308 



FINE AETS. 



The following statement shows the amount 

 of treasure received at New York from Califor- 

 nia and foreign ports for each month of 1866, 



and also the export to foreign ports, with the 

 monthly excess of supply or export ; making the 

 excess of export for the year exceed $11,000,000 



FINE ARTS, UNITED STATES. The his- 

 tory of the Fine Arts in the United States 

 during the year 1866 exhibits a steady progress 

 toward a higher standard of excellence, and 

 an activity in the acquisition of old works and 

 the production of new ones, which contrasts 

 significantly with the ignorance and indifference 

 of former years. But with no lack of zeal to 

 encourage native or foreign talent, American 

 collectors cannot be said as yet to have shown 

 that degree of taste or discrimination which is 

 needed to lay broad and deep the foundations 

 of a national school of art. The private gal- 

 leries of our large cities already contain numer- 

 ous specimens by European or native masters 

 of repute, and are rapidly increasing in num- 

 bers and proportions ; but, as is inevitable in a 

 country imperfectly educated in art, the owners, 

 in adding to their collections, are too often in- 

 fluenced by fashion, by caprice, or by a not 

 very elevated spirit of rivalry, rather than by 

 intuitive perception or true knowledge. So far 

 was this the rule during the last two years, 

 that ignorant persons, intent upon the acqui- 

 sition of large collections of pictures, were 

 frequently imposed upon by works which, 

 though bearing the names of popular French, 

 German, or Belgian artists, were evidently 

 manufactured for a market, and would be pro- 

 nounced forgeries by competent judges. In 

 proportion as a higher culture is developed by 

 study, observation, or the diffusion of sound 

 canons of art, this species of imposition will 

 prove less likely to succeed. Meanwhile, it- is 

 satisfactory to know that, along with much 

 that must be designated merely as rubbish, 

 there is in the country a sufficient number of 

 works of merit to form the nucleus of a national 

 collection, should such a thing be attempted. 

 And when our art collectors begin to imitate 

 the liberality of those of Europe, and throw 

 open occasionally their galleries to public in- 

 spection, each chief city will probably be found 

 to contain works adapted to the formation of a 

 sorrect local taste. As regards the acquisition 



of modern European works of art, it is worthy 

 of mention that, with rare exceptions, the con- 

 tinental schools of painting seem to be in most 

 esteem, and the productions of British artists 

 are still practically ignored. The demand for 

 pictures, or even for copies of pictures, by the 

 " old masters," has almost ceased, which of it- 

 self may be considered an indication of increas- 

 ing intelligence. The collectors who now will- 

 ingly pay large sums for paintings by Eosa 

 Bonheur, Frere, Meissonier, or Gerome, are no 

 longer capable of being deceived by the so- 

 called Correggios, Titians, Eubenses, or Murillos, 

 which once flooded the auction rooms. But 

 while no little avidity is manifested, and con- 

 siderable sums are paid for foreign pictures, to 

 the disparagement in some respects of native 

 painters, American sculptors retain the ascend- 

 ency early asserted by Greenough, Powers, and 

 Crawford, and the plastic art of the old world 

 is very inadequately represented in our art col- 

 lections or national edifices of recent construc- 

 tion. The city of New York has continued 

 during the year to be the chief emporium for 

 the disposal of works of art, and between Jan- 

 uary and May upward of $400,000 were real- 

 ized from auction sales, chiefly of imported pic- 

 tures. This was a considerable advance over 

 the sales of the previous season, though some- 

 what less than those of 1863-'64, when several 

 unusually valuable collections were put upon 

 the market, eliciting imprecedently high prices 

 from purchasers. The first collection of im- 

 portance offered for sale was that of the late 

 John Hunter, comprising three hundred and 

 seventy-three pictures, collected mostly between 

 1800 and 1835, and which realized a sum total 

 of nearly $30,000, or less than $80 a picture. 

 This low average was reached in spite of an 

 array of names upon the catalogue which, if 

 representing genuine works, should have given 

 no slight stimulus to the bidding. The highest 

 price obtained was $1,250 for a picture by 

 Watteau, entitled "The Swing." On March 

 8th and 9th a consignment of two hundred and 



