TORONTO ART SENSATION

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2298, 17 November 1925, Page 2

TORONTO ART SENSATION

A RUBENS MASTERPIECE. 'FOUND IN A TAILOR'S SHOP. ONCE SOLD, FOR,-.3.5 DOLLARS. NOW PRICED AT £50,000. A lost masterpiece, none other than Rubens’ “Adoration of the Shepherds’’ has, according to competent authorities, been located by Joan Kosta, a Toronto Roumanian junk dealer. To.day, cleaned and restored by the owner’s own hands, it occupies the place of honour in his private “art gallery”. located over his junkshop. The find may well prove to be one of the art Sensations of recent years,, says the Toronto correspond, ent of the Herald, writing on Sep. tember 26.

Kosto went to Canada about 12 years ago with a knowledge of seven languages, Roumanian, Bulgarian. Turkish, Russian, Italian, French anf English and a taste for paintings which he had picked up in the art shops of Paris. For a time he worked a a a mechanic, and subsequently opened up a restaurant which was patronised largely by foreigners. Above the restaurant was located a tailor’s shop owned by Mr. Patrick Regan.

There, cheek by jowl with more or loss modern fashion plates, hung an old canvas so covered with dust and grime, that is scarcely excited the curiosity of the customers who came to be outfitted. It did arouse Kosto’s curiosity. He found that Mr. Regan had owned it for S 3 years. He had bought it at an auction for 35 dollars and some cents, slightly over £7. Who had owned It before? An Eng. lish bachelor, Mr. Lees, who had lived a retired life in Toronto, and whose effects, on his death, had been turned over to an auctioneer on cabled instructions from relatives in England. Picture Black with Grime. ‘lt came to mo like a flash” says Kosto, "that it was a great master, piece. The discovery almost unnerved me. I watched It for five years. In those days it was black with grime, and one could scarcely see even' the design of It. I finally secured It from Mr. Regan for 100 dollars. I had to pledge some jewellry to raise that much cash.” As Kosto cleaned his treasure —an art he had learned In Paris —he found the painting In ex. cellent perservation and strongly resembling paintings by Rubens that he had seen. He searched the cata. logues of Rubens' works but was dis. appointed in finding no reference to any picture like this. “I was beginning to despair," said Kosto, “when a friend lent me Smith’s Catalogue Raisonne of Ru. bens’ works, and there in volume 11. page 12, picture 24, it was, ‘Rubens’ Adoration of the Shepherds) (Casket of Eggs) painting for the Church oi the Dominicans in Antwerp, from which it has long since been taken. This showed me clearly why the work was not quoted in the later catalogues. It had vanished. I knew then. I had found a lost master.” The description in Smith’s Catalogue described Kosto’s treasure as follows:

’’The Adoration of the Shepherds. This composition consisting of eight figures represents the Virgin seated on the farther side of the crib on which the infant Saviour is reposing; her right arm is under the pillow, and her left raising up the covering of the babe, while a shepherdess kneels in adoration before him having her simple offering of a basket of eggs and two fowls on the ground by her side. Two shepherds rendering tholr homage are on her right; and a third (leaning on a staff), and a fe. male,, with a can on her head, are be. hind them. St. Joseph stands on the right of the Virgin, and three cherubs are above. An ox and an ass are in the front.” Evidence of Genuineness. The canvas measures seven feet by four and a.half feet. Where had it been frofn its disappearance from the Antwerp Church apparently in the eighteenth century until it came Into the possession of Mr. Lee s In Toronto? A copy of the Illustrated News of New York published in 1352 contained a wood cut of the picture and a description, but Its previous history is vague.

More important .to Kosto was the question whether his find might be only a copy. To determine this point he had, a s opportunity offered, various exports come to,see it and a number of .them had given him thenopinions in writing. A letter from Mr. G. T. Hamilton, formerly teacher and portrait painter in Philadelphia, now resident' in Toronto, says in part:—“l have spent some time ex. amining this painting, cautiously and minutely studying Its form and tech, nic. Experience has bred in me every possible prejudice against accepting as authentic the claims usually made when a supposed masterpiece has been found. Not one in thousands ever survive the noise that is made about it. "This painting—‘Adoration of the Shepherds’—however, is unquestion, ably from the hand of Rubens. No other artist would have been capable of building and covering this canvas of some thirty square feet of arqa, with the particular, compelling tech, nic here shown. The most versatile pupil or master, had he attempted imitation, would have revealed his imitative processes in the underlying empasto of painting. The technic hero shown is that which Rubens had mastered in his own swift miraculous way, a distinct creation In Itself, growing Out of thq temperamental and Intellectual qualities of his mind. In the figures, the sculptured muscles and features, with their underlying foundations of deeper muscles, sin. ows and boneg ar ° all here as the in. clsive mind of Rubens would have them, and they have been put into place with a velocity posihle only for Rubens.” Hr. E. Wyly Grier, former presi. dent of the Ofttaria Society of Artists, wrote:— "I have no doubt it is by the- hand of Rubens," Mr. Lawren Harris, leader of the Canadian "Group of Seven” Scool of Artists., expressed a similar opinion. To tnose indorsements may bo ddded another

rV r-'.cir , from Mr. Eugene Manzo,. a’ ; miniature painter v A... Kosto’s Art ijjje!l6rji.y, For a year or more Ke&tp. kopt/his discovery to himself. He steed ;;the painting amng other works'bf- : art, which he has stbfedl hn pri. vate gallery, consisting ; Qf tifco., win, dowless rooms,' over.' thA Jurdt.'. shop, Whore, on giving up his-- restaurant business he commenced to play a new calling. One by one, he .added to his collection, spending his available funds in paintings. Both the Art Museum of Toronto and Canadian National Exhibition have made efforts to get Kpsto to lend them his Rubens vto pip on exhibition, but while visitors Are wei, come to see the plctilte lit his art gallery, Kosto has so far declined to let it out of his possession. It;ds said that -Mr. J. B; Walker, a picture collector of Minneapolis,, is now negotiating for the purchase ot Kosto’s find. Kosto’s price for the canvas that he bought for 100 dollars is 250,000 dollars (about £50,000)... Between 80 and . 100 , v paintings adorn the walls of Kostd’s gallery. lij addition to the Rubens there is a, panel by Albert Cuyp,' and works by Monticelli, Moreland,. Jose de Ribera and other famous artists. Sometimes Kosto stalks a picture long and warily as in the case of the Rubens. Other times he buys with abandon, A few months ago, before he came to be known or talked rabout in art dries, he walked into the gallery of Mr. Albert Britnell, a Toronto picture dealer. At the end of a short visit he bought 3500 dollars worth • of paintings, paying cash on the spotl State of Complete Happiness

Jean Kosto has a good trade, which is capable of yielding him a good iii, come; he has a store, and, having the simplest tastes, his expenses' are negligible, so tha the is able to set aide substantial savings, most of Which seem to be going "into' his' art collection. His place of business is in one of the few localities in Toronto where Central Europeans congregate. In his shop Jean has all those articles for sale that .one expects to find it at such a..place—small tools, massive pieces of furniture, delicate decorative trinkets and butchers’ scales, fountain pens and long brass rods, stoves and stove .pipes, many musical instruments, in which he specialises, and enough lumber to start a carpenter shot). But what makes his place stand out from' all others of its hind is its extreme cleanliness and neatness. For Joan although'he is a junk dealer, is also an aesthete. He claims to have reached that enviable state of mind —com. plete happiness. Kosto l s , about 3.5 years of age, of moderate height, " but marvellously well.developed physique. He tfuds his greatest joy in his love of art. Next in importance is music, not of the jazz variety, for he abhors it, but classics and old operas. In the evening he sits in his shop with a group of friends,' entertaining them for hour s with exquisite airs from his accordeon. Then he adds something more to his happiness recipe-kind, ness to others. This he says often means personal sacrifice In time and money', but the rewards arc great. Last, but not least, he finds happL ness in good health. Ho gives more than ordinarily attention to his physical development, for he believes a healthy, body means, a .-healthy mind. . . ;■■ . i V In the Abode of Treasure. At the back of Jeans’ store there is a stairway loading to a room on tho second floor. This is where he lives. A table and a few chairs are all ‘the furniture. There is. ,no. b.ed. for he does not believe In such luxuries. Up two more steps and there is a short hallway into which two rooms open. Jean unlocks the first door. Every, thing is dark within. There are no windows. An electric switch is turned on. Some twenty bulbs throw their rays on as many paintings .arranged around the four walls . A velvety carpet covers the floor. There are no other furnishings. You begin to admire hi s treasures of art. “Ah, these are nothing,” Jean in. forms you with a disparaging wave of the hand. “Come with me.” And he leads you to the second door. It likewise is locked. Jean letg you In and turns on another.; switch. The room itself is almost therexact replica of the previous one. There are no windows, no furniture. Here the four walls are also covered with paintings. Over each one a light shlp.es, ~ “Isn’t it wonderful?”. ! Jean asks, pointing to tho largdat canvas'in the room. “Stand back. Now look at It. Come a little closer. Look at that brush work. Isn’t -it -• marvellous? See how the artist shows the finger nails of that subject, with jdfit one stroke. Only a great master fiduld do that.” Jean is in ecstasy; Here is his great possession which he stands hour after hdur.ih’i siKsfil admiration. ■ It-is one of the things that gives him most happiness. -;Ttc ijg; tho Rubens, ’ .... ,t,i. Jean takes precautions;,*; against thieves. The doors of the two rooms are always locked, and at .night, as an extra measure of safety, he sleeps on the cold oilcloth.covered-floor of his living room, using "the bottom step leading to the little hallway as pillow. His slumber is naturally light, but that is exactly what he wants it to be.

Whenever any of his neighbours are in need of help Jean is the first one to offer his services or money. One day you will see him arranging a store window for a countryman; the next you will see him helping a family to move. “What’s the use of riches?" ha argues. “If I can make some one else happy,..that is riches enough for me.” ' ' ■“