,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,lady4--,,john ,,singleton ,,copley4 ,,art ,,in ,,america ,a ,,critical ,,and ,,historical ,,sketch ,,by ,s4 ,g4 ,w4 ,,benjamin ,,author ,,of ,,contemporary ,,art ,,in ,,europe ,,what ,,is ,,art c4 ,,illustrated ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,harper ,,brothers1 ,,publishers ,,franklin ,,square #ahhj ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahgi1 by ,,harper ,,brothers1 ,in the ,office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington4 ,,erratum4 ,the cut on page #bh1 attributed to ,rembrandt ,peale1 should be credited to ,john ,t4 ,peele4 ,,preface4 ,the aim of this book has been to give a historical outline of the growth of the arts in ,america4 ,but while this has been the dominating idea in the mind of the writer1 criticism has necessarily entered1 more or less1 into the preparation of the work1 since only by weighing the differences or the comparative merits of those artists who seemed best to illustrate the various phases of ,american art has it been possible to trace its progress from one step to another4 ,it is from no lack of appreciation of their talents that the author has apparently neglected mention of the ,american artists resident in foreign capitals--like ,bridgman1 ,duveneck1 ,wight1 ,neal1 ,bacon1 ,benson1 ,ernest ,parton1 ,millet1 ,whistler1 ,dana1 ,blashfield1 ,miss ,gardner1 ,miss ,conant1 and many others who have done credit to ,american sthetic culture4 ,but it was necessary to draw the line somewhere2 and to discuss what our artists are painting abroad would have at once enlarged the scope of the work beyond the limits of the plan adopted4 ,an exception has been made in the case of our sculptors1 because they have so uniformly lived and wrought in ,europe1 and so large a proportion of them are still resident there1 that1 were we to confine this branch of the subject only to the sculptors now actually in ,america1 there would be little left to say about their department of our arts4 ,the author takes this occasion cordially to thank the artists and amateurs who have kindly permitted copies of their paintings and drawings to be engraved for this volume4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,i4 ,,early ,,american ,,art #ac ,,ii4 ,,american ,,painters 7#ahbh-ahgh7 #ci ,,iii4 ,,american ,,painters 7#ahbh-ahgh7 #ff ,,iv4 ,,american ,,painters 7#ahbh-ahgh7 #ig ,v4 ,,sculpture ,,in ,,america #acd ,,vi4 ,,present ,,tendencies ,,of ,,american ,,art #afd ,,illustrations4 ,,subject4 ,,artist4 ,,page4 ,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,lady ,john ,singleton ,copley ,frontispiece ,,family ,,of ,,bishop ,,berkeley ,john ,smybert #af ,,death ,,on ,,the ,,pale ,,horse ,benjamin ,west #ai ,,death ,,of ,,montgomery ,john ,trumbull #bc ,,general ,,knox ,gilbert ,stuart #be ,,beggar',s ,,opera ,g4 ,stuart ,newton #bg ,,babes ,,in ,,the ,,wood ,rembrandt ,peale #bh ,,fanny ,,kemble ,thomas ,sully #bi ,,ariadne ,john ,vanderlyn #cj ,,the ,,hours ,e4 ,g4 ,malbone #cb ,,jeremiah ,washington ,allston #cd ,,dying ,,hercules ,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,morse #ce ,,mumble ,,the ,,peg ,henry ,inman #dj ,,portrait ,,of ,,parke ,,godwin ,thomas ,le ,clear #dc ,,portrait ,,of ,,fletcher ,,harper ,c4 ,l4 ,elliott #de ,,an ,,ideal ,,head ,g4 ,a4 ,baker #dh ,,the ,,judgement ,,of ,,paris ,henry ,peters ,grey #ej ,,miranda ,daniel ,huntington #ec ,a ,,surprise ,william ,sidney ,mount #ee ,,taking ,,the ,,veil ,robert ,weir #eg ,,desolation4 ,,from ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,empire,thomas ,cole #ei ,a ,,study ,,from ,,nature ,a4 ,b4 ,durand #fa ,,noon ,,by ,,the ,,sea-,,shore4--,,beverly ,,beach ,j4 ,f4 ,kensett #fc ,,altorf1 ,,birth-,,place ,,of ,,william ,,tell ,george ,l4 ,brown #fd ,,brook ,,in ,,the ,,woods ,worthington ,whittredge #fg ,,landscape ,,composition ,r4 ,w4 ,hubbard #gj ,,the ,,vasty ,,deep ,william ,t4 ,richards #gb ,,high ,,torn1 ,,rockland ,,lake ,jasper ,f4 ,cropsey #gd ,,the ,,parsonage ,a4 ,f4 ,bellows #ge ,,landscape ,,with ,,cattle ,james ,hart #gg ,,sunset ,,on ,,the ,,hudson ,sandford ,r4 ,gifford #hj ,a ,,composition ,frederick ,e4 ,church #hb ,a ,,winter ,,scene ,louis ,r4 ,mignot #hd ,,ship ,,of ,,the ,,ancient ,,mariner ,james ,hamilton #he ,,whoo6 ,william ,h4 ,beard #hg ,,lafayette ,,in ,,prison ,e4 ,leutze #hi ,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,lady ,william ,page #ia ,,the ,,refuge ,elihu ,vedder #ic ,,cartoon ,,sketch3 ,,christ ,,and ,,nicodemus ,john ,lafarge #ie ,,view ,,on ,,the ,,kern ,,river ,a4 ,bierstadt #ii ,,the ,,yosemite ,thomas ,hill #ajj ,,the ,,bathers ,thomas ,moran #aja ,,landscape ,jervis ,m',entee #ajd ,,county ,,kerry ,a4 ,h4 ,wyant #aje ,,the ,,adirondacks ,homer ,martin #ajg ,a ,,landscape ,j4 ,w4 ,casilear #aji ,,ship ,,ashore ,m4 ,f4 ,h4 ,de ,haas #aaa ,a ,,foggy ,,morning ,w4 ,e4 ,norton #aab ,a ,,marine ,arthur ,quartley #aad ,,arguing ,,the ,,question ,t4 ,w4 ,wood #aaf ,,the ,,rose ,b4 ,f4 ,mayer #aah ,,dress ,,parade ,j4 ,g4 ,brown #abj ,a ,,bed-,,time ,,story ,s4 ,j4 ,guy #aba ,,the ,,mother ,eastman ,johnson #abc ,,sail-,,boat ,winslow ,homer #abd ,,the ,,scout ,wordsworth ,thompson #abf ,,on ,,the ,,old ,,sod ,william ,magrath #abg ,a ,,matin ,,song ,fidelia ,bridges #abi ,,study ,,of ,a ,,dog ,frank ,rogers #acj ,,lost ,,in ,,the ,,snow ,a4 ,f4 ,tait #acb ,,eve ,,before ,,the ,,fall ,hiram ,powers #ace ,,orpheus ,thomas ,crawford #acg ,,columbus ,,before ,,the ,,council4 ,,from ,,the ,,bronze ,,door ,randolph ,rogers #aci ,,of ,,the ,,capitol ,,at ,,washington ,,the ,,ghost ,,in ,,hamlet ,thomas ,r4 ,gould #ada ,,george ,,washington ,j4 ,q4 ,a4 ,ward #adc ,,medea ,william ,wetmore ,story #adf ,,the ,,promised ,,land ,franklin ,simmons #adg ,,latona ,,and ,,her ,,infants ,w4 ,h4 ,rinehart #aej ,,zenobia ,harriet ,hosmer #aeb ,,evening ,e4 ,d4 ,palmer #aec ,,bust ,,of ,,william ,,page ,william ,r4 ,o',donovan #aee ,,abraham ,,pierson ,launt ,thompson #aeg ,,the ,,charity ,,patient ,john ,rogers #aeh ,,the ,,whirlwind ,j4 ,s4 ,hartley #aei ,,adoration ,,of ,,the ,,cross ,,by ,,angels4 ,,st4 ,,thomas',s ,augustus ,st4 ,gaudens #afj ,,church1 ,,new ,,york ,,thomas ,,jefferson',s ,,idea ,,of ,a ,,monument #afb ,,the ,,mowing ,alfred ,fredericks #afe ,,birds ,,in ,,the ,,forest ,miss ,jessie ,curtis #afi ,,representing ,,the ,,manner ,,of ,,peter',s ,,courtship ,howard ,pyle #aga ,,some ,,art ,,connoisseurs ,w4 ,hamilton ,gibson #agc ,,washington ,,opening ,,the ,,ball ,c4 ,s4 ,reinhart #age ,,museum ,,of ,,fine ,,arts1 ,,boston #agh ,,the ,,astonished ,,abb ,e4 ,a4 ,abbey #aha ,a ,,child',s ,,portrait ,b4 ,c4 ,porter #ahd ,a ,,bit ,,of ,,venice ,samuel ,colman #ahe ,,the ,,old ,,orchard ,r4 ,swain ,gifford #ahg ,a ,,landscape ,george ,inness #ahh ,,la ,,marguerette--,,the ,,daisy ,william ,m4 ,hunt #ahi ,,moonlight ,john ,j4 ,enneking #aia ,,having ,a ,,good ,,time ,louis ,c4 ,tiffany #aib ,,southampton1 ,,long ,,island ,c4 ,h4 ,miller #aic ,a ,,study ,frederick ,dielman #aie ,,the ,,burgomaster ,h4 ,muhrman #aig ,,burial ,,of ,,the ,,dead ,,bird ,j4 ,alden ,wier #bjj ,,the ,,apprentice ,william ,m4 ,chase #bja ,,the ,,professor ,thomas ,eakins #bjd ,,the ,,goose-,,herd ,walter ,shirlaw #bje ,a ,,spanish ,,lady ,mary ,s4 ,cassatt #bjh ,,study ,,of ,a ,,boy',s ,,head ,w4 ,sartain #bji ,,art ,,in ,,america4 ,i4 ,,early ,,american ,,art4 ,the art of a nation is the result of centuries of growth2 its crowning excellence does not come except when maturity and repose offer the occasion for its development4 ,but while1 therefore1 it is yet too soon to look for a great school of art in ,america1 the time has perhaps arrived to note some of the preliminary phases of the art which1 we have reason to hope1 is to dawn upon the country before long4 ,as the heirs of all the ages1 we had a right to expect that our intellectual activity would demand art expression2 while the first efforts would naturally be imitative rather than original4 ,the individuality which finds vent in the utterance of truth under new conditions is not fully reached until youth gives place to the vigorous self-assertion of a manhood conscious of its resources and power4 ,such we find to have been the case in the rise of the fine arts in this country1 which up to this time have been rather an echo of the art of the lands from which our ancestors came1 than distinctively original4 ,our art has been the result of affectionate remembrance of foreign achievement more than of independent observation of nature2 and while the number of artists has been sufficiently large1 very few of them stand forth as representatives or types of novel methods and ideas2 and those few1 coming before their time1 have met with little response in the community1 and their influence has been generally local and moderate1 leading to the founding of nothing like a school except in one or two isolated cases4 ,but many of them1 especially in the first period of our art1 have shared the strong1 active character of their time2 and1 like the heroes of the ,revolution1 presented sturdy traits of character4 ,and thus1 while the society in which they moved was not sufficiently advanced to appreciate the quality of their art1 they were yet able to stamp their names indelibly upon the pages of our history4 ,but within the last few years the popular interest in art has grown so rapidly in the country--as indicated by the establishment of numerous art schools and academies1 art galleries1 and publications treating exclusively of art subjects1 together with many other significant proofs of concern in the subject--that it seems safe to assume that the first preparatory period of ,american art1 so brilliant in many respects1 is about closing1 and that we are now on the threshold of another1 although it is only scarcely three centuries since the first ,english colonists landed on our shores4 ,the first professional artist of whom there seems to be any record in our colonial history was possessor of a title that does not often fall to the lot of the artist3 he was a deacon4 ,this fact indicates that ,deacon ,shem ,drowne1 of ,boston town1 was not only a cunning artificer in metals and wood-carving1 as the old chronicles speak of him1 but also a man addicted to none of the small vices that are traditionally connected with the artistic career2 for people were very proper in that vicinage in those days of austere virtue and primness1 and deacons were esteemed the very salt of the earth4 ,during the first century of our colonial existence local painters1 often scarcely deserving the name1 are also known to have gained a precarious livelihood by taking meagre portraits of the worthies of the period1 in black and white or in color4 ,we should know this to have been the fact by the portraits--quaint1 and often rude and awkward--which have come down to us1 without anything about them to indicate who the artists could have been who painted them4 ,occasionally a suggestion of talent is evident in those canvases from which the stiff ruffles and bands of the ,puritans stare forth at us4 ,cotton ,mather also alludes to a certain artist whom he speaks of as a limner4 ,but in those times there was1 however1 at best no art in this country1 except what was brought over occasionally in the form of family portraits1 painted by ,vandyck1 ,rembrandt1 ,lely1 or ,kneller4 ,these precious heirlooms1 scarcely appreciated by the stern theologians of the time1 were1 however1 not without value in advancing the cause of civilization among the wilds of the ,western world4 ,unconsciously the minds of coming generations were influenced and moulded by these reminders of the great art of other lands and ages4 ,no human effort is wasted2 somewhere1 at some time1 it appears1 as the seed sown in ,october comes forth anew in ,april1 quickened into other forms1 to sustain life under fresh conditions4 ,the first painter in ,america of any decided ability whose name has survived to this day was ,john ,watson1 who executed portraits in ,philadelphia in #agae4 ,he was a ,scotchman4 ,it is to another ,scotchman1 who married and identified himself with the rising fortunes of the colonies1 that we are perhaps able to assign the first distinct and decided art impulse in this country4 ,and for this we are directly indebted to ,bishop ,berkeley1 whose sagacious eye penetrated so far through the mists of futurity1 and realized the coming greatness of the land4 ,illustration3 ,,family ,,of ,,bishop ,,berkeley4--,,john ,,smybert4 ,berkeley is associated with the literature and arts of ,america in several ways4 ,he aided the advance of letters by a grant of books to ,yale ,college1 and by founding the nucleus of what later became the ,redwood ,library at ,newport2 thus indirectly suggesting architectural beauty to a people without examples of it1 for in #agej a building was erected for the library that sprang from his benefactions4 ,the design was obtained from ,vanbrugh1 one of the greatest architects of modern times2 and although the little library is constructed only of wood and mortar1 its plan is so pleasing1 tasteful1 and harmonious1 that it long remained the most graceful structure in the colonies2 and even at this day is scarcely equalled on the continent as a work of art by many far more costly and ambitious constructions after the ,renaissance order4 ,and1 finally1 we owe to ,bishop ,berkeley the most notable impulse which the dawning arts received in this country when he induced ,john ,smybert1 the ,scotchman1 to leave ,london in #agbe and settle in ,boston1 where he had the good fortune to marry a rich widow1 and lived prosperous and contented until his death1 in #agea4 ,smybert was not a great painter4 ,if he had remained in ,europe his position never would have been more than respectable1 even at an age when the arts were at a low ebb4 ,but he is entitled to our gratitude for perpetuating for us the lineaments of many worthies of the period1 and for the undoubted impetus his example gave to the artists who were about to come on the scene and assert the right of the ,new ,world to exercise its energies in the encouragement of the fine arts4 ,it is by an apparently unimportant incident that the influence of ,smybert to our early art is most vividly illustrated4 ,he brought with him to ,america an excellent copy of a ,vandyck1 executed by himself2 and several of our artists1 including ,allston1 acknowledged that a sight of this copy affected them like an inspiration4 ,the most important work of ,smybert in this country is a group representing the family of ,bishop ,berkeley1 now in the art gallery at ,new ,haven4 ,a flock of foreign portrait-painters1 following the example of ,smybert1 now came over to this country1 and rendered good service in perpetuating the faces of the notable characters and beauties of the time2 but none of them were of special moment1 excepting1 perhaps1 ,blackburn and ,alexander4 ,but their labor bore fruit in preparing the way for the successes of ,copley4 ,the first native ,american painter of merit of whom there is any authentic record was ,robert ,feke1 who was of ,quaker descent1 and settled in ,newport1 where portraits of his are still to be seen1 notably that of the beautiful wife of ,governor ,wanton1 which is preserved in the ,redwood ,library4 ,what little art-education he received resulted from his being taken prisoner at sea and carried to ,spain1 where he contrived to acquire a few hints in the use of pigments4 ,feke was a man of undoubted ability2 and the same may be said of ,matthew ,pratt1 of ,philadelphia1 who was born in #agcd1 in respect of age antedating both ,copley and ,west1 although not known until after they had acquired fame1 because for many years he contented himself with the painting of signs and house decorations4 ,but the latent sthetic capacity of the colonies displayed itself suddenly when ,john ,singleton ,copley1 at the early age of seventeen1 after only the most rudimentary instruction1 adopted art as a profession4 ,but1 although a professional and successful artist at so early an age1 ,copley seems to have been preceded in assuming the calling of artist by a ,quaker lad of ,pennsylvania1 one year his junior1 but evincing a turn for art at an earlier age1 when hardly out of the cradle4 ,the birth of a national art has scarcely ever been more affecting or remarkable than that recorded in the first efforts of ,benjamin ,west4 ,he was born at ,springfield1 ,pennsylvania1 in #agch1 a year after ,copley4 ,the scientist of the future may perhaps show us that it was something more than a coincidence that the six leading painters of the first period of ,american art came in pairs3 ,copley and ,west in #agcg and #agch2 ,stuart and ,trumbull were born in #agef2 ,vanderlyn arrived in #aggf2 and ,allston followed only three years later4 ,the descendants of the iconoclasts who had beaten down statues and burned masterpieces of art1 who had cropped their hair and passed sumptuary laws to fulfil the dictates of their creed1 and had sought a wilderness across the seas where they could maintain their rigid doctrines unmolested1 were now about to vindicate the character of their fathers4 ,they were now to prove that the love of beauty is universal and unquenchable1 and that sooner or later every people1 kindred1 and tongue seeks to utter its aspirations after the ideal good by art forms and methods2 and that the sternness of the ,puritans had been really directed1 not so much against art and beauty legitimately employed1 as against the abuse of the purest and noblest emotions of the soul by a debasing art4 ,as if to emphasize the truth of these observations1 as well as of the famous prophecy of ,bishop ,berkeley1 the artist to whom ,american art owes its rise1 and for many years its greatest source of encouragement1 was named ,west1 and was of ,quaker lineage4 ,such was the rude condition of the arts in the neighborhood at that time that the first initiation of ,west into art was as simple as that of ,giotto4 ,at nine years of age he drew hairs from a cat's tail and made himself a brush4 ,colors he obtained by grinding charcoal and chalk1 and crushing the red blood out from the blackberry4 ,his mother's laundry furnished him with indigo1 and the friendly ,indians who came to his father's house gave him of the red and yellow earths with which they daubed their faces4 ,with such rude materials the lad painted a child sleeping in its cradle2 and in that first effort of precocious genius executed certain touches which he never surpassed1 as he affirmed long after1 when at the zenith of his remarkable career4 ,how1 from such primitive efforts1 the ,quaker youth gradually worked into local fame1 went to ,italy and acquired position there1 and then settled in ,england1 became the favorite protg of the king for forty years1 and the ,president of the ,national ,academy of ,great ,britain--these are all matters of history1 and1 as ,west never forgot his love for his native land1 entitle him to the respectful remembrance not only of artists1 but of all his countrymen4 ,american art has every reason1 also1 to cherish his memory with profound gratitude1 for no painter ever conducted himself with greater kindness and generosity to the rising1 struggling artists of his native land4 ,no sooner did our early painters reach ,london but they resorted1 for aid and guidance1 to ,west1 and found in him a friend who lent them his powerful influence without grudging1 or allowed them to set up their easels in his studio1 and gave them all the instruction in his power4 ,trumbull1 ,stuart1 ,dunlap1 and many others1 long after they had forgotten the natural foibles of ,west1 had reason to remember how great had been the services he had rendered to the aspiring artists of his transatlantic home4 ,since the death of ,west--whom we must consider one of the greatest men our country has produced--it has become the fashion to decry his art and belittle his character4 ,this seems to be a mistake which reflects discredit upon his detractors4 ,men should be judged not absolutely1 but relatively2 not compared with perfection1 but with their contemporaries and their opportunities4 ,in estimating men of the past1 also1 we need to put ourselves in their places1 rather than to regard them by the standard of the age in which we live4 ,in no pursuit are men more likely to be misjudged than in art2 for artists are liable to be guided by impulse rather than judgment1 and the very vehemence of their likes and dislikes renders their opinions intense rather than broad and charitable4 ,benjamin ,west appears to have been born with great natural powers1 which matured rapidly1 and early ceased to develop in excellence proportionate to his extraordinary industry and fidelity to art4 ,illustration3 ,,death ,,on ,,the ,,pale ,,horse4--,,benjamin ,,west4 ,but while a general evenness of quality rather than striking excellence in any particular works was the characteristic of the art of ,west1 together with a certain brick-red tone in his colors not always agreeable1 yet a share of genius must be granted to the artist who painted the ,departure of ,regulus1 ,death on the ,pale ,horse1 and ,the ,death of ,wolfe4 ,it unquestionably implied daring and consciousness of power to brave the opposition of contemporary opinions and abandon classic costume in historical compositions as he did2 to win to his side the judgment of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 and create a revolution in certain phases of art4 ,notwithstanding this1 however1 ,west was emphatically a man of his time1 moulded by it rather than forming it1 and inclined to conventionalism4 ,when he entered the arena1 art was in a depressed condition both in ,italy1 where he studied1 and in ,england4 ,but while ,reynolds and ,gainsborough gave a fresh impulse to art1 ,west's genius1 ripening precociously1 early became incapable of achieving further progress4 ,west established himself as a portrait-painter at the age of fifteen2 and in the following year--#agee--;,copley also engaged in the same pursuit1 when only seventeen4 ,the former lived to be seventy-nine2 the latter was seventy-eight at his death4 ,the art-life of ,copley must be considered the most indigenous and strictly ,american of the two4 ,although receiving some early instruction from his step-father1 ,pelham1 and enjoying opportunities denied to ,west1 of studying portraits by foreign artists1 yet ,copley's advantages were excessively meagre2 and whatever successes he achieved with his brush1 until he finally settled in ,england at the age of thirty-nine1 were entirely his own1 and can be proudly included among the most valued treasures of our native art4 ,so highly were the abilities of ,copley esteemed in his day1 that years before he crossed the ,atlantic his reputation had preceded him1 and assured him ready patronage in ,london4 ,it is said that ,copley was a very slow and laborious worker4 ,the elaboration he gave to the details of costume doubtless required time4 ,but if the popular opinion was correct1 we must assume that many of the paintings now reputed to be by his hand are spurious4 ,it is a common saying that a ,copley in a ,new ,england family is almost equivalent to a title of nobility2 and this very fact would lead many to attribute to him family portraits by forgotten artists1 who had1 perhaps1 caught the trick of his style4 ,but there yet remain enough well authenticated portraits by this great painter1 in excellent preservation1 to render the study of his works one of great interest to the art student4 ,there is no mistaking the handling of ,copley4 ,self-taught1 his merits and defects are entirely his own4 ,his style was open to the charge of excessive dryness2 the outlines are sometimes hard1 and the figures stiff almost to ungracefulness4 ,the last fault was1 however1 less noticeable in the formal1 stately characters and costumes of the time than it would be under different conditions4 ,in ,copley's best compositions these errors are scarcely perceptible4 ,he was far superior to ,west as a colorist1 and was especially felicitous in catching the expression of the eye1 and reproducing the elegant dress of the period2 while we have had no artist who has excelled him in perceiving and interpreting the individuality and character of the hand4 ,a very fine example of his skill in this respect is seen in the admirable portrait of ,mrs4 ,relief ,gill1 taken when she was eighty years old4 ,gilbert ,stuart remarked of the hand in the portrait of ,colonel ,epes ,sargent1 ,prick that hand1 and blood will spurt out4 ,it is indeed a masterpiece4 ,no painter was ever more in sympathy with his age than ,copley2 and thus1 when we look at the admirable portraits in which his genius commemorated the commanding characters of those colonial days1 in their brilliant and massive uniforms1 their brocades and embroidered velvets1 and choice laces and scarfs1 the imagination is carried back to the past with irresistible force1 while1 at the same time1 we are astonished at the ability which1 with so little training1 could give immortality both to his contemporaries and his own pencil4 ,while the fame of ,copley will ultimately rest on the masterly portraits which he bequeathed to posterity1 yet it will not be forgotten that he was one of the ablest historical painters of his time4 ,the compositions entitled the ,boy and the ,squirrel1 painted in ,boston1 the ,death of ,major ,pierson1 and the ,death of ,chatham1 will contribute for ages to the fame of one of the most important ,american artists of the last century4 ,charles ,wilson ,peale1 the next artist of reputation in the colonies1 owes his celebrity partly to accidental circumstances4 ,of course a certain degree of ability is implied in order that one may know how to turn the winds of fortune to the best account when they veer in his favor4 ,but in some cases1 as with ,copley and ,west1 man seems to wrest fate to his advantage2 while in others she appears actually to throw herself in his way1 and offer him opportunities denied to others4 ,at any rate it seems no injustice to ascribe the continued fame of ,charles ,wilson ,peale to the fact that he was enabled to associate his art with the name of ,washington3 and that his son1 ,rembrandt1 by also following art pursuits1 was able to emphasize the fame of the family name4 ,peale the elder was not a specialist2 he was rather1 like so many born in ,america1 gifted with a general versatility that enabled him to succeed moderately well in whatever he undertook1 without achieving the highest excellence in any department4 ,inclining alternately to science and mechanics1 he finally drifted into art1 went over to ,england and studied with ,west1 and returned to ,america in time to enter the army and rise to the rank of colonel4 ,his versatile turn of mind is well illustrated by one who says that he sawed his own ivory for his miniatures1 moulded the glasses1 and made the shagreen cases4 ,it was the good fortune of ,peale to paint several excellent portraits of ,washington1 representing him during the military part of his career1 both before and during the ,revolution4 ,lacking many of the qualities of good art1 these portraits are yet faithful and characteristic likenesses of the ,father of his ,country1 and as such are of great interest and value4 ,it is to another ,revolutionary soldier of superior natural ability1 ,colonel ,john ,trumbull1 that the country is indebted for a proof of the national turn for the fine arts4 ,the son of ,jonathan ,trumbull1 ,colonial ,governor of ,connecticut1 he received a classical education at ,harvard ,university4 ,but here1 again1 observe the far-reaching influence of one act4 ,that copy1 already alluded to1 which was executed by ,smybert after a work of ,vandyck--the great painter who was welcomed to the banqueting halls of merry ,england by ,charles ,i4 and ,henrietta ,maria--was again to bear fruit4 ,it inspired the genius of ,trumbull with a passion for color while yet in his youth1 and ultimately led to his becoming a great historical painter4 ,but first he had to undergo the discipline of war1 which gave him that experimental knowledge of which he afterward made such good use4 ,of a high spirit and proud1 irascible temper1 ,trumbull served with distinction2 first as aid to ,washington1 then as major at the storming of the works of ,burgoyne at ,saratoga2 and he had reached a colonelcy1 when he threw up his commission and went over to ,england1 and became a student of ,west1 whose style is perceptible in many of the works of the younger artist4 ,if inequality is one sign of genius1 then ,trumbull possessed it to a marked degree4 ,the difference in merit between his best paintings1 which were chiefly composed in ,england1 and those he executed in this country1 in the later years of his life1 is remarkable4 ,this probably was due in part to the lack of any appreciable art influences or patronage in his own country to stimulate the artistic afflatus4 ,the talents of ,trumbull were conspicuous in portraiture and historical painting4 ,the energy of his nature is illustrated in such powerful portraits as those of ,washington and ,hamilton4 ,deficient in drawing1 and unlike in details of feature1 they are life-like in their general resemblance1 and seem to thrill with the spirit of the original4 ,we see before us the heroes who conducted the struggling colonies successfully to military independence and political freedom4 ,trumbull's miniatures in oil of many of the men who were prominent in the ,revolution are also very spirited and characteristic1 and of inestimable historic value4 ,he was less successful in the representation of feminine beauty4 ,his talents moved within a limited range1 but within that narrow circle displayed certain excellences quite rare in the ,anglo-,saxon art of that period1 exhibiting a correct feeling for color1 keen perception of character1 and great force of expression4 ,but let him stray beyond the compass of his powers1 as in the representation of woman1 and his coloring becomes unnatural and his drawing inexpressive4 ,the art of this great painter1 for so we must call him in view of some of his works1 culminated in the historical compositions entitled ,the ,signing of the ,declaration of ,independence1 ,the ,siege of ,gibraltar1 and the immortal compositions representing the ,death of ,montgomery and the ,battle of ,bunker ,hill4 ,the last two were not surpassed by any similar works in the last century1 and thus far stand alone in ,american historical painting4 ,illustration3 ,,death ,,of ,,montgomery4--,,john ,,trumbull4 ,cabinet in size1 they combine breadth and detail to an unusual degree4 ,the faces are in miniature1 in many cases portraits from life4 ,they could be cut out and framed as portraits2 each also is stamped with the individual passions of that terrible hour--hate1 exultation1 pain1 courage1 sorrow1 despair4 ,and yet with all this truth of detail the general spirit and effort of the scene is preserved4 ,the onward movement1 the rush1 the onset of war1 the harmony of lines1 the massing of chiaro-oscuro1 the brilliance and truth of color1 are all there4 ,one first gazes astonished at the skill of the artist1 and ends by feeling his heart stirred and his emotions shaken as the leaves of the forest are blown by the winds of ,october1 and his sympathies carried away by the grandeur and the terror of battle4 ,yes1 when ,john ,trumbull painted those two pictures1 he was inspired by the fires of genius for once in his life4 ,his later historical works are so inferior in all respects as scarcely to seem to be by the same hand4 ,trumbull lived to see a taste for the arts growing up among his fellow-countrymen1 and the awakening of the first feeble attempts to furnish art instruction in his native land to the artists of the future4 ,he was ,president of the ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 of which he was one of the founders4 ,in the same year with ,trumbull was born the greatest colorist and portrait-painter we have seen on this side of the ,atlantic1 ,gilbert ,stuart4 ,the town of ,narragansett1 in the little ,state of ,rhode ,island1 was the birth-place of this painter1 who came of ,scotch and ,welsh descent1 an alliance of blood whose individual traits were well illustrated in the life and character of the painter4 ,fortune was becoming a little kinder to our artists4 ,stuart's dawning genius was directed at ,newport by ,cosmo ,alexander1 a ,scotch portrait-painter of some merit1 who took his pupil to ,scotland and placed him in charge of ,sir ,george ,chambers4 ,after various vicissitudes1 comprising1 as with so many of our early painters1 an art apprenticeship in the studio of ,west1 the young ,american artist settled for awhile abroad1 and acquired such repute that he rivalled ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds in the popular esteem3 his brush was in demand by the first in the land2 and the unfortunate ,louis ,,xvi4 was included among his sitters4 ,after this1 in #agic1 ,stuart returned to ,america1 painted the portraits of the leading citizens in our chief cities1 and finally settled in ,boston4 ,the most important works he executed in this country were his well-known portraits of ,washington1 including the famous full-length painting1 which represents the great man1 not in the prime of his active days1 as represented by ,peale and ,trumbull1 but when1 crowned with glory and honor in the majesty of a serene old age1 he was approaching the sunset of life4 ,the character of ,stuart was one of marked peculiarities1 and offers points of interest scarcely equalled by that of any other ,american artist4 ,the canny shrewdness and penetrating perception of the ,scotchman was mellowed almost to the point of inconsistency by the warm and supple traits of his ,welsh ancestry4 ,an admirable story-teller himself1 he in turn gave rise1 by his oddities1 to many racy anecdotes1 some of which have been treasured up and well told by ,dunlap1 who1 although inferior as a painter1 deserves to be cordially remembered for his discursive but valuable book on early ,american painting4 ,illustration3 ,,general ,,knox4--,,gilbert ,,stuart4 ,as regards the art of ,stuart1 it can be safely affirmed that ,america has produced no painter who has been more unmistakably entitled to rank among men of genius as distinguished from those of talent4 ,we assume that the difference between the two is not one of degree1 but of kind4 ,in the intellectual progress of the world the first leads1 the other follows4 ,one may have great talents1 and yet really not enrich the world with a single new idea4 ,he simply assents to the accepted1 and lends it the aid of his powers4 ,but genius1 not content with things as they are1 either gives us new truths or old truths in a new form4 ,the greatest minds--,csar1 ,shakspeare1 ,goethe1 ,franklin--present us with a just combination of genius and talent3 they both create and organize4 ,now1 one may have great or little genius1 but so far as he tells us something worth knowing in his own way1 it is genius as distinguished from talent4 ,and this is why we say that ,stuart had genius4 ,he followed no beaten track1 he gave in his allegiance to no canons of the schools4 ,his eagle eye pierced the secrets of nature according to no prescribed rules4 ,not satisfied with surfaces or accessories1 he gave us character as well4 ,nor did he rest here4 ,in the technical requirements of his art he stands original and alone4 ,that seemingly hard1 practical ,scotch nature of his was yet attuned like a delicate chord to the melody of color4 ,few more than he have felt the subtle relation between sound and color--for he was also a musician4 ,in the handling of pigments1 again1 he stands pre-eminent among the artists of his generation4 ,why is it that his colors are as brilliant1 as pure1 as forcible1 as harmonious1 to-day as when he laid them on the canvas nearly a century ago8 ,if you carefully examine his pictures you shall see one cause of the result explained4 ,he had such confidence in his powers1 and such technical mastery1 that he needed not to experiment with treacherous vehicles2 and1 rarely mixing tints on the palette1 laid pure blues1 reds1 or yellows directly on the canvas1 and slightly dragged them together4 ,thus he was able to render the stippled1 mottled semblance of color as it actually appears on the skin2 to suggest1 also1 the prismatic effect which all objects have in nature2 and1 at the same time1 by keeping the colors apart1 to insure their permanence4 ,stuart generally painted thinly1 on large-grained canvas1 which gave the picture the softness of atmosphere4 ,but sometimes1 as in the case of the powerful portrait of ,general ,knox1 he loaded his colors4 ,but even in that work he did not depart from his usual practice in rendering the flesh tints4 ,it has been alleged by some that ,stuart was unable to do justice to the delicate beauty of woman1 especially the refined type which is characteristic of the ,united ,states4 ,he may have more often failed in this regard than in other efforts2 but the force of the accusation disappears when one observes the extraordinary loveliness of such portraits as that of ,mrs4 ,forrester1 the sister of ,judge ,story1 at ,salem4 ,but1 indeed1 it seemed to make little difference to him who the sitter happened to be4 ,he entered into the nature of the individual1 grasped the salient traits of his character1 and1 whether it was a seaman or a statesman1 a triumphant general or a reigning belle1 his unerring eye and his matchless brush rendered justice to them all4 ,gilbert ,stuart ,newton1 the nephew of ,stuart1 is a painter well known in ,england1 where he early established himself2 and1 having been born at ,halifax1 and always remained a ,british subject1 he more properly belongs to foreign art4 ,but his education was gained in the studio of his uncle in ,boston1 and his style shows unmistakable traces of the teacher's methods4 ,newton executed some good portraits before abandoning his native land1 including one of ,john ,adams1 which is in the ,massachusetts ,historical ,society4 ,he is known abroad chiefly as a genre painter of semi-literary compositions4 ,illustration3 ,,beggar',s ,,opera4--,g4 ,,stuart ,,newton4 ,james ,frothingham was also a pupil1 and in some degree an imitator1 of ,stuart1 who possessed unusual ability in portraiture1 but it was confined to the painting of the head4 ,whether from the lack of early advantages--which was so remarkable that he had not even seen a palette when1 self-taught1 he was able to execute a very tolerable likeness--or because of natural limitation of power1 ,frothingham's talent seemed to stop with the neck of the sitter4 ,the face would perhaps be reproduced with a force1 a beauty of color1 and a truth of character that oftentimes suggested the art of ,stuart2 while the hands or shoulders were almost ludicrously out of drawing and proportion4 ,illustration3 ,,babes ,,in ,,the ,,wood4--,,rembrandt ,,peale4 ,besides ,frothingham1 there were a number of ,american painters of celebrity1 contemporaries of ,stuart1 but of unequal merit4 ,colonel ,sargent acquired a repute in his time which it is difficult to understand at present4 ,he seems to have been more of an amateur than a professional artist4 ,his ablest work is the ,landing of the ,pilgrims1 of which a copy is preserved at ,plymouth4 ,rembrandt ,peale obtained a permanent reputation for his very able and truthful portrait of ,washington4 ,he bestowed upon it the best efforts of his mature years1 and it received the compliment of being purchased by ,congress for #bjjj--;a large sum for an ,american painting in those days1 when the purchasing power of money was greater than it is now4 ,his ,court of ,death is a vast composition1 that must candidly be considered more ambitious than successful4 ,in such works as the ,babes in the ,wood1 ,peale seems to foreshadow the genre art which has been so long coming to us4 ,john ,wesley ,jarvis1 a native of ,england1 also enjoyed at one time much popularity as a portrait-painter4 ,he was possessed of great versatility2 was eccentric2 a bon vivant1 and excelled at telling a story4 ,it is melancholy to record that1 after many vicissitudes1 he ended his days in poverty4 ,thomas ,sully was also a native of ,england1 who came to this country in childhood1 and lived to such a great age that it is difficult to realize that he was the contemporary of ,trumbull and ,stuart4 ,sully had great refinement of feeling1 and reminds us sometimes of ,sir ,thomas ,lawrence4 ,this is shown in a certain favorite ideal head of a maiden which he reproduced in various compositions4 ,one often recognizes it in his works4 ,his portraits are also pleasing2 but in the treatment of a masculine likeness the feebleness of his style and its lack of originality or strength are too often apparent4 ,john ,naegle1 of ,philadelphia1 was a pupil of ,sully1 but first began his art career as apprentice to a coach-painter4 ,like many of our artists of that time1 he tried his hand at a portrait of ,washington2 but he will be longest and best remembered by his vivid and characteristic painting of ,patrick ,lyon1 the blacksmith1 at his forge4 ,this picture now hangs in the elegant gallery of the ,philadelphia ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 where several of the masterpieces of our early painters may be seen hanging in company with it1 among them ,west's ,christ ,rejected1 ,vanderlyn's ,ariadne1 and ,allston's ,dead ,man ,restored to ,life4 ,illustration3 ,,fanny ,,kemble4--,,thomas ,,sully4 ,born the year of the ,declaration of ,independence1 ,john ,vanderlyn1 like most of the leading artists of this period of whom we are writing1 lived to old age4 ,his days were filled with hardships and vicissitudes3 and1 unless he has since become aware of the fame he left behind1 he was one of many to whom life has been a very questionable boon4 ,illustration3 ,,ariadne4--,,john ,,vanderlyn4 ,vanderlyn was a farmer's boy on the ,hudson ,river4 ,it was one of those curious incidents by which ,destiny sometimes makes us think there may be1 after all1 something more than blind action in her ways1 that ,aaron ,burr1 passing by his father's house1 saw some rude sketches of the rustic lad with that keen eye of his4 ,burr discerned in them signs of promise1 and invited him to come to ,new ,york4 ,when ,vanderlyn arrived ,burr treated him kindly4 ,eventually the painter made a portrait of ,theodosia1 the beautiful and ill-fated daughter of his benefactor2 and when ,burr was under a cloud and found himself destitute in ,europe1 it was ,vanderlyn who received and gave him shelter4 ,much of the art-life of this painter was passed at ,rome and in ,paris4 ,his varied fortunes1 and the constant adversity that baffled him at every step1 obliged him to resort to many a pitiful shift to keep soul and body together4 ,it is owing to this cause that he so rarely found opportunity to do justice to the undoubted ability he possessed4 ,but ,vanderlyn left at least two important creations1 marked by genuine artistic feeling and beauty1 that will long entitle him to a favorable position among ,american painters4 ,marius ,among the ,ruins of ,carthage ,i have never seen1 and can only speak of it by report2 but that it is a work deserving to rank high in the art of the time seems to be proven not only by the applause it received at ,rome1 but also by the fact that it carried off the gold medal at the ,salon in ,paris4 ,such is the irony of fate that the artist was twice forced to pawn this medal4 ,the second time he was unable to redeem it4 ,the ,ariadne has unfortunately begun to show signs of age1 and the browns into which the flesh tints are painted are commencing to discolor the delicate grays4 ,an oil-painting1 if properly executed1 should hold its qualities for a longer time2 but unhappily the works of too many good artists are affected in the same way4 ,the ,ariadne is1 however1 a noble composition1 quite in classic style2 and if not strikingly original1 is a most creditable work for the early art of a young people4 ,newport1 ,rhode ,island's charming little city by the sea1 once a thriving commercial centre1 but now a favorite resort of culture and gayety and wealth1 but always opulent in delightful ,colonial and ,revolutionary associations1 and doubly attractive for the artistic memories that cling to it1 and the treasures of our art which it contains--this was the birth-place of ,edward ,g4 ,malbone1 who1 after a successful art-life in his native town and at ,charleston1 died at ,newport1 in #ahjg1 at the early age of thirty-two4 ,miniature-painting was a favorite pursuit of our early artists4 ,some of our best portraits have been done by that means2 but among all who have followed it in the ,united ,states none have excelled ,malbone1 although some1 like ,john ,fraser1 of ,south ,carolina1 have been very clever at it4 ,he succeeded in giving character to his faces to a degree unusual in miniature2 while the coloring was rendered at once with remarkable delicacy1 purity1 and fidelity4 ,his best works are probably the likeness of ,ray ,green1 and the exquisitely beautiful group called the ,hours1 which is carefully preserved in the ,athenum at ,providence4 ,with the general public the name of no ,american artist of that time is probably more widely known than that of ,washington ,allston4 ,he owes this in part1 doubtless1 to the fact that as a writer he also became identified with the literary circle at that time prominent in ,eastern ,massachusetts4 ,he was born in #aggi1 at ,waccamaw1 ,south ,carolina4 ,sent at seven years of age to ,newport1 both for health and instruction1 he lived there ten years2 and very likely associated with ,malbone1 and perhaps met ,stuart there4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,hours4--,e4 ,g4 ,,malbone4 ,,original ,,size4 ,subsequently ,allston visited ,italy1 and then settled in ,london1 where his talents received such ample recognition as to gain him the position of ,academician4 ,the mistake of his art-life--although it was perhaps advantageous to his fame at home--was probably his return to the ,united ,states while yet in his prime4 ,the absence of influences encouraging to art growth1 and of that sympathy and patronage so essential to a sensitive nature like that of ,allston's1 had a blighting effect on his faculties2 and the many years he passed in ,boston were years of aspiration rather than achievement4 ,allston has suffered from two causes4 ,overrated as an artist in his day1 his reputation is now endangered from a tendency to award him less than justice4 ,the latter may be due in part to the fact that ,allston himself adopted a course of action that tended to repress rather than develop his art powers4 ,in his desire to give intellectual and moral value and permanent dignity to his productions1 and in his aversion to sensationalism in art1 he treated his subjects with a deliberate severity which takes away from them all the feeling of spontaneity which is so delightful and important in works of the imagination4 ,if his genius had been of the high order claimed by some1 such a result would have been impossible4 ,the emotional element would have sometimes asserted itself1 and given to his finished works that warmth and attraction the lack of which1 while they are intellectually interesting and worthy of great respect1 prevents them from inspiring and winning our hearts1 and has impaired the influence they might have had in advancing the progress of art in ,america4 ,that ,allston might have produced paintings of more absolute power1 seems evident from his numerous crayon sketches and studies for paintings1 which are full of fire1 energy1 and beauty1 delicate fancy1 and creative power4 ,one cannot wholly understand ,allston's ability until he has seen those studies2 and it cannot be too much regretted that he did not allow a freer rein to his brush when composing the works upon which he desired to establish his fame4 ,when he did so far forget himself1 we get a glimpse of the fervor and grandeur of the imagination that burned in that brain1 whose thoughts were greater than its capacity for expression4 ,it must also be granted that the works of ,allston have the quality peculiar to the productions of original minds3 it is not until they have been seen repeatedly that they reveal all that is in them4 ,uriel in the ,sun1 ,jeremiah1 and ,the ,dead ,man ,restored to ,life1 are probably the best of the finished works by which the solemn1 mysterious1 and impressive imagination of ,allston can be best estimated4 ,without giving us new revelations regarding the secrets of color1 as he was rather an imitator of the ,venetian school than an originator1 ,allston can be justly considered one of the most agreeable colorists ,america has produced4 ,illustration3 ,,jeremiah4--,,washington ,,allston4 ,illustration3 ,,dying ,,hercules4--,,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,,morse4 ,few of those who recognize the late ,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,morse as the inventor of our telegraphic system are aware that in early life he was an artist1 and gave evidence of succeeding both in sculpture and painting4 ,although his preference was for the latter1 we are inclined to think that he was best fitted to be a sculptor4 ,he became the pupil of ,allston in ,london1 and modelled at that time a statue called the ,dying ,hercules1 which won the prize of a gold medal offered by the ,adelphi ,society of ,arts for the best single figure4 ,from that statue he afterward composed a painting of the same subject1 which is now in ,new ,haven1 a work of unquestioned power1 showing thorough anatomical knowledge and a creative imagination4 ,but1 while there was reason to predict an interesting art career for the young ,american1 circumstances beyond his control drifted him away from the chosen pursuit of his youth1 and his fame and fortune were eventually achieved in the paths of science4 ,it is interesting in this connection to read the words which ,morse1 suffering from the pangs of disappointment1 wrote to one who asked his advice about becoming a painter3 ,my young friend1 if you have determined to try the life of an artist1 ,i wish you all success2 but as you have asked my honest opinion1 ,i must say that1 if you can find employment in any other calling1 ,i advise you to let painting alone4 ,i have known so many young men--some of them of decided talent1 too--who1 after repeated trials and failures1 became discouraged1 gave up further effort1 and went to ruin4 ,notwithstanding that such were his views when he abandoned art1 did not ,morse1 in the prosperous hours of his life1 sometimes look back to his early art with a pang of regret8 ,but while he continued in the profession of art1 his activity was such that the ,national ,academy of ,design owes its origin to him1 and with him closed the first period of art in the ,united ,states4 ,we see that this division of our pictorial art--with the exception of ,thomas ,birch1 of ,philadelphia1 a marine painter of some repute1 and a few others of less note--was devoted to the figure2 and1 if sometimes feeble in result1 was inspired by lofty motives4 ,in historical art and portraiture it was1 if not strictly original1 yet often very able1 and fairly maintained itself on a level with the contemporary art of ,europe4 ,owing to the entire want of opportunities for professional education at home1 our leading artists1 with few exceptions1 were forced to pass a good part of their lives in foreign studios4 ,we also find that a feeling for the beauty of form1 as indicated in black and white1 or in sculpture1 was scarcely perceptible in this stage of our art4 ,with the exception of ,shem ,drowne and ,patience ,wright1 who modelled skilfully in wax1 the sense for plastic art was altogether dormant in the country2 while any progress in architecture1 until in recent years1 was hopelessly ignored4 ,it is true that the active1 restless intellect of ,thomas ,jefferson sought to endow the nation with a sixth order of architecture1 called the ,columbian1 and patriotically resembling a stalk of ,indian-corn4 ,the small pillars made after this design are in one of the vestibules of the basement of the ,capitol at ,washington1 where the ardent patriot may visit them1 and see for himself the beginning and the end of the only order of architecture ever attempted in this country4 ,through much tribulation1 much earnest faith1 and enthusiasm for art1 our early painters prepared the way for the national art of the future4 ,they met only moderate appreciation in their native land at that time4 ,but we owe much to them2 and in our preference for present methods--which must in turn be superseded by others--let us not forget the honor due to the pioneers of ,american art4 ,in the first articulate utterances of a child1 or in the dialect of an aboriginal tribe1 lie the rudiments of a national tongue eventually carried to a high degree of culture2 and the first rude art or poesy of a young people sometimes possesses touches of freshness1 charming simplicity1 or virile force which are too liable to be softened away beyond recall by the refinements of a later civilization4 ,,ii4 ,,american ,,painters4 #ahbh-ahgh4 ,the generation immediately succeeding the ,american ,revolution was devoted by the people of the young republic to adjusting its commercial and political relations at home and abroad4 ,early in this century1 however1 numerous signs of literary and art activity became apparent1 and in #ahae the ,north ,american ,review was founded4 ,we mention this fact1 although a literary event1 as indicating the point in time when the nebulous character of the various intellectual influences and tendencies of the nation began to develop a certain cohesive and tangible form4 ,it was about the same time that our art1 subject to similar influences1 began to assume a more definite individuality1 and to exhibit rather less vagueness in its yearnings after national expression4 ,gilbert ,stuart1 one of the most remarkable colorists of modern time1 died in the year #ahbh4 ,in the same year the ,national ,academy of ,design was founded4 ,these two events1 occurring at the same time1 seem properly to mark the close of one period of our art history and the dawn of its successor2 for notwithstanding the excellence of ,stuart's art1 and the virile character of the art of some of his contemporaries1 yet their efforts had been spasmodic and unequal2 much of it had been done abroad under foreign influences2 and there was no sustained patronage or art organization at home which could combine their efforts toward a practical and common end4 ,the first president of the new institution was ,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,morse4 ,the ,national ,academy of ,design superseded a similar but less wisely organized society1 which had led a precarious existence since #ahja4 ,with the new institution was collected the nucleus of a gallery of paintings and casts2 and from the outset the idea suggested by its name was carried out1 by furnishing the most thorough opportunities for art-instruction the country could afford4 ,illustration3 ,,mumble ,,the ,,peg4--,,henry ,,inman4 ,although seemingly fortuitous1 the establishment of the ,academy of ,design really marks the opening of a distinct era in the history of ,american art2 during which it has developed into a rounded completeness to a degree that enables us1 with some measure of fairness1 to note the causes which led to it1 which have nourished its growth1 and which have made it a worthy forerunner of new methods for expressing the artistic yearnings of those who are to follow in years to come4 ,it has indicated a notable advance in our art2 it has1 in spite of its weakness or imitation of foreign conventionalisms1 possessed certain traits entirely and distinctively native2 and has been distinguished by a number of artists of original and sometimes unusual ability1 whose failure to accomplish all they sought was due rather to unfortunate circumstances than to the lack of genuine power1 which in another age might have done itself more justice4 ,it is interesting to observe at this juncture that our art was influenced by exactly the same causes as our literature of the same period2 and1 like our national civilization1 presents a singular reaching after original expression1 modified sometimes by an unconscious imitation of foreign thought and methods4 ,there is one fact connected with the early growth of our art which is entirely contrary to the laws which have elsewhere governed the progress of art1 and is undoubtedly due to the new and anomalous features of our social economy4 ,elsewhere the art-feeling has undeviatingly sought expression first in earthen-ware or plastic art1 then in architecture and sculpture1 and finally in painting4 ,we have entirely reversed this order4 ,the unsettled character of the population--especially at the time when emigration from the ,eastern to the ,western ,states caused a general movement from ,state to ,state--together with the abundance of lumber at that time1 evidently offered no opportunity or demand for any but the rudest and most rapidly constructed buildings1 and anything like architecture and decorative work was naturally relegated to a later period2 and for the same reason1 apparently1 the art of sculpture showed little sign of demanding expression here until after the art of painting had already formulated itself into societies and clubs1 and been represented by numerous artists of respectable abilities4 ,the art-feeling1 which made itself apparent1 vaguely and abortively1 during our colonial period1 began to demand freer and fuller expression soon after the new ,republic had declared its independence2 and1 with scarce any patronage from the ,government1 assumed a degree of excellence surprising under the circumstances1 and rarely reached by a nation in so short a time4 ,we recall no art of the past the order and conditions of whose growth resemble those of ours1 except that of ,holland after its wars of independence with ,spain4 ,the bane and the blessing of our art have been in the enormous variety of influences which have controlled its action4 ,this has been a bane1 because it has1 until recently1 prevented the concentration of effort which might lead to grand results and schools4 ,it has been a blessing1 because individual expression has thus found a vent1 and mannerism has not yet become a conventional net1 so thrown around our art as to prevent free action and growth4 ,the ,american art of the last two generations has resembled the restless activity of a versatile youth1 who seeks in various directions for the just medium by which to give direction to his life-work4 ,if there has been1 on the whole1 a national bias in one direction more than another1 it has been for landscape-painting4 ,our intellectual state has also resembled the many-sided condition of ,germany in the ,middle ,ages1 waking up from the chaos of the ,dark ,ages1 but broken up into different ,states1 and representing different religions and races4 ,but our position has been even more agitated and diverse2 a general restlessness has characterized the community--a vast intellectual discontent with the present4 ,although strongly moved by pride of country1 we have also been keenly sensitive to foreign influences1 and have received impressions from them with the readiness of a photographic plate1 although until recently the result has been assimilation rather than imitation2 while internally we have been trying to harmonize race and sectional differences1 which as yet are far from reaching homogeneity4 ,together with all these individual influences must be included one of general application1 to which nearly all our artists1 of whatever race or section1 have been subject in turn4 ,in other countries the people have1 by a long preparation1 become ready to meet the artist half-way in appreciating and aiding him in his mission1 either from the promptings of the religious sentiment to which his art has given ocular demonstration1 or from a dominating and universal sense of beauty4 ,with us it has been quite otherwise2 for the artists have been in advance of public sentiment1 and have had the misfortune to be forced to wait until the people could come up to them4 ,in addition to the fact that in ,new ,england ,puritan influences were at first opposed to art1 the restless1 surging1 unequal1 widely differing character of our people1 brought face to face with the elementary problems of existence1 founding new forms of government1 and welding incongruous factors into one race and nation--in a word1 wresting from fate our right to be--made us indifferent to the ideal1 except in sporadic and individual cases1 which indicated here and there that below the surface the poetic sentiment was preparing to assert itself2 and that we1 in turn1 were preparing to acknowledge the great truth that art is an instinctive yearning of the race to place itself in accord with the harmony which rules the universe4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,parke ,,godwin4--,,thomas ,,le ,,clear4 ,the result has been that a very large proportion of the artists of this period of our history have been compelled to endure far more than the traditionary hardships of the profession4 ,they have been obliged to devote some of the best years of their lives to trade1 and have not been able to take up art until late4 ,to accuse ,american artists1 as a class1 of being mercenary--a charge made quite too often--is really something akin to irony1 so much more successful pecuniarily would the majority of them have been in mercantile pursuits4 ,the heroism of our early painters1 struggling1 in obscure corners of the country1 for opportunities to express their yearning after the ideal1 without instruction1 without art-influences1 meeting little or no sympathy or encouragement1 and in spite of these obstacles often achieving a respectable degree of excellence1 is one of the most interesting1 instructive1 and sublime episodes in the history of art4 ,growing out of this hesitating condition of our early art may be discerned a secondary cause1 which occurred in so many cases as to be justly considered one of the forces which formed the careful1 minute1 painstaking style of much of our landscape art4 ,we refer to the fact that many of the best of our early painters were first engravers on wood and steel4 ,this gave them a minute1 formal1 and precise method of treatment1 which led them to look at details rather than breadth of effect4 ,when we turn to the influences from abroad which stimulated ,american art during this period1 we find that1 while they fostered the growth of a certain sthetic feeling1 they at the same time instilled conventional methods and principles that deferred the development of a higher kind of art4 ,it is greatly to be regretted that1 notwithstanding the friendly relations between the ,united ,states and ,france1 our art1 when it was first looking to ,europe for direction1 should not have come in contact with that of ,france1 which at that time1 led by ,gericault1 ,rousseau1 ,troyon1 ,delacroix1 and other rising men1 was becoming the greatest pictorial school since the ,renaissance4 ,but ,italian art at that time was sunk to the lowest depths of conventionalism2 while the good in the ,english art of the time was represented less by a school than by a few individuals of genius--,turner1 ,wilkie1 ,constable--who were so original that they failed to attract students whose first art ideas had been obtained in ,italy4 ,the influence of ,italy on our early art was shown by the tendency of our painters in that direction--as now they go to ,france and ,germany--and this was due primarily to ,allston and ,vanderlyn4 ,the latter1 when at ,rome1 occupied the house of ,salvator ,rosa--apparently a trivial incident1 but if we could trace all the influence it may have had on the fancy and tastes of the young ,american artist1 we might find it was a powerful contributor to the formation of the early style of the landscape artists who followed him to ,italy4 ,this bias was also greatly assisted by the many paintings imported at that time from the ,italian peninsula1 which were either originals1 bought cheaply during the disturbances which then convulsed ,europe1 or copies of more or less merit4 ,these works made their way gradually over our country1 from ,boston to ,new ,orleans2 and1 with the rapidly shifting fortunes of our families1 have often been so completely placed out of sight and forgotten1 that it is not an unfrequent instance for one to be unearthed in a remote country village1 or farm-house that would never be suspected of harboring high art4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,fletcher ,,harper--,c4 ,l4 ,elliott ,the larger portion of these foreign works came first to ,boston1 and were hidden away somewhere in that vicinity1 as in the case of the collection bequeathed to ,bowdoin ,college by its founder2 whose best specimens were eventually sold and scattered for a mere song by a faculty who were ignorant of their value1 and thought they might at the same time aid morality and add an honest penny to the funds of the institution by selling its precious nudities1 and thus remove them from the student's eye4 ,as ,allston and ,stuart1 who were colorists1 also settled in ,boston1 after years of foreign study1 these two circumstances contributed to make the ,boston school from the first one of color--a fact less pronounced in the early art of ,new ,york4 ,it is to ,west and ,allston and ,trumbull that we are to attribute the ,english element in our arts4 ,the prominent position they then occupied before the ,american public made their example and opinions of great importance with their countrymen1 and undoubtedly contributed to suggest one of the most characteristic traits of ,american art1 that is1 the tendency to make art a means for telling a story1 which has always been a prominent feature of ,english art4 ,may we not also trace to ,english literature the bias which unconsciously led our painters to turn their attention to landscape with a unanimity that has until recently made our pictorial art distinctively a school of landscape painting8 ,cowper1 ,byron1 and ,wordsworth introduced landscape into poetry1 and undoubtedly impelled ,english art in the same direction2 and it was exactly at that time that our own poet1 ,bryant1 undoubtedly influenced at the turning-point of his character by ,wordsworth's solemn worship of nature1 was becoming the pioneer of ,american descriptive poetry2 while ,irving was introducing the picturesque into our literature2 and ,cooper1 with his vivid descriptions of our forests1 was1 like ,irving1 creating a whole class of subjects that were to be illustrated by the ,american artists of this period4 ,the influences cited as giving direction to the struggling efforts of art in our country during the early part of this century are illustrated with especial force by five portrait1 figure1 and landscape-painters1 who may almost be considered the founders of this period of our art--,harding1 ,weir1 ,cole1 ,doughty1 and ,durand4 ,illustration3 ,,an ,,ideal ,,head4--,g4 ,a4 ,,baker4 ,chester ,harding was a farmer's son1 who1 after an apprenticeship in agriculture1 took up the trade of chair-maker at twenty-one1 the time when the young ,parisian artist has already won his ,prix de ,rome4 ,after this he tried various other projects1 including those of peddling and the keeping of a tavern2 and then took his wife and child and floated on a flat-boat down the ,alleghany to ,pittsburgh--at that time a mere settlement--in search of something by which to earn a bare living4 ,there he took to sign-painting2 and it was not until his twenty-sixth year that the idea of becoming a professional artist entered his head4 ,an itinerant portrait-painter coming to the place first suggested the idea to ,harding1 who engaged him to paint the portrait of ,mrs4 ,harding1 and took his first art-lesson while looking over the artist's shoulder2 and his first crude attempts so fascinated him that he at once adopted art as a profession1 and in six months painted one hundred likenesses1 such as they were1 at twenty-five dollars each1 and then settled in ,boston1 where he seems to have been taken up with characteristic enthusiasm4 ,on going to ,england1 ,harding1 notwithstanding the few advantages he had enjoyed1 seemed to compare so favorably with portrait-painters there that he was patronized by the first noblemen of the land4 ,although belonging also to the latter part of the period immediately preceding that now under consideration1 yet ,harding was1 on the whole1 an important factor in the art which dates from the founding of the ,national ,academy1 and was one of the strongest of the group of portrait-painters naturally associated with him1 such as ,alexander1 ,waldo1 ,jarvis1 and ,ingham4 ,there was something grand in the personality of ,harding1 not only in his almost gigantic physique but also his sturdy1 frank1 good-natured1 but earnest and indomitable character1 which causes him to loom up across the intervening years as a type of the people that have felled forests1 reclaimed waste places1 and given thews and sinews to the ,republic that in a brief century has placed itself in the front rank of nations4 ,while ,harding1 with all his artistic inequalities1 fairly represented the portrait art of ,boston at that1 period1 ,henry ,inman may be considered as holding a similar position in ,new ,york4 ,as a resident of that city and a pupil of ,jarvis1 he enjoyed advantages of early training superior to those of most of our painters of that day4 ,exceedingly versatile1 and excelling in miniature1 and doing fairly well in genre and landscape1 ,inman will be best known in future years by his admirable oil portraits of some of the leading characters of the time4 ,he was a man of great strength and symmetry of character1 who would have won distinction in any field1 and his early death was a misfortune to the country4 ,new ,york became the centre for a number of excellent and characteristic portrait-painters soon after ,inman established his reputation--such as ,charles ,loring ,elliott1 ,baker1 ,hicks1 ,le ,clear1 ,huntington1 and ,page1 the contemporaries of ,healy1 ,ames1 ,hunt1 and ,staigg1 of ,boston1 and ,sully1 of ,philadelphia--all artists of individual styles and characteristic traits of their own4 ,sully1 owing to his great age1 really belonged also to the preceding period of our art4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,judgment ,,of ,,paris4--,,henry ,,peters ,,grey4 ,in ,elliott we probably find the most important portrait-painter of this period of ,american art4 ,it was a peculiarity of his intellectual growth that only by degrees did he arrive at the point of being able to seize a simple likeness4 ,but it is not at all uncommon for genius to falter in its first attempts2 and ,elliott was one of the few artists we have produced who could be justly ranked among men of genius1 as distinguished from those of talents1 however marked4 ,stuart excelled all our portrait-painters in purity and freshness of color and masterly control of pigments2 but he was scarcely more vigorous than ,elliott in the wondrous faculty of grasping character4 ,herein lay this artist's strength4 ,he read the heart of the man he portrayed1 and gave us not merely a faithful likeness of his outward features1 but an epitome of his intellectual life and traits1 almost clutching and bringing to light his most secret thoughts4 ,in studying the portraits of ,elliott we learn to analyze and to discern the essential and irreconcilable difference between photography and the highest order of painting4 ,the sun is a great magician1 but he cannot reproduce more than lies on the surface--he cannot suggest the soul4 ,he is like a truthful but unwilling witness1 who gives only part1 and not always the best part1 of the truth4 ,but then the genius of the great artist steps in1 completes the testimony1 and presents before us suggestions of the immortal being that shall survive when the mortal frame and the sun which photographs it have alike passed away4 ,baker1 on the other hand1 has excelled in rendering the delicate color and loveliness of childhood1 and the splendor of the finest types of ,american feminine beauty4 ,the miniatures of ,staigg are also among the most winning works of the sort produced by our art4 ,among other excellent miniature-painters of this period was ,miss ,goodrich1 of whose personal history less is known than of any other ,american artist4 ,william ,page occupies a phenomenal position in the art of this period1 because1 unlike most of our painters1 he has not been content to take art methods and materials as he found them1 but has been an experimentalist and a theorist as well1 and therefore belongs properly to more recent phases of our art4 ,thus1 while he has achieved some singularly successful works in portraiture and historical painting1 he has done much that has aroused respect rather than enthusiasm4 ,if less refined in aim and treatment than ,page in his rendering of female beauty1 ,henry ,peters ,grey1 who was also an earnest student of ,italian ,renaissance art1 succeeded sometimes to a degree which1 if far below that of the masters whom he studied1 was yet in advance of most of such art as has been executed by ,american painters1 at least until very recently4 ,the ,judgment of ,paris is certainly a clever if not wholly original work1 and the figure of ,venus a fine piece of form and color4 ,daniel ,huntington1 the third president of the ,national ,academy of ,design1 is a native of ,new ,york city1 and has enjoyed advantages and successes experienced by very few of our early artists4 ,a pupil of ,morse and ,inman1 he is better known by the men of this generation as a pleasing portrait-painter2 but the most important of his early efforts were in what might be called a semi-literary style in genre and historical and allegorical or religious art1 in which departments he has won a permanent place in our annals by such compositions as ,mercy's ,dream1 ,the ,sibyl1 and ,queen ,mary ,signing the ,death-warrant of ,lady ,jane ,grey4 ,while portraiture has been the field to which most of our leading painters of the figure have directed their attention during this period1 genre has been represented by several artists of decided ability1 who1 under more favorable art auspices1 might have achieved superior results4 ,inman was one of the first of our artists to make satisfactory attempts in genre4 ,if circumstances had allowed him to devote himself entirely to any one of the three branches he pursued1 he might have reached a higher position than he did4 ,but the most important genre artist of the early part of this period was ,william ,sidney ,mount1 the son of a farmer on ,long ,island4 ,associated first with his brother as a sign-painter1 he eventually1 in #ahbh1 took up genre painting4 ,mount lacked ambition1 as he himself confessed2 he was too easily influenced by the rapidly won approval of the public to cease improving his style1 and early returned to his farm on ,long ,island4 ,mount was not remarkable as a colorist1 although it is quite possible he might have succeeded as such with superior advantages2 but he was in other respects a man of genius1 who as such has not been surpassed by the numerous genre artists whom he preceded1 and to whom he showed by his example the resources which our native domestic life can furnish to the genre painter4 ,this ,american ,wilkie had a keen eye for the humorous traits of our rustic life1 and rendered them with an effect that sometimes suggests the old ,dutch masters4 ,the ,long ,story and ,bargaining for a ,horse are full of inimitable touches of humor and shrewd observations of human nature4 ,f4 ,w4 ,edmonds1 who was a contemporary of ,mount1 although a bank cashier1 found time from his business to produce many clever genre paintings1 showing a keener eye for color1 but less snap in the drawing and composition1 than ,mount4 ,illustration3 ,,miranda4--,,daniel ,,huntington4 ,in other departments of the figure at this period of our art1 ,robert ,w4 ,weir holds a prominent position as one of our pioneers in the distinctive branch called historical painting4 ,of ,huguenot descent1 and gaining his artistic training in ,italy1 after severe struggles at home1 his career illustrates several of the influences which have been most apparent in forming ,american art4 ,although not a servile imitator of foreign and classic art1 and showing independence of thought in his practice and choice of subjects1 ,weir's style is pleasing rather than vigorous and original4 ,it shows care and loving patience1 as of one who appreciates the dignity of his profession1 but no marked imaginative force1 nor does he introduce or suggest any new truths4 ,such a massive composition1 however1 as the ,sailing of the ,pilgrims1 while it scarcely arouses enthusiasm1 causes us to wonder that we should so early have produced an art as conscientious and clever as this4 ,the portrait of ,red ,jacket1 and the elaborate painting called ,taking the ,veil1 are also works of decided merit4 ,enjoying a serene old age1 this revered painter yet survives1 still wielding his brush1 and annually exhibiting creditable pictures in the ,academy4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,surprise4--,,william ,,sidney ,,mount4 ,in the works of the figure-painters we have spoken of there is evident an earnest pursuit of art1 attended sometimes with very respectable results2 but1 with the exception of here and there a portrait-painter of real genius1 we do not discover in their paintings much that is of value in the history of art1 except as indicating the existence of genuine sthetic feeling in the country demanding expression in however hesitating and abortive a manner4 ,but when we come to the subject of landscape-painting1 we enter upon a field in which originality of style is apparent1 and a certain consistency and harmony of effort4 ,minds of large reserve power meet us at the outset1 moved by strong and earnest convictions1 and often expressing their thoughts in methods entirely their own4 ,thoroughly1 almost fanatically1 national by nature1 even when their art shows traces of foreign influence1 and drawing their subjects from their native soil1 they have created an art which can fairly claim to be ranked as a school1 whatever be the position assigned to it in future ages4 ,english1 ,french1 ,irish1 ,african1 and ,spaniard have alike vied in painting the scenery of this beautiful country1 and mingling their fame and identifying their lives with its hills1 rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun1 its mountain streams and meadow lands1 its primeval forests1 and the waves that break upon its granite shores4 ,it is to three artists of great natural ability that the origin of ,american landscape-painting can be traced--,cole1 ,doughty1 and ,durand4 ,although the youngest of the three1 the first seems to have antedated ,doughty by a few months in adopting this branch of art professionally2 while ,durand1 older than ,cole by several years1 yet did not take up landscape-painting until some years after him4 ,thomas ,cole died in the prime of life1 at the age of forty-seven1 but there are few characters in the history of the country that have made a deeper impression4 ,singularly versatile1 inspired by a powerful imagination1 possessing a pure and lofty character1 and animated by the noblest of sentiments1 we feel before his greatest works--through all the imperfections of his art1 through all the faltering methods with which his genius sought to express itself--that a vast mind here sought feebly to utter great thoughts 7which he has doubtless already learned to utter with more truth in another world72 we see that unmistakable sign of all minds of a high order1 the evidence that the man was greater than his works4 ,it is not dexterity1 technique1 knowledge1 that impresses us in studying the works of ,cole1 so much as character4 ,one feels that in them is seen the handwriting of one of the greatest men who have ever trod this continent4 ,illustration3 ,,taking ,,the ,,veil--,,robert ,,weir ,thomas ,cole1 the first artist who ever painted landscape professionally in ,america--unless we except the few faltering landscape-paintings of ,john ,frazer1 the miniature artist of the previous century--was born in ,england1 but he was of ,american ancestry1 and his parents returned to this country in his childhood4 ,the difficulties with which he had to contend at the outset of his art career form an affecting picture4 ,from infancy he had been fond of the pencil2 and the tinting of wall-paper in his father's factory at ,steubenville1 ,ohio1 gave him a slight practice in the harmony of colors4 ,in the mean time he took up engraving1 but was diverted from this pursuit by a travelling ,german portrait-painter1 who gave him a few lessons in the use of oil-colors4 ,he began with portraiture1 and resolved to be an artist1 although the failure of his father's business brought the whole family on him for support4 ,the struggles through which the youth now passed make a long and painful story4 ,through it all he retained his bias for art1 and at twenty-two began to draw scenery1 from nature1 along the banks of the ,monongahela4 ,dunlap has well said1 ,to me the struggles of a virtuous man endeavoring to buffet fortune1 steeped to the very lips in poverty1 yet never despairing1 or a moment ceasing his exertions1 is one of the most sublime objects of contemplation4 ,after several years of this severe hardship1 ,cole finally drifted to ,new ,york1 and eventually attracted notice4 ,when the ,national ,academy of ,design was founded in #ahbh1 ,cole and ,doughty were simultaneously winning success1 and giving a permanent character to the art which for half a century was destined to be most prominent on the walls of the ,academy4 ,so far as foreign technical influences can be traced in the compositions of ,cole1 they are those of ,claude and ,salvator ,rosa4 ,he revisited ,england at the time when ,turner and ,constable were establishing their fame1 and producing such an influence on the great school of ,french landscape art which has since succeeded4 ,it is interesting to think what would have been the character of our landscape art if ,cole had been favorably impressed by the broad and vigorous style of these painters4 ,but he does not seem to have been ripe for the audacious and sometimes more truthful methods of modern landscape1 and expressed himself with warmth regarding what he considered the extravagances of ,turner4 ,the art of ,cole was however1 largely biassed by the literature of ,england4 ,the influence of both ,bunyan and ,walter ,scott can be traced in his works2 while the serious turn of his mind gave a solemn majesty and a religious fervor to his compositions1 which command our deep respect1 even when we fail altogether to concede complete success to his artistic efforts4 ,for this reason ,cole has wielded1 more than most of our artists1 a powerful influence outside of his art with a people which1 with all its volatility1 yet maintains the traditions of a deeply religious ancestry4 ,it was in this many-sidedness of his genius1 that brought him into contact with widely varied sympathies1 that ,cole's chief power consisted2 for if we look at his work from the art point of view alone1 we are impressed with its inequality1 the lack of early art influences which it exhibits1 and an attempt sometimes at dramatic force which occasionally lapses into mere sensationalism4 ,but in all his compositions there are evident a rapturous love of nature1 and the energy and yearning of a mind seeking to find expression for a vast ideal4 ,cole was what very few of our artists have been--an idealist4 ,the work by which he will be longest and best remembered in the art of his country is the noble series called the ,course of ,empire1 consisting of five paintings1 representing a nation's rise1 progress1 decline1 and fall1 and the change which comes over the abandoned scenery as the once superb capital returns to the wildness and solitude of nature4 ,the last of the series1 entitled ,desolation--a gray silent waste1 haunted by the bittern1 with here and there a crumbling column reflected in the deserted harbor1 where gleaming fleets once floated1 and imperial pageants were seen in the pavilions along the marble piers--is one of the most remarkable productions of ,american art4 ,but with all the enthusiasm which ,cole aroused among his contemporaries1 his influence seems to have been to give dignity to landscape art rather than to impress his thoughts and methods on other artists4 ,it is true that he seized the characteristics of our scenery with a truth which came not only from close study1 but also from deep affection for the land whose mountains and lakes he painted1 and thus led our first landscapists to observe the great variety and beauty of their own country4 ,but1 on the other hand1 a certain hardness in his technique probably rendered him less influential as a leader than ,doughty and ,durand4 ,the former1 if inferior in general capacity to ,cole1 was more emphatically the artist by nature4 ,illustration3 ,,desolation4--,,from ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,empire1 ,,by ,,thomas ,,cole4 ,thomas ,doughty was in the leather business until his twenty-eighth year1 when1 without any previous training1 he threw up the trade1 and adopted the profession of landscape-painter4 ,there is an audacity1 a self-confidence1 in the way our early painters entered on the art career1 without instruction in the theory and practice of their art1 which is charming for the simplicity it shows1 but would tend to bring the efforts of these artists into contempt if the results had not often justified their audacity1 for they were sometimes men of remarkable ability4 ,there have been many greater landscape-painters than ,doughty1 but few who have done so well with such meagre opportunities for instruction4 ,he seems1 also1 to have been successful in attracting favorable notice in ,england as well as here1 although at a time when ,english landscape art was at its zenith4 ,the soft1 poetic traits1 the tender1 silvery tones1 that distinguished ,doughty's style1 were entirely original with him1 and have undoubtedly had much influence in forming the style of some of the landscapists who succeeded him4 ,in ,asher ,b4 ,durand1 a ,huguenot by descent1 and the only one of the three founders of ,american landscape-painting who survives to our time to enjoy a green old age1 we find a nature as strong as that of ,cole4 ,the equal of that artist in the sum of his intellectual powers1 we discover in him a different quality of mind4 ,similar as they are in high moral purpose and a profound reverence for the ,creator1 as represented in his works1 ,cole was the most imaginative and inspirational of the two1 stirred more by the fire of genius2 while ,durand1 with a more equable temperament and a larger experience1 produced results that are more satisfactory from an art point of view4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,study ,,from ,,nature4--,a4 ,u4 ,,durand4 ,few artists have shown greater capacity than ,durand in successfully following entirely distinct branches of art4 ,as a steel-engraver1 who in this century has produced work that is much superior to his superb engraving of ,vanderlyn's ,ariadne8 ,who of our artists has been able both to design and to engrave such a work as his ,musidora8 ,after employing the burin so admirably1 he took up portrait-painting1 and by such portraits as his head of ,bryant placed himself by the side of our leading portrait-painters4 ,still unsatisfied with the success won thus far1 ,durand1 in his thirty-eighth year1 directed his efforts to landscape-painting1 and at once became not only a pioneer but a master in this department4 ,the care he had been obliged to give to engraving was undoubtedly of great assistance to him in enabling him to render the lines of a composition with truth2 while his practice of studying character in portraiture gave him insight into the individuality of trees--he invested them with a humanity like that which the ancient ,greeks gave to their forests when they made them the haunt of the dryads4 ,it is to this that we doubtless owe the massive handling1 the fresh and vigorous treatment of trees in such solemn and majestic landscapes as ,the ,edge of the ,forest1 in the ,corcoran ,gallery at ,washington4 ,the art of ,durand is wholly national3 few of our painters owe less to foreign inspiration4 ,here he learned the various arts that gave him a triple fame1 here he found the subjects for his compositions1 and his name is destined to endure as long as ,american art shall endure4 ,illustration3 ,,noon ,,by ,,the ,,sea-,,shore4--,,beverly ,,beach4--,j4 ,f4 ,,kensett4 ,among the most prominent of the landscape-painters who succeeded the founders of the art among us1 and were1 like them1 inspired by a reverent spirit and lofty poetic impulses1 ,john ,f4 ,kensett holds a commanding position4 ,like ,durand1 he began his career with the burin1 and after working for the ,american ,bank-note ,company1 drifted into painting4 ,circumstances seem to have favored him beyond many of his compeers1 and he was early permitted to visit ,england and the ,continent1 and spent seven years abroad4 ,notwithstanding so long an association with foreign schools1 especially the ,italian1 we find very little evidence of foreign art in the style of ,kensett4 ,he was fully as original as ,durand1 and saw and represented nature in his own language4 ,his methods of rendering a bit of landscape were tender and harmonious1 and entirely free from any attempt at sensationalism4 ,so marked was the latter characteristic especially1 that before the great modern question of the values began to arouse much attention in the ateliers of ,paris1 ,kensett had already grasped the perception of a theory of art practice which has since become so prominent in foreign art2 although1 naturally1 it is not in all his canvases that this attempt to interpret the true relations of objects in nature is equally evident4 ,we see it brought out most prominently in some of his quiet1 dreamy coast scenes1 in which it is not so much things as feelings that he tries to render or suggest4 ,in them also is most apparent an endeavor after breadth of effect1 which is a sign of mastery when successfully carried out4 ,mr4 ,kensett's art consisted in a certain inimitably winning tenderness of tone--a subtle poetic suggestiveness4 ,his small compositions1 as a rule1 are more satisfying than his larger pictures1 in which the thinness of his technique is sometimes too prominent4 ,the career of ,kensett1 who died but a few years ago1 is one of the most complete and symmetrical in our art history4 ,illustration3 ,,altorf1 ,,birth-,,place ,,of ,,william ,,tell4--,,george ,l4 ,,brown4 ,a contemporary of ,kensett1 but still surviving him1 ,george ,l4 ,brown1 of ,boston1 struggled heroically and successfully with the early difficulties of his life2 and1 yielding to the seductive influences of ,italian scenery1 devoted his art to representing it1 with results that entitle him to an honorable position4 ,the effects he has sought are luminousness and color4 ,mr4 ,brown's method of using colors was formed1 to a certain extent1 on that of the ,italian landscape art of the time2 and1 while often brilliant and poetic1 reminds us sometimes of the studio rather than of the free1 pure1 magical opulence of the atmosphere and sunlight of the scenery he portrayed4 ,it can be frankly conceded1 however1 that he has been no slavish copyist of a style2 but while acknowledging the force of foreign influences1 has yet given abundant evidence of a personality of his own3 and in such works as his ,bay of ,new ,york1 which is owned by the ,prince of ,wales1 and some of his views among the liquid streets of ,venice lined with mouldering palaces1 and skimmed by gondolas darting hither and thither like swallows1 he has shown himself to be a true poet and an admirable painter4 ,,iii4 ,,american ,,painters4 #ahbh-ahgh4 ,no school of art ever came more rapidly into being than the landscape school which owes its rise to ,cole1 ,doughty1 and ,durand4 ,up to this time portraiture had been the field in which ,american painters had achieved their most signal successes4 ,but now the majority of our artists of ability turned their attention to the representation of scenery2 and for forty years a long list of painters have made the public familiar with their native land1 and have thus1 at the same time1 stimulated a popular interest in art4 ,it is impossible to mention here more than a few of those who1 as landscape-painters1 have won a local or national reputation among us4 ,nor is it essential1 while recognizing the great importance and undoubted merit of our landscape art1 to exaggerate its relative value and position4 ,while it has1 in most cases1 been the result of a true artistic feeling and a genuine1 if not very demonstrative1 enthusiasm for nature on the part of the artists who have devoted their lives to its pursuit1 and while it has given us much that is pleasing1 much that is improving1 much that is poetic1 and occasionally some examples of a high order of landscape-painting--yet1 as a whole1 our school of landscape seems scarcely to be entitled to the highest rank4 ,the wonder is that it has been of such average excellence1 for the environing conditions have apparently not been favorable4 ,the influences among which it sprung have been so often prosaic or uninspiring1 that1 notwithstanding its fertility1 we find the result to lean to quantity rather than quality4 ,the ideal and emotional elements in art have not been sufficiently dominant2 while the topographical and the mechanical notions regarding the end of landscape art have prevailed4 ,illustration3 ,,brook ,,in ,,the ,,woods4--,,worthington ,,whittredge4 ,until recently this school has contented itself with the superficial aspect of nature rather than with the subtle suggestions by which it appeals to the soul4 ,an absence of imaginative power has been too apparent1 and a lack of the energy and earnestness born of large natures and absorbing enthusiasm2 and the abundant variety or individuality of style1 while indicating self-reliant1 independent action1 sometimes has also been a result of the want of solid training1 or failure to grasp the accepted principles which underlie art practice4 ,there has been a general average of native ability in the artists--a certain dead level of excellence in the quality of the works offered at our annual exhibitions--which was good as far as it went2 but1 except on rare occasions1 it seldom arrested and enchained attention by the expression of daring technique or imaginative power1 as the outcome of concerted influences exerted in one direction1 and resulting in typical representative minds of vast resources1 bounding into the arena and challenging the admiration of the world4 ,artists we have undoubtedly had occasionally1 during this period1 who have been endowed with genius to win renown2 but they have1 like ,cole1 either lacked the training and influences--the long succession of national heredity in art practice which are well-nigh indispensable to the highest success2 or1 like ,church1 yielding to the impulse of a prosaic environment1 they have stopped short of the highest flights of art1 and their imagination has been curbed to the subordinate pursuit of rendering the actual rather than the ideal4 ,in technique1 also--if we may be permitted modestly to express an opinion on the subject--this school has seemed to be1 on the whole1 weak and vacillating1 being impelled by no definite aim4 ,it has dealt with detail rather than masses2 it has concerned itself with parts rather than general effect4 ,thus1 while the rendering of details has sometimes been given with great fidelity1 the spirit of the scene has eluded the artist1 and a work which dazzles us at first1 fails1 therefore1 to hold the imagination of the observer1 and becomes flat and insipid on repeated inspection4 ,the reverse is the case with works of art of the first order4 ,we also find in the art of this school weakness in a knowledge of--or at least in the power of appreciating--the vast significance of the line in art4 ,too many ,american paintings1 which have been clever in color1 have been almost ruined by the palpable ignorance they display of the elements of drawing4 ,inability to compose effectively--or1 in other words1 to perceive the harmony which is the dominant idea of true art--has also been too frequent a characteristic of this school4 ,while in the application of colors a lack of nerve has been exhibited which gives to many of these works an appearance of thinness1 that becomes painfully apparent when they have been painted a few years4 ,these observations apply no less to the figure-painting than the landscape art of this period of ,american art2 and a general absence of warmth and earnestness is the impression which a survey of the field leaves upon the mind of the candid observer4 ,illustration3 ,,landscape ,,composition4--,r4 ,w4 ,,hubbard4 ,there is nothing in this to surprise or to discourage1 if we frankly consider the surrounding circumstances4 ,great art is the child of repose2 the restlessness1 the feverish activity of the country1 eminently encouraging to some pursuits1 is1 if not fatal to the arts1 at least opposed to their highest development2 the vast multiplicity of aims agitating the people has thus far prevented that concentration of effort which meets with a response in the enthusiasm of artistic genius4 ,instead of being discouraged1 therefore1 by the quality of the art we have already produced1 we accept it as strong evidence that the ,american people have a decided natural turn for the arts1 which only awaits a more favorable condition of the nation to reach a higher plane of excellence4 ,nor does the general absence of imaginative power in our art seem to us proof that we are by nature destined to remain a prosaic people4 ,aside from the fact that already years ago we had such imaginative artists as ,hamilton1 ,lafarge1 ,vedder1 and others1 we consider that the wonderful inventive quality of the ,american mind toward scientific and mechanical discovery argues a highly creative imagination4 ,herbert ,spencer it is who proves somewhere that imagination must enter into the working out of the problems of inventive science4 ,hitherto the nation's needs have stimulated the imagination in that direction2 but under new conditions there is little reason to doubt that the same faculty will become subservient to the creation of an original and powerful school of art in ,america4 ,but while admitting the weak points of our landscape art1 and that the highest flights of which landscape-painting is capable have not always been reached by our artists1 we should be careful1 on the other hand1 lest we fail to award them the merit which is justly their due for persevering endeavor1 and frequently for great natural ability4 ,let us1 in justice1 ungrudgingly allow the discriminating praise that some out of a large number are undoubtedly entitled to claim4 ,if we mention them individually rather than by the classification of schools1 it is simply because1 for the reasons already stated1 scarce any of our artists have founded schools2 although we may1 perhaps1 without inconsistency1 speak of the efforts of artists of altogether different styles1 but treating the same class of subjects1 as a school4 ,it is in this sense that we allude to our school of landscape4 ,with certain important exceptions1 to be noted in another chapter1 the ,american art of this period has1 on the whole1 been concerned chiefly with the objective2 and it could not have well been otherwise1 for any other form of art at such a time would have utterly failed to carry the people with it1 and thus missed of producing that gradual sthetic education which is the province of a national art4 ,not only for this reason has our school of landscape art vindicated its right to be1 and established its claim on our respectful attention1 but also because it has owed little to foreign influences--springing rather from environing circumstances1 as naturally as the flowers of ,may follow the departure of winter4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,vasty ,,deep4--,,william ,t4 ,,richards4 ,and thus1 as after a long winter a few warm spring days cover the orchard with an affluence of blossoms1 so at this time from many quarters of the land artists appeared1 especially in the field of landscape art2 and one can hardly believe that where1 but a few years before1 the ,indian and the buffalo and the wolf had roamed at their own wild will1 artists now arose1 armed with an ability to discern the beauties of their native land1 to direct the prosaic thoughts of the pioneer to the loveliness of the nature which surrounded him1 and to make for themselves an enduring name4 ,ohio1 the ,massachusetts of the ,west1 for example1 which became a ,state as late as #ahjj1 was in the early part of this period especially prolific in artists1 who1 if they did not find instruction or a public on the spot1 were at least enabled1 with the increasing means of communication1 to go to ,new ,york and ,boston1 or to wander over to the studios and art wealth of ,europe4 ,in other lands and ages the poetic sentiment has first found a vent in lyrics and idyls2 but with us the best poetry has been in the landscape-painting which was created by the sons of those whose ploughs first broke the soil of this continent with a ,christian civilization4 ,at this period1 also1 we note the advent of an influence which doubtless aided to promote a more rapid pursuit of the new art impulse of the nation4 ,steam1 the mighty magician which drives the locomotive and the steamship1 is in bad repute with the conservatives who are not in sympathy with the progressive movements of the age2 and yet among all the other results of which it has been the wonderful agent1 we must ascribe its patronage of art4 ,it is undoubtedly to the far greater facilities for going from place to place1 which followed the introduction of steam1 that we must partly attribute the rapid success of many of the artists who appeared in our country at that time in such unexpected numbers4 ,it was in #ahda that ,leutze went to ,dsseldorf to study1 and thus introduced a new influence into our art1 which hitherto1 so far as it had acknowledged foreign influences1 had been swayed by the schools of ,italy and ,britain4 ,the effect was evident when1 a few years later1 ,worthington ,whittredge1 a native of ,ohio1 went to ,dsseldorf1 and studied under the guidance of ,achenbach4 ,very naturally his style showed for a time the effect of foreign methods2 but he was guided by a native independence of action that enabled him in the end to assimilate rather than to imitate1 like most of our artists at this time1 and his later landscapes are thoroughly individual and ,american1 although doubtless improved by foreign discipline4 ,as a faithful delineator of the various phases of ,american wood interiors1 ,mr4 ,whittredge has deservedly won a permanent place in the popular favor4 ,some of his landscapes1 representing the scenery of the great ,west1 have also been large in treatment and effective in composition2 but his skies sometimes lack atmosphere and ideality4 ,like his master1 ,durand1 ,j4 ,w4 ,casilear began his career as an engraver2 and the success he achieved in this department is attested by his very clever engraving of ,huntington's ,sibyl4 ,since he drifted into landscape-painting1 ,casilear has produced many delicately finished and poetic scenes1 distinguished by elegance and refinement rather than dash or originality2 and somewhat the same observations would apply to the tender landscapes of ,james ,a4 ,saydam4 ,in such dreamy1 pleasant1 but not very vigorous paintings as that of his ,valley of the ,pemigewasset1 ,samuel ,l4 ,gerry has also attracted favorable attention4 ,illustration3 ,,high ,,torn1 ,,rockland ,,lake4--,,jasper ,f4 ,,cropsey4 ,the work of a genuine poet is apparent in the canvases of ,r4 ,w4 ,hubbard4 ,repose and pensive harmoniousness of treatment characterize his simple and winsome1 if not stirring1 transcripts of the more familiar phases of our scenery4 ,they are idyls in color4 ,what ,hubbard has done for ,new ,england landscape1 ,j4 ,r4 ,meeker1 of ,st4 ,louis1 has attempted for the lakes of the ,atchafalaya1 fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming hedges of roses1 and the live-oaks spreading their vast arms1 like groined arches of ,gothic cathedrals1 festooned with the mystically trailing folds of the ,spanish moss1 along the lagoons of the ,south-west1 where the sequestered shores are haunted by the pelican and the gayly colored crane1 and the groves are melodious with the rapturous lyrics of the mockingbird1 the improvisatore of the woods4 ,if not always successful in the tone of his pictures1 it may be conceded that ,mr4 ,meeker has approached his subject with a reverent and poetic spirit1 and has often rendered these scenes with much feeling and truth4 ,still another aspect of our scenery has been reproduced with fidelity by ,w4 ,t4 ,richards1 of ,philadelphia4 ,we refer to the long reaches of silvery shore and the sand-dunes which are characteristic of many parts of our ,atlantic coast4 ,he has often painted woodland scenes with great patience1 but1 as it seems to us1 with too much detail1 and with greens which are open to a charge of being crude and violent4 ,but in his beach effects ,mr4 ,richards maintains an important position2 and if slightly mannered1 has yet developed a style of subject and treatment which very effectively represents certain distinguishing features of our solemn coasts4 ,some of his water-color paintings have scarcely been surpassed1 as1 for example1 the noble representations of the bleak1 snow-like1 cedar-tufted dunes along the ,jersey shore4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,parsonage--,a4 ,f4 ,,bellows ,the extraordinary variety of the effects of ,american landscape is again shown by the gorgeousness of our autumnal foliage4 ,it has been objected by some that it is too vivid for art purposes4 ,we consider this a matter of individual taste4 ,there is nothing more absurd in trying to render the effects of sunset1 or the scarlet and gold of an ,american forest in the dreamy days of the ,indian summer1 than in undertaking to paint the splendor of many-colored drapery in an ,oriental crowd1 which is considered a legitimate subject for the artist who has a correct eye for color4 ,it is not in the subject1 but in the artist1 that the difficulty lies4 ,some of our painters have seized these autumnal displays with fine feeling and excellent judgment4 ,kensett is an example2 another is ,j4 ,f4 ,cropsey1 who1 beginning life as an architect1 became eventually an agreeable delineator of our autumnal scenery1 and at one time executed a number of paintings remarkable for their truth and artistic beauty4 ,his later work has scarcely sustained the early reputation he justly acquired4 ,at its best1 his style was crisp1 strong in color1 and sometimes very bold in composition4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,cranch1 who was associated with ,cropsey in ,italy1 and who is well known as a writer1 has exhibited in his ,venetian landscapes a correct perception of color1 while his method lacks firmness of drawing1 and shows traces of foreign influence more than that of many of our artists who studied abroad at this time4 ,r4 ,h4 ,fuller1 who was a night-watchman on the police force of ,chelsea1 ,massachusetts1 and died in #ahga1 was an artist whose educational opportunities were excessively meagre4 ,but he had a fine eye for color and atmospheric effect1 and some of his landscapes are painted with a full brush1 and are tender and beautiful4 ,f4 ,d4 ,williams1 before he left ,boston for ,paris1 also developed a strong scheme of handling and color which was at once pleasing and original4 ,f4 ,h4 ,shapleigh has likewise shown an excellent feeling for some of nature's more quiet effects1 and his coast scenes are attractive1 although lacking somewhat in force4 ,illustration3 ,,landscape ,,with ,,cattle4--,,james ,,hart4 ,as one considers this field of ,american art1 he is increasingly astonished to find how strikingly it exemplifies one of the leading traits of a national school in the entire originality and individuality with which each of our prominent landscapists of this period interprets nature1 even when he has studied more or less in ,europe4 ,whatever may be the general defect of refinement rather than strength1 and other weaknesses characteristic of our school of landscape art1 it must be admitted that its representative artists have been often sturdily independent1 and that their merits as well as their defects are entirely their own4 ,what difference there is between the carefully finished but rich1 massive foliage of ,david ,johnson1 suggesting the strength of the old ,english masters of landscape1 and the dreamy1 mellow pastoral meadow lands1 wooded slopes1 and dimpling lakes of our ,green ,mountains1 veiled by a luminous haze and steeped in repose1 which are so delicately portrayed by the brush of ,j4 ,b4 ,bristol6 ,few of the landscape-painters of this school have produced more agreeable results with their brush4 ,what points of divergence there are1 again1 between the landscapes of ,w4 ,l4 ,sonntag and ,a4 ,f4 ,bellows6--the one adopting a scheme of tone and color apparently out of the focus of nature1 yet so using it in rendering ideal compositions as to achieve results which place him by the side of our leading poets of nature4 ,to him landscape-painting seems to be not so much a means to give faithful transcripts of actual scenes as to represent the ideals of his fancy2 and as such we accept them with thankfulness1 for they not only serve to give us pleasure1 but also to illustrate the many-sided phases of art4 ,bellows1 on the other hand1 both in oil and aquarelle1 has attempted minute reproductions of nature2 and1 while sometimes suggesting the impression of labor rather more than is consistent with breadth of effect1 has faithfully and charmingly interpreted the idyllic side of our rural life4 ,if he had not been a poet in color1 we might have expected of him pastoral lyrics imbued with the spirit of ,cowper or ,thompson4 ,early study at the school of ,antwerp1 and the pursuit of genre for some years1 have enabled ,mr4 ,bellows skilfully to diversify his attractive village pictures and representations of our noble ,new ,england elms with groups of figures4 ,he is justly entitled to be called the ,american ,birket ,foster4 ,it is instructive1 in this connection1 to observe the first landscapes of ,george ,inness1 which properly belong in style to the early and distinctively ,american school of landscape1 while his recent method has identified him with the later graduates of the ateliers of ,paris4 ,samuel ,colman is another landscape-painter whose art is identified both with this school and with that of the period on which we are now entering4 ,educated here1 and influenced by a fine eye for color1 foreign travel has broadened his sympathies1 modified his technique1 and led him to look with favor upon later methods4 ,the landscapes of ,william and ,james ,hart represent still another phase of our art4 ,both began life as apprentices to a coach-painter1 but gradually identified themselves with the great throng of all ages who have become the votaries of nature4 ,there is cleverness and dexterity in their work1 a fine perception of the external beauty of the slopes and vales and woods of our land1 and brilliant color2 but it is sometimes marred by hardness of handling1 and lack of juiciness or warmth of feeling2 in other words1 it is too exclusively objective1 as if only the physical and not also the mental eye had been concerned in the painting of their works4 ,james ,hart has of late years added cattle to his landscapes with excellent success1 and holds a prominent position among the very few respectable painters of animal life whom the ,american art of this period can justly claim4 ,illustration3 ,,sunset ,,on ,,the ,,hudson4--,,sandford ,r4 ,,gifford4 ,mr4 ,horace ,robbins1 successful in seizing certain aspects of mountain scenery1 with a fine feeling for atmospheric grays1 and ,mr4 ,arthur ,parton1 who very pleasingly renders trees1 and some of the sober effects of our dim ,november days1 although among our younger painters1 justly belong to this period1 as do also ,messrs4 ,james and ,george ,smillie1 who have been equally happy in water and oil colors4 ,the former is another of our many landscape-painters who began as engravers on steel4 ,the later style of these talented brothers has been evidently modified with advantage by the influence of foreign technique1 although they have studied wholly in this country2 and they now display an attractive vigor and freshness in their landscape pieces1 and a somewhat original choice of subjects4 ,the style of each of the artists we have mentioned can be distinguished at once4 ,individuality of expression is stamped upon the canvas of all2 but among them there is no one more thoroughly original than ,sanford ,r4 ,gifford1 who1 if he had lived in ,persia or ,peru two thousand years ago1 might well have been an enthusiastic fire-worshipper1 or daily welcomed the rising sun with reverent adoration4 ,to him landscape-painting1 whether of scenes in our own ,far ,west1 or on the legendary ,hudson1 or in the gorgeous ,east1 has been alike the occasion for giving expression to his feeling for glowing atmospheric effects1 for lyrics which on canvas reproduce the splendor of the sunset sky4 ,but it would be a mistake to suppose that ,mr4 ,gifford's poetic sense has been confined to the contemplation of serene and glowing atmospheres3 he has also successfully rendered the lazy mist1 the trailing vapor of morning enmeshed in dusky woodlands by the silent lake4 ,his style combines to a remarkable degree deliberation and inspiration--a happy union of the analytical and emotional elements in art4 ,the objective school of ,american landscape-painting has found its culminating excellence1 as it seems to us1 in the art of ,frederick ,k4 ,church4 ,in his art-life the tendencies and aims of the chief national school we have produced during the last half century have been typically represented4 ,in his works the technical weakness of this school is apparent1 and1 at the same time1 its noble sympathy with nature1 and its love for the grander aspects of the external world4 ,it also represents the restless1 unsatisfied genius of our people during this period1 ever reaching out and beyond1 and yearning1 ,venice-like1 to draw to itself the spoils1 the riches1 the splendors1 of the whole round globe4 ,to our art the paintings of ,mr4 ,church are what the geographic cantos of ,childe ,harold have been to the poesy of ,england1 or the burning descriptions of ,st4 ,pierre and ,chteaubriand to the literature of ,france4 ,if such a topic is permissible in letters1 may it not also be allowed sometimes in painting8 ,whether the one is as lofty as epic poetry1 or the other as great as historical painting or subjective landscape1 is a question which we do not need here to analyze4 ,it is sufficient that each holds an important position2 and to carry off the palm in either can only be the result of consummate genius4 ,yes6 what ,childe ,harold did for the scenery of the ,old ,world1 the art of ,church has done for that of the ,new4 ,the vastness and the glory of this continent were yet unrevealed to us4 ,with the enthusiasm of a ,raleigh or a ,balboa he has explored land and sea1 combining the characteristics of the explorer and the artist4 ,a pupil of ,cole1 he has carried to its full fruition the aspirations of his master1 first gaining inspiration along the magical shores of the ,hudson1 and amidst the ideally beautiful ranges of the legendary ,catskills4 ,our civilization needed exactly this form of art expression at this period1 and the artist appeared who should teach the people to love beauty1 and to find it among the regions which first rang with the axe of our pioneers4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,composition4--,,frederick ,e4 ,,church4 ,but1 although dealing not so much with nature1 as such1 as with some of her little known and more remarkable and startling effects1 there is a very noteworthy absence of sensationalism or staginess in the paintings of ,church2 while1 on the other hand1 the somewhat too careful reproduction of details has not prevented them from possessing a grand massing of effect and a thrilling beauty and sublimity4 ,cotopaxi1 the ,heart of the ,andes1 or ,niagara1 may transgress many rules laid down by the schools1 but the magnificent ability with which they are represented disarms criticism4 ,church's first painting of ,niagara occupies the culminating point in the objective art of this period of our history1 executed by an artist who up to that time had never crossed the ,atlantic1 and whose merits and defects were entirely his own4 ,mr4 ,church's ,niagara is doubtless familiar to many through the fine chromo-lithographic copy made from it2 but those who have not seen the original have only an incomplete idea of the grandeur of this great painting4 ,it grows on acquaintance somewhat as does the cataract itself1 until we seem to hear even the roar of the mighty waters that rushed over those tremendous cliffs ages before this continent was trodden by man1 symbolizing the endless1 remorseless1 and irresistible sweep of time4 ,the green flood pouring evermore into the appalling abyss veiled by mist wreathing up from the surging vortex below2 the distant shore lined with foliage1 touched by the burning tints of ,october2 the rosy gray sky over-arching the scene1 and the ethereal bow uniting heaven and earth with its elusive band of colors--all are there1 rendered with matchless art4 ,the subjects of ,mr4 ,church's more recent works have been taken from the storied shores of the ,mediterranean4 ,we perceive in them no sign of failing power1 but more breadth and less opulence of detail4 ,the artist has treated the splendors of classic lands with the dignified reserve of matured strength and a higher sense of the ideal4 ,the melancholy grandeur of the ,parthenon in ruins has been painted with a stately reticence in consonance with the character of the subject2 and the magnificent composition called the gean may well hold its own by the side of some of the superb ,italian canvases of ,turner4 ,a landscape-painter who chose a range of subjects similar to those of ,church1 and accompanied him in one of his ,south ,american trips1 was ,louis ,r4 ,mignot1 of ,south ,carolina1 who died in ,london some eight years ago4 ,he was inspired by a rapturous enthusiasm alike for the tender and the brilliant aspects of nature1 and appears to us to have been one of the most remarkable artists of our country4 ,he can be justly ranked with the pioneers who first awoke the attention of the nation to a consciousness of the beauty1 glory1 and inexhaustible variety of the scenery of this continent1 which had fallen to them as a heritage such as no other people have yet acquired4 ,mignot was at once a fine colorist and one of the most skilled of our painters in the handling of materials2 his was also a mind fired by a wide range of sympathies2 and whether it was the superb splendor of the tropical scenery of the ,rio ,bamba1 in ,south ,america1 the sublime maddening rush of iris-circled water at ,niagara1 or the fairy-like grace1 the exquisite and ethereal loveliness of new-fallen snow1 he was equally happy in rendering the varied aspects of nature4 ,it is greatly to be regretted that the most important works of this artist are owned in ,england1 whither he resorted at the opening of the civil war4 ,snow in ,hyde ,park1 which he painted not long before his death1 is one of the noblest productions of ,american landscape-painting4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,winter ,,scene4--,,louis ,r4 ,,mignot4 ,the ,american marine art of this period has been represented by a number of artists1 although they have been by no means so numerous or capable as the maritime character of our people would have led us to expect4 ,william ,bradford1 by origin a ,quaker1 has made to himself a name for his enterprise in going repeatedly to ,labrador to study icebergs1 and has executed some effective compositions1 which have won him fame at home and abroad4 ,some of his coast scenes are also spirited1 although open to the charge of technical errors4 ,charles ,temple ,dix1 who unfortunately died young1 painted some dashing1 imaginative1 and promising compositions2 and ,harry ,brown1 of ,portland1 has successfully rendered certain coast effects4 ,but our ablest marine-painter of this period seems to have been ,james ,hamilton1 of ,philadelphia1 who was beyond question an artist of genius4 ,his color was sometimes harsh and crude2 but he handled pigments with mastery1 and composed with the virile imagination of an improvisatore4 ,errors can doubtless be found in his ships1 or the forms of his waves2 but he was inspired by a genuine enthusiasm for the sea1 and rendered the wildest and grandest effects of old ocean with breadth1 massiveness1 and power4 ,we have had no marine-painter about whose works there is more of the raciness and flavor of blue water4 ,when we turn to the department of animal-painting1 we discover what has been hitherto the weakest feature of ,american art1 both in the number and quality of the artists who have pursued this branch of the profession4 ,t4 ,h4 ,hinckley at one time promised well in painting cattle and game1 but his efforts rarely went beyond giving us ,denner-like representations of stuffed foxes with glass eyes4 ,the hairs were all there1 the color was well enough1 although perhaps a little foxy--if one may be permitted the term in this connection2 but there was no life1 no characterization1 there4 ,william ,hayes showed decided ability in his representations of bisons and prairie-dogs and other dogs4 ,weak in color1 he yet succeeded in giving spirit and character to the groups he painted1 and holds among our animal-painters a position not dissimilar to that of ,mount in genre4 ,illustration3 ,,ship ,,of ',,the ,,ancient ,,mariner4'--,,james ,,hamilton4 ,walter ,m4 ,brackett1 who has been able rarely well to enjoy the triple pleasure of catching1 painting1 and eating the same fish on a summer's morning by the limpid brooks of ,new ,hampshire1 has justly won a reputation as an artistic ,walton4 ,if he would but paint his rocks and trees as cleverly as he renders the speckled monarch of the stream1 his compositions would leave little to be desired4 ,henry ,c4 ,bispham has given us some spirited but sometimes badly drawn paintings of cattle and horses2 and ,colonel ,t4 ,b4 ,thorpe1 an amateur with artistic tastes1 in such semi-humorous satires as ,a ,border ,inquest1 representing wolves sitting on the carcass of a buffalo1 struck a vein peculiarly ,american in its humor1 and carried to a high degree of excellence by ,william ,h4 ,beard1 whose brother1 ,james ,beard1 can also be justly ranked as an animal-painter of respectable attainments4 ,mr4 ,beard1 although remarkably versatile1 has made a specialty1 if it may be so termed1 of exposing the failings and foibles of our sinful humanity by the medium of animal genre4 ,monkeys1 bears1 goats1 owls1 and rabbits are in turn impressed into the benevolent service of taking us off1 and repeating for us the old ,spartan tale of the slave made drunk by his master as a warning to his son4 ,of the skill which ,mr4 ,beard has exhibited in this novel line there can be no question4 ,the ,dance of ,silenus1 the pertinacious1 iterative1 pragmatic ape called ,the ,bore1 and ,bears on a ,bender1 are masterly bits of characterization4 ,there is also a deal of comic satire in ,the ,bulls and ,bears of ,mammon's ,fierce ,zoology1 which1 with a multitude of struggling fighting figures1 takes off the eccentricities of the ,stock-exchange4 ,beard can justly be called the ,american sop4 ,it is asserted by many that this is not art4 ,the fact is that it is exceedingly difficult to draw the line1 and to prescribe what subjects an artist shall choose4 ,in art the result justifies the means4 ,and this certainly seems as legitimate a subject for the brush of the artist as the graphic pictorial satires of ,hogarth1 or the mildly comical genres of ,erskine ,nicol4 ,illustration3 ,,whoo6--,,william ,h4 ,,beard4 ,in a previous chapter we alluded to some of the figure1 historical1 and genre painters of this period4 ,william ,mount was the precursor of a number of genre artists of more or less ability1 among whom may be mentioned ,thomas ,hicks1 a pupil of ,couture1 and one of the first of our painters who studied at ,paris4 ,in this admirable school ,mr4 ,hicks became an excellent colorist1 although of late his art has appeared to lose some of this quality4 ,he has painted landscape and genre1 meeting with respectable success in the latter1 but portraiture has chiefly occupied his attention4 ,his portrait of ,general ,meade is a striking and satisfactory work4 ,then there was ,richard ,caton ,woodville1 who followed ,whittredge to ,dsseldorf1 and promised much in genre4 ,his paintings show very decided traces of ,german influence1 but behind it all was a strong individuality that seemed destined to assert itself1 and to place him among our foremost painters4 ,but he died young1 and 7shall we not say87 happily for him1 since little fame and less appreciation are destined to the artists who come ere the people are ripe for their art4 ,george ,b4 ,flagg at one time promised well for our genre art1 but his abilities were too precocious1 and unfortunately the splendid opportunities he enjoyed as a pupil of ,allston1 and as a long resident in ,london1 do not seem to have been sufficient to give growth or permanence to his talents4 ,about this time our frontier life was coming more prominently into view1 and that picturesque border line between civilization and barbarism was becoming a subject for the pen of our leading writers4 ,irving1 ,cooper1 and ,kennedy1 ,street1 ,whittier1 and ,longfellow1 were tuning the first efforts of their ,muse to celebrate ,indian life and border warfare in prose and verse1 while the majestic measures of ,bryant's ,prairies seemed a prophetic prelude to the march of mankind toward the lands of the setting sun4 ,evangeline1 the most splendid result of our poetic literature1 attracted not less for its magnificent generalizations of the scenery of the ,west than for the constancy of the heroine1 and the artistic mind responded in turn to the unknown mystery and romance of that vast region1 and gave us graphic pictures of the rude humanity which lent interest and sentiment to its unexplored solitudes4 ,it is greatly to be regretted that the work of these pioneers in ,western genre was not of more artistic value2 from a historical point of view1 too much importance cannot be attached to the enterprise and courage of men like ,catlin1 ,deas1 and ,ranney1 who1 imbued with the spirit of adventure1 identified themselves with ,indian and border life1 and rescued it from oblivion by their art enthusiasm1 which1 had it been guided by previous training1 would have been of even greater value4 ,as it is1 they have with the pencil done a service for the subjects they portrayed similar to what ,bret ,harte has accomplished in giving immortality with the pen to the wild1 picturesque1 but evanescent mining scenes of the ,pacific slope4 ,in this connection the fact is worth recording that the important mutual life-insurance association called the ,artists' ,funding ,society took its origin in a successful effort to contribute to the support of the family of ,ranney after his death4 ,our historical painters of this period rarely created any works deserving of note or remembrance4 ,here and there a painting like that of ,huntington's ,republican ,court was produced1 which is a graceful and elegant composition1 and one of the best of the kind in ,american art4 ,peter ,f4 ,rothermel1 the able portrait-painter of ,philadelphia1 also composed a number of historical works1 of which the last is probably of most value4 ,his ,battle of ,gettysburg is a bold and not ineffective representation of one of the critical moments in the world's history1 although open in parts to severe criticism4 ,j4 ,g4 ,chapman1 well known at one time as a skilful wood-engraver and genre painter1 also aspired to the difficult field of historical painting2 but it is to an artist of ,german extraction1 ,emmanuel ,leutze1 that we owe our best historical art previous to #ahfj1 excepting perhaps some of the compositions of ,copley and ,west and two or three of the battle-pieces of ,trumbull4 ,although born abroad1 ,leutze may be justly claimed as an ,american painter1 for he was taken to ,philadelphia in childhood1 and remained in this country until thoroughly imbued with a patriotic love for the land and its history and the spirit of its institutions2 and although he subsequently passed a number of years at ,dsseldorf1 whither he went at twenty-seven1 the last ten years of his life were here2 here he died1 and the subjects of his art were almost entirely inspired by ,american scenes1 and have become incorporated with the growth of our civilization4 ,illustration3 ,,lafayette ,,in ,,prison4--,e4 ,,leutze4 ,leutze was a man who was cast in a large mould1 capable of a grand enthusiasm1 and aspiring to grasp soaring ideals4 ,although his art was often at fault1 it makes us feel1 notwithstanding1 that in contemplating his works we are in the presence of a colossal mind which1 under healthier influences1 would have better achieved what he aspired to win4 ,he drew from wells of seemingly inexhaustible inspiration4 ,he was ,byronic in the impetus of his genius1 the rugged incompleteness of his style1 the magnificent fervor and rush of his fancy1 the epic grandeur and energy1 dash and daring1 of his creations4 ,it is easy to say that he was steeped in ,german conventionalism1 that he pictured the impossible1 that he was sometimes harsh in his color and technique2 and so he was at times1 but1 with it all1 he left the impression of vast intellectual resources4 ,we would not be understood as saying that all the works of ,leutze are worthy of unqualified acceptance2 we refer rather to their general character4 ,his art was very prolific1 and as a pupil of ,lessing and ,schadow it bore the unmistakable stamp of ,dsseldorf4 ,much of his work1 partaking also of the grandiose style of ,kaulbach1 was of a semi-decorative character1 like the ,landing of the ,norsemen1 which represents two fresh1 sturdy ,scandinavian rovers stepping out of an impossible ship1 bearing aloft a noble princess1 and in the very act of landing snatching the grapes hanging wanton to be plucked4 ,spirited as it is1 the manifest absurdity of the composition as a representation of reality yet requires us to accept it as decorative in design4 ,godiva is a somewhat coarse but characteristic work of ,leutze1 and the ,iconoclast one of his most interesting and artistic works4 ,in ,america1 ,leutze will be remembered longest by his large and magnificent painting of ,washington at ,princeton1 his ,emigration to the ,west 7a decorative composition in one of the panels of the stairway of the ,capitol at ,washington71 and his ,washington ,crossing the ,delaware4 ,the latter was executed at ,dsseldorf1 and the ice was painted from an unusual mass of shattered ice floating down the ,rhine on the breaking up of the winter4 ,it is another illustration of the apparent caprice with which man is treated by destiny1 that scarcely had ,leutze closed his eyes in his last sleep1 at the early age of fifty-one1 when a letter arrived from ,germany bringing official tidings that he had just been elected to succeed ,lessing as president of the ,dsseldorf ,academy of ,art4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,lady4--,,william ,,page4 ,while we find in ,leutze the qualities we have described1 it cannot be said that he sought out any new methods of expression1 or that he undertook to suggest the deeper and more subtle traits of human nature2 he was content to work after the manner of the school in which he studied4 ,it is to another painter 7already referred to71 of great intellectual resource and a thoroughly ,american discontent with the actual1 that we turn for aspirations after a higher form of art4 ,william ,page1 a native of ,albany1 who studied law1 and for a time also theology1 at ,andover ,seminary1 was from the first biassed in favor of art4 ,his mind presents a combination of the speculative and the practical1 and it is the union of these antithetical qualities which has alternately aided or hindered the success of ,page's efforts and experiments4 ,he is deliberate rather than inspirational1 guided by an exquisite feeling for color and an admirable sense of form1 but too often unduly controlled by the logical and analytical faculty4 ,had his fancy only been more childlike1 and been left more to the guidance of its own natural and correct instincts1 ,mr4 ,page's works would have oftener moved us by their beauty rather than by the dexterity of the technique4 ,still1 it is by the aid of a few such questioning minds that art makes its advances1 and interprets the secrets of nature4 ,as a portrait painter1 ,page has placed himself among the first artists of the age4 ,we see in his portraits a dignity and repose1 a grasp of character1 and a harmonious richness of color that are wonderfully impressive4 ,in attempting to represent the beauty of the feminine figure ,mr4 ,page has been influenced by great delicacy and refinement of motive1 although in the celebrated painting of ,venus ,rising from the ,sea1 he gave cause for much discussion as to the merits of his theories4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,refuge4--,,elihu ,,vedder4 ,when ,page was in his prime1 our literature had already become distinguished by several writers of thoroughly original and mystically creative imagination1 native to the soil1 and drawing sustenance from native inspiration3 they were ,charles ,brockden ,brown1 ,judd1 ,hawthorne1 and ,poe4 ,in point of originality in conceiving of scenes powerfully weird and imaginative1 these writers have had no superiors in this century4 ,with a style essentially individual1 they analyzed the workings of the human heart1 and dealt with the great problems of destiny4 ,their genius was cosmopolitan1 and for all ages4 ,our pictorial art1 in a less degree1 began soon after to be prompted by a similar tendency4 ,most prominent among these artists whose faltering efforts have most distinctly articulated the language and aspirations of the soul are ,elihu ,vedder and ,john ,lafarge4 ,it cannot be said that either of these artists has yet accomplished with complete success the end he has sought2 but their efforts have been in the right direction1 and as such are highly interesting1 hopeful1 and suggestive4 ,mr4 ,vedder's early genre and landscape compositions are full of subtle attempts at psychology in color4 ,outward nature with him is but a means for more effectively conveying the impressions of humanity2 and his faces are full of vague1 mystic1 far-off searching after the infinite1 and the why and the wherefore of this existence below4 ,since ,mr4 ,vedder took up his residence permanently in ,italy1 he has improved in technique1 and there is less dryness in his method of using color1 as witnessed by his remarkable painting called a ,venetian ,dancing ,girl1 or ',la ,regina2' but he has not in recent years produced anything so marvellously imaginative as his ,lair of the ,sea-,serpent1 or so grand and desolate as his ,death of ,abel4 ,the man who painted the ,lost ,mind1 the ,death of ,abel1 and the ,lair of the ,sea-,serpent1 did not need to borrow from the ancients--at least so far as regards forms of expression4 ,the vast1 solemn1 appalling solitude of the primeval world1 the terrific sublimity of its first tragedy1 are rendered in ,mr4 ,vedder's painting with the sombre grandeur of ,dante2 while as a work of imaginative art1 the steel-colored monster reposing his gigantic folds on the dry grass of a desolate shore by the endless seas1 is a composition of wonderful simplicity and mysterious power1 a creation of pure genius4 ,illustration3 ,,cartoon ,,sketch3 ,,christ ,,and ,,nicodemus4--,,john ,,lafarge4 ,mr4 ,lafarge is by nature a colorist2 to color1 the emotional element of art1 his sensitive nature vibrates as to well-attuned harmonies of music4 ,for form he has less feeling2 his drawing is often very defective1 and the lines are hesitating1 uncertain1 and feeble4 ,but we have had no artist since ,stuart who has shown such a natural sympathy for the shades and modulations of chromatic effects4 ,but1 while his drawing is open to criticism1 this artist is inspired by the general meaning of form1 and has sometimes produced some very weird and startling compositions entirely in black and white1 or camaieu4 ,but whether it be form or color1 the various elements of art are regarded by ,lafarge not so much for what they are as for what they suggest2 he is less concerned with the external than with the hidden meaning it has for the soul4 ,it is because of his subtle way of regarding the beauty of this world that he has given us such thoughtful landscapes as ,paradise at ,newport1 and such exquisitely painted flowers1 rendered with a tender harmony of color that thrills us like a lyric of ,keats or of ,tennyson4 ,it is this serious1 reflective turn which has given a religious hue to his art1 and has enabled him to succeed so well in the most ambitious attempt at decorative-painting yet undertaken in this country--the frescoes of ,trinity ,church1 in ,boston2 in which1 it should be added1 he was ably assisted by ,mr4 ,lathrop4 ,in these compositions we see the results of a highly ideal and reverent nature1 nourished by the most abundant art opportunities the age could afford4 ,it is not difficult to find in them points fairly open to attack2 but the promise they show is so hopeful a sign in our art1 the success actually achieved in them in a direction quite new in this country is so marked1 that we prefer to leave to others any unfavorable criticism they may suggest4 ,,iv4 ,,american ,,painters4 #ahbh-ahgh4 ,the discovery of the gold mines of ,california was a signal for enterprise1 daring1 and achievement1 not only to our commerce and the thrift of our shifting millions of uneasy settlers1 but also to the literature and landscape-art of the ,united ,states4 ,to the kingdom of the west wind hied artist and author alike2 and the epic of the settlement of ,california1 of the scaling of the ,rocky ,mountains1 of the glory of the ,columbia ,river1 and the stupendous horrors of the ,yellowstone was pictured on the canvas of the artist4 ,taylor and ,scott conquered the ,pacific slope2 ,fremont pointed out the pathway over the swelling ranges of the ,sierras2 and our painters revealed to us the matchless splendor of a scenery which shall arouse increasing astonishment and reverential awe and rapture in the hearts of generations yet to be4 ,in the gratitude we owe to these landscape-painters who dared1 discovered1 and delineated for us the scenery of which we were hitherto the ignorant possessors1 criticism is almost left in abeyance1 for the service done the people has been a double one--in leading them to the observation of paintings1 and informing them of the attractions of a little known possession4 ,if the art of these paintings of our ,western scenery had been in all respects equal to the subject1 the country would have been rich indeed4 ,among the artist explorers to whom we are most indebted1 ,messrs4 ,bierstadt1 ,hill1 and ,moran are the most famous4 ,the former1 by his great composition entitled the ,rocky ,mountains1 threw the people into an ecstasy of delight1 which at this time it is difficult to understand1 and bounded at one step to celebrity4 ,albert ,bierstadt is a native of ,dsseldorf1 but came to this country in infancy4 ,subsequently he studied at ,dsseldorf and ,rome4 ,on returning to ,america1 he accompanied the exploring expedition of ,general ,lander that went over the plains in #aheh4 ,fitz ,hugh ,ludlow1 the well-known littrateur1 was associated with him in a subsequent trip1 and several graphic articles in which he afterward described the journey undoubtedly helped to bring ,mr4 ,bierstadt into notice4 ,the ,rocky ,mountains is not the representation of an actual scene1 but a typical composition1 and1 thus regarded1 is an interesting work1 although it seems to us somewhat too theatrical1 and scarcely true in some of the details4 ,local truth is desirable in topographical art1 although of quite secondary importance in compositions of a more ideal character4 ,since then this artist has executed a number of similarly ambitious paintings of our ,western scenery1 including a colossal painting of the gorge of the ,yosemite ,valley4 ,all of them are characterized by boldness of treatment1 but sometimes they are crude in color and out of tone4 ,of these we prefer1 as least sensational and most artistically correct1 the painting of a storm on ,mount ,rosalie4 ,bierstadt's smaller ,california scenes are generally more valuable than his large ones for artistic quality3 one of the best compositions we have seen from his easel is a war sketch representing ,federal sharp-shooters on the crest of a hill behind some trees4 ,this is an excellent piece of work1 fresh1 original1 and quite free from the ,dsseldorf taint2 and confirms us in the opinion that ,mr4 ,bierstadt is naturally an artist of great ability and large resources1 and might easily have maintained a reputation as such if he had not grafted on the sensationalism of ,dsseldorf a greater ambition for notoriety and money than for success in pure art4 ,illustration3 ,,view ,,on ,,the ,,kern ,,river--,a4 ,,bierstadt4 ,some of the qualities we have learned to look for in vain in the canvases of ,bierstadt we find emphasized in the paintings of ,thomas ,hill1 who succeeded him as court painter to the monarch of the ,rocky ,mountains4 ,hill began life as a coach-painter at ,taunton1 ,massachusetts4 ,after deciding on a professional art career1 he visited ,europe1 and benefited by observation in foreign studios1 especially of ,france1 although his style is essentially his own4 ,his method of using pigments is sometimes open to the accusation of hardness2 there is too often a lack of juiciness--a dryness that seems to remind us of paint rather than atmosphere1 which may be owing to the fact1 as ,i have been informed1 that he uses little or no oil in going over a painting the second time4 ,but ,mr4 ,hill is a good colorist1 bold and massive in his effects1 and a very careful1 conscientious student of nature4 ,he has been happy in the rendering of wood interiors1 as1 for example1 bits from the ,forest of ,fontainebleau4 ,one of his most remarkable ,new ,england landscapes represents the avalanche in the ,notch of the ,white ,mountains1 which was attended with such disastrous results to the dwellers in the valley4 ,but ,mr4 ,hill will be identified in future with ,california1 where he has become a resident1 and has devoted his energies to painting some of the magnificent scenery of that marvellous region1 where the roar of the whirlwind and the roll of the thunder reverberate like the tread of the countless millions who evermore march to the westward4 ,as he sat on the edge of the precipice1 the forerunner of coming ages1 and painted the sublime1 solitary depths of the ,yosemite1 did the artist realize that with every stroke of the brush he was aiding the advance guard of civilization1 and driving away the desolation which gave additional grandeur to one of the most extraordinary spots on the planet8 ,in his great painting of the ,yosemite he seems to have been inspired by a reverential spirit2 he has taken no liberties with his subject1 but has endeavored with admirable art to convey a correct impression of the scene2 and the work may be justly ranked with the best examples of the ,american school of landscape-painting4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,yosemite4--,,thomas ,,hill4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,bathers4--,,thomas ,,moran4 ,the first fever of the ,california rush had subsided when the uneasy explorer again stirred the enthusiasm of adventurous artists by thrilling descriptions of the ,yellowstone ,river1 its ,tartarean gorges1 and the lurid splendor of its sulphurous cliffs and steaming geysers4 ,once more the landscape artist of the country was moved to go forth and make known to us those unrevealed wonders2 and ,thomas ,moran1 taking his life in his hands1 in the language of religious cant1 aspired to capture the bouquet1 the first bloom1 from this newly-opened draught of inspiration4 ,we all know the result4 ,who has not seen his splendid painting of the ,gorge of the ,yellowstone1 now in the ,capitol at ,washington8 ,granting the fitness of the subject for art1 it can be frankly conceded that this is one of the best paintings of the sort yet produced4 ,the vivid local colors of the rocks1 which there is no reason to doubt have been faithfully rendered--for ,mr4 ,moran is a careful and indefatigable student of certain phases of nature--appear1 however1 to give such works a sensational effect4 ,this seems to us to be the most valuable of the numerous paintings of ,western subjects produced by this artist4 ,it would be a mistake1 however1 to judge him wholly by the more ambitious compositions suggested by tropical or ,western scenery4 ,some of his ideal paintings are very clever1 and show us an ardent student of nature1 and a mind inspired by a fervid imagination4 ,but while conceding thus much to the talents of this artist--who belongs to an artistic family1 two of his brothers being also well-known painters1 one in marine1 the other in cattle painting--we can not accord him great original powers4 ,he has studied the technique of his calling most carefully1 and has bestowed great attention to the methods of several celebrated artists2 but we are too often conscious1 in looking at his works1 that his style has leaned upon that of certain favorite painters4 ,there is great cleverness1 but little genius1 apparent in the landscapes of ,mr4 ,moran1 for the imitative faculty has been too much for him4 ,illustration3 ,,landscape4--,,jervis ,m',,entee4 ,contemporary with our school of grand nature1 if we may so call it1 and represented by artists native in thought and education1 we find evidences of another beginning to assert itself1 of altogether a different character4 ,the former deals wholly with externals1 and the subject is the first end sought2 it concerns itself altogether with objects1 and not with any ulterior thoughts which they may suggest to the sensitive imagination4 ,the latter1 on the other hand1 searches out the mystery in nature1 and analyzes its human aspects4 ,it is the vague suggestions seen in hills and skies1 in sere woods and lonely waters1 and moorlands fading away into eternity--it is their symbolism and sympathy with the soul that an artist like ,mr4 ,jervis ,m',entee seeks to represent on canvas4 ,this is1 in a word1 the subjective art to which we have already alluded4 ,to him the voice of nature is an elegy2 the fall of the leaves in ,october suggests the passing away of men to the grave in a countless and endless procession2 and whenever he introduces the agency of man into his pictures1 it is as if he were fighting with an unseen and remorseless destiny4 ,exquisitely poetic and beautiful are the autumnal scenes of this artist1 the reaches of russet woodlands1 the expanses of skurrying clouds1 gray1 melancholy1 wild4 ,his art sings in a low minor key that finds response in the heart of multitudes who have suffered1 to whom the world has been a battle-field1 where the losses have outweighed the gains1 and have left them gazing into the mysterious future like one who at midnight stands on the brink of a tremendous abyss into which he must be hurled1 but knows not what are the shuddering possibilities that await the inevitable plunge4 ,a young artist of ,boston died in ,syria1 four years ago1 at the early age of twenty-five1 before he had acquired more than local repute1 who gave promise of standing among the foremost of ,american landscape-painters4 ,i refer to ,a4 ,p4 ,close4 ,certainly no artist we have produced has evinced more abundant signs of genius at so early an age4 ,nor was he wholly a landscape-painter2 the figure was also one aim of his art1 and it was in the combination of the two that he excelled4 ,he also had an eye for color that has not been too common in our art2 and1 wholly untaught1 expressed his moods and fancies with a force that1 even in its immaturity1 suggested the master4 ,but the one point in which he surpassed most of our artists up to this time was in the singular and inexhaustible activity of the imaginative faculty4 ,it is strange that one so young should have so early manifested in his art a serious1 almost morbid1 view of life4 ,it may have been because he found himself1 before the age of twenty1 forced to provide for a fatherless family1 and to devote the greater part of his energies to what was to him the uncongenial work of drawing on wood4 ,illustration3 ,,county ,,kerry4--,a4 ,h4 ,,wyant4 ,less subjective and morbid1 but moved by a similar feeling for the suggestions of nature1 ,a4 ,h4 ,wyant displays a sympathy with scenery and a masterful skill in reaching subtle effects which place him among the first landscape-painters of the age4 ,in the suggestive rendering of space and color1 of the manifold phases of a bit of waste land1 or mountain glen1 or sedgy brook-side1 simple enough at first sight1 but full of an infinitude of unobtrusive beauty1 he works with the magic of a high-priest of nature2 his style is broad in effect1 without being slovenly and careless1 and gives a multitude of details while really dealing chiefly with one central and prevailing idea4 ,mr4 ,wyant's work occasionally shows traces of foreign influences2 but he is an artist of too much original power to be under any necessity to stunt himself by the imitation of the style of any other artist1 however great4 ,homer ,martin is another painter who views nature for the sentiment it suggests1 while he is impressed chiefly by color and light2 for form he seems to have less feeling4 ,but he is a lyrist with the brush1 and his sympathy with certain aspects of nature is akin to idolatry4 ,with a few intense and telling strokes1 he brings before us the splendors of sunset or the quietude of twilight1 the gray vapors of morning creeping over dank woodlands or the sublime pathos of lonely sands1 haunted by wild fowl and beaten by the hollow seas4 ,but we have no painter whose art is so unequal3 in all his works there is absolute freedom1 freshness1 and originality2 his scheme of color is altogether his own1 full of luminousness and purity2 but he is weak in technique1 and thus he alternately startles us by the brilliance1 beauty1 and suggestiveness of one painting1 and the palpable failure to reach the desired end in another4 ,however1 this very irregularity in achievement shows that he is subject to inspirations1 and thus partakes of the character of genius1 which1 if it were of a higher order1 would be more often successful in its attempts4 ,in the works of these painters we see abundant reason to believe in the permanent vitality of ,american landscape art1 and evidence that it is not inclined to run in a conventional groove4 ,just so long as the artists who represent it continue to assert their individuality with such nerve and keen perception of the essential truths of nature1 art is in a healthy and progressive condition4 ,if further evidence of this were needed1 we might cite the landscapes of ,j4 ,appleton ,brown1 who1 after a rather discouraging servitude to ,cort1 is at last beginning to show us the reserve power of which he is capable when he is more concerned with nature than with imitating the style and thoughts of another4 ,ernest ,longfellow1 a son of the poet1 is another exemplar of the sturdy and healthful personality which everywhere crops out in our landscape art4 ,while it cannot be said that his paintings suggest greatness1 they breathe a true spirit1 and possess a purity of color that is very attractive4 ,d4 ,w4 ,c4 ,boutelle1 long resident at ,bethlehem1 ,pennsylvania1 and rarely exhibiting in public in late years1 is well known by such works as ,the ,trout ,brook ,shower and engravings of other paintings by him1 as an artist of originality and force1 who seems to combine in his style some of the best traits of the ,american ,school of landscape-painting4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,adirondacks4--,,homer ,,martin4 ,e4 ,m4 ,bannister1 of ,providence1 is also a man of genius4 ,in the matter of drawing he is weak2 but1 although he has never been abroad1 we recognize in his treatment of masses1 and the brilliance of his method of managing light and color1 the progressive transition through which our landscape art is passing1 even when it does not pay allegiance to foreign influences4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,landscape4--,j4 ,w4 ,,casilear4 ,our marine art of the last fifteen years has shown that the illimitable aspects of the sea are also receiving increased attention1 and are calling forth some of the best art talent of the country4 ,it may be partly due to the advent of ,m4 ,f4 ,h4 ,de ,haas1 who came here from ,holland already an accomplished artist1 who had done so well in his native land as to be appointed court painter to the queen4 ,an artist of brilliant parts1 although sometimes inclined to sensationalism1 he has undoubtedly created some splendid compositions2 and his influence must have been of decided importance during this period4 ,while he has been working in ,new ,york1 two marine painters of ,boston have also executed some striking and beautiful works4 ,i refer to ,john ,e4 ,c4 ,petersen and ,william ,e4 ,norton4 ,the former died young1 in #ahgf4 ,he was by birth a ,dane1 and in personal appearance a viking3 tall1 handsome1 tawny-haired1 with a clear1 sharp blue eye1 and a bearing that reminded one of an admiral on the quarter-deck of his frigate swooping down with flying sheets across the enemy's bow and pouring in a raking fire4 ,those who have seen him will never forget the grand figure of ,petersen1 the very impersonation of a son of the sea4 ,when he first began to paint in ,boston his pictures were weak in color and rude in drawing4 ,but he improved with marvellous rapidity1 and at the time of his death had few peers in marine art4 ,every inch a sailor1 to him a ship was no clumsy mass laid awkwardly on the top of the water1 as too many painters represent it1 but a thing of life1 with an individuality of its own1 graceful as a queen1 and riding the waves like a swan4 ,making ,sail after a ,storm1 representing a clipper ship shaking out her top-sails in the gray gloom that succeeds a storm1 and rising massively but easily against the sky on the crest of the weltering seas1 is a very strong picture4 ,so also is his ,after the ,collision1 and ,a ,ship ,running before a ,squall4 ,when shall we see his like again8 ,mr4 ,norton began life as a house-painter1 and is related to a family of ship-builders4 ,he has himself made several voyages before the mast1 and is therefore well equipped1 so far as observation goes4 ,he has painted many works1 sometimes with more rapidity than comports with artistic success2 and his style is occasionally hard1 mannered1 and mechanical4 ,but he is an enthusiast for his art1 and sometimes a happy inspiration enables him to turn off a painting that entitles him to a high rank among the marine painters of the age4 ,he has been most happy in quiet effects and fog scenes1 and a composition called the ,fog-,horn1 representing two men in a dory blowing a horn to warn away a steamer that is stealthily approaching them out of the fog1 is a very interesting work4 ,crossing the ,grand ,banks is the title of another painting by this artist1 in which the luminous haze of a midday fog and a large ship threading her way through a fleet of fishing-schooners1 are rendered with a truth of color and majesty of form that give this work an important position in contemporary ,american art4 ,illustration3 ,,ship ,,ashore4--,m4 ,f4 ,h4 ,,de ,,haas4 ,inferior to these artists as a draughtsman or in knowledge of ships1 ,arthur ,quartley has1 however1 won a rapid and deserved reputation for coast scenes and effects of shimmering light on still water4 ,prettiness rather than beauty is sometimes too evident in his work2 but he composes with decided originality1 showing a real passion for the effects after which he strives1 and his skies are often very strong4 ,a ,storm off the ,isles of ,shoals is one of his most important compositions4 ,mr4 ,lansil1 of ,boston1 seems to be practically ignorant of the first principles of drawing and perspective1 but he has shown a feeling for color and light1 and we have at present few artists who equal him in painting still harbor scenes1 marbled with reflections wavering on a glassy surface4 ,among our more clever coast painters we cannot omit the mention of ,a4 ,t4 ,bricher1 who renders certain familiar scenes of the ,atlantic shore with much realistic force1 but little feeling for the ideal4 ,j4 ,c4 ,nicoll seems to show more promise in this direction4 ,the color and technique of his pictures are very clever and interesting1 and well illustrate the sea as it looks to a landsman from terra firma4 ,both of these artists have painted extensively in aquarelle1 in which medium they have achieved some important results2 which may justly be added regarding the marine paintings of ,f4 ,a4 ,silva4 ,as a water-colorist ,mr4 ,nicoll is not excelled by any of our artists now concerned with coast scenes2 and some of his landscapes in aquarelle sometimes rival his marines4 ,what we observe in most of our marine-painters1 however1 is weakness in the matter of original composition4 ,one would think that no object in nature would stimulate the imagination and expand the mind more than the sea4 ,but it does not seem to have that effect in our marine art as yet1 excepting here and there a solitary instance4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,foggy ,,morning4--,w4 ,e4 ,,norton4 ,no fact better attests the active and prosperous character of ,american art than the rapid success which the culture of water-colors has achieved among us4 ,in #ahfe a collection of ,english water-color paintings was brought to this country1 and exhibited in ,new ,york4 ,it attracted much attention2 and although a few artists1 like ,messrs4 ,parsons and ,falconer1 had already used this medium here1 generally as amateurs1 this seems to have been the first occasion that stimulated our artists to follow the art of water-color painting seriously4 ,a society1 headed by such men as ,messrs4 ,samuel ,colman1 ,g4 ,burling1 well known notwithstanding his early death1 as a painter of game birds1 ,j4 ,m4 ,falconer1 and ,r4 ,swain ,gifford1 was formed within a year2 ,mr4 ,colman was the first president1 and the first annual exhibition was held in the halls of the ,academy of ,design in #ahfg4 ,twelve exhibitions have now been held1 and ,messrs4 ,james ,smillie and ,t4 ,w4 ,wood have in turn succeeded ,mr4 ,colman in the presidency4 ,a numerous school of artists has sprung up1 finding expression wholly in water-colors1 like ,miss ,susan ,hale or ,henry ,farrar1 the able landscape-painter2 while many of our leading artists in landscape and genre have learned in this short period to work with equal success in aquarelle and oil4 ,the later exhibitions have been characterized by an individuality and strength that compare most favorably with the exhibitions of the older societies of ,london4 ,another interesting feature of the last part of the period under consideration is the increasing attention bestowed on the drawing of the figure4 ,the number of genre artists has notably increased2 and the quality of their work has1 on the whole1 been on a higher plane4 ,the war gave an impetus to this department1 with its many sad or comic situations1 and the increasing immigration of the peasantry of ,europe1 and the growing variety of our national types and street scenes1 have all contributed to attract and stimulate the artistic eye and fancy4 ,to mention all the artists among us who have1 especially of late1 achieved more or less success in this line1 would be to enumerate a long catalogue1 and we must content ourselves with the brief mention of a few who seem1 perhaps1 to be the most noteworthy1 and1 at the same time1 indigenous in their style4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,marine4--,,arthur ,,quartley4 ,j4 ,b4 ,irving1 who has but recently passed away1 executed some very clever cabinet compositions1 delicately drawn and painted1 somewhat in the modern ,french style1 generally interiors1 with figures in old-time costume4 ,a very favorable specimen of his work is represented in a painting entitled ,the ,end of the ,game4 ,b4 ,f4 ,mayer1 of ,annapolis1 has also devoted himself to a similar class of subjects successfully4 ,he is1 however1 very versatile1 and gives us at will a gentleman in ,louis ,quatorze costume1 elaborately painted1 or a bluff tar on the forecastle on the lookout1 or aloft tarring down the rigging1 or a religious ceremonial in the wigwams of the ,north-west4 ,marcus ,waterman1 of ,providence1 has displayed much dash in genre combined with landscape1 and is fresh and vigorous in style2 while such a carefully executed work as his ,gulliver at ,lilliput is highly creditable to our art4 ,j4 ,w4 ,champney studied abroad under ,frre1 and also at ,antwerp1 and is one of the most broad-minded of our younger artists2 indeed1 it is refreshing to meet an artist so unbiassed by prejudice4 ,his foreign studies have in no wise narrowed his intellectual sympathies4 ,his small genre compositions1 especially of child life1 often together with landscape1 have been carefully finished--latterly with an especial regard to the values4 ,professor ,john ,f4 ,weir1 who comes of an artistic family1 and is ,superintendent of the ,academy of ,art at ,new ,haven1 has shown capacity and nerve in his well-known painting called ,forging the ,shaft1 forcibly representing one of the most striking incidents in a foundry2 and ,a4 ,w4 ,willard1 of ,cincinnati1 has struck out in a similar vein4 ,energy of action1 and an effort after effect verging on exaggeration and caricature1 are the characteristics of the style with which he has attempted such novel compositions as ,yankee ,doodle and ,jim ,bludsoe4 ,they suggest in color the literature of ,artemus ,ward and ,walt ,whitman4 ,at the same time1 we recognize in such thorough individuality a very promising attempt to assert the possibilities of certain phases of our national genre4 ,these traits have been treated with less daring but with more artistic success by two of our best-known genre painters--,t4 ,w4 ,wood and ,j4 ,g4 ,brown4 ,mr4 ,wood1 who is president of the ,water-color ,society1 and employs both oil and water colors1 spent several of the first years of his career at the ,south1 and discovered of what importance our colored citizens might prove in our art--their squalor1 picturesqueness1 broad and kindly humor1 and the pathos which has invested their fate with unusual interest4 ,this artist's first successful venture in genre was with a painting of a quaint old negro at ,baltimore2 and since then he has given us many characteristic compositions suggested by the lot of the slave1 although he has not confined himself to this subject1 but has also picked up excellent subjects among the newsboys in our streets1 and amidst the homespun scenes of rural life4 ,mr4 ,wood's style is notable for chiar-oscuro1 and his drawing is generally careful1 correct1 and forcible1 and his compositions harmonious4 ,mr4 ,brown has also found that success and fame in genre can be obtained without going abroad to seek for subjects4 ,to him the gamins of our cities are as artistically attractive as those of ,paris1 and a girl wandering by our sea-shore as winsome as if on the beach at ,nice or ,scheveningen1 and an old fisherman at ,grand ,menan as pictorial as if he were under the cliffs at ,etrett4 ,fault is sometimes found with the fact that the street lads painted by ,mr4 ,brown have always washed their faces before posing1 which is according to the commands of ,st4 ,paul1 but not of art canons1 if we accept ,mr4 ,ruskin's dictum regarding the artistic value of dirt4 ,bating this apparently trifling difficulty1 however1 it must be admitted that he often offers us a very characteristic and successful bit of genre4 ,gilbert ,gaul and ,j4 ,burns1 pupils of ,mr4 ,brown1 merit a word of praise in this connection1 for giving us reason to hope in time for some satisfactory work from their easels4 ,child life finds a warm friend and delineator in ,s4 ,j4 ,guy1 who has made many friends by the kindly way in which he has treated the simple pathos and humor of childhood4 ,he is an admirable draughtsman1 and finishes his work with great nicety--sometimes to a degree that seems to rob the picture of some of its freshness and piquancy2 but it cannot be denied that ,mr4 ,guy has often struck a chord in the popular heart1 not merely by his choice of subjects1 but by legitimately earned success in his art as well4 ,scenes of domestic life have also been treated sometimes very interestingly by ,messrs4 ,b4 ,f4 ,reinhart1 ,ehninger1 ,blauvelt1 ,satterlee1 ,howland1 ,wilmarth1 and ,virgil ,williams4 ,oliver ,j4 ,lay1 although a slow1 careful artist1 has executed some thoughtful and refined in-door scenes1 taken from domestic life1 which show a thorough appreciation of the fact that art1 for itself alone1 is the only aim the true artist should pursue4 ,e4 ,l4 ,henry surprises one by the elaboration of his work1 and is open to the charge of crudeness in color and hardness in outline2 but occasionally he gives us a well-balanced composition1 like the beach scene1 with horses and a carry-all in the foreground1 entitled ,waiting for the ,bathers4 ,illustration3 ,,arguing ,,the ,,question4--,t4 ,w4 ,,wood4 ,but it is in the works of ,messrs4 ,eastman ,johnson and ,winslow ,homer that we find the most successful rendering of ,american genre of the present day as distinguished from that which bears unmistakable evidence of foreign inspiration4 ,mr4 ,johnson1 as a student at ,dsseldorf and other art centres of ,europe1 might be expected to show the fact in his art2 but1 instead of doing so1 we have no painter who has a more individual style4 ,there is uncertainty in his drawing sometimes1 but his color and composition are generally excellent1 and the choice of subjects are at the same time popular and artistic4 ,we have had no painter since ,mount who has done more to elevate the character of genre art in the community4 ,successful in portraiture and ideal heads1 ,mr4 ,johnson has achieved his best efforts in the homely scenes of rustic negro life1 or from a thorough sympathy with the simplicity and beauty of childhood4 ,none who have seen his painting called the ,old ,stage-,coach1 representing a rollicking group of boys and girls playing on the rusty wreck of an abandoned mail-carriage1 can ever doubt again the possibilities of genre art in this country1 although some of his simpler compositions are more to our liking4 ,there is1 however1 nothing startling or especially novel in the style of ,mr4 ,johnson4 ,it is quiet and unsensational4 ,it is to the eccentric and altogether original compositions of ,winslow ,homer that we turn for a more decided expression of the growing weariness of our people with the conventional1 and a vague yearning after an original form of art speech4 ,the freshness1 the crudity1 and the solid worth of ,american civilization are well typified in the thoroughly native art of ,mr4 ,homer4 ,no artist has shown more versatility and inventiveness in choice of subject1 and greater impatience with accepted methods4 ,impatience1 irritability1 is written upon all his works--he is evidently striving after the unknown4 ,but the key-note of his art seems to be a realistic endeavor to place man and nature1 landscape and genre1 in harmonious juxtaposition2 never one alone1 but both aiding each other1 they are ever the themes of his brush4 ,his figures are often stiff or posed in awkward attitudes1 and yet they always arrest the attention1 for they are inspired by an active1 restless brain1 that is undoubtedly moved by the impulse of genius4 ,it is the values1 or true relations of objects as they actually appear in nature1 that this artist also seeks to render2 while in his reach after striking subjects or compositions he not rarely borders on the sensational4 ,but in some of his masterly water-color sketches1 which are almost impressionist in treatment1 or such more finished works as ,the ,cotton ,pickers1 a scene from ,southern plantation life1 ,mr4 ,homer asserts his right to be considered the founder of a new school of genre painting4 ,the repose which is lacking in his style at present may come to him later1 or be grafted upon it by those who come after him4 ,george ,fuller1 of ,boston1 is another artist in whose works we see an additional proof of the growing importance attached to the painting of the figure in our art4 ,his paintings indicate the presence among us of a vigorous1 original personality1 that is1 of a genius striving for utterance4 ,they are incomplete1 rarely altogether satisfactory2 but we feel1 in the presence of such a subtle1 suggestive1 mysterious composition as the ,rommany ,girl1 vaguely thrilling us with the deep meaning of her weirdly glancing eyes1 and weaving a mystic spell over our fancy1 that a mind akin to that of ,hawthorne is here striving for utterance1 and unconsciously infusing new vitality into our genre art4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,rose4--,d4 ,f4 ,,nayer4 ,as an influence in the same direction1 the compositions of ,william ,magrath command sincere attention4 ,it is not so many years ago since he was painting signs in ,new ,york1 and now we see him one of the strongest artists in genre on this side of the ,atlantic4 ,mr4 ,magrath generally paints single figures1 associated with rural life--a milkmaid1 or a farmer4 ,naturally there is inequality in the results achieved1 and sometimes manifest weakness4 ,but we note a constant progress in the quality of his art1 and an evidence of imagination which has been unfortunately too rare in ,american genre since the days of ,william ,mount4 ,by this we mean the identification of the artist with his subject1 which renders it dramatic1 and inspires it with that touch of nature that makes the whole world kin4 ,in this respect he occasionally suggests the inimitable humanity which is the crowning excellence of the paintings of ,jean ,franois ,millet4 ,it is with additional pleasure that we note the works of some of our more recent native genre artists1 because we see indicated in them a growing perception of the fact that abundant subjects may be found at our own doors to occupy the pencil of the ablest minds4 ,it is not uncommon to hear young artists who have studied in the ateliers of ,paris and ,munich1 and who have returned here to work1 complaining that they find no sources of inspiration here1 no subjects to paint at home4 ,this dearth of subjects certainly would be a very grave obstacle to the ultimate development of a great ,american school of art1 if it actually existed4 ,but on examining the question1 it seems to us that the difficulty lies not in the lack of subjects1 but in the way the artist has learned to look at things1 and the range of sympathies to which he has become accustomed by his foreign experiences4 ,the artist who is the man of his time and his country never yet lacked material for inspiration in the every-day life and every-day objects around him4 ,goethe has said that the truest poetry is that woven out of the suggestions gained from simple things4 ,there has never yet been such a state of society or such an order of scenery that the artist who was in sympathy with it could not find some poetry1 some color1 some form or light or shade in it that would stir the finer elements of his genius1 stimulate his fancy1 and arouse his inventive powers4 ,some quality of beauty is there1 concealed like the water in the rock2 the magician comes whose rod can evoke the imprisoned element1 and others then see what he had first seen4 ,as we stroll1 for example1 through the streets and squares of ,new ,york's metropolis1 by its teeming wharves1 and among its dilapidated avenues of trade1 we are astounded to think that any one could ever look on this seething mass of humanity1 these various types of man1 and the various structures he has erected here1 and find in them no inspiration for his brush or his pen4 ,what if there are no feluccas or painted sails in our harbor2 one has but to cross the river on the ferry-boat at sunrise or sunset to see wonderful picturesqueness and beauty in our sloops and schooners1 our shipping thronging the piers1 all smitten by the glory of the rosy light1 or over-canopied by scowling gray masses of storm-driven scud4 ,or if one saunters up our streets and gazes on the long vista of ,broadway toward nightfall1 as the lazy mist gradually broods over the roofs and delicately tones and softens the receding rows of buildings1 he shall see effects almost as entrancing and poetic as those which charm the enthusiast who beholds the sun1 a crimson disk1 couching in a gray bank of smoke at the end of the boulevards of ,paris1 on an evening in ,october4 ,is there nothing picturesque and artistic in the ,italian fruit venders at the street corners1 especially when after dark they light their smoking torches1 that waver with ruddy glow over brilliant masses of oranges and apples8 ,illustration3 ,,dress ,,parade4--,j4 ,g4 ,,brown4 ,there is yet another scene which we often encounter1 especially early in the morning1 at a time when perhaps most artists are yet wrapped in dreams4 ,we refer to the groups of horses led through the streets to the horse-market4 ,untrimmed1 unshorn1 massively built1 and marching in files by fours and fives with clanging tread1 sometimes thirty or forty together1 they present a stirring and powerful effect1 which would thrill a ,bonheur or a ,schreyer4 ,why have none of our artists attempted to paint them8 ,have we none with the knowledge or the power to render the subject with the vigor it demands8 ,illustration3 ,a ,,bed-,,time ,,story4--,s4 ,j4 ,,guy4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,mother4--,,eastman ,,johnson4 ,no1 we lack not subjects for those who know how to see them2 while nothing is more certain than the truth that a national art can only be founded and sustained by those who are wholly in sympathy with the influences of the land whose art they are aiding to establish4 ,those who are familiar with ,american art will easily recall a number of our artists1 educated both at home and abroad1 who have no difficulty in finding material around home1 and at the same time take the lead among us in point of artistic strength4 ,while indicating1 however1 some of the many subjects which address one at every turn in our land1 and render it unnecessary for artists to go abroad for a supply of fuel for their fancy1 we would not1 on the other hand1 imply that an artist should1 in order to be an exponent or leader of a native art1 be confined exclusively to one class of subjects4 ,although it is one of the most remarkable and indisputable laws in literature and art that those who are identified with nature and human nature1 as it appears in their native country1 are at the same time most cosmopolitan1 still it is1 after all1 not so much in the subjects as in the treatment that the individuality of a national art is best demonstrated4 ,it is when the artist is so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the institutions of his native land that it appears in his art1 whatever be the subject--it is then that he is most national4 ,we hear a great deal about the ,french school and the ,english school2 but it is not because each school finds its subjects invariably at home that it possesses an individuality of its own1 but because we see unconsciously reflected in it the influences of the land that gave it birth4 ,for this reason1 if an ,english and a ,french painter shall each take the same scene1 and that a wholly foreign one1 say an ,oriental group1 although the subject be a foreign subject and identical in each canvas1 you can discern at once that one picture is ,english1 the other ,french in treatment4 ,each artist has stamped upon his work the impression of the influences of the people to which he belongs4 ,illustration3 ,,sail-,,boat4--,,winslow ,,homer4 ,patriotism1 a wholesome enthusiasm for one's own country1 seems1 then1 in some occult way to lie at the basis of a native art1 and native art founded on knowledge is therefore always the truest art2 while the artist who is thus inspired will generally find material enough to call forth his sthetic yearnings and arouse his creative faculties at his own door4 ,in passing from genre to our later portraiture we do not find the same proportionate activity and intelligent progress that we see in other departments of our art1 although some creditable painters in this department can be mentioned4 ,harvey ,a4 ,young1 of ,boston1 has shown a good eye for color1 and seizes a likeness in a manner that is artistically satisfactory1 while he does not so often grasp the character of the sitter as his external traits4 ,mr4 ,custer1 of the same city1 charmingly renders the infantile beauty of childhood1 its merry blue eyes1 the dimpled roses of the cheeks1 and the flaxen curls that ripple around the shoulders4 ,there is1 however1 too much sameness in his work--a too apparent tendency to mannerism4 ,mrs4 ,henry ,peters ,grey has a faculty of making a pleasing likeness4 ,she has executed some portrait plaques in majolica that are remarkable evidences of the progress ceramic art is now making in the ,united ,states4 ,mrs4 ,loop is one of our successful portrait-painters4 ,her works are not strikingly original1 but they are harmonious in tone and color1 and poetical in treatment4 ,henry ,a4 ,loop has also executed some pleasing portraits and ideal compositions2 of the latter1 his ,echo is perhaps the most successful rendering of female beauty he has attempted4 ,george ,h4 ,story should be included among the most important portrait-painters of this period4 ,his work is characterized by vigor of style and pleasing color2 he seizes a likeness without any uncertainty in technique4 ,his genre compositions and ideal heads are also inspired by a refined taste and correct perception of the principles of art4 ,william ,henry ,furness1 of ,philadelphia1 who died in #ahfg1 just as he reached his prime1 was allied in genius to the great masters of portraiture of the early stages of our art4 ,he matured slowly4 ,his first efforts showed only small promise2 but he had the inestimable quality of growth1 and has been equalled by few of our painters in the study and rendering of character4 ,when he had a sitter he would give days to a preliminary and exhaustive study of his mental and moral traits4 ,in ,darius ,cobb1 of ,boston1 great earnestness is apparent in the pursuit of art1 together with an exalted opinion of what should be the aims of sthetic culture4 ,mr4 ,cobb has attempted sculpture1 monumental art1 portraiture1 and the painting of religious compositions4 ,we consider it a promising sign to see an artist of such energy seeking to exalt the character of his pursuit4 ,his works seem1 however1 to show the lack of a systematic course of training in the rudiments of technique2 but in such strong and characteristic portraits as that of ,rufus ,choate he has exhibited decided ability4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,scout4--,,wordsworth ,,thompson4 ,the historic art of the period has been neither prolific nor attractive1 with a few exceptions4 ,the late war has given rise to some important works1 like ,winslow ,homer's notable ,prisoners to the ,front2 and ,julian ,scott has been measurably successful in such paintings as ,in the ,cornfield at ,antietam1 representing a charge in that memorable battle1 which belongs to a class of pictures of which we hope to have more in the future4 ,there is a striving after originality in his paintings that is in the right direction4 ,mrs4 ,c4 ,a4 ,fassett1 who has executed some excellent portraits1 has also recently composed an important painting of the ,electoral ,commission1 of whose merits the writer can only speak by report4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,old ,,sod4--,,william ,,magrath4 ,in ,wordsworth ,thompson we find an artist who seems to realize the possibilities of ,american historical art4 ,although a pupil of ,gleyre1 and for a number of years a resident abroad1 there is no evidence of servile subserviency to any favorite school or method in the style of ,mr4 ,thompson4 ,he is an excellent draughtsman1 his color is a happy medium between the high and low keys of different schools--fresh1 cool1 and crisp--and his work is thoroughly finished1 and yet broad in effect4 ,he evidently has no hobbies to ride4 ,as a designer of horses he has few equals in this country4 ,if we have a fault to find with him1 it is in a certain lack of snap1 of warmth1 of enthusiasm in the handling of a subject1 which renders it less impressive than it might otherwise be4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,matin ,,song4--,,fidelia ,,bridges4 ,mr4 ,thompson1 in his ,mediterranean wanderings1 gathered material for a number of attractive coast scenes1 effective in atmosphere and in the rendering of figures1 feluccas1 and waves1 all tending to illustrate his versatility4 ,but he deserves to be most widely known on account of scenes taken from ,southern life1 and historic compositions suggested by the late war1 or illustrating notable events of the ,revolution4 ,for pictures of this description ,mr4 ,thompson seems to us to rank next to ,trumbull1 whose masterly paintings of the ,death of ,montgomery and the ,battle of ,bunker ,hill1 now at ,new ,haven1 have hitherto been by far the most remarkable military paintings produced by an ,american artist4 ,there is less action1 fire1 and brilliance of color in ,mr4 ,thompson's works1 but they possess many admirable qualities that entitle them to much respect4 ,among the most notable is an elaborate composition representing the ,continental army defiling before ,general ,washington and his staff at ,philadelphia4 ,the group of officers and horses in the foreground is one of the best pieces of artistic work recently painted by an ,american4 ,illustration3 ,,study ,,of ,a ,,dog4--,,frank ,,rogers4 ,when we come to a consideration of animal painting in this period of our sthetic culture1 we find that it is the most barren of good results of any branch of our art4 ,we are at a loss to account for this1 especially as the evidences of promise are also less prominent than in landscape and genre4 ,not only has the number of the artists who have pursued this department been proportionately small1 but the quality of their work has been of a low average1 and lacking in the originality elsewhere apparent4 ,in the painting of pastoral scenes1 with cattle1 ,peter ,moran1 of ,philadelphia1 probably shows the most originality and force2 and ,thomas ,robinson1 of ,boston1 has displayed exceptional vigor in painting the textures of cattle1 but without much invention in composition4 ,james ,hart for the past twelve years has made a specialty of introducing groups of cattle into his idyllic landscapes4 ,they are often well drawn and carefully painted1 and are in general effect commendable1 although1 like most of our animal painters1 ,mr4 ,hart does not seem to have got at the character of the animal as ,snyders1 ,morland1 or ,landseer would have done4 ,mr4 ,dolph has painted some creditable cats and pugs in combination with interiors2 and two young artists1 ,messrs4 ,george ,inness1 ,jun41 and ,j4 ,ogden ,brown1 have executed some promising cattle pieces4 ,miss ,bridges must be credited with developing a charming and original branch of art1 of which thus far she seems to enjoy a monopoly4 ,there is exquisite fancy1 as well as capital art1 in the method in which1 with water-colors1 she composes stalks of grain or wild-flowers in combination with field birds1 meadow-larks1 linnets1 bobolinks1 sparrows1 or sand-pipers1 balancing on the apex of a wavering stalk1 or flying over the wheat or by the sands of the sea-beat shore4 ,mr4 ,frank ,rogers1 who is still a very young man1 takes especial interest in painting dogs1 although not intending to confine himself to that branch of animal life1 and has already achieved considerable success in his attempts to represent canine traits4 ,he has trained several dogs to pose for him for ten to fifteen minutes at once4 ,in the decided ability and success already shown by ,mr4 ,rogers we can see that it is now possible for our artists1 availing themselves of influences already at work here1 combined with an intense love of nature and the ideal1 to do strong original work without devoting half their lives to foreign study1 and thus carry on to a higher stage the national art for which so many clamor unreasonably1 not considering that new schools of art are not born in a day1 nor evolved without the conditions which have invariably prepared the way for the national art of other people4 ,art travels by no royal road4 ,illustration3 ,,lost ,,in ,,the ,,snow4--,a4 ,f4 ,,tait4 ,our continent is not so plentifully stocked with wild beasts and game as some parts of the ,old ,world1 but we yet have the panther and the bison1 although now fast fading into a mere traditionary existence before the rifle of the pioneer4 ,r4 ,m4 ,shurtleff has a pleasant fancy for catamounts and deer1 and has been a careful student of their habits1 of which the results appear in dramatic bits of the wild life of the woods introduced into effective paintings of forest scenery2 ,a ,race for ,life is the title of a weird1 savage1 and powerful composition by this artist1 representing a flock of ravening wolves pursuing their victim over fields of frozen snow1 behind which the low red sun is setting2 and ,a4 ,f4 ,tait has also devoted his life to rescuing from oblivion species which are rapidly becoming extinct1 unless our game-laws are better enforced than they have been hitherto4 ,there is often too finished a touch to the style of ,mr4 ,tait1 which deprives it of the force it might otherwise have2 but he has1 on the other hand1 painted both game and domestic animals with remarkable truth1 and he brings to the subject an inventive fancy that greatly adds to the variety and interest of his works4 ,we might add in this connection an allusion to the ingenious carvings of ,alexander ,pope1 a young artist who not only cuts out groups of game from a block of wood with much cleverness1 but also truthfully colors the grouse and teal his skilful knife carves out of pine4 ,there is a branch of art which latterly has attracted much attention in this country4 ,we refer to still-life4 ,george ,h4 ,hall1 who is also known as a genre painter1 justly earned a reputation years ago for effective painting of fruit and flowers1 in which he has hitherto had few equals in this country2 and ,m4 ,j4 ,heade has devoted his attention successfully to the rendering of the wonderful gorgeousness of tropical vegetation4 ,the ideal flower-painting of ,mr4 ,lafarge we have already mentioned4 ,miss ,robbins1 of ,boston1 is at present one of the most prominent artists we have in this department4 ,she composes with great taste1 and lays on her colors with superb effect4 ,some of her paintings suggest the rich1 massive coloring of ,van ,huysams4 ,messrs4 ,seavey1 of ,boston1 ,way1 of ,baltimore1 and ,lambdin1 of ,philadelphia1 have produced some interesting results in this direction2 and ,miss ,dillon and ,mrs4 ,henshaw must be credited with some very beautiful floral compositions4 ,the list of ladies who have been measurably successful in realistic flower-painting is very large1 and indicates the strong tendency toward decorative art in the country1 which must result ere long in a distinctly national type of that branch of esthetic culture4 ,in arriving at the close of the second period of ,american painting1 we are encouraged by abundant evidences of a healthy activity4 ,while some phases of our art1 after a growth of half a century1 are passing through a transition period1 and new methods and theories are grafting themselves upon the old1 there is everywhere apparent a deeper appreciation of the supreme importance of the ideal1 and a gathering of forces for a new advance against the strongholds of the materialism that wars against the culture of the ideal1 combined with a rapidly spreading consciousness on the part of the people of the ethical importance of art1 and a disposition to co-operate in its healthful development4 ,at the same time new influences are entering into the national culture of sthetics1 and branches which have hitherto received little attention from our artists are coming rapidly into prominence1 suggesting that we are about entering upon a third stage of ,american art4 ,v4 ,,sculpture ,,in ,,america4 ,it is a generally conceded fact that since the death of ,michael ,angelo the art of sculpture has made little progress in the expression of the ideal4 ,it has rather indicated1 until recently1 a lack of steadiness of purpose1 and a want of freshness and intellectual grasp that place the plastic art of the last three centuries in a lower rank than that of the ,classic and the ,middle ,ages4 ,it is1 therefore1 a matter of surprise that in a people apparently so unideal as our own1 and engaged in struggling to win for itself a right to exist among the wilds of a new world1 that we find that so much evidence has already been shown of an appreciation for sculpture4 ,it is true that we have not yet produced any masterpieces that can rank with those of antiquity2 but1 on the other hand1 some of our plastic art compares favorably with the best that has been created in modern times4 ,but what might have been expected under the circumstances has proved to be the case4 ,originality has been the exception and not the rule1 even with our best sculptors4 ,naturally led to study the antique in ,europe1 and also to master there the technical elements of the art of sculpture1 owing to the entire absence of facilities for art education here1 it was only to be expected that they would at first yield to the art influences whose guidance they sought4 ,it was not their fault that1 until recently1 those influences were conventional1 and based upon a false perception of the principles of art4 ,illustration3 ,,eve ,,before ,,the ,,fall4--,,hiram ,,powers4 ,some of our most successful sculptors have never been abroad1 or at least have not systematically placed themselves under the tuition of a foreign master2 while a number of them have indicated in their tendencies a natural sympathy with the later movement of modern sculpture1 which is rather in the direction of allegory1 portraiture1 and genre suggested by domestic life4 ,when the ancients represented ,venus or ,jove in marble1 they sculptured a being in whose actual existence they believed1 and thus a profound reverence inspired the work of the master4 ,when the sculptor of the ,middle ,ages carved the deeds of the ,saviour1 or the saints1 or represented the ,last ,judgment1 he was moved by deep love or reverential awe1 and an unquestioning belief in the events he was commemorating4 ,but when the sculptor of this century undertakes to revive classical subjects and modes of thought1 he encounters an insurmountable obstacle at the outset1 which checks all progress1 and relegates his art to a secondary rank1 without even the benefit of a doubt in his favor4 ,the laws and limitations of mind make it impossible for an art to be of the first order which depends upon the imitation of other art4 ,it is only by copying nature directly1 under the inspirations of its own age and country1 that a school of art has the slightest chance of immortality4 ,thorwaldsen1 the greatest sculptor since ,michael ,angelo1 exemplified this truth to a remarkable degree4 ,moved by a realization of classic art which no other modern sculptor except ,flaxman has approached1 we yet find his classical subjects inferior to those allegorical subjects in which he gave expression to the impulses of his own times4 ,a slowly dawning consciousness that art cannot by any force of will or free agency escape from these limitations of growth is becoming at last evident in recent sculpture1 especially in the emotional and sometimes sensational sculpture of ,france4 ,lacking repose1 it is yet fresh and original1 and is destined by continued self-assertion to reach a high rank4 ,it is in imitations of the antique or in allegory1 and portraiture1 that our sculpture has exerted its best efforts1 until within a few years4 ,general ,washington has also proved a sort of ,jupiter ,tonans to our sculptors4 ,elevated to a semi-apotheosis by the people1 he has hitherto been the most prominent subject of the plastic art of the ,west1 and has thus afforded a fair standard of comparison between the merits of different artists1 since very few of them but have tried their hand with the national hero4 ,as regards popular appreciation or pecuniary reward1 it must be admitted that our sculptors have relatively little cause for complaint4 ,the art of sculpture was by no means unknown here when the white man first stepped foot on our shores4 ,the pipe-stone quarries of the ,west are an evidence of what had already been attempted by the aboriginal savages4 ,tobacco1 so much maligned by certain zealous philanthropists1 was at least an innocent cause of some of the earliest attempts at sculpture made on this continent4 ,the writer has in his possession an ,indian pipe carved out of flint1 which represents a man sitting with hands clasped across his knees4 ,simple as it is1 it indicates good skill in stone-carving1 and considerable observation of race characteristics and anatomy4 ,evidences of great technical skill in the plastic arts1 but with an unformed perception of beauty1 are being constantly discovered among the relics of the extinct ,mound-builders of the ,west and ,south4 ,illustration3 ,,orpheus4--,,thomas ,,crawford4 ,before the ,revolution1 however1 excepting in the carving of figure-heads1 plastic art1 unlike painting1 seems to have been hardly known in the ,united ,states4 ,and so little sign was there of its dawn that ,john ,trumbull declared to ,frazee1 as late as #ahaf1 that sculpture would not be wanted here for a century4 ,but even then the careful observer might have noticed indications that a genius for glyptic art was awakening in the new republic4 ,in the early part of the last century ,deacon ,drowne made a vane for ,faneuil ,hall1 and one for the ,province ,house1 in ,boston1 which appear to have gained him great repute in his day in ,new ,england4 ,the latter work1 although turning with the wind on an iron spindle1 was a life-size statue of an ,indian sachem holding a bow and arrow in the act of aiming4 ,it was hollow1 and of copper1 and would seem1 from the impression it made1 to have been a work of some merit4 ,somewhat later1 ,patience ,wright1 of ,bordentown1 ,new ,jersey1 displayed considerable cleverness in modelling miniature wax heads in relief1 and by this process succeeded in making likenesses of ,washington and ,franklin1 among the celebrities of her time4 ,william ,rush1 who was born some twenty years before the ,revolution1 had also shown already that even in ship-carving the sculptor may find scope for fancy and skill1 as ,matthew ,pratt1 in the previous generation1 had proved that even in the painting of signs genius can find vent for its inspirations4 ,rush was undoubtedly a man of genius2 for1 although all the art education he ever had was confined to an apprenticeship with a ship-carver1 his figure-heads of ,indians or naval heroes added a singular merit to the beauty of the merchant marine which first carried our flag to the farthest seas1 and the men-of-war that wrested victory in so many a hard-fought battle4 ,hush worked only in wood or clay2 but original strength and talent1 which under better circumstances might have achieved greater results1 are evident in some of his portrait busts1 and in a statue of a nymph at ,fairmount4 ,a bust of himself1 carved out of a block of pine1 is remarkable for a realistic force and character that entitle it to a permanent place in the records of ,american sculpture4 ,sculpture1 however1 was much more backward in gaining a foothold in the country than the sister arts2 for it was not until #ahbd that the first portrait in marble by a native was executed--that of ,john ,wells1 by ,john ,frazee1 a stone-cutter1 whose sole art education was obtained during an apprenticeship in a yard where rude monumental work was turned out for the bleak cemeteries in use before such sumptuous retreats as ,greenwood and ,mount ,auburn were planned4 ,there was a feeling after the ideal in the nature of this unassisted artist which enabled him to be potential in influencing younger artists2 while his opportunities were unfavorable to the just development of his own abilities4 ,rush began to model in clay in #aghi1 and at that time not one of the artists who have since given celebrity to our native sculpture had seen the light4 ,frazee was born in #agij2 and ,hezekiah ,augur1 of ,new ,haven1 in #agia4 ,the latter was engaged in the grocery trade1 and failing in that1 took up modelling and wood-carving1 without any guide except his natural instincts4 ,like many of our first sculptors1 his efforts are interesting rather as evidences of what talent entirely uninstructed and untrained can accomplish1 than for any intrinsic value in his work4 ,many of the artists who have succeeded him have also begun life in some trade or profession altogether at variance with the art to which they afterward consecrated their lives4 ,it was not till the year #ahje1 long after ,copley1 ,west1 ,malbone1 ,allston1 and ,stuart had demonstrated our capacity for pictorial art1 that the genius of the country seemed inclined to allow us a plastic art of our own4 ,in that year ,hiram ,powers was born1 one of the best known sculptors of the century4 ,the same year witnessed the birth of ,horatio ,greenough4 ,in the remote wilds of ,kentucky1 still harried by the ,indians1 ,hart was born in #ahaj2 and ,clevenger1 ,crawford1 and ,mills followed in #ahab1 #ahac1 and #ahae--;all artists of note1 even if of unequal merits1 and important as pioneers in the art rather than the creators of a great school of sculpture4 ,thus we see that without any apparent previous preparation a strong impulse toward glyptic art and the men to direct and give it strength simultaneously sprung up in the land4 ,when one considers the disadvantages under which they labored1 and that1 so far as can be known1 they were not even aided by any heredity of genius in this direction1 criticism is tempered by surprise that they achieved the results they did1 and that two of them at least--,powers and ,crawford--succeeded in winning for themselves a ,european renown which made them almost the peers of some of the leading foreign sculptors of the age1 who were born amidst the trophies of classic and ,renaissance art4 ,illustration3 ,,columbus ,,before ,,the ,,council4--,,from ,,the ,,bronze ,,door ,,of ,,the ,,capitol ,,at ,,washington4--,,randolph ,,rogers4 ,hiram ,powers must always be assigned a commanding position in our ,western art1 even by those who are not enthusiastic admirers of his works4 ,a farmer's boy of the ,green ,mountains1 he early exchanged ,vermont for the bustling streets of ,cincinnati1 where an ampler scope was offered to the aspiring energies of the founder of ,american sculpture4 ,like many of our sculptors1 a turn for mechanics1 characteristic of the inventive mind of the people1 was combined in him with a capacity for art1 and this1 which at first found vent in a study of the inventions of the time1 enabled him in maturer life to facilitate the means of art expression by valuable inventions4 ,palmer and several other ,american sculptors have also aided the art in a similar way4 ,from modelling in wax1 which aroused great local interest1 young ,powers proceeded to modelling in plaster1 under the tuition of a ,german artist resident in ,cincinnati1 and1 aided by the generous patronage of ,mr4 ,longworth--to whose liberality toward our artists ,american art is greatly indebted--he soon received numerous commissions for portrait busts of some of our most notable public men1 such as ,webster1 ,jackson1 ,marshall1 and ,calhoun4 ,notwithstanding his lack of training and art associations1 ,powers executed some of these portraits with a vigor worthy of the subjects1 and scarcely equalled by any of his subsequent work4 ,in #ahcg ,powers decided to go to ,italy1 whither ,greenough had already preceded him1 led thither1 like many since1 by superior art advantages and economical reasons1 which still sway our sculptors at a time when it would seem that it would be more profitable1 so far as native art is concerned1 for them to remain here4 ,several of our sculptors have acknowledged to the writer that the time has come for their art to grow up under the home influences which are to regulate the art of the future1 but that the question of economy forces them to live in ,florence and ,rome4 ,residing in ,florence until his death1 ,powers devoted his long career to the creation of many works of high finish1 and occasionally of a merit comparing well with the works of an age whose plastic arts were conventional4 ,who has not seen the famous ,greek ,slave1 inspired by the enthusiasm for the ,greeks struggling with the ,turk for existence8 ,the ,penseroso1 ,fisher ,boy1 and ,proserpine are also among the most pleasing works of this artist4 ,the ,california1 a nude1 symbolical female figure1 is less satisfactory in conception1 and is also open to criticism as to its proportions4 ,in these works we see expressed the thoughts of an artist skilled in the technical requirements of the art1 and moved by a lofty ideal1 but marked by tender sentiment rather than force1 and suggesting sometimes a dryness of style and a coldness or reticence of emotion inherited from the undemonstrative people of ,new ,england1 as if when the artist was executing them the stern genius of ,puritanism1 jealous of the voluptuous or the passionate in art1 had stood ,mentor-like at his side and said1 ,there1 that will do2 beware lest your love of beauty lead you to forget that you are an ,american citizen1 to whom duty1 principle1 example1 are the watchwords of life4 ,but sometimes genius proved superior to tradition even with ,powers1 as when he composed the two great ideal statues of ,eve before and after the fall4 ,by these noble works1 inspired by true1 untrammelled artistic feeling--which we must consider his best ideal compositions--he earned a rank very near to that of ,gibson and ,canova1 and rendered his art worthy of lasting remembrance4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,ghost ,,in ,,hamlet4--,,thomas ,r4 ,,gould4 ,the art of ,powers was best exemplified in his portrait busts4 ,his imagination was not prolific or active1 as one may infer from the following expressions of his own3 ,i could never satisfy myself with an ideal in a hurry4 ,the human form is infinite4 ,it is the image of ,god4 ,i have found that1 do my best1 there was always a better in nature4 ,once knowing this1 ,i have hesitated and sought to find it1 and this is the way to fame4 ,one may fail with all his care and labor1 but it is the only way4 ,not they who have produced the most1 but they who have done the best1 stand foremost in the end4 ,i never felt that ,i had the power to charge a hundred statues4 ,i exhaust myself on a few4 ,this accounts for the fact that ,i found it necessary to give nearly a year's time1 in all1 to the model of your statue of ',paradise ,lost4' ,the early educational advantages of ,horatio ,greenough were superior to those of ,powers2 and as one of the first in our country to assert himself in marble1 he won a name which we are reluctantly obliged to consider in excess of his merits as an artist4 ,he impresses one as a man of intellectual force and culture1 but without any special calling to sculpture4 ,the work by which he will be known the longest is the ,bunker ,hill ,monument1 whose stately proportions he designed4 ,greenough executed a number of vigorous and striking busts1 like those of ,lafayette and ,fenimore ,cooper1 which deserve favorable mention4 ,but in venturing after ideal expression he cannot be said to have accomplished satisfactory results4 ,the elaborate group called ,the ,rescue1 on the portico of the ,capitol at ,washington1 is ambitious1 but leaves one to regret that so prominent a position could not have been more appropriately decorated4 ,few statues have ever given rise to more conflicting criticisms than ,greenough's ,washington in the grounds of the ,capitol4 ,colossal in size and on a massive throne1 seated half nude and holding out a ,roman sword in his left hand1 some one has jocularly observed that the august hero of the republic seems to say1 ,here is my sword2 my clothes are in the ,patent-office yonder4 ,it certainly seems an absurdity in this age to represent so recent a character in a garb in which he was so rarely seen by the public1 or so closely and incongruously to imitate the style of the antique4 ,benjamin ,west showed more originality and courage when1 in the last century1 and in defiance of the opinion of such men as ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 he dared to break loose from the conventional1 and created a revolution in historical art by permitting ,general ,wolfe to die in the clothes in which he went to battle4 ,but in justice to ,greenough1 whose statue is in some respects meritorious and important1 especially in the bass-reliefs on the elegant chair1 it should be said that he never designed to have this statue placed in its present position1 but under the dome of the ,rotunda1 where it would undoubtedly be far more impressive1 and being sheltered from the winter snows1 its nudity would be less incongruous4 ,illustration3 ,,george ,,washington4--,j4 ,q4 ,a4 ,,ward4 ,last year a sculptor died at ,florence who was born in ,kentucky nearly seventy years ago4 ,his education was confined to three months in a district school1 and his first occupation was chimney-building4 ,james ,hart1 although successful in portraiture1 was also an idealist1 who1 after settling in ,italy1 produced numerous pleasing works1 like his ,angelina and ,woman ,triumphant4 ,there is a delicate1 winning sense of beauty and a refined emotional tendency in his art1 which pleases while it fails to master us1 because it was a facile fancy rather than a lofty imagination that conceived his creations4 ,shobal ,v4 ,clevenger1 a stone-cutter of ,ohio1 presents another instance of the sudden yearning toward the plastic art which early in the century sought vent in various parts of the country4 ,like so many others1 he turned his face to ,italy to find the knowledge which it was impossible for his native land to give him at that time4 ,the nation owes a debt of gratitude to him1 as to several of our early sculptors1 for many truthfully realistic portraits of our leading statesmen and poets4 ,in point of date as well as in ability we find that ,thomas ,crawford1 a native of ,new ,york ,state1 was one of the first of our sculptors4 ,if ,powers was remarkable for the refinement of his work1 in the sculpture of ,crawford we find a certain grandiose style not too common in our art1 and at the same time so harmoniously rendered as to avoid exaggeration4 ,crawford occupies among our sculptors a position corresponding to that of ,allston among our early painters4 ,there is a classic majesty about his works1 a sustained grandeur that is warmed by a sympathetic nature1 and brought within the range of the throes and aspirations of this tumultuous century4 ,he had what most of our sculptors have lacked--genius4 ,were he alive to-day1 when a new order of sculpture is bursting its bonds1 he would have few peers4 ,among his most important works are the impressive equestrian statue of ,washington at ,richmond1 and the colossal statue of ,beethoven in the ,music ,hall at ,boston4 ,they were cast in the foundries of ,mller at ,munich1 and were hailed by all1 artists and sovereign alike1 with a dramatic enthusiasm which speaks eloquently for the estimate placed upon them in one of the most notable art tribunals of ,europe4 ,the bronze door of the ,capitol at ,washington1 containing panel groups illustrative of the ,american ,revolution1 has been considered by some to be a masterpiece of ,crawford1 and it certainly indicates imagination and technical skill unusual among us until recently2 but the statue of ,orpheus descending into ,tartarus in search of his wife ,eurydice seems1 on the whole1 to be the most symmetrical and just representative work of this great sculptor4 ,his stately and graceful statue of ,liberty on the dome of the ,capitol is also entitled to high consideration1 but one can hardly think of it without indignation1 for certainly nothing was ever devised quite so absurd as to create a work of imagination like this1 and then to perch it up in the air three hundred feet above the ground1 where it is a mere shapeless spot against the sky1 its beauty almost as completely snatched away from human ken as if it were buried as far beneath the surface of the earth4 ,illustration3 ,,medea4--,,william ,,wetmore ,,story4 ,the art of the ,capitol at ,washington presents1 indeed1 a most extraordinary farrago of excellence and eccentricity and ignorance4 ,some of the alto-relievos in the ,rotunda are of such exceptional uncouthness that one is astounded to think that some of the men are still living who permitted them to be placed there4 ,they might easily be passed off for rude ,aztec relics4 ,the ,sculpture ,hall adjoining displays the same amazing incongruity4 ,its existence suggests a dim perception in the builders that at some future time we should need a national gallery of statuary2 while the inequality in the merit of the sculptures already placed there would indicate that they had been chosen entirely by lot rather than by deliberate selection4 ,not until a permanent national art commission like that of ,france is appointed can we hope1 in the present unsthetic condition of ,congress1 to have such art collected at the national capital as will be entirely creditable to the country4 ,such a commission1 owing to the frailty of human nature1 might perhaps show partiality at times toward a favorite school2 but what it did admit would at least be of a higher average merit1 and mere tyros in art would have no chance to storm the public ,treasury by the sheer force of lobbying4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,promised ,,land4--,,franklin ,,simmons4 ,it is to the then absolute ignorance of art on the part of the people that we owe the equestrian statues of ,clark ,mills--a contemporary of ,crawford--of which the most noted is probably the statue of ,general ,jackson opposite the ,white ,house1 and the one of ,george ,washington1 for which he received #ej1jjj4 ,the former is chiefly notable for the mechanical dexterity which so balanced the weights that the prancing steed is actually able to stand in that position without other support than its own ponderosity4 ,that ,mr4 ,mills has ability is unquestioned1 for it is said that before ever he had seen a statue he was able to take a portrait bust of ,calhoun which is pronounced a striking likeness2 but it is dexterity and talent rather than genius which he possesses4 ,there is little evidence of art feeling in his works1 and the prominence that has been given to them is a just cause of regret to the lover of art4 ,it is pleasant among so much poor art to find here and there works like those of ,crawford1 ,ward1 ,brown1 ,randolph ,rogers1 and ,ball1 which indicate an earnest striving after a lofty art ideal4 ,henry ,k4 ,browne1 one of our earliest sculptors1 will probably be best known by his two equestrian statues--of ,general ,washington1 in ,union ,square1 ,new ,york1 and ,general ,scott1 at the capital4 ,it is extremely difficult to tell what it is which makes such monuments so rarely satisfactory4 ,if the horse is anatomically correct1 it is1 perhaps1 ungraceful2 or if pleasing in that respect1 then the horse-fancier comes along1 who tells you that it cannot be justly admired1 for it is incorrect in the details4 ,between these two objections one is often at a loss to give an opinion2 and in point of fact the famous statue of ,colleoni by ,verrochio1 made in the ,middle ,ages1 seems thus far to be almost the only wholly acceptable equestrian work since the classic times1 so thoroughly does it seem in its firm1 massive1 yet energetic lines to embody the description of the war-horse given in the ,book of ,job1 and so nobly does his mailed rider bestride him4 ,the cause of the difficulty appears to be the same as in marine painting4 ,to paint a ship one should love it intensely1 and if he does1 he is likely to comprehend the action2 to design a horse in motion one should love horses1 and in such case the study of them begins instinctively in childhood4 ,but most sculptors have no natural equine bias1 and1 after accepting a commission for an equestrian statue1 they begin to study the horse for the purpose of information1 rather than from sympathetic1 enthusiastic feeling4 ,illustration3 ,,latona ,,and ,,her ,,infants4--,w4 ,h4 ,,rinehart4 ,mr4 ,browne has struggled with these difficulties with very creditable success4 ,neither of the statues mentioned above gives complete satisfaction1 but they are doubtless among the best yet exhibited in our country4 ,that of ,scott represents the finest horse1 and very graceful and interesting it is1 although the proportions are rather those of an ,arab steed than of an ,american war-horse2 while that of ,washington is the most spirited and attractive4 ,it is heroic and impressive in its general effect4 ,this artist1 who still resides at ,newburgh1 enjoying a green old age after a successful career1 has accomplished much ideal work1 like the pleasing statue of ,ruth1 and has shown a fine artistic feeling in his conceptions1 although hardly entitled to a foremost rank in this branch of the art4 ,thomas ,ball1 who was originally a portrait-painter1 and who continues to adorn our public squares with meritorious sculptures1 is another artist to whom we are indebted for one of the most spirited and correct equestrian statues in the country4 ,we refer to his ,washington1 in the ,public ,garden in ,boston4 ,pleasing when regarded artistically1 cavalrymen also like it for its truth to nature4 ,the group called ,emancipation1 in ,lincoln ,park1 at ,washington1 is also by ,mr4 ,ball4 ,an equestrian statue that is destined to occupy a high position in our native art is that of ,general ,thomas1 by ,j4 ,q4 ,a4 ,ward4 ,it is of colossal size1 and has been cast in bronze at ,philadelphia4 ,there is a force in the action1 an originality in the pose1 a justness in the proportions of both horse and rider1 that render it exceptionally excellent4 ,in ,mr4 ,ward we see one of the most vigorous and individual sculptors of the age4 ,as an influence in our art his example is of great importance1 because while placing at its true value the good that may be obtained by familiarity with the models of classic art1 whether by the study of casts at home or abroad1 he recognizes the basal principle of all true art--that its originating force must proceed from within1 and that culture can only supplement1 but cannot supply the want of1 genius in the artist or the people4 ,and thus1 while thoroughly conversant with foreign and antique art1 ,mr4 ,ward has worked at home1 and drawn the sources of his inspiration from native influences4 ,he has a mind overflowing with resources2 his fancy is never still2 he is ever delighting to sketch in clay1 if the term may be so used4 ,many are familiar with the noble statue of ,shakspeare and the ,indian ,hunter in the ,central ,park4 ,the latter1 although not in all respects anatomically correct1 is in spirit and design one of the most notable works produced by ,american plastic art4 ,but the bronze statue of ,washington recently set up at ,newburyport is1 perhaps1 the best existing specimen of ,mr4 ,ward's skill4 ,the subject is not a new one2 in fact1 it has been treated so many hundred times in one form or another that especial originality was needed to render it again with any degree of freshness and interest4 ,but the effort has been crowned with success4 ,there is in this statue1 which is of colossal size1 a sustained majesty1 dignity1 and repose1 and a harmony of design rarely attained in modern sculpture4 ,among the foremost of ,american sculptors in point of native ability we must accord a place to ,benjamin ,paul ,akers1 of ,portland4 ,he was indeed a man of genius1 of a finely organized temperament2 but he died before the maturity of his powers1 ere he was able to achieve little more than a promise of immortality4 ,his ,pearl ,diver1 which is indeed an exquisite creation1 original1 and tenderly beautiful1 represents a youth whose corpse the tide has washed on the rocks1 where it lies wrapped by the sea-weed1 and tranquil in the repose of death4 ,the anatomy and composition of this work are evidently the offspring of a finely-organized mind well grounded in the principles of his art1 and inspired by tender sympathies and a strongly creative imagination2 and his ,st4 ,elizabeth is also a lovely piece of sculpture4 ,the noble ideal bust of ,milton1 and the ,pearl ,diver1 are grandly described by ,hawthorne in the ,marble ,faun4 ,the admirable description of ,kenyon1 the young sculptor mentioned in that weird romance1 is intended for a likeness of ,akers4 ,edward ,s4 ,bartholomew1 of ,connecticut1 who died in his thirty-sixth year1 was another of our most gifted sculptors4 ,there was an affluence of fancy in his art1 rare in our sculpture1 which needed pruning rather than urging by foreign study4 ,naturally his works are unequal in merit2 but the ,eve ,repentant1 ,ganymede1 and ,hagar and ,ishmael will long perpetuate his fame4 ,it is a noteworthy circumstance that ,bartholomew was totally color-blind4 ,this1 in the opinion of many1 is no disqualification in a sculptor2 but some sculptors not only think otherwise1 but are also conscious of a sense of color when creating a work4 ,illustration3 ,,zenobia4--,,harriet ,,hosmer4 ,illustration3 ,,evening4--,e4 ,d4 ,,palmer4 ,italy1 which has been the home and second mother to most of the artists we have named1 has long given a home to and inspired the art of a number of our most prominent sculptors1 who are now permanently residing in ,florence and ,rome--,randolph ,rogers1 ,story1 ,rinehart1 ,meade1 ,gould1 ,thompson1 ,miss ,hosmer1 and several others1 all of whom merit more than a passing notice4 ,rogers1 who has executed many exquisite works indicating fine sentiment and fancy1 is most favorably known for the bronze doors in the ,rotunda of the ,capitol at ,washington4 ,eight panels1 representing scenes in the history of ,columbus1 have afforded abundant scope for the exhibition of a genius which1 while it borrowed the idea from ,ghiberti1 had yet ability sufficient to give us an original work4 ,the ,angel of the ,resurrection1 for the monument of ,colonel ,colt at ,hartford1 is also an important and beautiful creation by this artist4 ,larkin ,j4 ,meade1 of ,vermont1 has justly won a wide reputation for portrait and monumental works1 like that to ,abraham ,lincoln at ,springfield1 ,illinois4 ,it is of colossal dimensions1 costing nearly #cjj1jjj1 and in size and importance ranks with the majestic monument at ,plymouth designed by ,hammatt ,billings4 ,one of the noblest art opportunities of the century was offered when that monument was proposed4 ,if ,mr4 ,billings's original design had been fully carried out a work would have been erected of which the country might justly be proud4 ,lack of funds and a pitiful lack of enthusiasm resulted in reducing the dimensions of the work by half4 ,martin ,milmore has also executed some very important civic monuments1 and has turned the late war to account by numerous military memorials erected to our dead heroes4 ,the one recently finished at ,boston is the most noteworthy4 ,the art represented in these works is1 however1 not of a high order1 perhaps because such subjects are so trite that even an artist of very unusual ability would be staggered in treating them4 ,franklin ,simmons1 whose abilities have been chiefly devoted to a similar class of works with those of ,meade and ,milmore1 often exhibits true art feeling1 and a sense of the beautiful that makes his art exceptionally attractive4 ,the monument to the ,army and ,navy1 at ,washington1 which he has designed1 is not wholly satisfactory1 but it contains some effective points4 ,one of his best works is the statue of ,roger ,williams4 ,another ,americo-,florentine artist who has created some remarkable and beautiful ideal works is ,thomas ,r4 ,gould4 ,among these may be mentioned ,the ,ascending ,spirit1 at ,mount ,auburn1 ,the ,ghost in ,hamlet1 and ,the ,west ,wind4 ,the latter is fascinating rather for the delicate fancy it shows than for technic knowledge1 for it is open to criticism in the details2 the drapery1 for example1 is so full as to draw away the attention from the figure4 ,this is a blemish quite too common even in our best sculpture4 ,mr4 ,gould has also been very successful in portraiture1 and is now engaged on a full-sized statue of ,kamehameha1 late ,king of the ,sandwich ,islands4 ,in the ideals of this artist we notice a powerful originality1 and an attempt to render in marble effects usually left to the higher orders of pictorial art4 ,allegory he treats with marked power1 and such ideal conceptions as the heads of ,christ and of ,satan suggest possibilities scarcely yet touched by sculpture4 ,another of our sculptors1 working near the quarries whence comes the marble into which he stamps immortality1 was ,w4 ,h4 ,rinehart1 of ,baltimore1 one of the truest idealists whom this country has produced4 ,criticism is almost disarmed as one gazes at his ,sleeping ,babes1 or the tender grace of ,latona and her ,infants4 ,illustration3 ,,bust ,,of ,,william ,,page4--,,william ,r4 ,o',,donovan4 ,in all these artists we find more or less dexterity of execution and delicacy of sentiment1 but are rarely impressed by a sense that any of them indicate great reserve force4 ,in ,william ,w4 ,story this idea is more clearly conveyed4 ,no ,american in the art world now occupies a more prominent position or shows greater versatility4 ,possessed of an ample fortune1 and originally a lawyer1 and preparing legal tomes1 he then devoted himself to poetry1 the drama1 and general literature1 and has succeeded as a sculptor to a degree which has caused a leading ,london journal to call him the first sculptor of the ,anglo-,saxon race since the death of ,gibson4 ,he certainly occupies a commanding place1 fairly won1 among the prominent men of the age4 ,but here our praise must be qualified2 for it may be seriously questioned whether we are not dazzled by the sum of his abilities rather than by any exceptional originality and daring in anything ,story has done4 ,of his sculpture it may be said that it indicates the work of a rich and highly cultivated mind2 it is thoughtful1 thoroughly finished1 and classically severe4 ,but it commands our respect rather than our enthusiasm4 ,there is in it nothing inspirational4 ,it is talent1 not genius1 which wrought those carefully executed marbles--talent of a high order1 it is true4 ,jerusalem ,lamenting1 ,the ,sibyl1 and ,cleopatra and ,medea1 are works so noble1 especially the first1 that one is impatient with himself because he can gaze upon them so unmoved4 ,the ,salome is1 perhaps1 the most perfect work of this sculptor1 who might have done greater things if he had not depended so exclusively upon foreign inspiration4 ,miss ,hosmer1 who has resided in ,italy ever since she took up art1 has achieved a fame scarcely less than that of ,mr4 ,story4 ,this has doubtless been owing in part to her sex1 for from the time of ,sabina ,von ,steinbach until this century it has been exceedingly rare to see a woman modelling clay4 ,but ,miss ,hosmer has a strong personality1 and if her creations are not always thoroughly successful as works of art1 they bear the vigorous impress of individual thought and imagination4 ,she is best known in such versatile works as ,puck1 ,the ,sleeping ,sentinel1 ,the ,sleeping ,faun1 and ,zenobia1 in whose majestic proportions the artist has sought to express her ideal of a woman and a queen4 ,miss ,hosmer took her first lessons in sculpture with ,peter ,stephenson1 an artist who died too early to achieve a national reputation1 although not too soon to be esteemed by his fellow-artists for his abilities4 ,he studied awhile at ,rome1 and left a number of portrait busts1 and a group of ,una and the ,lion1 which indicate undoubted talent4 ,other ladies who have essayed sculpture with success are ,miss ,stebbins1 the biographer of ,charlotte ,cushman1 and ,mrs4 ,freeman1 of ,philadelphia1 who has executed some beautiful works4 ,miss ,whitney1 who studied abroad for a time1 but has wisely concluded to continue her work in this country1 has shown a careful1 thoughtful study of the figure1 and is moved by a lofty idea of the position of sculpture among the arts4 ,among her more important works is an impressive statue of ,rome1 in her decadence1 mourning over her past glory2 a statue of ,africa2 and one of ,samuel ,adams1 in the ,capitol at ,washington4 ,illustration3 ,,abraham ,,pierson4--,,launt ,,thompson4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,charity ,,patient4--,,john ,,rogers4 ,there are other ,american sculptors deserving more than mere allusion1 like ,dexter1 ,richard ,greenough1 ,barbee1 ,volk1 ,edmonia ,lewis1 ,van ,wart1 ,ives1 ,macdonald1 ,kernys1 ,ezekiel1 ,calverly1 and ,haseltine1 who in portraiture or the ideal have won a more than respectable position2 but our space limits us to a notice of several artists who1 like ,ward1 combine great natural ability with traits distinctively ,american4 ,one of these is ,erastus ,d4 ,palmer1 of ,albany1 who has won transatlantic fame by the purity and originality of his art4 ,the son of a farmer1 and exercising the calling of a carpenter until nearly thirty1 ,palmer did not yield to the artistic yearnings of his nature until comparatively late in life4 ,when he at last took up the pursuit of art1 it was in his own town that he studied and sought fame1 and his success was rapid and entirely deserved4 ,few of our sculptors have been such true votaries of the ideal1 few have been able better to give it expression1 and none have shown a type of beauty so national1 or have more truly interpreted with an exquisite poetic sense the distinctive domestic refinement or religious thought of our people4 ,it is beauty rather than power that we see expressed in the works of this true poet--moral beauty identified with a type of physical grace wholly native4 ,it is an art which finds immediate response here1 for it is of our age and our land4 ,among the notable works of ,palmer are his ,indian ,captive1 ,spring1 ,the ,white ,slave1 and ,the ,angel of the ,sepulchre2 but we prefer to these the exquisitely beautiful bass-reliefs in which he has embodied with extreme felicity the domestic sentiments or the yearnings and aspirations of the ,christian soul4 ,the radical fault of ,palmer's art is that he has depended more on his fancy than upon a direct study of nature for his compositions4 ,the natural result has been that he soon began to lapse into mannerism1 which has become more and more prominent in his later works4 ,another sculptor of great ability owes his first instruction in the plastic art to ,palmer--,launt ,thompson4 ,he was a poor lad who early showed art instincts1 but was employed in the office of ,dr4 ,armsby1 until ,palmer stated one day that he was in search of an assistant1 and asked ,dr4 ,armsby if he could recommend any one4 ,the doctor suggested ,thompson 7who was in the room7 as a youth who had a turn that way1 but had been unable to find opportunity to gratify his art cravings4 ,thus began the career of one of our strongest portrait sculptors4 ,in the modelling both of the bust and the full figure1 ,thompson has been equalled by very few ,american sculptors4 ,among many successful works may be mentioned his ,napoleon1 ,edwin ,booth1 ,general ,sedgwick1 at ,west ,point1 and ,president ,pierson1 at ,yale ,college4 ,it is a cause for just regret that1 after having achieved such success at home1 ,thompson should have deemed it necessary to take up his residence permanently in ,italy4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,whirlwind4--,j4 ,s4 ,,hartley4 ,illustration3 ,,adoration ,,of ,,the ,,cross ,,by ,,angels4 ,,st4 ,,thomas',s ,,church1 ,,new ,,york4--,,st4 ,,gaudens4 ,another artist whose work is entirely native to the soil is ,john ,rogers1 whose numerous statuette groups in clay have made him more widely known in the country than any other of our sculptors4 ,a native of ,salem1 ,massachusetts1 and for awhile engaged in mechanical pursuits1 this artist was at last able to turn his attention to plastic art1 and went to ,europe1 where he seems to have gained suggestions from the realistic and impressional school of the later ,french sculptors2 but this was rather as a suggestion than an influence1 and1 finding his mind more in sympathy with home life1 he soon returned1 and has ever since worked here1 and from subjects of homely every-day genre around him4 ,the late war has also furnished ,rogers with material for many interesting groups4 ,the art of ,rogers is to the last degree unconventional1 and in no sense appertains to what is called high art1 but it springs from a nature moved by correct impulses1 beating in unison with the time1 and occupying the position of pioneer in the art of the future1 because he has been true to himself and his age4 ,daniel ,c4 ,french1 a pupil of ,ward and ,ball1 is a young sculptor who1 like ,rogers1 finds inspiration for his ideals in his native land1 and gives promise of holding a prominent position in the field of ,american sculpture4 ,he made a sudden and early strike for fame when1 with scarce any instruction1 he modelled the spirited and original1 although anatomically imperfect1 statue called the ,minute ,man1 which is at ,concord4 ,another strong representative of the new realistic school of sculpture that is gradually springing up in the community is ,w4 ,r4 ,o',donovan1 of ,richmond1 ,virginia4 ,fighting sturdily on the side of the ,south during the late war1 he as earnestly gives himself now to the pursuit of the arts of peace4 ,he is not a rapid worker1 but handles the clay with thoughtful mastery1 and the results are stamped with the freshness and individuality of genius4 ,mr4 ,o',donovan's efforts have been most successful in portraiture1 of which a striking example is given in the bronze bust of ,mr4 ,page1 the artist4 ,another bust1 of a young boy1 is as full of nave beauty and refined sentiment and character as this is vigorous and almost startling in its grasp of individual traits4 ,illustration3 ,,thomas ,,jefferson',s ,,idea ,,of ,a ,,monument4 ,the transition stage through which our plastic art is passing is also indicated by the stirring1 realistic1 and sometimes sensational art of a number of earnest and original young sculptors who have studied abroad1 but have wisely concluded to return home1 and to found1 and grow up with1 a new and progressive school of sculpture4 ,one of these was the late ,frank ,dengler1 of ,cincinnati1 who had studied at ,munich1 and was professor of sculpture at ,boston2 and others are ,olin ,m4 ,warner1 of ,new ,york1 and ,howard ,roberts1 of ,philadelphia1 who made the singularly bold statues of ,hypatia and ,lot's ,wife4 ,to these may be added ,j4 ,s4 ,hartley1 who was recently ,professor of ,anatomy at the ,art ,students' ,league1 and is now president of that flourishing institution4 ,he began his career in ,palmer's studio1 and afterward studied in ,london and ,paris4 ,the art of these young sculptors is still immature and highly emotional or lyrical1 and often verges on the picturesque rather than the severely classic4 ,but if it lacks repose1 on the other hand it is imaginative and powerful2 its faults are those of an exuberant fancy that teems with thought2 and these artists are undoubtedly the forerunners1 if not the creators1 of a thoroughly national school of sculpture4 ,superior in technic skill1 moved by a genius thoroughly trained in the best modern school of plastic art1 that of ,paris1 ,st4 ,gaudens1 a native of ,new ,york1 has given us1 in the exquisite groups called ,the ,adoration of the ,cross by ,angels1 in ,st4 ,thomas's ,church1 ,new ,york1 one of the most important and beautiful works in the country4 ,the ,astor ,reredos behind the altar at ,trinity ,church1 designed by ,mr4 ,withers1 and partly executed here1 is also a very rich addition to our plastic art1 and is another sign that it is taking a direction little followed heretofore on this side the ,atlantic4 ,dr4 ,william ,rimmer1 who has recently died1 powerful in modelling1 a master of art anatomy1 and author of a valuable work on that subject1 also exerted an important influence in directing the studies of our rising sculptors4 ,having little sense of beauty1 he understood art anatomy profoundly1 and modelled with energy if not with grace4 ,his statue of ,the ,gladiator aroused astonishment in ,paris2 for as it is impossible for a living man to keep a falling position long enough for a cast to be taken1 this masterly composition was necessarily a creation of the imagination based upon exhaustive knowledge of the figure4 ,wood and stone carving and monumental work1 and the decoration of churches and civic structures1 have rarely been satisfactorily attempted here until recently4 ,a curious paper and design left by ,thomas ,jefferson1 of which we give a reduced fac-simile1 is one of the earliest attempts at original monumental art in the ,united ,states4 ,here and there one of our sculptors has executed some good work in this field1 but costly monuments have too often been erected in the country without much pretension to art4 ,the increasing attention given to wood and stone carving1 as in the new ,music ,hall at ,cincinnati1 the ,state ,capitols at ,albany and ,hartford1 and in some of our later churches1 is a favorable sign that a broader field is opening at last for the fitting utterance of the rising genius of sculpture2 while the numerous schools for instruction in this art that have been founded within the last decade1 and the well-stored galleries of casts of the masterpieces of antiquity1 are increasing the facilities for the growth of a home art4 ,enough has been said in this brief sketch to show that sculpture1 if one of the latest of the arts to demand expression in the ,united ,states1 has yet found a congenial soil in the ,new ,world4 ,,vi4 ,,present ,,tendencies ,,of ,,american ,,art4 ,at the close of the fourth chapter of this volume it was briefly stated that new influences and forms of art expression have recently become prominent in our art1 and are rapidly asserting their growing importance4 ,with perhaps one or two exceptions1 these new influences so gradually shade out of our former art that it is difficult to tell the exact moment when they assume an individuality of their own1 and appear as new and distinct factors in the sthetic culture of our people4 ,it is only when we take a retrospect of the whole field1 and compare one generation with another1 that we discern the vanishing point of one set of influences and the genesis of new schools1 with the introduction of new branches of art culture in the community4 ,considering the progress of ,american art from this point of view1 we find it divided most decidedly into periods1 advancing with regular pace from one phase to another like the tints of a rainbow1 shading off at the edges1 but gradually becoming more intense4 ,thus we are able to trace in geometrical ratio the progress from primitive silhouettes and rude carvings up to the present comparatively advanced condition of the arts in this country4 ,and yet a closer inspection into the history of ,american art enables us to detect in its growth the same rapid spasmodic action1 when once a start is made in a certain direction1 as in other traits of our national development4 ,there is a tropical vivacity in the manner in which with us bloom and fruition suddenly burst forth after a period of apparently unpromising barrenness4 ,thus ,west and ,copley appeared almost full-fledged in art genius and capacity to adapt themselves to occupy prominent positions in ,europe1 and yet there were but few premonitory signs to indicate that the country was prepared for the advent of such artists4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,mowing4--,,alfred ,,fredericks4 ,until recently1 also1 owing to some cause yet unsolved1 we have not seemed able to develop more than one or two forms of art at once4 ,at one period it was historic painting and portraiture2 then portraiture1 including for a time very marked success in miniature painting1 headed by ,fraser and ,malbone1 and continued by such able artists as ,t4 ,s4 ,cummings1 ,j4 ,h4 ,brown1 ,miss ,goodrich1 and ,mrs4 ,hall2 then1 all at once1 landscape-painting made its appearance1 and almost at a bound reached a good degree of merit4 ,hand in hand with landscape art came remarkable facility in line engraving4 ,how rapidly excellence in this art was achieved in this country may be judged from the fact that in #aghh the editor of the ,american ,magazine said apologetically1 in presenting an incredibly rude plate of a dredging-machine in the magazine1 ,the editor has given the plate of the new machine for clearing docks1 etc41 because he had promised it4 ,the want of elegant plates in a work of this kind is extremely regretted1 and will1 if possible1 be supplied4 ,if it cannot1 the editor flatters himself that the infancy of the arts in ,america will be accepted as an apology for the defect4 ,and yet not twenty years from that time ,peter ,maverick was doing good steel-engraving in ,new ,york2 and scarce ten years later ,durand was executing the masterly engravings of ,trumbull's ,declaration of ,independence and ,vanderlyn's ,ariadne4 ,and from that time until recently engravers like ,james ,smillie1 senior1 ,a4 ,h4 ,ritchie1 and ,john ,marshall have carried this art to a high degree of excellence2 while ,john ,sartain has attained celebrity in mezzotint4 ,strange as it may seem1 while portraiture1 landscape1 and steel engraving were pursued with such success by our artists1 a feeling for the other arts could hardly be said to exist4 ,a sympathy with form1 generally the earliest art instinct to show itself1 was long in awakening1 as proved by the tardiness of the plastic arts to demand expression among us2 while to the resources of black and white1 or camieu1 or a perception of the matchless mystery and suggestiveness of chiaro-oscuro1 the people have1 until within a very short time1 seemed altogether blind4 ,water-colors1 also1 were almost hooted at2 wood-engraving was for long in a pitiful condition2 and as for architecture and the decorative arts1 nothing worthy of the name1 and scarcely a sign of a perception of their meaning1 could be said to exist on this side of the ,atlantic4 ,some years ago ,w4 ,j4 ,linton1 one of the most distinguished wood-engravers of the century1 came to this country to live4 ,whether that had anything to do with the very rapid development of wood-engraving here since that time cannot be stated with certainty2 but1 judging from analogy1 we should say that he has exerted a marked influence in stimulating the remarkable progress already reached by our engravers within a very few years4 ,a4,v4,s4 ,anthony was one of the first to respond to the awakening demand for good wood-engraving here1 and has shown great delicacy and skill in interpreting the drawings of our very clever artists in black and white4 ,charles ,marsh is also an engraver of remarkable character and originality of style4 ,in the rendering of a decorative or highly ideal class of subjects he brings to his aid an artistic genius not surpassed by any engraver we have produced4 ,messrs4 ,morse1 ,davis1 ,hoskin1 ,wolf1 ,annin1 ,juengling1 ,kingsley1 ,mller1 ,cole1 ,smithwick and ,french1 ,kreul1 ,dana1 ,andrew1 and ,king1 among a number who have distinguished themselves in this art1 are especially noteworthy1 not only for correct rendering of the spirit of a drawing1 but often for individuality of style4 ,one of the most interesting phases of the development of wood-engraving in this country has been the discussion as to its position among the arts1 and the merits of the recent method of engraving drawings or paintings photographed directly on the wood4 ,this discussion has been interesting and valuable as another evidence of the activity and importance which the art question has already assumed in the community4 ,that engraving is an art1 one would think could never be disputed1 if the question had not already been raised with a certain degree of acrimony on the part--strange as it may seem--of those who are often dependent upon the genius of the engraver for the recognition of their abilities by the public--the artists themselves4 ,it seems to us to be sufficient answer to those who consider it purely a mechanical pursuit1 that the simple fact that the higher the artistic perceptions of the engraver the better is the engraving he does1 proves it to be a work of art4 ,illustration3 ,,birds ,,in ,,the ,,forest4--,,miss ,,jessie ,,curtis4 ,on the other hand1 it appears that the engraver may in turn assume too much when he claims to improve upon an illustration1 or objects per se to cutting photographs on wood4 ,while granting to engraving the rank of art1 it cannot justly be forgotten that it is1 after all1 a means to an end1--an art1 it is true1 but an art subordinate to other arts which it is designed to interpret4 ,once this is allowed1 it follows1 as a matter of course1 that it is the duty of the engraver to render faithfully the drawing or painting that is to be cut2 and to magnify himself not at the expense of the artist who made the drawing1 but by rendering1 as nearly as possible1 a fac-simile of the original picture4 ,if this be granted1 then is it not clear that1 instead of opposing1 he should hail with satisfaction any new process which enables him to give on wood or any other material a closer copy of the style and spirit of the artist whom he is interpreting4 ,that this can be done by a clever engraver by photographing a pen-and-ink drawing or painting directly on the wood1 and then studying also the original work as he cuts it1 seems to be no longer an open question4 ,it has been demonstrated by too many excellent engravers within the last five years4 ,another advantage of what we cannot but consider an advance in this art is1 that it admits of a larger variety of styles1 and a freer expression of the designer's methods of thought and feeling1 and also enables many who do not care to work in the cramped limits of a block of wood to make a large composition in black and white1 whether with ,indian-ink or monochrome in oil1 which is then photographed on the wood4 ,in this way far greater freedom and individuality of handling is obtained1 and a nobler utterance of the truths of nature4 ,can there be any question that a process which allows of such variety of expression must inure to art progress1 and still more to the instruction of the people1 who are directly benefited by the illustrations which are brought to their own doors1 and placed in the hands of the young at the time when their tastes and characters are forming1 and their imagination is most plastic and impressionable8 ,it would seem as if the art of wood-engraving had received in the most direct manner the action of some unseen hand1 impelling it suddenly forward in this country by concerted action with the genius of illustration2 for apparently by secret agreement that branch of art has within the last decade developed a comparative excellence yet reached by none of the sister arts in the land4 ,and this turn for illustration has naturally been accompanied by an active movement in black and white drawing1 particularly in crayon4 ,samuel ,w4 ,rowse was one of the first to give an impetus to crayon drawing by a style of portraiture especially his own4 ,as such he ranks with our leading portrait-painters2 while the fact that he employed crayon as a medium for a time gave him a position almost entirely alone in this country4 ,there is a wonderful subtlety in his power of seizing character and the rendition of soul in the faces he portrays4 ,equally happy in all the subjects he treats1 he will be longest remembered1 perhaps1 for the many beautiful children's portraits he has executed4 ,the success of ,rowse naturally led to similar attempts by other artists2 and in all our leading cities one may now find crayon artists who are more or less successful in the department of portraiture1 among whom may be mentioned ,b4 ,c4 ,munzig and ,frederick ,w4 ,wright4 ,out of this has grown a school of landscape-artists employing charcoal--a medium that ,lalanue and ,allong had already used with magical results4 ,john ,r4 ,key1 who is well known as a painter in oil1 has1 however1 done his best work1 as it seems to us1 in charcoal4 ,there is great tenderness in his treatment of light and shade1 together with harmonious composition4 ,j4 ,hopkinson ,smith1 known as a water-colorist1 also handles charcoal like a master4 ,he seizes his effects with the rapidity of improvisation1 treats them in masses1 and shows a feeling for chiaro-oscuro that is almost unique in our art4 ,illustration3 ,representing the manner of ,,peter',s ,courtship4 ,howard ,pyle4 ,when we come to the book illustrators we encounter a number of artists of merit1 and occasionally of genius1 who are so numerous that we can select only here and there a few of the most prominent names4 ,felix ,o4 ,c4 ,darley was one of the first to show the latent capacity of our art in this branch4 ,his style soon became very mannered1 but1 at the same time1 undoubtedly showed great originality and invention in seizing striking characteristics of our civilization1 and a refined fancy in representing both humor and pathos4 ,his linear illustrations to ,rip ,van ,winkle and ,judd's ,margaret placed him1 until recently1 among our first two or three genre artists4 ,less versatile and inventive1 ,augustus ,hoppin has1 however1 earned an honorable position among our earlier illustrators4 ,louis ,stephens also won distinction for an elegant rendering of humorous subjects4 ,then followed a group of landscape illustrators1 among whom ,harry ,fenn holds a high position for poetically rendering the illimitable aspects of nature and the picturesqueness of rustic or ,old ,world scenery and ruins4 ,under the guidance of his facile pencil how many have been instructed in art1 and learned of the varied loveliness of this beautiful world6 ,thomas ,moran ranks with ,mr4 ,fenn as a master in this field4 ,it appears to us that in this branch he displays more originality and imagination than in the elaborate paintings by which he is best known4 ,within a very few years--so recently1 in fact1 that it is difficult to see where they came from--a school of genre illustrators have claimed recognition in our art1 educated altogether in this country1 and yet combining more art qualities in their works than we find in the same number of artists in any other department of ,american art4 ,it is a little singular that1 notwithstanding the recent interest in black and white in this country1 the genre artists who represent it should at once have reached an excellence which commands admiration on both sides of the ,atlantic1 while our painters in the same department have rarely achieved more than a secondary rank4 ,illustration3 ,,some ,,art ,,connoisseurs4--,w4 ,,hamilton ,,gibson4 ,alfred ,fredericks has distinguished himself by combining landscape and figure in a most graceful1 airy style2 and ,miss ,jessie ,curtis1 in the delineation of the simplicity and beauty of child life1 has delightfully treated one of the most winsome subjects which can attract the pencil of the poetic artist4 ,miss ,humphreys1 in the choice of a somewhat similar class of subjects1 has yet developed individuality of method marked by breadth of effect and forcible treatment4 ,of the ladies who have found scope for their abilities in the field of illustration perhaps none have excelled ,mrs4 ,mary ,halleck ,foote4 ,we cannot always find her style of composition agreeable1 and in invention or lightness of fancy she seems deficient1 while her manner is strong rather than graceful4 ,but she is a most careful student of nature1 and the effects she aims at1 and sometimes reaches1 are inspired by an almost masculine nerve and power1 and show knowledge and reserve force4 ,some of her realistic landscapes are almost as true and intense in black and white as the daring realisms of ,courbet in color1 but showing fine technical facility rather than imagination4 ,miss ,annette ,bishop1 who died too early to win a general recognition of her talents1 was gifted with a most delicate poetic fancy1 and singular facility in giving expression to its dreams4 ,f4 ,s4 ,church is an artist of imagination1 painting in oil and water-colors1 but perhaps best known for striking and weird compositions in black and white1 often treating of animal or bird life4 ,he is an artist whose advent into our art we hail with pleasure1 not because his style is wholly matured or always quite satisfactory1 for it is neither1 but because it is inspired by a genuine art feeling1 and yet more because it shows him to be--what so few of our artists have been--an idealist4 ,what is art but a reaching out after the ideal1 the most precious treasure given to man in this world8 ,it includes faith1 hope1 and charity4 ,to search after the ideal good1 to live in an ideal world1 to yearn after and try to create the harmony of the ideal1 is the one boon left to man to give him a belief in immortality and a higher life4 ,the more of an idealist the poet or the artist1 the nearer he comes to fulfilling his mission4 ,the idealist is the creator1 the man of genius2 and therefore we hail with joy the appearance of every idealist who enters our art ranks1 and infuses vitality into the prose of technical art1 and inspiration into the dogmas of the schools4 ,the most hopeless feature of ,american art has always been hitherto1 as with our literature1 the too evident absence of imagination2 and wherever we recognize an idealist1 we set him down as another mile-stone to mark the progress in art4 ,it is through the idealists that ,heaven teaches truth to man2 and hence another reason why we regard with such importance the present school of artists in black and white4 ,in no department is there more scope for the imagination than in the drawing of the pure line or in the suggestions of chiaro-oscuro4 ,therein lies the enormous power of the art of ,rembrandt4 ,he dealt with that seemingly simple but really inexhaustible medium1 light and shade3 in the hands of a master1 potent as the wand of a magician to evolve worlds out of chaos4 ,illustration3 ,,washington ,,opening ,,the ,,ball4--,c4 ,s4 ,,reinhart4 ,barry1 ,bensell1 ,shepherd1 ,davis 7who is also known as a decorative artist71 ,t4 ,a4 ,richards1 ,eytinge1 ,frost1 ,merrill1 ,ipsen1 ,shirlaw1 ,lathrop1 ,lewis1 ,perkins1 and ,davison are other artists who have justly acquired repute for success in the department of black and white1 or book illustration4 ,kelley has a sketchy style that is very effective1 and of which the correct rendering on wood would have been well-nigh impossible with the old processes2 but there is danger of carrying it to the verge of sensationalism4 ,the facilities afforded by photographing a design on wood has seemed to be the occasion for aiding the development of a class of artist-authors who both write and illustrate their own articles for the magazines4 ,how remarkably well this can be done is proved by such clever artists as ,howard ,pyle and ,w4 ,gibson1 who display at once fertility of imagination and technical facility as draughtsmen4 ,c4 ,s4 ,reinhart has become widely known as one of the most versatile illustrators we have produced4 ,excelling as a draughtsman1 he brings to his aid an active fancy that enables him vividly to realize the scenes he undertakes to represent2 and he seems equally at home in the portrayal of quaint old-time scenes1 or the brilliant costumes and characters of the present day1 combined with forcible delineations of scenery4 ,the ,puritan damsel or the belle of ,newport may alike be congratulated when ,mr4 ,reinhart ushers them before us with the grace of a master4 ,the success of this school of artists1 who have made their mark in the department of illustration1 has doubtless been due in part to the increasing study of the figure in this country1 and the greater facilities afforded for drawing from the life4 ,most of these artists are young men1 whose abilities have been vastly assisted by their studies in life schools1 which it would have been well-nigh impossible for them to find in the earlier periods of our art4 ,although perhaps better noticed under the head of ,ethics rather than of sthetics1 we may allude to the surprising growth and influence of caricature-drawing in this country1 represented by such able artists as ,nast1 ,bellew1 ,kepler1 or ,cusack1 as associated with the development of our black and white art4 ,an artist who seems to combine the qualities we see more or less represented by other artists in black and white1 who has already accomplished remarkable results1 and gives promise of even greater successes1 we find in ,e4 ,a4 ,abbey4 ,it must be taken into consideration that he is still very young2 that he now for the first time visits the studios and galleries of ,europe2 that his advantages for a regular art education have been very moderate1 and that he is practically self-educated4 ,and then compare with these disadvantages the amount and the quality of the illustrations he has turned out1 and we see represented in him genius of a high order1 combining almost inexhaustible creativeness1 clearness and vividness of conception1 a versatile fancy1 a poetic perception of beauty1 a quaint1 delicate humor1 a wonderful grasp of whatever is weird and mysterious1 and admirable chiaro-oscuro1 drawing1 and composition4 ,when we note such a rare combination of qualities1 we cease to be surprised at the cordial recognition awarded his genius by the best judges1 both in ,london and ,paris1 even before he had left this country4 ,if ,i have spoken strongly in favor of our school of illustrators1 it is because ,i think such commendation has been rightly earned1 and to withhold it when merited would be as unjust as to give censure when undeserved4 ,criticism need not necessarily be the essence of vitriol and gall1 as some critics seem to imagine it to be4 ,a jury is as much bound to approve the innocent as to condemn the guilty4 ,illustration3 ,,museum ,,of ,,fine ,,arts1 ,,boston4 ,in another department of our arts we also feel called to award praise to a degree that has never before been possible in the history of ,american art4 ,i refer to the department of architecture4 ,it is difficult to say exactly when the new movement toward a fuller expression of beauty in our civic and domestic building began2 but we are conscious that about ten years ago what was for a time a mere vague feeling after more agreeable examples of architecture shaped itself into a definite and almost systematic impulse4 ,the ,chicago fire1 and more especially the great fire in ,boston1 accelerated the action of the forces that already directed the people to demand nobler forms and types in the constructions that were henceforth to be erected in our growing cities4 ,the advance of landscape-gardening1 as evidenced in the ,central ,park of ,new ,york1 and the public parks of other cities1 doubtless aided to increase the yearning for material beauty4 ,but whatever the influences at work1 there is no question as to the results already apparent4 ,i would not be understood as approving all the buildings of importance that have recently been put up in this country--very far from it4 ,but1 on the other hand1 one cannot avoid seeing that the general tendency is toward improved styles1 and that here and there groups of buildings or single structures have been erected which are at once elegant1 commodious1 and artistic2 and1 if not strictly offering new orders of architecture1 presenting at least graceful adaptations of old orders to new climatic and social conditions in a way that gives them the merit of originality4 ,so prominent has this improvement in architecture already become in ,american cities1 that already their external aspect or profile has begun to partake of the picturesque character hitherto supposed to belong only to the ,old ,world1 and to present that massing of effect so dear to the artistic eye4 ,we can illustrate this by mentioning only two or three examples among many4 ,one who looks toward ,philadelphia from the railway station on the east side of the ,schuylkill1 may see a cluster of spires and domes centering around the ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 which is so agreeably composed that one would almost imagine the position of each to be the deliberate choice of a master in composition4 ,twenty years ago one would have looked in vain for any such harmonious outline of structural beauty in this country4 ,the small1 quaint fishing-port of ,marblehead has also found itself suddenly transformed into one of the most pleasing cities of the ,union1 as viewed from the ,neck across the harbor2 for on the very crest of the hills upon which the place is built a town-hall has been erected1 of brick1 neatly faced with stone1 and surmounted by an elegant tower4 ,at once the old town has emerged from the commonplace into the region of the picturesque4 ,the new structure has given character and symmetrical outline to the city by producing convergence to a central point of effect2 and when the sun sets behind it1 and brings its outline into bold but harmonious relief against a golden background1 while a mist of glowing rays glazes the whole into tone1 the view is in the highest degree artistic1 and so resembles some of the scenes one so often sees in the ,old ,world that he can hardly believe he is gazing at an ,american prospect4 ,we find a somewhat similar effect1 but on a much larger scale1 presented by the new ,capitol1 or ,state-house1 at ,albany4 ,this city1 as beheld from the opposite banks of the ,hudson at ,greenbush1 has always been one of the most pleasing of ,american cities1 situated as it is on several lofty hills1 divided by ravines in which purple shadows linger when night is approaching2 but the addition of the vast structure now in course of completion there adds greatly to the glory of the spectacle4 ,it dominates over the city of eighty thousand inhabitants with superb dignity2 and the whole place borrows beauty from it1 and is elevated above prose into poetry4 ,again one is reminded of the cathedral towns of ,europe1 where some lofty1 venerable minster guards through the ages the roofs that cluster below4 ,not that this pile1 which is rather hybrid in its style1 is to be considered equal to the masterpieces of old-time architecture2 but it is a long step in advance compared with the civic buildings formerly erected and admired in our cities1 and its presence at the capital of a great ,state cannot but have an ennobling and educational influence upon rising generations4 ,the styles1 whether pure or modified1 that are most employed by our architects in this new movement have been chiefly the ,romanesque1 the ,palladian ,renaissance1 the ,french ,renaissance of ,mansard and ,perrault1 and the later ,elizabethan or ,jacobean4 ,the first two have entered chiefly into the construction of civic buildings2 the second has been followed in religious edifices2 while the last has been used with excellent effect in domestic architecture4 ,a fine example of the success achieved in the employment of the ,romanesque is seen in the new ,trinity ,church on the ,back ,bay lands1 in ,boston1 designed by ,gambrel and ,richardson4 ,this is one of the most conscientious and meritorious buildings erected on this continent1 although less imposing than it would have been if the original design had been fully carried out4 ,there is1 also1 an affectation of strength in the massive blocks of undressed stone under the windows1 in a part where such strength is disproportionate to that employed in other portions of the building4 ,but the general effect is excellent1 and the covered approaches or cloisters are quite in the spirit of true architecture4 ,color enters judiciously into the selection of the stone used to aid the general effect2 and the same observation may be applied to the very elegant tower of the new ,old ,south ,church1 close at hand1 designed by ,peabody and ,robinson1 in the ,italian ,gothic style1 and which for grace1 beauty1 and majesty has not been surpassed on this side of the ,atlantic4 ,the church edifice to which it is attached1 although sufficiently ornate--perhaps too much so--is lacking in that repose of outline or just proportions that are required to bring it into harmony with the campanile4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,astonished ,,abbe4--,e4 ,a4 ,,abbey4 ,other towers and churches are clustered in that neighborhood1 erected within ten years1 which present an effect that is really intrinsically beautiful1 without taking at all into question the rapidity of the transformation which has come over the spirit of our architecture4 ,and the effect is heightened1 to a degree never before attained on this continent since the ,mound-builders passed away1 by the excellence of the domestic architecture which has entered into the construction of the dwellings of that vicinage1 especially on ,boylston ,street and the adjacent avenues4 ,beauty1 taste1 and comfort are there found combined to a degree that promises much for the future of architecture in our country4 ,the gargoyles1 gables1 cornices1 and carvings one meets at every turn carry one quite back to the ,middle ,ages4 ,it is interesting to observe that the sham cornices formerly so common here are gradually being discarded1 together with all the other trumpery decoration so much in vogue4 ,good honest work is shown in external decoration1 together with a feeling for color that is adding much to the cheerfulness of our cities4 ,brick is made to do service for ornamentation as well as for mere dead walls1 and string courses1 or bands of colored tiles or terra-cotta carvings1 all of an enduring character1 enter into the external decorations of private dwellings4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,child',s ,,portrait4--,b4 ,c4 ,,porter4 ,not only is the love of beauty shown in domestic architecture1 but it is found displayed in the construction of banks and stores2 and it is again in ,boston that we find whole streets of buildings of rich and elegant design1 and conscientiously constructed1 devoted wholly to business purposes4 ,but a building which1 perhaps1 more than any other is typical of the architectural movement now passing over the country is the ,museum of ,fine ,arts in ,boston4 ,it is not so much after any one style as a choice from different schools of later ,gothic adapted to modern conditions4 ,the terra-cotta groups in relievo in the faade1 temper what would be otherwise too large an expanse of warm color1 for it is built of red brick4 ,the grouped arches1 turrets1 and oriel windows1 and the numerous terra-cotta decorations at the angles and on the gables1 are elegant1 but perhaps so generally distributed as to be a little confusing4 ,the effect is scattered1 and thus weakened1 instead of being massed at one or two central or salient points4 ,this is the most glaring error we discover in the present importation or adaptation of foreign and ancient styles to our needs here4 ,it is an error which we share with the modern ,british architect1 and was forcibly illustrated in the new ,houses of ,parliament1 by ,sir ,charles ,barry4 ,no buildings of this century are so profusely ornate as some of the magnificent cathedrals and town-halls of the ,middle ,ages2 but at the same time all this sumptuousness of decoration was massed upon one or two effective spots1 surrounded by large spaces comparatively simple and free of embellishment4 ,thus grandeur and nobility of outline were preserved1 while extraordinary beauty in color and sculpture could be added without disturbing the general effect or cloying the imagination4 ,but our architects1 not having yet fully grasped the ideas after which they are searching1 scatter instead of concentrating the external decorations of their buildings4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,bit ,,of ,,venice4--,,samuel ,,colman4 ,interior decoration has also naturally assumed importance as the quality of our architecture has advanced4 ,elaborate wood-carvings are entering into the decorations of the houses of our citizens1 and painting is called in to adorn the walls of private and civic buildings1 sometimes with more affectation or extravagance than taste2 although it can be conceded without hesitation that a remarkable and decided improvement is noticeable within a very few years in the decoration of interiors in this country4 ,m4 ,brumidi made a beginning1 some twenty years ago1 in the frescoes of the ,capitol at ,washington2 and quite recently ,mr4 ,lafarge has beautified the interior of ,trinity ,church1 ,boston1 and other public buildings1 with sacred designs in fresco1 and other decorative work in gold and red1 which are very interesting4 ,among the last1 and probably the most important1 works of the late ,william ,m4 ,hunt were the mural paintings in oil for the new ,state-house at ,albany4 ,other artists who have shown promise in this department are ,francis ,lathrop and ,frank ,hill ,smith4 ,it is not surprising to find that this advance in decorative art1 together with the increasing luxury accompanying it1 should create a demand and develop a talent for toreutic art1 or art in metal-work1 especially the precious metals2 and such we find to be the case4 ,the success achieved in this department is1 perhaps1 the most remarkable yet attained in ,american art1 excepting possibly that of some of our artists in black and white1 and has justly merited and obtained unqualified applause abroad as well as at home4 ,it is to such designers as ,messrs4 ,grosjean1 ,perring1 ,wilkinson1 and ,moore1 assisted by the most skilled artisans of the age1 that our toreutic art is indebted for the recognition it received at the ,french ,exposition4 ,another sign of the rapidly increasing activity of the interest taken in the art question in ,america is presented by the art museums or galleries which have almost simultaneously arisen in ,boston1 ,new ,haven1 ,new ,york1 and ,washington1 founded at considerable expense1 and entirely without ,state aid4 ,with the former two are connected important schools for art instruction1 combined with fine casts of the masterpieces of ancient plastic art4 ,another evidence of the awakening art feeling of a great nation is the demand for art education--a want which has been met by the establishment of numerous schools or academies of art in our leading cities all over the land1 from the ,atlantic to the ,pacific4 ,it is true that in ,philadelphia1 ,boston1 and ,new ,york academies were founded early in the century1 and the last especially had become a very important factor in stimulating the latent love for art in our people4 ,the ,massachusetts ,normal ,art ,school1 under the able direction of ,mr4 ,walter ,smith1 while devoted chiefly to the advancement of industrial art1 has also by its example greatly assisted the growth of the art feeling in the popular mind4 ,while much may be urged with reason against compulsory instruction of art in the public schools1 it would seem that few could be found to object to the education of art instructors1 and the addition of an optional art branch to the ,state schools for the benefit of those who are desirous of art instruction1 but are too poor to avail themselves of the advantages offered by such admirable art schools as those of the ,cooper ,institute and ,artists' ,league in ,new ,york1 the ,national ,academy or the ,museum of ,fine ,arts in ,boston1 or the ,academy in ,philadelphia4 ,it may1 then1 be conceded that the founding of the ,massachusetts ,normal ,art ,school is not only a strong indication of a growing demand1 but that it has also been a very powerful agent in the diffusion of art knowledge in the ,united ,states4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,old ,,orchard4--,r4 ,,swain ,,gifford4 ,thus we see that by a cumulative effort the arts are making sudden and rapid progress in ,america4 ,and there is still another movement which strikingly indicates this4 ,slow to be recognized1 and meeting in some quarters with but cold welcome1 it is yet by no means the least significant indication out of many that we are in the full tide of sthetic progress1 and have fairly entered on the third period of ,american art4 ,from the time of ,west it has been not uncommon for our painters to go to ,europe for study and observation2 but they either had the misfortune to form their style after that of schools already conventional and on the wane1 or they were not yet sufficiently advanced to accept the methods and principles of new masters and schools4 ,a possible explanation1 that is more philosophical1 but which some may decline to accept1 may be found in the general laws directing human progress1 that obliged us1 unconsciously1 falteringly to tread one after the other the successive steps which others have followed before us4 ,for the same reason1 when an artist of unusual ability1 like ,stuart1 appeared in the country1 he had little or no following1 because he came before his time4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,landscape4--,,george ,,inness4 ,but it has been evident for some years that a new element was entering our art ranks and demanding expression1 which has at last reached a degree of vigor and organized strength that challenges respectful attention1 if not unqualified acceptance4 ,by associations1 schools1 and exhibitions of its own1 it has thrown down the gauntlet to conservatism and conventionalism1 and the time has arrived when we can no longer shut our eyes to the fact that a new force is exerting itself with iconoclastic zeal to introduce a different order of things into ,american art4 ,we cannot justly consider this movement in the light of reform1 for up to this time our art has been very creditable1 and1 considering the environing circumstances1 full as advanced proportionally as the other factors of ,american civilization4 ,we regard it simply as another stage in our art progress1 destined1 when it has accomplished its end1 to be in turn succeeded by yet higher steps in the scale of advance2 for1 notwithstanding the somewhat demonstrative assumptions of some of its promoters1 the new movement does not comprehend within itself1 more than any other school1 all the qualities of great art4 ,to no school of art has it yet been given to demonstrate and include in itself all the possibilities of art1 or to interpret all the truths of nature and man4 ,perhaps some future school may arise1 with all the knowledge of the ages to choose from1 which may comprehend the whole sphere of art in its compass4 ,but they are probably not yet born who shall see it1 or give to it the symmetry of perfection4 ,until that time1 it behooves those neophytes and disciples1 who proclaim that their art includes all that art has to tell1 to be modest in their claims1 and to be satisfied if they have been able by fasting and prayer to enrich the world of art with one or two new truths4 ,nowhere is humility more becoming than in art2 arrogance and assumption dig its grave sooner or later2 while humility is by no means incompatible with earnestness1 zeal1 and progress4 ,illustration3 ,,la ,,marguerette--,,the ,,daisy4--,,william ,m4 ,,hunt4 ,the ripeness of our art for a change before the new movement actually assumed definite shape had already been suggested and welcomed in advance by such artists as ,eastman ,johnson1 ,homer ,martin1 and ,samuel ,colman1 the admirable painter in oil and water colors1 strong in chiaro-oscuro1 brilliant in color1 and1 although without academic training abroad1 of a most excellent catholic spirit in all matters relating to art1 ready to accept the good of whatever school1 and to aid progress in the arts of his native land by whomsoever promoted4 ,benjamin ,c4 ,porter1 whose massive characterizations in portraiture1 broadly treated and admirably colored1 have been among the most important achievements in recent ,american art1 and ,winslow ,homer1 ,a4 ,h4 ,wyant1 and ,e4 ,m4 ,bannister are also among the artists whose sympathies are naturally with the new movement1 although receiving their art training chiefly in this country1 and who have thus indicated and prepared the way for the assertion of new influences in our art4 ,r4 ,swain ,gifford should be added to the list of the noteworthy landscape-painters who have thrown the weight of their influence in advance to welcome to our shores new elements of progress and change whereby to quicken ,american art to fresh conquests4 ,this artist at one time devoted his efforts to marine-painting1 in which he did and still does some creditable work1 his knowledge of ships being sufficiently technical to satisfy the nautical eye2 but since his sojourn in ,algeria1 and the observations made in the ,continental galleries and studios1 he has devoted himself to landscape1 and adopted a bolder style and a truer scheme of color4 ,the influence of ,french art is perceptible in his later methods1 but altogether as an influence1 and in no sense as an imitation1 for in his works there is always evident a sturdy self-assertion1 whether in subject or treatment4 ,in catching the gray effects of brooding skies receding in diminishing ranks through an arial perspective of great distance and space1 and giving with fine feeling the ,druid-like spirit of clumps of sombre russet-hued cedars moaning by the granite shore of old ,massachusetts1 and identifying himself with the mysterious thoughts they suggest1 ,mr4 ,gifford has no superior on this side of the ,atlantic4 ,as a professor in the ,cooper ,institute1 his influence is of great importance to the future of ,american pictorial art4 ,illustration3 ,,moonlight4--,,john ,j4 ,,enneking4 ,george ,inness is another painter who1 although without training in foreign studios1 should be included with the artists just named1 whose sympathies have gradually led him to exemplify in his works some of the most characteristic traits of later ,continental methods4 ,at first his style was not unlike the prevailing style of our middle school of landscape-painting2 like that1 giving careful attention to the reproduction of details4 ,but his emotional nature1 and intense reflection upon the philosophical principles of art1 gradually led him to a broader style and a more free expression of the truths of nature1 dealing with masses rather than with details1 and handling his subjects--especially atmospheric effects--with a daring and an insight that has never been surpassed in our landscape art4 ,to these he has added a feeling for light and color that place him1 at his best1 among the masters of the art4 ,but there is inequality in his works1 and sometimes a conflict of styles1 as when he dashes off a composition1 in two or three sittings1 that is full of fire and suggestion2 and then1 perhaps with a relic of his first method still lingering in his memory like a habit1 goes over it again1 and smooths away some of those bold touches which1 to an imaginative observer1 gave it additional force4 ,illustration3 ,,having ,a ,,good ,,time4--,,louis ,c4 ,,tiffany4 ,in his latest works ,mr4 ,inness has shown a disposition to yield more and more to a style at present called impressionist4 ,impressionism pure and simple1 as represented by its most extravagant supporters1 is like trying to represent the soul without the body4 ,this may be well enough in another world2 but in this a material body is needed to give it support4 ,but1 philosophically considered1 there is no question that impressionism--or the attempt to represent nature according to the impressions it makes upon the mind's eye1 rather than the mere reflections left on the material eye--undoubtedly presents the quintessence of the spirit of art2 and therefore all good art must have in it more or less evidence of subjective influence4 ,but just so long as art finds expression with material means1 the artist must make concessions to the limitations of substance4 ,naturally1 of all the arts1 music comes nearest to the ideal which the impressionist is seeking to grasp4 ,it is useless to deny that1 extravagant as some of the works of the contemporary impressionists appear to many1 they undoubtedly present a keen appreciation of arial chromatic effects1 and for this reason are worthy of careful attention4 ,that they are not carried nearer to completion1 however1 indicates a consciousness on the part of the artist that he is as yet unable to harmonize the objective and subjective1 the material and the spiritual phases of art4 ,a perfect work of art combines the two2 but1 alas6 such achievements are as yet rare1 although that is the ideal which the artist should keep in view4 ,the artist who gives us what is called a finished painting is so far right4 ,he represents what appears to the material eye4 ,in proportion as he combines with this a suggestion of the intellectual impression also made on his mental vision1 he approaches the ideal in art execution4 ,on the other hand1 the artist who is impatient of details1 and deals wholly with a broad1 and sometimes1 we regret to say1 dauby and slovenly interpretation of nature1 is yet so far right1 because he is endeavoring to interpret the wholly imaginative and intellectual side of art4 ,when to this bias he adds the balance of power which enables him to give something of the other phase of art1 he in turn approaches the ideal aim of art4 ,turner was an impressionist2 so was ,corot2 so1 to go farther back1 was ,velasquez2 so1 also1 are the ,japanese4 ,but these artists1 especially ,turner and ,velasquez1 had the supreme faculty of uniting the two opposite poles in art in their best works1 and hence the commanding position which they hold1 and always will hold1 in the art world4 ,illustration3 ,,southampton1 ,,long ,,island4--,c4 ,h4 ,,miller4 ,so far as can be ascertained1 it is to the late ,william ,m4 ,hunt that we must ascribe the initiation of the third period in our pictorial art1 and perhaps1 in a secondary manner1 the general impulse toward foreign styles now modifying the arts of design in this country4 ,when ,mr4 ,hunt went to ,dsseldorf to study1 in #ahdf1 he did no more than many of our artists had already done4 ,but when1 dissatisfied with the conventionalism of that school1 he turned his steps to ,paris1 and became a pupil of ,couture1 and was one of the first to discover1 to admire1 and to emulate the art methods of ,millet1 then1 unconsciously1 he became a power1 destined by his somewhat narrow but intense personality to influence the destinies of our art--especially by returning to ,boston1 a city easily brought under the magnetism of a strong individuality1 and more ready than any other city in the land to surrender the guidance of its opinions to those whom it condescends to admire4 ,the going of ,mr4 ,hunt to ,paris meant that technical knowledge and the perception of the underlying principles of art were now1 as never before1 to be systematically mastered and imported to ,america by our artists1 together with the most advanced theories1 truths1 or discoveries in the technical part of the subject4 ,it did not mean that all our artists who went abroad to study would necessarily be great1 or that any of them would be especially original1 but that there would be a general harmony of action toward improving the means of art education in ,america4 ,regarded in this light1 ,mr4 ,hunt must be considered to have been a most important promoter of the development of art in ,america4 ,he was probably not a man of genius--unless great force of character be considered as such--but he had a true perception of the character and aims1 the limitations and possibilities of art2 and the intolerance he sometimes exhibited was not unusual in those who are introducing new methods1 and have to create a circle of influence4 ,in his own works1 as a landscape1 portrait1 genre1 and decorative painter1 it cannot be said that he added greatly to the sum of the world's art by anything strikingly original2 but he exhibited a true perception of the importance of the ideal in art2 and one feels1 in contemplating his works1 that he was ever striving to overcome the difficulties of material means of expressing the ideal4 ,moved1 like most leading ,american painters1 by a feeling for color rather than for form1 yet1 in such compositions as ,the ,bathers1 representing a boy about to dive from the shoulders of another1 who is half immersed in a pool1 vanishing into the green gloom of the wooded banks1 we have an admirable example of the manner in which this artist sometimes combined form1 chiaro-oscuro1 and color1 with a delicacy1 force1 and suggestion of outline and tint1 to a degree rarely equalled before by ,american art2 with a technique essentially that of the later ,french school1 yet modified by individual feeling4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,study4--,,frederick ,,dielman ,but the life-work of ,mr4 ,hunt was1 after all1 not more in his paintings than in that influence by which he gathered about him a school of admirers and disciples who disseminated his opinions and imitated his style1 although rarely with his success4 ,among those who directly profited by his style and influence may be mentioned ,mrs4 ,darrah1 who effectively paints gray coast scenes and landscapes in a low1 minor key2 ,miss ,helen ,m4 ,knowlton2 ,miss ,bartol2 ,f4 ,p4 ,vinton2 and ,s4 ,s4 ,tuckerman1 the marine painter4 ,the power of ,mr4 ,hunt was still more widely felt in directing a large number of young art-students to visit ,paris1 and eventually also ,munich1 at each of which the tendency has been for some years toward bolder methods in the technics of art4 ,the result has been to introduce to this country a truer perception of the vital importance of style in the present stage of our art1 and to emphasize the truth that he who has anything to say will make it much more effective if he knows how to give it adequate utterance4 ,of the many ,boston artists who have profited by foreign study and are now resident in that city1 we can mention but three or four4 ,john ,j4 ,enneking1 a graduate of the studios of ,munich and ,paris1 can hardly be called an idealist4 ,there is little evidence of imagination in his canvases2 but in seizing the effects of the brilliant lights of sunset1 or the varied grays of a lowering sky on a cloudy day1 he shows himself equally happy in color1 chiaro-oscuro1 and technical skill in handling pigments4 ,his versatility is remarkable4 ,he can render the figure from life with a vigor and freshness scarcely less than that of his landscapes4 ,there is1 unfortunately1 an evidence of haste in too many of his works1 which cannot be too much regretted1 for he thus fails to do justice to the very decided ability he possesses4 ,having studied both in ,munich and ,paris1 and given careful attention to all the ,european schools of art1 and adding to this knowledge sturdy independence of opinion and great earnestness and energy1 ,mr4 ,enneking ought to be strongly influential in the present stage of ,american art4 ,we find much that is interesting in the paintings of ,e4 ,l4 ,weeks4 ,they are marked by a powerful individuality1 which delights in glowing effects of light1 and revels in the brilliant coloring of tropical scenery or the varied splendor of ,oriental architecture and costumes4 ,there is something ,byronic in the fervor of this artist's enthusiasm for the ,east1 and the easy adaptability that has enabled a son of ,new ,england to identify himself with the life and scenery of lands so exactly the opposite of his own4 ,although a pupil of ,bonnt1 and an ardent admirer of the excessive realism now affected by some of the followers of the later ,french school1 ,mr4 ,weeks is1 in spite of himself1 an idealist1 and no imitator of any style4 ,this has1 perhaps1 been an injury to him1 for he finds difficulty in mastering the technical or mechanical problems of his profession4 ,a lack of knowledge or feeling for form1 a weakness in drawing which is too often perceptible in his works1 and sometimes an apparent opaqueness in his pigments1 impair the quality of compositions which are inspired by the fire of genius4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,burgomaster4--,h4 ,,muhrman4 ,j4 ,m4 ,stone1 who is one of the professors at the ,museum of ,fine ,arts1 and a graduate of the ,munich schools1 indicates considerable force in rendering the figure1 both in color and drawing1 and a touch of genius in the painting of dogs and horses4 ,his service in the army during the war intensified his interest in equine art1 and will probably result in important compositions suggested by that conflict4 ,c4 ,r4 ,grant has a delicate poetic feeling for color and form1 and a pleasant fancy tinged with quaintness2 and in his choice of treatment and subject suggests the works of ,g4 ,h4 ,boughton4 ,in ,t4 ,w4 ,dewing1 a pupil of ,lefvre1 who has recently settled in ,boston1 we find much promise in figure-painting1 but altogether after the clear-cut1 well-drawn1 but somewhat dry method of ,grme4 ,j4 ,foxcroft ,cole1 who has been a careful student of the best phases of ,french landscape art1 but has formed1 at the same time1 a sufficiently individual style of his own1 is an artist whose works command a growing esteem4 ,although adding groups of cattle to his compositions1 he is essentially a landscape-painter4 ,we receive from a study of his works an impression of sameness1 like that conveyed by the landscapes of ,corot1 chiefly because they are generally on one key1 and refer to a class of subjects so quiet and undemonstrative that only he who observes them repeatedly and reflectively discovers that each work is the result of a distinct inspiration1 and possesses suggestions and qualities of its own4 ,exquisite feeling for space and atmosphere1 for the peaceful effects of pastoral life1 and the more subtle aspects of nature1 especially in color1 are the characteristics of the style of ,mr4 ,cole4 ,in reviewing the ,boston school1 we note in its development much activity and earnestness1 too often combined1 however1 with crudeness2 while the foreign influence that is1 on the whole1 most evident in it is that of the contemporary ,french school4 ,as ,boston is intense rather than broad in its intellectual traits1 and is inclined to follow the lead of its own first thinkers and artists1 it is the more unfortunate that one influence should predominate1 because in such a case the errors as well as the good qualities of a style are liable to receive too much attention2 while free growth depends on the catholic eclecticism which supplements the study of nature by culling the good from different schools1 and correcting one by comparison with another1 thus enabling the artist to arrive at a more just and profound view of a question that proceeds upon irreversible laws4 ,the mind thus educated learns by balancing the merits of different schools1 and the results are not so much imitation as assimilation1 yielding healthy growth and development4 ,illustration3 ,,burial ,,of ,,the ,,dead ,,bird4--,j4 ,,alden ,,wier4 ,in ,new ,york there seems to be1 with no less activity than that of ,boston1 an art movement which is based on broader grounds1 and offers more encouragement for the future of our art4 ,the artists who are the most influential in this advance are more equally divided between the ,french and the ,german schools than those of ,boston1 and indicate more breadth of sympathy and art culture1 together with a cosmopolitan love for the good in the art of all schools1 which is one of the most encouraging of signs in a dawning intellectual reform4 ,so decided had the tendency toward ,munich become soon after #ahgj1 that the colony of ,american art students in ,munich soon grew sufficiently large to establish an art association1 having stated days of meeting1 at which contributed paintings were exhibited and discussed1 and carefully prepared papers on art topics were read4 ,opinions were exchanged in this manly1 earnest1 sympathetic manner1 and breadth and catholicity were reached in the consideration of the great question in which all were so profoundly interested4 ,thus were gained many of the influences which are destined to affect ,american art for ages to come4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,apprentice4--,,william ,m4 ,,chase4 ,the writer regards as among the most improving and delightful evenings he has enjoyed those passed with some of these talented and enthusiastic art students at the table where a number regularly met to dine--at the ,max ,emanuel caf in ,munich4 ,dinner over1 huge flagons of beer were placed before each one1 and pipes were lit1 whose wreaths of upward-curling smoke softened the gleam of the candles1 and gave a poetic haze to the dim nooks of the hall that was highly congenial to the hour and the topics discussed4 ,the leonine head of ,duveneck1 massively set on his broad shoulders1 as from time to time behind a cloud of smoke he gave forth an opinion1 lent much dignity to the scene2 while the grave1 thoughtful features of ,shirlaw1 and the dreamy1 contemplative face of ,chase1 occasionally lit by a flash of impetuous emotion1 aided by an eloquent gesture1 made the occasion one of great interest4 ,others there were around the board whose sallies of humor or weighty expressions of opinion made an indelible impression4 ,among the resident artists of ,new ,york who have recently studied abroad1 ,louis ,c4 ,tiffany1 a follower of the ,french school1 holds a prominent position4 ,he has done some very clever things in landscape and genre from subjects suggested by his trip to the ,east1 and has succeeded equally in oil and water colors1 and is now giving a preference to ,american subjects1 and also turning his attention to the pursuit of decorative art4 ,he is essentially a colorist1 to whom the radiant tints of the iris seem like harmoniously chorded strains of music4 ,william ,sartain1 a pupil of ,bonnt and ,yvon1 has also proved himself an excellent colorist1 and shows vigor and truth of drawing both in figure and architectural perspective1 as well as pleasing composition in work which he has done abroad4 ,the new phase into which our landscape art is passing under foreign influence is well indicated by the paintings of ,charles ,miller1 a graduate of the ,munich school1 who is inspired by a stirring1 breezy love for nature1 especially for her more intense and vivid effects1 strong contrasts of light and shade1 glowing sunsets1 and masses of dun gray clouds rolling up in thunderous majesty and gloom over landscapes fading off into the infinite distance4 ,as a draughtsman ,mr4 ,miller is less interesting than in rendering such effects as we have suggested with broad1 free handling1 in which he is often very successful4 ,he is a poet moved by a powerful imagination1 idealizing what he sees1 and possessed of a memory similar to that of ,turner2 and thus some of his most striking canvases are the result of a tenacious memory allied to a vigorous observation4 ,some of his canvases suggest the landscapes of ,constable4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,professor4--,,thomas ,,eakins4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,goose-,,herd4--,,walter ,,shirlaw4 ,frederick ,dielman1 who has pursued his studies in ,munich1 is destined to make his mark in genre4 ,in color and tone1 and especially in drawing1 he has already shown decided ability1 and some of his compositions are very promising4 ,messrs4 ,weir and ,muhrman1 both young artists of much promise1 and both figure-painters1 represent the influence of two different schools4 ,the former comes from an artistic family1 his father being ,robert ,w4 ,weir1 one of our oldest painters4 ,young ,j4 ,alden ,weir studied in ,paris4 ,in portraiture he has a remarkable faculty for seizing character1 painting the eye with a truth and life wholly original4 ,in genre he is sometimes quite successful1 although inclined to mannerism4 ,mr4 ,muhrman is from ,cincinnati1 and has spent two years in ,munich4 ,while there1 he placed himself under no master1 but observed keenly1 and devoted himself wholly to water-colors4 ,avoiding the use of body color1 he yet shows dash and originality in technique1 and a fine eye for form and color4 ,the realistic vigor of his work is quite exceptional among our water-color painters4 ,the brilliance and purity of his colors1 and the delicious abandon with which he handles the brush to such admirable result1 seem to promise that he will become a master in this art4 ,frank ,waller1 ,wyatt ,eaton1 ,w4 ,a4 ,low1 ,a4 ,p4 ,ryder1 ,j4 ,h4 ,twachtman1 ,j4 ,c4 ,beckwith1 ,a4 ,f4 ,bunner1 ,miss ,helena ,de ,kay1 and ,miss ,m4 ,r4 ,oakey are among the leading artists who are aiding the new art movement in ,new ,york4 ,but among the later influences which have entered into our art and promise striking results1 there is none more worthy of our consideration than the return of ,messrs4 ,shirlaw and ,chase from a thorough course of study in ,germany4 ,one of the points of most importance in this connection is that whereas our art for the last thirty years has been in the direction of landscape1 its tendencies are now rather toward the painting of the figure1 and this is strikingly illustrated by the circumstance that both of these artists have done their strongest work in this department1 and their influence will undoubtedly give a fresh impulse to figure-painting4 ,mr4 ,shirlaw was for a year professor in the ,students' ,league1 but has now abandoned teaching in order that nothing may interfere with original work4 ,trained in the school which has produced such artists as ,defregger1 ,diez1 ,braith1 and ,brandt1 he has mastered all the technical knowledge which ,munich can give an artist in genre in our day4 ,there is no uncertainty or weakness in his method of handling color2 his lines are clearly and carefully drawn1 and he undoubtedly achieves excellent results when he attempts simple compositions4 ,one of ,mr4 ,shirlaw's best known compositions1 representing a sheep-shearing in ,bavaria1 has attracted favorable attention at home and abroad4 ,in compositions which include animals1 dogs1 and birds1 he has been especially happy4 ,his inclinations to delineate the characteristics of bird-life are akin to those of the artists of ,japan4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,spanish ,,lady4--,,miss ,,mary ,s4 ,,cassatt4 ,the genius of ,mr4 ,chase is rather for single figures than elaborate compositions2 and his independence of action is shown by the fact that1 although he studied with ,piloty1 the master whom he made his model of excellence was ,velasquez4 ,a noble sense of color is perceptible in all his works1 whether in the subtle elusive tints of flesh1 or in the powerful rendering of a mass of scarlet1 as in his notable painting of the ,court ,jester4 ,in the painting of a portrait he endeavors1 sometimes very successfully1 to seize character1 although occasionally rather too impressionist in style4 ,his art-life is fired by a lively enthusiasm1 which must result in genuine and exalted art4 ,waiting for the ,ride is a fine1 thoughtful ideal figure of a lady by this artist4 ,illustration3 ,,study ,,of ,a ,,boy',s ,,head4--,w4 ,,sartain4 ,in ,philadelphia the new movement has some powerful allies1 among whom should be prominently mentioned ,thomas ,eakins1 a pupil of ,grme1 and at present professor in the ,philadelphia ,academy of ,art4 ,one of ,mr4 ,eakins's most ambitions paintings represents a surgical operation before a class in anatomy4 ,it is characterized by so many excellent artistic qualities1 that one regrets that the work as a whole fails to satisfy4 ,admirable draughtsman as this painter is1 one is surprised that in the arrangement of the figures the perspective should have been so ineffective that the mother is altogether too small for the rest of the group1 and the figure of the patient so indistinct that it is difficult to tell exactly the part of the body upon which the surgeon is performing the operation4 ,the monochromatic tone of the composition is1 perhaps1 intentional1 in order to concentrate the effect on the bloody thigh and the crimson finger of the operating professor4 ,but as it is1 the attention is at once and so entirely directed on that reeking hand as to convey the impression that such concentration was the sole purpose of the painting4 ,in similar paintings by ,ribeira1 ,regnault1 and other artists of the horrible1 as vivid a result is obtained without sacrificing the light and color in the other parts of the picture2 and the effect1 while no less intense1 is1 therefore1 less staring and loud4 ,as to the propriety of introducing into our art a class of subjects hitherto confined to a few of the more brutal artists and races of the ,old ,world1 the question may well be left to the decision of the public4 ,in color ,mr4 ,eakins effects a low tone that is sometimes almost monochromatic1 but has very few equals in the country in drawing of the figure4 ,some of his portraits are strongly characteristic1 and give remarkable promise4 ,miss ,emily ,sartain is devoting herself with good success to genre and portraiture2 and ,miss ,mary ,cassatt merits more extended notice and earnest praise for the glory of color and the superb treatment and composition of some of her works4 ,when we review the various forces now actively at work to hasten forward the progress of ,american art1 we see that they are1 with one or two exceptions1 still immature2 while1 on the other hand1 the sum of their influence is such as to prove that they are already sufficiently well established to give abundant promise of vitality1 and of a career of success that seems destined to carry the arts to a degree of excellence never before seen in ,america4 ,while the ideal is a more prominent feature of our art than formerly1 the tide also sets strongly toward realism1 together with a clearer practical knowledge of technique4 ,and while we do not discover marked original power in the artists who represent the new movement1 we find in them a self-reliance and a sturdiness of purpose which renders them potential in establishing the end they have in view4 ,it is to their successors that we must look for the founding of a school that shall be at once native in origin1 and powerful in the employment of the material to express the ideal4 ,,index4 ,abbey1 ,e4 ,a41 #agg4 ,academy of ,fine ,arts 7of ,new ,york71 #bd4 ,akers1 ,benjamin ,paul1 #aea4 ,alexander1 ,cosmo1 #af1 #bd4 ,alexander1 ,francis1 #di4 ,allston1 ,washington1 #af1 #bi1 #ca1 #dd1 #dg4 ,american ,art ,students' ,association1 ,munich1 #bjj4 ,ames1 ,joseph1 #di4 ,andrew1 ,john1 #afh4 ,annin1 ,p41 #afh4 ,anthony1 ,a4 ,v4 ,s41 #afh4 ,architecture1 #agh4 ,art ,education1 #ahf4 ,artists' ,funding ,society1 #hh4 ,artists' ,league1 #ahf4 ,athenum1 ,providence1 #ca4 ,augur1 ,hezekiah1 #ach4 ,bacon1 ,henry1 #g4 ,baker1 ,george ,a41 #di4 ,ball1 ,thomas1 #adi1 #aej4 ,bannister1 ,e4 ,m41 #ajf1 #aij4 ,barry1 ,charles ,a41 #agd4 ,bartholomew1 ,edward ,s41 #aeb4 ,bartol1 ,e4 ,h41 #aie4 ,beard1 ,james1 #hf4 ,beard1 ,william ,h41 #hf4 ,beckwith1 ,j4 ,c41 #bjg4 ,bellew1 ,frank ,h4 ,t41 #agg4 ,bellows1 ,a4 ,f41 #gi4 ,bensell1 ,e4 ,b41 #agd4 ,benson1 ,eugene1 #g4 ,berkeley1 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,close1 ,a4 ,p41 #ajd4 ,cobb1 ,darius1 #abe4 ,cole1 ,j41 #afh4 ,cole1 ,j4 ,foxcroft1 #aii4 ,cole1 ,thomas1 #dg1 #ff4 ,conant1 ,cornelia ,w41 #g4 ,colman1 ,samuel1 #gi1 #aab1 #aij4 ,copley1 ,john ,singleton1 #af1 #ag1 #hh1 #ach1 #afd4 ,cooper ,institute1 #ahf4 ,cranch1 ,christopher ,p41 #gf4 ,crawford1 ,thomas1 #ach1 #ade1 #adi4 ,cropsey1 ,jasper ,f41 #gf4 ,cummings1 ,t4 ,s41 #afg4 ,curtis1 ,jessie1 #agb4 ,cusack1 ,s41 #agg4 ,custer1 ,e4 ,l41 #abe4 ,dana1 ,w4 ,p4 ,w41 #g4 ,dana1 ,william ,j41 #afh4 ,darley1 ,felix ,o4 ,c41 #aga4 ,darrah1 ,mrs4 ,s4 ,t41 #aie4 ,davis1 ,j4 ,p41 #afh4 ,davis1 ,t4 ,r41 #agd4 ,davidson1 ,julian ,o41 #agd4 ,deas1 ,charles1 #hh4 ,decorative ,art1 #ahf4 ,de ,haas1 ,m4 ,f4 ,h41 #aji4 ,de ,kay1 ,helena1 #bjg4 ,dengler1 ,frank1 #afa4 ,dewing1 ,t4 ,w41 #aii4 ,dexter1 ,henry1 #aef4 ,dielman1 ,frederick1 #bjd4 ,dillon1 ,julia1 #acc4 ,dix1 ,charles ,temple1 #hd4 ,dolph1 ,j4 ,h41 #aca4 ,doughty1 ,thomas1 #dg1 #ef1 #ei1 #ff4 ,drowne1 ,shem1 #ad1 #cg1 #acf4 ,dunlap1 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,grant1 ,c4 ,r41 #aii4 ,greenough1 ,horatio1 #ach1 #adb4 ,greenough1 ,richard1 #aef4 ,grey1 ,henry ,peters1 #ea4 ,grey1 ,mrs4 ,henry ,peters1 #abe4 ,grosjean1 ,charles ,t41 #ahf4 ,guy1 ,s4 ,j41 #aae4 ,hale1 ,susan1 #aac4 ,hall1 ,mrs41 #afg4 ,hall1 ,george ,h41 #acc4 ,hamilton1 ,james1 #ga1 #hd4 ,harding1 ,chester1 #dg1 #di4 ,hart1 ,james1 #gi1 #acj4 ,hart1 ,william1 #gi4 ,hart1 ,joel ,t41 #ach1 #ade4 ,hartley1 ,j4 ,s41 #afa4 ,haseltine1 ,h4 ,j41 #aef4 ,hayes1 ,william1 #he4 ,heade1 ,m4 ,j41 #acc4 ,healy1 ,g4 ,p4 ,a41 #di4 ,henry1 ,e4 ,l41 #aae4 ,henshaw1 ,mrs41 #acc4 ,hicks1 ,thomas1 #di1 #hf4 ,hill1 ,thomas1 #ig1 #ih4 ,hinckley1 ,t4 ,h41 #he4 ,homer1 ,winslow1 #aag1 #aij4 ,hoppin1 ,augustus1 #agb4 ,hoskin1 ,robert1 #afh4 ,hosmer1 ,harriet1 #aeb1 #aef4 ,howland1 ,a4 ,c41 #aae4 ,hubbard1 ,r4 ,w41 #gd4 ,humphrey1 ,l4 ,b41 #agb4 ,hunt1 ,william ,m41 #di1 #ahe1 #aic4 ,huntington1 ,daniel1 #di1 #ea1 #hh4 ,impressionism in ,art1 #aib4 ,ingham1 ,c4 ,c41 #di4 ,inman1 ,henry1 #di1 #ea4 ,inness1 ,george1 #gi1 #aij4 ,inness1 ,george1 ,jun41 #aca4 ,ipsen1 ,l4 ,s41 #agd4 ,irving1 ,j4 ,b41 #aac4 ,ives1 ,c4 ,b41 #aef4 ,jarvis1 ,john ,wesley1 #bh1 #di4 ,johnson1 ,david1 #gf4 ,johnson1 ,eastman1 #aaf1 #ahi4 ,juengling1 ,f41 #afh4 ,kelley1 ,j4 ,e41 #agd4 ,kensett1 ,john ,f41 #fc1 #gf4 ,kepler1 ,joseph1 #agg4 ,key1 ,john ,r41 #agj4 ,king1 ,f4 ,s41 #afh4 ,kingsley1 ,e41 #afh4 ,knowlton1 ,helen ,m41 #aie4 ,kreul1 ,g41 #afh4 ,lafarge1 ,john1 #ga1 #id1 #acc1 #ahe4 ,lambdin1 ,george ,c41 #acc4 ,lansil1 ,walter ,f41 #aaa4 ,lathrop1 ,francis1 #if1 #agd1 #ahf4 ,lay1 ,oliver ,i41 #aae4 ,le ,clear1 ,thomas1 #di4 ,leutze1 ,emmanuel1 #gc1 #hh4 ,lewis1 ,robert1 #agd4 ,linton1 ,w4 ,j41 #afg4 ,longfellow1 ,ernest1 #ajf4 ,longworth1 ,nicholas1 #adj4 ,loop1 ,henry ,a41 #abe4 ,loop1 ,mrs4 ,henry ,a41 #abe4 ,low1 ,will ,h41 #bjg4 ,macdonald1 ,j4 ,w4 ,a41 #aef4 ,m',entee1 ,jervis1 #ajc4 ,magrath1 ,william1 #aag4 ,malbone1 ,edward ,g41 #ca1 #cb1 #afg4 ,marsh1 ,charles1 #afh4 ,marshall1 ,john1 #afg4 ,martin1 ,homer1 #ajf4 ,mather1 ,cotton1 #ad4 ,maverick1 ,peter1 #afg4 ,mayer1 ,b4 ,f41 #aac4 ,meade1 ,larkin ,j41 #aeb1 #aec4 ,meeker1 ,j4 ,r41 #gd4 ,mignot1 ,louis ,r41 #hc4 ,miller1 ,charles1 #bjc4 ,millet1 ,francis ,d41 #g4 ,mills1 ,clark1 #ach1 #adi4 ,milmore1 ,martin1 #aed4 ,moore1 ,e4 ,c41 #ahf4 ,moran1 ,edward1 #ajc4 ,moran1 ,peter1 #ajc1 #acj4 ,moran1 ,thomas1 #ig1 #ajj1 #agb4 ,morse1 ,samuel ,f4 ,b41 #cc1 #ci1 #ea4 ,morse1 ,w4 ,h41 #afh4 ,mount1 ,william ,sidney1 #eb1 #hf1 #aag4 ,muhrman1 ,william ,h41 #bjg4 ,mller1 ,r4 ,a41 #afh4 ,munzig1 ,b4 ,c41 #agj4 ,museum of ,fine ,arts1 ,boston1 #ahf4 ,naegle1 ,john1 #bi4 ,nast1 ,thomas1 #agg4 ,national ,academy of ,design1 #cg1 #ci1 #di1 #ea1 #eh1 #ahf4 ,neal1 ,david1 #g4 ,newton1 ,gilbert ,stuart1 #bg4 ,nicoll1 ,j4 ,c41 #aaa4 ,normal ,art ,school of ,massachusetts1 #ahf1 #ahg4 ,norton1 ,william ,e41 #aaj4 ,oakey1 ,maria ,r41 #bjg4 ,o',donovan1 ,w4 ,r41 #afa4 ,page1 ,william1 #di1 #ea1 #ij4 ,palmer1 ,erastus ,d41 #adj1 #aef1 #afa4 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,gaudens1 ,augustus1 #afc4 ,sargent1 ,colonel ,henry1 #bh4 ,sartain1 ,emily1 #baj4 ,sartain1 ,john1 #afg4 ,sartain1 ,william1 #bjc4 ,satterlee1 ,walter1 #aae4 ,seavey1 ,g4 ,w41 #acc4 ,shapleigh1 ,f4 ,h41 #gf4 ,shirlaw1 ,walter1 #agd1 #bjc1 #bjg4 ,shurtleff1 ,r4 ,m41 #aca4 ,silva1 ,francis ,a41 #aaa4 ,simmons1 ,franklin1 #aed4 ,smilie1 ,george1 #hj4 ,smilie1 ,james1 #afg4 ,smilie1 ,james1 ,jun41 #hj1 #aac4 ,smith1 ,frank ,hill1 #ahf4 ,smith1 ,j4 ,hopkinson1 #aga4 ,smith1 ,walter1 #ahf4 ,smithwick and ,french1 #afh4 ,smybert1 ,john1 #ae1 #bb4 ,sonntag1 ,w4 ,l41 #gi4 ,staigg1 ,richard ,m41 #di1 #ea4 ,stebbins1 ,emma1 #aef4 ,stephens1 ,louis1 #agb4 ,stephenson1 ,peter1 #aef4 ,stone1 ,j4 ,m41 #aif4 ,story1 ,george ,h41 #aah4 ,story1 ,william ,w41 #aeb1 #aed4 ,stuart1 ,gilbert1 #ag1 #bj1 #bd1 #ci1 #dg1 #di1 #ahg4 ,sully1 ,thomas1 #bh1 #di4 ,suydam1 ,james ,a41 #gc4 ,tait1 ,a4 ,f41 #acb4 ,thompson1 ,launt1 #aeb1 #aei4 ,thompson1 ,wordsworth1 #abh4 ,thorpe1 ,t4 ,b41 #hf4 ,tiffany1 ,louis ,c41 #bjc4 ,trumbull1 ,colonel ,john1 #ag1 #ba1 #dg1 #hh1 #acj1 #acf4 ,tuckerman1 ,s4 ,s41 #aie4 ,twachtman1 ,j4 ,h41 #bjg4 ,vanderlyn1 ,john1 #ag1 #bi1 #dd4 ,vandyck1 ,sir ,anthony1 #ad4 ,van ,wart1 ,ames1 #aef4 ,vedder1 ,elihu1 #ga1 #id4 ,volk1 ,leo ,w41 #aef4 ,waldo1 ,samuel1 #di4 ,waller1 ,frank1 #bjg4 ,ward1 ,j4 ,q4 ,a41 #adi1 #aea4 ,warner1 ,olin ,m41 #afa4 ,water-,color ,society1 #aab4 ,waterman1 ,marcus1 #aac4 ,watson1 ,john1 #ae4 ,way1 ,a4 ,j4 ,h41 #acc4 ,weeks1 ,e4 ,l41 #aif4 ,weir1 ,j4 ,alden1 #bjd4 ,weir1 ,john ,f41 #aad4 ,weir1 ,robert ,w41 #dg1 #eb4 ,west1 ,benjamin1 #ag1 #bi1 #ach1 #adb1 #afd4 ,whistler1 ,j4 ,a4 ,mc,n41 #g4 ,whitney1 ,anne1 #aef4 ,whittredge1 ,worthington1 #gc1 #hf4 ,wight1 ,moses1 #g4 ,wilkinson1 ,george1 #ahf4 ,willard1 ,a4 ,w41 #aad4 ,williams1 ,f4 ,d41 #gf4 ,williams1 ,virgil1 #aae4 ,wilmarth1 ,lemuel ,e41 #aae4 ,wolf1 ,h41 #afh4 ,wood1 ,t4 ,w41 #aad4 ,woodville1 ,richard ,caton1 #hf4 ,wright1 ,frederick ,w41 #agj4 ,wright1 ,patience1 #cg1 #acf4 ,wyant1 ,a4 ,h41 #aje1 #aij4 ,young1 ,harvey ,a41 #abe4 ,,the ,,end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,timely ,,and ,,important ,,books ,,on ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,,art4 ,american ,art4 ,by ,s4 ,g4 ,w4 ,,benjamin4 ,illustrated4 #hvo1 ,cloth1 #d #jj4 ,contemporary ,art in ,europe4 ,by ,s4 ,g4 ,w4 ,,benjamin4 ,copiously ,illustrated4 ,square #hvo1 ,cloth1 ,illuminated and ,gilt1 #c #ej2 ,half ,calf1 #e #ge4 ,art ,education ,applied to ,industry4 ,by ,,george ,,ward ,,nichols4 ,illustrated4 ,square #hvo1 ,cloth1 ,illuminated and ,gilt1 #d #jj4 ,art ,decoration ,applied to ,furniture4 ,by ,,harriet ,,prescott ,,spofford4 ,illustrated4 ,square #hvo1 ,cloth1 ,illuminated and ,gilt1 #d #jj2 ,half ,calf1 #f #be4 ,cyprus3 its ,ancient ,cities1 ,tombs1 and ,temples4 ,a ,narrative of ,researches and ,excavations during ,ten ,years' ,residence in that ,island4 ,by ,general ,,louis ,,palma ,,di ,,cesnola4 ,with ,portrait1 ,maps1 and #djj ,illustrations4 #hvo1 ,cloth1 ,extra1 ,gilt ,tops and ,uncut ,edges1 #g #ej4 ,pottery and ,porcelain4 ,of ,all ,times and ,nations4 ,with ,tables of ,factory and ,artists' ,marks1 for the ,use of ,collectors4 ,by ,,william ,c4 ,,prime1 ,,ll4,d4 ,illustrated4 #hvo1 ,cloth1 ,uncut ,edges and ,gilt ,tops1 #g #jj2 ,half ,calf1 #i #be4 7,in a ,box47 ,caricature and other ,comic ,art4 ,in ,all ,times and ,many ,lands4 ,by ,,james ,,parton4 ,with #bjc ,illustrations4 #hvo1 ,cloth1 ,gilt ,tops and ,uncut ,edges1 #e #jj2 ,half ,calf1 #g #be4 ,the ,ceramic ,art3 ,a ,compendium of the ,history and ,manufacture of ,pottery and ,porcelain4 ,by ,,jennie ,j4 ,,young4 ,with #dfd ,illustrations4 #hvo1 ,cloth1 #e #jj4 ,modern ,dwellings in ,town and ,country4 ,adapted to ,american ,wants and ,climate4 ,in a ,series of ,one ,hundred ,original ,designs1 comprising ,cottages1 ,villas1 and ,mansions4 ,with a ,treatise on ,furniture and ,decoration4 ,by ,h4 ,,hudson ,,holly4 #hvo1 ,cloth1 #d #jj4 ,,published ,,by ,,harper ,,brothers1 ,,new ,,york4 ,,harper ,,brothers will send any of the above works by mail1 postage prepaid1 to any part of the ,united ,states1 on receipt of the price4