Year: 1870

The rapidly growing taste for the fine arts
has occasioned great extension of the picture
trade in New York Vast sums have been
invested in it by dealers who make this city a
central point for the distribution throughout
the country of multitude Of works by native
and foreign artists. A few years ago, when a
market for productions of this kind could
inconvenient halls and even old churches used
to be temporarily hired for occasional picture
sales But now there are at least three
spacious, elegant, well ventilated and well
lighted galleries specially and permanently
devoted to exhibitions and auction sales. In
addition to numerous picture stores Of an infe-
rior class, several cart Buildings" have arisen
on Broadway and Fifth avenue, equaling If
not surpassing some Of the finest similar estab-
lishments in London and Paris.


Most of the picture sales, however, which
have taken place during the present season
have been characterized by discouragingly low
prices and by an unusual lack of eagerness on
the part Of buyers. We are convinced that
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the fact that so many picture dealers, under
rating the improved standard Of public taste and
overrating public gulibility, have not hesitated,
in their haste to get rich, to glut the market
with trash from the workshops Of wretchedly
paid foreign copyists. At all the great art
centres of Europe, and particularly, it is said,
at Dusseldorf, their agents have even sue
ceeded in inducing certain artists Of high repu-
tation to connive at schemes for swindling the
American public, and to place, or permit to
valuable pictures. These copies are brought
over here and, encased in gaudy frames,
are foisted as originals on inexperienced
and credulous buyers. This has become q
wholesale and retail swindling business. II
costs the dealers so little to obtain and import
these bogus productions that their profits are
enormous. Many of the copies are mere daubs
but some Of the counterfeiting copyists regu-
larly employed by the dealers have sufficient
technical skill to make passable pictures at a
rate of remuneration which would be utterly
inadequate, even for them, If they were living
here instead Of abroad. No American artist
would wish or could afford to do the same
work at the same price. Consequently the
greater the demand which can be artifcially
stimulated for foreign copies the less encour-
agement is given to native artists to make
either copies or original paintings. Thus
fraudulent picture dealers get rich, while, so
far as they are concerned, the artists may
starve. Happily this gross injustice needs but
to be exposed to be condemned and remedied.
Already purchasers are suspiciously avoiding
picture sales of the Peter Funk order. They
will do wisely if, henceforth, and especially
during the holidays, they confne their patron
age to those first class dealers who merit it by
offering, both at private sale and at auction,
works of undoubted value by the best Euro
pean and American painters. There must be
not a few of such works among the two thou


sand pictures comprised in the collection of
late eccentric Boston millionaire, and which
are soon to be sold at auction in New York
This will be an extraordinary picture sale.