Evening star., 1926-04-25
Capital Sidelights

works In 1900. 1t is an entirely new
departure in Government publications.
was prepared as a labor OF love ana
at considerable personal expense by
Charles e. F'airman. who for the last
II years has been art curator In tne
Capitol.
This book is now on the presses at
the Government Printing once on an
order from the United States Senate.
The manuscript contained 716 typed
pages with an average of 23O words to
a page. There are to be more than
160 illustrations.
1t contains the story of the leglsla- l.
tion by which Congress has purchased
works of art and how individuals nave
contributed works of art, with citation
Of the various laws and resolutions,
by which these works OF art became
the property of the Government.
There are more than 900 pieces OF
art recorded in this book Mr.. Fair
man was greatly aided by the sym.
pathetic attitude and cooperation OF
! the architect of the Capitol. who gave
the heartiest approval and encourage
| ment to the work. The preparation
of the manuscript was done at nome
| by Mr.. Fairman. who had all OF the
stenogra ply and tipping done at MS
personal expense. The collection OF
| the photographs was also an expense
borne personally by Mr.. Fairman
The book is intended to have popu-
lar appeal to all citizens. 1t is not
written for art connoisseurs. but to
present the subject matter In an enter
| tanning way. authoritatively, and as
| a valuable educational text book.
Mr.. Fairman shows that the first
art work owned by this Government
was the portraits of Louis XVI ana
Marie Antoinette. which belonged TO
the Continental Congress. None
knows by whom they were done.
! They were presented by the King and
Queen of France. on request OF the
Continental Congress.
Some of the art works In the Capitol
are by the very best artists OF the
country. Some are by Augustus Saint
Gaudens. who for his period is con
sidered the very best sculptor OF the
! United States. The Adams Memorial
| in Rock Creek Cemetery. this city, Is
considered one of his best achieve
ments.
The House pediment is by Paul
| Bartlett whose work was fully as
great as that of Saint-Gaudens. Mr..
| Bartlett was honored with the title OF
Commander Of the Legion Of Honor.
The portrait of Thomas b. Reed In
! the Speakers gallery is notable
example of the portrait work Of John
+ Singer Sargent. who. Mr.. Fairmar
| says. Is perhaps the greatest portrait
| painter of all time.
| The collection of historical paintings
under Mr.. Fairman's curatOrship Is
not surpa ssed by any art museum IN
| the country.
There are As portraits of the Speak
ers which are hung in the Speaker
| lobby. The origin of this collection
| seems to have been accidental rather
| than intentional. Prior 10 1880 there
were three rooms at the south side oil
the hall of the House of Representa-
| tives. In the act of March 3. 1879, an
appropriation was made for the altera
| tions in these rooms, which were the
room of the Speaker. the room OF the
| sergeant at arms of the House and
| the room occupied by the reporters OF
the House. This alteration was insti
tuted for the purpose of improving
the ventilation of the House. and when
the rooms named had been converted
| into one large room. large openings
were made in the north walls of the
room so that ventilation might be Sc
cured from these rooms ana the
Speakers lobby into the hall OF the
House of Representatives. There had
|
room small portraits of former Speak
ers set in oval frames. The por'
traits were quite small in size. some
| in oil and some in lithogra phi. and
others were engravings Of better
quality. The only oil portraits at this
time were portraits of John w. Taylor
copy of an earlier portrait by Glib
son, and portrait of Henry Clay
painted from life by Giuseppe Pagnani
an Italian painter of prominence who
/ during the fifties. visited Washington
frequently as a friend of Sir Bulwer
Lytton and during such visits painted
the portraits of Henry Clay and other
prominent Americans of that period
This portrait of Henry Clay was given
to the Government in 1852 and duly
accepted as a gift from the artist. Ii
is a curious circumstance that while a
resolution providing for the accept
ance of this portrait had been before
Congress for consideration for some
time. final passage did not occur until
a few days after the death OF Henry
| Clay.
| The portrait of Speaker Reed was
n gift TO Congress from II members
OF the F'ifty-first Congress.
The last addition to this collection
of portraits, which are now all pOr
traits in oil. is that of Frederick n
Giliett. This portrait was painted in
the Capitol during Mr.. Gillett's terms
as Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives by Edmund G. Tarben. q
portrait painter of merit from the
| State Mr.. Gillett represented as
Speaker Massachusetts,. This por
trait prior to its being accepted by the
Government was shown In several
notable exhibitions in this and other
cities.
OF almost equal Importance is col
lection of busts of 90 Vice Presidents
which occupy pedestals in the corridor
surrounding the Senate chamber.
Among the notable gifts are thu
| group OF "The Emancipation Procla
nation" by Frank B. Carpenter. This
was exhibited in many Of the large
cities Of the United States in 1S64'5
Niagara in Winter" on the gallery
floor of the Senate lobby. by F. Regis
Gignoux, a national academician. is
another nota BILE gift.
| In Statuary Hall there are 8:
statues. all of which have been pre-
sented by certain States, each o.
which cost from $4,000 to $4,000.
! MIR. Fairman SAYS that this collec
tion of art in the Capitol contains i'm
lportant examples of the work of sculp
tors and painters to whom the credi
flor the present standards OF art In thi
country is unquestionably due.
| \
| Representative j. Alfred Taylor
from the sixth West Virginia district
is one of the few practical printer
in the new House. He has been work
ing as a printer since he was IA year.
of age and for more than 80 years ha
handled the 'leaden messengers o
thought" in the publication of news
papers in his district. Before coming
to Congress he was publisher OF ;
Democratic weekly newspaper, Picl
and Shovel, named in honor of tn,
tive tools which did most to help de
velop the section of the State that h
represents, which Is rich in coal de
posits.
l He is frequently referred to as "th