31 



all do not possess, and while we should, and do, encourage the cultivation 

 of these talents, it should not surprise us that good artists are rare. There 

 is but one Church, one Powers, one Hosmer. 



While the labor of the artist calls for great talents, he who would crit- 

 icise the product of his genius, should be the possessor of a somewhat sim- 

 ilar taste. Your committee, therefore, presents this report with diffidence, 

 asking charity from the artists and from the society. 



Is it not deducible from what has been said, that works in feathers, wax, 

 beads, seeds, cones and such like things, do not properly belong to the do- 

 main of art, but fall into the more ephemeral and less noble list of curiosi- 

 ties ? A collection of flowers made of squash seeds, or of wax, is a 

 curiosity, not a work of high art. Such a creation may cultivate a certain 

 kind of taste, but it is not the taste that Mr. Bierstadt or Miss Hosmer 

 would delight in. It is questionable how far this Society does well to en- 

 courage the manufacture of curiosities and works of abnormal art. 



We advise our artists, and we have some very promising ones, to study 

 nature and the works of the great masters. To invent or to copy from a 

 natural scene, is worth more than much copying of the works of other men. 

 In the first case, the master creates; in the second, the slave servilly 

 copies. 



A view of the mill at Curtisville, was from this fact valuable, and much 

 to be commended. 



The committee award the following premiums: 

 For the best specimen of painting, Miss E. L. Fairchild of Stockbridge, $5 00 

 2d do., Mrs. Mary L. Mercein of Sheffield, 4 00 



3d do., Miss M. E. Townsend of Great Barrington, 3 00 



4th do., M. S. Bidwell, Jr., of Sheffield, 2 00 



5th do., Miss J. C. Burghardt of Stockbridge, 2 00 



Extra premium, Miss S. T. Merritt of Egremont, 1 00 



do., J. P. Moulton of Great Barrington, 1 00 



For the best crayon picture, Miss Lizzie II. Brewer of Stockbridge, 3 00 

 2d do., A. J. Gardner of Lee, 2 00 



3d do., Miss A. L. Pixley of Great Barrington, 1 00 



Miss M. E. Townsend of Great Barrington deserves mention. The com- 

 mittee would have awarded her a premium if she had already not taken one 

 for a painting in this class. 



For best specimen of Wax Flowers, Miss M. S. Joyner of Egremont, 3 00 



2d do., Miss Stella Newman of Egremont, 2 00 



For best specimen of hair work, Mrs. J. N. Hayes of Gt. Barrington, 3 00 



2d do., Miss Clara A. Cooper of Stockbridge, 2 00 



For best skeleton leaves and flowers, Mrs. E. C.Walker of Stockbridge, 3 00 



For best feather work, Miss M. J . Snvder of Great Barrington, 2 00 



2d do., Miss Nellie Andrus of Sheffield, 1 00 



For best cone work, Mrs. B. C. Foote of Sheffield, 2 00 



2d do., Miss Ann Coon of Stockbridge, 1 00 



3d do., Miss Nellie A. Clark of Great Barrington, 1 00 



4th do., Mrs. A. Harrow of Sheffield, 50 



