Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-07
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

Almost a riot was caused yesterday
in the art department of the Library
of Congress when a VlSltor oeniailueu'
what is art?"
He had lust read a two-column ac-
count of a half-million dollar lawsuit
against a we'll known art critic VINO mao
declared that a certain painting was
not a Da Vinci and thereby prevented
its sale for a quarter of million dol
lars. He believed that the picture was
only a COPY. A copy was not SO Valu,
able as the price asked; an orlginai
would be worth three or four mlillons'
Why?
"what Is art?"-especially when ex-
perts disagree as to whether one piece
is an original or copy. ,,..
What can a picture do to make lie
"look like a million dollars "-to give q
no,1ltimillion dollar thrill, to feed the
hungry or warm the chilled?
what Is art?"
The innocent question brought panic
to the attendants in the art sectlon OF
the library and they flew to fetch arm
loads of books to answer 1t. But the
books disagreed and set up sucn q
jangle of sounds that they creaSe0
renaissance of the Tower OF Babel: Can
anv nictl1re be worth millions Of dollars
az a niece of art? No; such values
measure not art, but historic interest,",
inst as first editions" held worth
thousands of dollars, are not literature
but curiosity.
More than century ago, Coleridge
kria IN AYrIQfn
said 1.-THE real illusion consists not III
the minds Judging it to be a forest
hut in the remission of the Judgment
that it is not forest"
That explains even modern art. "A
local authority, trying to bring out the
beauty of the raw colors OF certain
canvas. babe the onlooker to shut MS
ewes, for he could appreciate its color
better that way. That is a brilliant
idea. needing only {. blindfolding band
age on top of the eyelids to make the
palette ring with glorious tones. That's
The way the painter does while In the
oerpetration of the creative" crime.
His work proves it. To indicate that he
doesn't 60 halfway he eliminates half
tones and atmosphere.
X u X X
The particular lawsuit which has &C.
.asioned this research and dissertation
is against one of the best-known art
critics in the world, Sir Joseph Duveen
If New York. He got his title In Eng
land because he could spot chrome
across the street in London fog, with
his eyes shut. In June, 10000 soon
after the World War-Sir Joseph de-
clared that a painting of La Belle Fer
roniere, owned by Mrs. Andree Ladoux
and offered for sale at paltry quarter
If a million dollars-60-c dollars at
that!-was not really the work of Leo
nardo da Vinci, and that If it were not
a mere copy it would be worth, not
$3.50, 900, but between 100000 and
81, 100000. This thing of cutting prices
Of art must be stopped! Who wants
cheap art in chain drug stores, two
masterpieces for the price of one, plus
one cent?
Yet, after all, is not Coleridge rather
archaic" as an art connoiSseur? Art Is
not IAN illusion of a forest" nor any
other illusion. Art, according to mod
ernists, which deludes the beholder into
thinking it represents anything. is quite
out of style, of course So Leonardo
da Vinci is "passe," and there is not
single one of his old-fashioned "ar-
chaic" paintings in Washington; in fact,
there are no more in the world than
there are fingers on one hand. and what
there are hang in public galleries. Homes
today have none of them. Our fash
ionable modern parlors have the mas
terpieces of decorators" which means
that they are paneled in such a way
as to bar hanging of any paintings: or
else they require only patterns" rather
than illusions" or 'remissions of illu-
Sions."
Art critics-do they really know art
technique? ''Jamais de la vie" Here
is an extract from Sir Joseph's testi-
mony, by which he is going to sidestep
the accusation that his remark about
that Da Vinci canvas was based on
either art knowledge or malice:
Mrs. Hahn's counsel inquired at
length into the factors which determined
Sir Joseph's opinion about painting.
@. Do you think knowledge Of the
technique of painting and of pigments
is necessary to an expert?
A. No.
@. Then what Is left?
A. The beauty-the art of the picture.
@. What do you call the ars Of the
picture?
A. The life of the picture.
@. What Is the life of the picture?
A. What the artist puts into 1t.
@. Is it something you can see with
a magnifying glass?
A. No, but you can see 1t with the
eye.
@. How does an artist put life into
it?
A. An artist draws portrait from
life That is Why a r9arcno citS Other |
wise an artist could copy 1t from a
photograph. That Is the difference |
between the real picture and copy.
y n n X
From such a dialocss.. a limiting !
definition Of an expssx EHally emerged. |
sia Aassnh. saida 80 e1Qagt Eanst; h. a :