ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2009, 25 August 1892, Page 45

ART AND ARTISTS.

The fine art exhibit at the World's Fair will bo much more extensive than was at first expected. Applications for space are coming in so fast that there is no room to accommodate them. Already the foreign coramißsionera have asked for 130,000 square feet of space in excess of what can be granted for foreign exhibits. Franz yon Lenbaoh, the famous Gorman artist, has been commissioned to paint another portrait of Prince Bismarck. He has spent considerable time in Friedrichsruhe recently, studying his subject and making sketches of the ex- Chancellor. The portrait is to represent Bismarck in the act of receiving a deputation of citizens on his recent birthday. The European Mail says that the general depression has invaded the domain of the art sales. The Leyland collection fetched disappointing sums. Even Landseer, once the most popular painter in England, cannot maintaiu his price. "Taking a Buck," sold in 1875 for L 2047, went the other day for L 651. A big drop indeed I But depression in trade is not the only reason for this. Time is finding for the works of these masters recently dead or still with as a just level, nor need we regret if the Friths, Pooles, and Sans are sold for trifling gums, since, if they were painted to-day, they would scarcely be hung in a public gallery on their own merits. A curious instance of the way in which the value of a work of art is increased by being associated with the name of a painter of merit is afforded by [a. case which occurred at the recent Naval Exhibition. Many visitors to that exhibition will remember a large picture entitled "The Embarkation ot Katherine of Braganza to Marry Charles II of England." This picture, by an unknown artist, happened to bo hung next one which had already been sent by the Earl of Sandwich, the title of which was the "Battle of Solebay," painted by. Van do Veld. It was not until these two pictures were seen hanging together that it became evident to experts that bq.th were by the same band. Tho colouring, the design of the ships, their form, decoration, and rig, all told this most plainly. The immediate result of this discovery was that the value of the first-named picture was raised from LSOO to LSOOO for insurance purposes. Mr Edwin Long's picture of " The Parable of the Sower," painted in 1891, is a large canvas representing Christ preaching from a boat on the Lake of Galilee to a representative crowd on the shore. Tho picture is an essentially popular one. It belongs to the literary order of art. Next after the interest of " the story," which to the majority of the readers is supreme, comes the gratification of identifying the types of nationality and profession among the group on the lakeside. For the benefit of persons whose acquaintance with New Testament history is scant or incomplete, a descriptive pamphlet, written by Archdeacon Farrar, is ready at hand. The fact that Mr Long's colouring is more harmonious than Dore's will give him by so much an advantage over the great painter-preacher who has so long held the palm just across the way. The grace and beauty and feeling which always characterise Mr Long's work are present in large measure in this picture. Advice to Mothers 1 — Are you broken in your rest by a sick child suffering with the pain of cutting teeth 7 Go at once to a chemist and get a bottle of Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup. It will relieve the poor sufferer irnmediaely. It is perfectly harmless, and pleasant to the taste ; it produces natural quiet sleep by relieving the child from pain, and the little cherub awakes "as bright as a button." It soothes the child, it softens the gums, allays all pain, elieves wind, regulates the bowels, and is the best known remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea whether arising from teething or other causes. Mrs WinBlow's Soothing Syrup ia sold by medicine dealers everywhere at la lid per bottle [Advt.] —In the city of H lived a family who had [one of those domestices of the heavy hand. A few years ago the town received a slight shock of earthquake. Pictures were thrown down, crockery and furniture rattled about. la the midst of the tumult the mistress went to the head of the basement stairs and called out to the maid in a would-be-patient tone, "Mary Aone, what are you doing now ? "