10 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [ Vou. III. 
combined all the beautiful characteristics of the English, the French, the 
German and the Italian schools, and it would also have the refining 
influence of the Japanese art. He looked to the French in Quebec to 
produce a great Canadian painter. Speaking of the spirit of art in the 
United States, Mr. Sherwood remarked that there was but little of it 
there. The wealthier class practically despise American painters and 
search in the art centres of the old world for the adornments of their 
homes. Whistler, for instance, is now looked upon as a very eminent 
painter in England. In Baltimore, his home, where he worked for years, 
he was neither appreciated nor recognized. Canada, with its lakes, its 
forests, its glorious scenery, its clear sky and its noble people, should 
produce a school of art superior to any in the world. He laid great 
stress on the sacredness of art, and in its refining and elevating influences 
he placed it on an equal footing with the pulpit and the professor’s chair. 
Mr. Pursey thought that the best pictures were not exact representa- 
tions of nature. The artist took the outline from nature and filled it up 
with the ideal. ; 
Mr. Macdougall referred to pictures that were defective from a lack of 
scientific knowledge on the part of the artist or a want of accurate 
observation of nature. Some were defective in their cloud effect, owing 
to the neglect of the study of meteorology. Ina picture of sheepshear- 
ing the shearer was represented as shearing with his left hand. A 
countryman who saw it and had more accurate knowledge of nature 
than the artist, said the picture was wrong, as the man could not shear 
the sheep with his left hand. 
Mr. Fairclough referred to a painting of Turner’s in which the Thames 
was represented flowing the wrong way. 
The President remarked as to religious art that there was none in the 
world at the present day; the earlier productions of the European 
painters were inspired by their strong faith. As this faith gradually 
died out, there was a corresponding decline in religious art. He thought 
that historical art was not to be looked for in Canada. In paintings of 
scenery the Canadian artists had done very well. They had produced 
some charming pictures that were fully equal to those on the other side. 
He thought that their works were very fairly appreciated, and brought 
good prices. He held that the present time was not one in which art 
could attain a high level. It was too practical. It was a photographic 
age. People required an actual representation of nature. It was not 
always desirable to have an actual representation of nature. As to the 
pictures placed before children in the schools he gave reasons why 
