

PINE ARTS IN 1898. 



sens and Andromeda," 440; " The Sirens," 490; 

 " Elijah in the Wilderness," 950 ; " The Wizard," 

 530 ; " Fall of Lucifer," 1,000. 



The Renton sale in June brought to the hammer 

 several notable works of the late Sir John Everett 

 Millais : " The Order of Release " (Arden sale, 1879. 

 <_".2.s;}5) brought 5,000 guineas; "The Black Bruns- 

 \\-icker" (Flint sale, 1862, 819) advanced to 2,650 

 guineas ; " Yes," 1,000 ; " tlrquhart Castle," 650 ; and 

 "Afternoon Tea," 1,800 guineas. Luke Fildes's 

 "Playmates" brought 700 guineas and Sir Ed- 

 ward Poynter's "Corner in a Villa," 880 guineas. 



A sale at Chrystic's in July was noteworthy for 

 the disposal of a few pictures by prominent artists : 

 Millais, " The Ruling Passion " or " The Ornitholo- 

 gist," 850 guineas; "Time," 260. Van Dyck, 

 "Time clipping the Wings of Love," 800. Burne- 

 Joues, " The Story of Pygmalion " (Craven sale, 

 1895, 3,675), 2,800. Corot, " La Chevriere," 1,000. 

 Meissonier, " Valentine,'' 400. 



The Grant Morris sale of pictures and water- 

 color drawings formerly at Allerton Priory, Liver- 

 pool, brought a few good works into market. 

 Turner, " Malmesbury Abbey," 780 guineas ; Mil- 

 1-iis, study for " Sir Isumbras at the Ford " (Knowles 

 sale, 1877. 95), 280 ; Alma-Tadema, " Roman Flower 

 Market " (1873, 640), 880; L. Knaus, " Cup of Cof- 

 fee," 1,050 ; Israel, "Anxious Family," 950. 



The sale of the Bilton Hall collection, chiefly 

 family portraits, was remarkable for its historic in- 

 terest ; the pictures formerly belonged to Addison 

 and the Countess of Warwick, whom the essayist 

 married after the death of the sixth earl. 



The Boyle sale was noteworthy for its two ex- 

 amples of Romney, "The Marchioness of Towns- 

 liend," which was bought in at 5,200 guineas, and 

 "Madam Susan Jouenne," which sold for 3,000 

 guineas. A Hoppner portrait " Mrs. Inchbald," the 

 actress and dramatic writer, brought 1,000 guineas. 



Amsterdam. The Rembrandt Exhibition, held 

 in the new Town Museum, Sept. 8 to Oct. 31, in 

 honor of the coronation of the Queen of Holland, 

 comprised 155 of his works, including many famous 

 examples from foreign countries. Queen Victoria 

 lent two from Buckingham Palace, including the 

 " Lady with a Fan," the Duke of Westminster 

 sent six, including the celebrated " Man with a 

 Falcon," and the Dukes of Devonshire and Buc- 

 cleugh, the Earls of Derby and Spencer, and other 

 noblemen contributed valuable canvases. Of course 

 " The Night Watch " and " The Syndics " were 

 given the places of honor. It is singular that the 

 exhibition was marked by the absence of the famous 

 il School of Anatomy " and the portrait of " Madame 

 Jacobs Bas," which, as the property of the state, 

 can not be removed without a vote of the Dutch Par- 

 liament. It is remarkable also that no effort seems 

 to have been made to secure the splendid Rem- 

 brandts in the United States, especially the "Stand- 

 ard Bearer " of Mr. George J. Gould, and " The 

 Gilder "and "The Burgomaster of Delft "in the 

 Havemeyer collection. 



Berlin. The National Gallery in Berlin is un- 

 dergoing a thorough reorganization, a large part of 

 its treasures, both in painting and in sculpture, 

 having been distributed to collections in other cities 

 of the empire, with a view to kindling a sense for 

 art in the provinces. The leading motive in the 

 works to be retained is the formation of a complete 

 and exhaustive presentation of German art, from 

 its beginnings to the present time, in the central 

 collection. 



Florence. An interesting discovery made lately 

 in the Chapel of St. Elizabeth, in the Church of Og- 

 nissanti, is an altarpiece by Domenico Ghirlandajo 

 cont nining a portrait of Amerigo Vespucci, from 

 whom America was named. Vasari, in his life of 



Domenico, says: "His first pictures were in Ognis- 

 santi in the Vespucci Chapel, where is a dead Christ 

 and saints, and above, in the arch, a Misericordia, 

 in which is the portrait of Amerigo Vespucci, who 

 sailed to the Indies." Bottari says that in the re- 

 modeling of the chapel in 1616 the picture of 

 Ghirlandajo was whitewashed over. But, in Febru- 

 ary last, in removing an altarpiece by Matteo Ros- 

 selli. Ghirlandajo's fresco was discovered on the wall 

 behind it, not whitewashed, but merely covered by 

 the picture. The Pieta, in the lower part of the 

 fresco, has been badly repainted, but the Miseri- 

 cordia, in the arched panel above, is in good preser- 

 vation. It represents the Madonna of Mercy stand- 

 ing with outstretched hands, her mantle upheld by 

 angels, and beneath it, kneeling, a dozen members 

 of the Vespucci family, the men on her right, the 

 women on her left. Amerigo is supposed to be a 

 young man with dark hair, nearest to the Madonna, 

 the old man with white hair being perhaps his 

 father, Ser Anastagio. Among the women, one is 

 noteworthy for her resemblance to Piero di Cosimo's 

 portrait of the celebrated beauty La Bella Simo- 

 netta, in the Chantilly collection. As there is no 

 doubt of the authenticity of the painting and it is 

 the earliest probably of Ghirlandajo's works, the 

 discovery is interesting from both a historical and 

 an artistic point of view. 



Madrid. A recent discovery of a marble bust of 

 Christ, with eyes of blue rock crystal, has created 

 some discussion among artists and critics. It is 

 said to be a remarkable work and has been pro- 

 nounced by experts to be by either Michael Angelo 

 or Donatello. It has been purchased by the Russian 

 ambassador at Madrid. 



Vienna. At the International Art Exhibition 

 gold medals were awarded to several American 

 artists : First-class, Edwin Abbey, for his "Hamlet." 

 and Alexander Harrison, for his "Arcadia." Second- 

 class, F. A. Bridgman. 



New York : National Academy of Design. 

 The council for 1898-'99 consists of the following : 

 President, Thomas W. Wood ; Vice-President, James 

 M. Plart ; Corresponding Secretary, Harry W. Wat- 

 rous ; Recording Secretary, George H. Smillie; 

 Treasurer, James D. Smillie; Council, F. S. Church. 

 Frederick Dielman. H. Bolton Jones, J. Carroll 

 Beckwith, J. C. Nicoll, C. D. Weldon. The Acade- 

 my has 93 academicians and 53 associates. 



At the seventy-third annual exhibition (March 28 

 to May 14) 364 canvases were exhibited. The prizes 

 were awarded as follow : The Thomas B. Clark prize 

 ($300), for the best American figure composition, to 

 Abbott H. Thayer for his " Portrait of a Lady " ; the 

 first Julius Hailgarten prize ($300), to Robert Reid's 

 " Dawn " ; the second Hailgarten prize ($200), to 

 Harry Roseland's "An Important Letter"; the 

 third Hailgarten prize ($100), to Walter C. Hart- 

 son's "Fields in September"; and the Norman W. 

 Dodge prize ($300), to Miss Letitia B. Hart's " The 

 Keepsake." Among other noteworthy exhibits were 

 Gilbert Gaul's "News from the P>ont," Horatio 

 Walker's " The Harrower," Theodore Wores's " A 

 Chinese Fishmonger." and J. H. Twachtman's 

 " Niagara." 



The catalogue of this year has as a frontispiece 

 an illustration of the front elevation of the projected 

 new Academy on Cathedral Boulevard and Amster- 

 dam Avenue. Beginning with the seventy-third 

 annual exhibition, the Academy exhibitions will be 

 thrown open in future to the public free on Sun- 

 days. 



New York : Society of American Artists. 

 The twentieth annual exhibition was held at the 

 Fine Arts Building from March 18 to April 30. 

 The Webb prize ($300), for the best landscape in the 

 exhibition painted by an American artist under 





