FINE ARTS. 



311 



ids, Vanderlyn, West, Romnoy, Durand, Ilunt- 

 n, Morse, Chapman, (iignonx, Page, and 

 itln-r>, :ni.l tin- original drawing, nearly livo 

 hundred in number, inatlo by Aiuliil>t>n lor his 

 "I'.irds nl' Am. r'u-ii." Tlio sculptures com- 

 il,,. - Indian." the " Hunter Boy," 

 "A. lam and K\v." " !'.}' paying at Marbles," 

 nntl tho "IVri," by Crawford, two pieces by 

 II. K. Hi-own, and upward of fifty busts in 

 lii, among which are works by Canova, 

 Chant ivy, Clevcnger, Palmer, and Brown. 

 This would undoubtedly form tho nucleus of a 

 public collection worthy of the city, and 

 which would have the merit of being to a 

 ierable extent tho production of native 

 arti-t.s. But owing to the fact that the His- 

 torical Society has to be supported chiefly by 

 its annual receipts from members, who have 

 tho privilege of access to its museum and gal- 

 lery, it has not been considered expedient or 

 practicable to open its doors gratuitously to 

 the public. Hence the existence of such a 

 collection of works of art as it possesses is 

 utmost, unknown. Various plans have been 

 proposed with reference to making these art 

 treasures accessible to the general public, and 

 tho society itself has had in contemplation tho 

 erection of an edifice in the Central Park, of 

 sufficient capacity to contain its very large and 

 rapidly-increasing library, museum, and histor- 

 ical matter, for the proper arrangement and 

 exhibition of which the present building is 

 wholly inadequate; but inability to raise by 

 subscription the necessary means, has delayed, 

 if not prevented, the design from being carried 

 out. As there is no reasonable prospect of so 

 large and costly an edifice being built for sev- 

 eral years to come, and as it is questionable 

 whether that location would not be too remote 

 to be of easy access to citizens and strangers, 

 it has been suggested that the society should 

 erect an addition to its present building, so ar- 

 ranged as to exhibit the modern and ancient 

 paintings and sculptures in separate apartments. 

 The public would then have a permanent and 

 attractive gallery of art, to which, doubtless, 

 valuable additions would from time to time 

 be made. This plan would bo more prac- 

 ticable and in the end more economical than 

 to depend upon works temporarily loaned by 

 artists or private collectors ; but its adoption is 

 at present purely matter of conjecture. Exhi- 

 bitions of single works or groups of works by 

 individual artists have occasionally occurred 

 during the year, and the chief art agencies and 

 the establishments of prominent picture-deal- 

 ers have generally contained collections of 

 pictures of greater or less merit, open to pub- 

 lic inspection. Among single pictures exhib- 

 ited may be mentioned Bradford's " Crushed 

 by Icebergs," an Arctic- scene of great truth 

 mid dramatic powef ; Kellogg's "After the 

 Uath," representing a young Eastern princess 

 asleep on a divan, after performing her ablu- 

 tions; and a largo landscape by Inness, enti- 

 tled " Peace and Plenty, 1 ' which is undoubtedly 



one of the highest effort* of a painter ranking 

 second to no other in his peculiar walk. An- 

 c.tii.-r class of pictures thus exhibited illustrated 

 subjects growing out of the late war. Such 

 were Page's "Farragnt Triumphant," a por- 

 trait piece representing Admiral Farragot 

 lashed to the shrouds of the Hartford in the 

 passage of the forts guarding Mobile Bay, 

 August 5, 1804; Balling's "Heroes of the Re- 

 public," a group of twenty-seven Union gen- 

 erals on horseback ; and Fobes's " Behind the 

 Breastwork." Three pictures wore also exhib- 

 ited by Keys, illustrating the bombardment of 

 Fort Sumter, and painted with great truth of 

 detail. Other works by New York artists, 

 illustrating the war, are still in progress, includ- 

 ing a picture by Do Haas, the marine painter, 

 commemorative of the running of the rebel 

 batteries below New Orleans in April, 1862, 

 by Admiral Farragut, and a large composition 

 by Page, representing Lee's surrender to 

 Grant, at Appomattox Court-house. Of works 

 in progress, not growing out of the war, may 

 be mentioned one by Leutze, representing Mary 

 Queen of Scots going for tho first time to mass 

 at Holy rood ; and a large allegorical picture by 

 Inness, to be called the "Principle of the 

 Cross," in which the artist attempts to repre- 

 sent the Apocalyptic vision of the New Jeru- 

 salem and the River of Life flowing from it for 

 the healing of the nations. It is said to com- 

 bine deep religious sentiment with elaborate 

 effects of landscape and architecture, and is to 

 be engraved. In the latter part of 1866 the 

 collection of pictures, one hundred and thirty 

 in number, belonging to William P. Wright, of 

 Weehawken, N. J., was purchased by H. W. 

 Derby, founder of the Derby Gallery in New 

 York, for the sum of $150,000, with a view of 

 exhibiting it in that city. It comprises the 

 well-known "Horse Fair," by Rosa Bonheur ; 

 "The Last Honors paid to Counts Egmont and 

 Horn," by Gallait ; " The Little Housekeeper," 

 by E. Frlre, and many other works by Europe- 

 an and American artists of reputation. The 

 subject of the proper representation of Amer- 

 can art at the great Exposition at Paris in 

 1867, early occupied the attention of those 

 interested in showing to the old world what 

 had been accomplished in this respect by 

 the new. But in view of the limited space 

 allotted in the exhibition building to the 

 fine arts of the United States, the prominent 

 artists of New York, at a meeting convened in 

 February, 1866, unanimously resolved not to 

 participate in the exhibition. This action 

 seems, however, not to have been conclusive, 

 for in the latter part of the year we find a 

 committee of judicious persons actively em- 

 ployed in selecting pictures for the American 

 department of tho exhibition, with the assist- 

 ance of Mr. S. P. Avery, well known in New 

 York as a connoisseur and art agent This 

 committee has obtained the loan of what are 

 considered the master-pieces of our prominent 

 artists, and there is every prospect that Amer 



