed to be. The portrait that
eouaI estbetic nIaasI,ra -, 49, ~ ~
,tv of ohsaruara trtI " thie fiiaJor
hrandt's name 10 aeut ,iiasic III rem
from his skill, his art, and, secondly,
IN these later days, in the enormous
money value that is put on his paint.
ings.
Money value is, OF course, an ap-
that Is not sl1perior does nnt ,aoi,,,i,, 80
high values or increa sing yoII,ae crar,
Grafton after renaratior II g. 80,
worth. artistic u,nrtb ,hiat 20 "a
end secures undI,innr f ar ,r, tio "
are fashions in arr as IN ~. ,1i;,'le'
Meissonier. for instance ~. faI.io.
40 or so wears ago ARA bis n.iIr,ian
sold for enormous surns. toIa,t w.
bring conparativelv IittIa Evc.nt ~.
curtosities the v-orLs of so,,.a - - te
extreme rnodernists ,,-,,I ,,,.ntilb, ~ ..
next to no value q double donaal. ha,'ca
They are Of the day: that is ali
X
bue 10 return TO the things which
Rembrandts. Corots Gnhart g. So, -
and Copley miniatures Cbinnendala
chairs Now If one is blIving II he.
hooyeS him or her IN secure docr.
mentary evidence Of autbanticitv.
nothing else will establish nositive
worth in the sales market. often
times, furthermore. fraud is easiIv
discovered. For instance. Renbrandt
is not known to have made replicas Of
his paintings. When a replica apnears
in a sales catalogue il is nretty certain
to be the work OF another painter a
copy In the same way C;iIhert
Stuart and CopIey did nor naint larga
miniatures. Gilbert Smart is NOT clIn,
posed to have painted miniatures AZ
all, though he NAV have done So. Cer.
tainly II either of them painted rninia.
lures thew nainted good ones and no
matter how frankly a riniatura 49,.
be signed with their initials and aatad
during their lifetime If il is NOT y
good miniature if il is moi veil naint.
ed, if il is not in the style of their
other work. II can AZ least he recorded
with suspicion. Another test is of
price. Very seldom does one oct a
work by celebrated master as q har.
gain. nartjcuIarIv when II naesas
throueh the hands of tho +bir3 parso,,
But why, some will say, If these
paintings are as good as works by
these artists, are they not worth as
much? The works by the artists who
lived more than a hundred years ago.
for one thing, have stood the test of
time. 1t Is not likely that a modern
copy Will do this-at least no one
knows; time alone viii tell and very
Sale chairs or SberaTon o,- anv cbair
made a hundred wears ago and still
strong, the workmanship and the DUAL.
ttv OF the wood signify even more
than the name of the maker. Forty or
fifty years ago, Mr.. Cescinsky says,
when he was working as a boy in a
furniture shop, they took six or seven
years to season mahogany planks
after they were cut. Now. he says, it
! is done by process of steam in three
weeks, and consequently will not
stand the same changes in tempera-
ture, wear and tear.
There is an excellent lesson to be
learned from all this, which is to
avoid. If possible. the hypnotism of
names, ana 10 judge WORKS OF art ac-
cording TO their actual value, accord
Ing to the element or beauty Whlch
one may find IN them. by TINS test
many things which are maze TO-DAY
VIII De louno very worth wIlie' anu q
good deal that belonged 70 the past not
lnVarlaoiy estlmaole- me test oi
chalr as work OF art Is lts beauty OF
design It's eXceilence OF Work1IaIship,
IT'S adaptaplllty 10 use II Ihe pupllc
"ouIu onLS learn 10 IeEaro ar 1roin
TINS Standpoint hucn oettei arI "ouiu
be produced.
< y x
Who would +btnls of ea+tIns I.ao.
,..dn do wv, 70 1y,ita . nraface n
ia. 49,, ~ ua 49,, ~ 81 toda1,2 yat tbet
a. 1 40. oti,, mhat Chorles II wnnd-
49,, Satinna1 Acaden,Ictan and dts.
ttn.,,,shad nainter and FTzahstb
We IHard par,,,nS Of tho Cb,1dren,s Ar
60. pos,.nr hoya dona and an ey-
oeIIant nrofaca !, is Tho hook is IN
,,eh' ..Tt' =. 20 cae,r,o ;, ana oI,,onotas