32 REPORTS OF COMMHTEES. 



FINK ART RKFORT. 



Your committee would take this opportunity to congratulate 

 the society upon the success and general excellence of its Fine Art 

 exhibition of this year, and also upon the decided improvement in 

 the exhibits presented for competition this year as compared with 

 l)revious years, not only in the skill and taste displayed in the vari- 

 ous exhibits, but in the large increase of original designs in oil. 

 crayon and pencil over copies. The committee feel that they can- 

 not too highly commend the laudable desire on the part of even 

 new beginners, as well as amateur and professional artists, to be 

 original in their works, as it is not enough in this age of improve- 

 ment to be mere imitators, or even improvers upon others' works, 

 for it is originality in the fine arts, as well as in mechanics, agricul- 

 ture or science, that opens up new fields for thought, labor and 

 skill, and forms the successive stepping stones to the highest at- 

 tainments, and it might be said marks the epochs in social and in- 

 tellectual progress and civilization. 



In the above remarks the committee would not for a moment 

 discourage the beginner or even amateur artists from learning to 

 draw or paint well from copy under a competent teacher or even 

 without one, as it must be remembered that we were not all born 

 geniuses who can do things intuitively, like Benjamin West, who 

 took the family cat to the attic, robbed it of a few hairs for a brush 

 and proceeded with home made colors to paint it so natural and 

 lifelike as to greatly astonish his parents and friends. Hence it will 

 be found necessary for nearly every beginner, and better for all, to 

 first learn the rudiments of geometrical and perspective drawing 

 under a competent teacher, or from books, before attempting to 

 sketch from nature, or even to copy an elaborate jjicture, and your 

 committee believe that with a judicious and persistent system of in- 

 struction such as is being introduced into our common schools of 

 to-day, nearly every scholar who can learn to read and write and 

 can acquire a fiiir knowledge of mathematics, can learn to draw 

 sufficiently well to be of great service to him in whatever station he 

 may be called ui)on to fill, while many may excel. This opinion 

 seems to be borne out by the fine collection of original designs and 



