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FINE ARTS IN 1899. 



New York: Society of American Artists. 

 The twenty-first annual exhibition was held m 

 the Fine Arts Society Building from March 24 



t fhe 1 Shaw fund of $1,500, awarded annually for 

 the purchase of a figure composition in oil by 

 an American artist, was given to Douglas Volk 

 for his Woodland Maid. The Webb prize of $300, 

 for the best landscape in the exhibition painted 

 bv an American artist under forty years of age, 

 was awarded to \V. L. Lathrop for his Clouds and 



The exhibition comprised 354 numbers, includ- 

 in' a few miniatures, bronze medallions, and 

 sculptures. Among the noteworthy exhibits were 

 portraits and figure pieces by John W. Alexander 

 Albert Herter, Kenneth Frazier, Miss Lydia Field 

 Emmet. Miss Louise L. Huestis, Carroll Beckwith, 

 A. H. Thayer, Francis Lathrop, Will H. Low, and 

 Kenyon Cox. The exhibition was, as usual, rich 

 in landscapes, among the best of which were 

 Hoi ton Jones's Afternoon by the River, D. W. 

 Tryon's Early Spring in New England, Walter 

 Nettleton's Breaking up of Winter Stockbridge, 

 and several by Birge Harrison. The place of 

 honor was given to Dagnan-Bouveret's great pic- 

 ture. Christ with his Disciples at Emmaus, the 

 gift of Mr. Henry C. Frick to the Carnegie Insti- 

 tute of Pittsburg, and loaned by the institute to 

 the Society of American Artists for the exhibi- 

 tion. This picture, which was briefly noticed last 

 vear, is worthy of further mention on account of 

 the curious whim of the artist, who, in imitation 

 of the practice of early Italian and German paint- 

 ers, has included in the group, beside the two 

 disciples, himself, his wife, and his son, all in 

 modern Parisian costume. Dagnan-Bouveret him- 

 self is standing for " no man kneels," he is re- 

 ported to have said while his wife and boy are 

 on their knees in devotion. Although this absurd 

 anachronism renders the picture in a measure in- 

 congruous to any but a French eye, its broad 

 treatment and masterly execution, especially in 

 the management of the light, make it one of the 

 most noteworthy pictures of modern times. 



New York: Society of Landscape Painters. 

 The first annual exhibition of this new asso- 

 ciation, held at the American Art Galleries, March 

 24 to April 5, comprised 184 numbers, of which 

 61 were water colors. The members of the soci- 

 ety are George H. Bogert, Walter Clark, William 

 A. Coflin, Bruce Crane, Charles H. Davis, R. 

 Swain Gilford, Frederick Kost, J. Francis Mur- 

 phy, Robert C. Minor, Leonard Ochtman, Walter 

 Palmer, and Carleton Wiggins. 



New York: Ten American Painters. This 

 association, made up of disaffected members of 

 the Society of American Artists, held its second 

 annual exhibition (April 4 to 15) at the Durand- 

 Ruel Galleries. Twenty-three pictures were con- 

 tributed by nine of the members. 



New York: Miscellaneous. The principal art 

 sale of the season was that of the pictures and 

 art objects forming the collection of Thomas B. 

 Clarke, which were disposed of in February at 

 the American Art Galleries. The amount real- 

 ized by the four nights' sale of paintings (372 

 works by American artists) was $234,495, and 

 the total of the sale, including bronzes and other 

 art objects, was $306,943. Among the best prices 

 obtained for pictures were: George Inness, Gray 

 Lowery Day, $10,150; Clouded Sun, $6,100; White 

 Mountain Valley. $3,100; Nine o'Clock, $3,100; 

 Winter Evening, $3,650; Wood Gatherers, $5,600; 

 Sunny Autumn Day, $4,100; Twilight, $1,600; 

 September Afternoon, $1,500; New England Val- 

 ley, $2,050; Harvest Moon, $2,700; Path through 



the Florida Pines, $1,650; Sunset in the Old 

 Orchard, $1,080; Afternoon Glow Pompton, N. J., 

 $1,650; End of the Rain, $1,550; Autumn Silence, 

 $1,325; The Mill Pond, $1,400. Homer Martin, 

 Adirondack Scenery, $5,500; Head Waters of the 

 Hudson, $1,500. Winslow Homer, Coast in Win- 

 ter, $2,625; The Lookout All's Well, $3,200; The 

 West Wind, $1,625; Maine Coast, $4,400; The 

 Life Line, $4,500; The Gale, $1,625. A. P. Ryder, 

 Temple of the Mind, $2,250. A. H. Wyant, Moun- 

 tain and Lake, $1,200; Early Morning, $1,800. 

 William M. Chase, A Coquette, $1,500. D. W. 

 Try on, The End of Day, $2,050; A Dewy Night 

 Moonrise, $1,000. Charles H. Davis, The Deepen- 

 ing Shadows, $1,100. Charles Melville Dewey, 

 Edge of the Forest, $1,050. Louis Moeller, Puz- 

 zled, $1,525. George Fuller, A Romany Girl, 

 $4,100. William L. Picknell, The Road to Con- 

 carneau, $1,100. 



The Appellate Court Building, on Madison 

 Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street, New York, which 

 was thrown open to public inspection in Decem- 

 ber, is worthy of special notice as being one of 

 the few public buildings in the United States 

 produced by the co-operation of the arts of archi- 

 tecture, sculpture, and painting. Mr. James 

 Brown Lord, the architect, to whom is due the ef- 

 fective collaboration of the various artists whom 

 he called to his aid, has produced one of the most 

 artistic and impressive structures in the country. 

 The material is of pure white marble, with the 

 substructure and steps of granite. The design 

 is classic, with a portico in the middle of the 

 southern facade composed of six Corinthian col- 

 umns, supporting a pediment, to be filled by a 

 composition by Charles H. Niehaus representing 

 the Triumph of Law over Anarchy. Two seated 

 colossal figures, Force and Wisdom, are to occupy 

 bases on each side of the entrance steps, and 

 allegorical groups Justice, by Daniel C. French, 

 and Peace, by Karl Bitter are to fill the east 

 and west pediments. A series of figures repre- 

 senting eminent jurists of the past, by J. S. Hart- 

 ley, J. T. Donoghue, Herbert Adams, H. K. Bush- 

 Brown, A. Lukeman, George E. Bissell, Charles 

 A. Lopez, Philip Martiny, E. C. Potter, and Wil- 

 liam Cowper, are to occupy the upper balustrade 

 and fill the sky line. 



The interior, rich with marble, onyx, and carved 

 oak paneling, has been decorated by some of our 

 best mural painters, including H. Siddons Mow- 

 bray, Robert Reid, Willard Metcalf, C. Y. Turner, 

 H. O. Walker, Edward Simmons, Edwin H. Blash- 

 field, George W. Maynard, Kenyon Cox, and 

 Joseph W. Lauber. The most important panels 

 are those on the east wall of the courtroom, op- 

 posite the dais of the justices. The center one, 

 by Walker, represents Wisdom, attended on one 

 side by Learning, Experience, Humility, and Love, 

 and on the other by Faith, Patience, Doubt, and 

 Inspiration. The right panel, by Blashfield, repre- 

 sents the Power of the Law. Law, who draws her 

 sword in behalf of Appeal, is attended by black- 

 gowned magistrates and by a Roman magistrate 

 representing Civil Law, an Anglo-Saxon, Com- 

 mon Law, and a bishop, Canon Law. Above, two 

 flying female figures are about to crown Law. 

 The left panel, by Simmons, represents the Jus- 

 tice of the Law. Justice occupies the center, with 

 Peace recoiling from Brute Force, withheld by 

 Fear, on the left, and Plenty assisting the Needy, 

 with Labor behind her, on the right. 



Of the other decorations, a frieze by Kenyon 

 Cox on the west wall represents the Reign of 

 Law, and many small panels between the win- 

 dows and pilasters, by Lauber, treat numerous 

 allegorical subjects. The main hall is decorated 





