Year: 1872




wing their way to lands unknown to the dull
work-a-day world. but, unlike the birds, they
return to US at the first admonition of the
coming Winter. Children Of imagination,
they carry with them eternal sunshine, and
while the snowfakes are covering the city ways
with q chill winding-sheet the walls Of the
studios glow with Summer skies and Autumn
foiiage. At this moment the art nests of the
city are being rapidly reoccupied. and only
few csarks students of nature refuse to quit the
pleasant woodlands at the warning blasts OF
Winter. But by and by the whole flock will
be collected and we shall have the pleasure OF
visiting in imagination the charming nooks
where the lovers of the picturesque delight to
pass the sultry Summer time. There shall be
shady retreats where signing maidens love to
tread. and bold. rocky sleeps only less peril
ous to bold batchelors-in fact, the spots
where this persecuted class of citizens take
refuge and find security from the arrows OF
their fair prosecutors. Or, again, we shall
have the various moods of the sea SO photo
graphed that the illusion will almost make us
believe we hear the mournful sough of the
waves and sniff the odor Of the salt water.


These pleasures are, however, in the fu-
ture, as the artists absolutely refused to return
to the city until the last moment One cause
of their tardiness, no doubt, may be traced to
the resolution Of the academicians not to hold
q Winter exhibition, SO that the artists will no
longer be forced to leave their Summer haunts
until their good pleasure leads them back or
the chill winds force them from the fields
This will not, however, be without its compen-
sations. Few of the educated art patrons will
regret the abandonment Of the Winter exhi-
bition, which was, in truth, q disgrace
to our city. The good artists for the
most part refused to send their works,
and in order to cover the walls mediocrity
was freely admitted, with what depressing
result it is needless to say We have right
to be thankful to the academicians for such
proof Of common sense. As we pointed out
moro than year ago, it was the only line of
policy to adopt in view Of the difficulty of
obtaining works Of merit Immediately after the
return of the artists to their serious labor.
It is measure that will give real satisfaction,
and one Of its chief results will be to raise the
character of the Spring exhibition and make
it worthy Of the position which New York is
rapidly assuming as generous and intelligent
patron of art.


It is gratifying to notice that the sketches
brought home by the artists for the most part
give evidence of close study of nature and
afford the best proof Of the growing
desire to do conscientious work. We
have moro than once complained that
American painters did not bestow that
careful labor on their pictures which we
had q right to look for 1t is therefore, with
sincere pleasure that we note the improve
ment which is being operated in this respect
The older artists are by no means the least
attentive students. Men already famous, recog-
nizing that in art, even for the most skilful,
there is always something to learn, have been
studying as closely as if preparing for their
first essay. Among those James Hart deserves
special mention. Encouraged by the success
which attended his introduction of cattle as
prominent feature of his pictures, he has
devoted the Summer season to sketch
ing domestic animals in their pastures.
The first work that will be shown to the pub
lie is q sheep study, to which interest will be
lent by connecting it with the story of "Little
Bo-Peep." In different line j. II. Beard
displays his intimate acquaintance with ami
NAL life and his perfect sympathy with
puppyhood. No one knows the habit of this
important class of the canine community
better than Mr.. Beard. Edward Moran has
buried himself in his studio castle on the
shores of Staten Island, and we know him no
more except by his works These are ever a
new delight. He is gradually educating the
public eye TO the beauty that lies everywhere
about us and which strikes every foreigner,
but was not generally recognized here until
the child Of genius with his magic brush
touched the scene. The purchasers of paint
ings are beginning to learn that in New York
harbor they have sights as picturesque and as
full Of charm as any that can be seen on the
canals of Venice or on Dutch lagoons. But
the healthiest sign of all is that their recog-
milton is practical and they buy Moran $
pictures-a wonderful example of man
being a prophet in his own country.


Winslow Homer is preparing some Of his
vigorous American pictures-works that, in
spite of their defective color, are full of genu-
inc art feeling, and have value that viii IN
crease with time We know no works so
thoroughly and distinctively American as those,
and whatever faults they may have are more
than counterbalanced by the fresh and truth
full delineation of contemporaneous life they
furnish. They will hand down to posterity
pictures of Americans of the nineteenth GEN.
tury, possessing an individuality, and marked
by the strong idiosyncracies Of our people, not


to be found elsewhere in the whole range of art.
J. G. Brown, who portrays the softer and more


,--oonolitan nhases of the national character