Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1901 — A TAX ON SNOBBERY. [ARTICLE]

A TAX ON SNOBBERY.

Incident That Shows Why Scon Pi* tures Arc Highly Valued. “When I came over from Paris si k years ago,” said a painter who is -spending his fall vacation in New Orleans, “I brought along a dozen or so little landscapes that I had done at odd times in the French provinces. If I do say so myself they were rather good, and I could easily have disposed of them to a Parisian dealer at prices ranging from 100 to 250 franca apiece. I thought, however, that I could get a much higher figure on thia side of the pond, and soon after my arrival I put them on exhibition at a well-known New York art store. To my chagrin the best offer made for my canvas was only sl2, which happened to be the exact value of the frame, and after leaving them on view for a couple of months without a single sale I became disgusted and bundled the whole collection back to my studio. Some time later on onp of my friends, who is a general auctioneer and who knew about my lack of success, sent me word that he thought he could dispose of my paintings at a fair price if I would let him take them around to his storerooms. Of course I was only too glad to do so, for, to tell the truth, I was pretty hard up just then, and one day soon afterward he amazed and overjoyed me by dropping in and handing me a beautiful, fat roll of greenbacks. He had sold every picture, and the least price received was $35. One study brought $l2O, and the total proceeds were $640. I could hardly believe my eyes, and was still more bewildered when I learned the names of the purchasers. They were some of the wealthiest people in the city, and included, among others, the very man who had offered the beggarly sl2 for one of the paintings when they were at the art store. My friend the auctioneer declined to give me any explanation until nearly a year afterward, when one evening he told me the story. It seemed that he had been engaged to sell out the complete furnishings of a house formerly occupied bv a rich and eccentric bachelor, who had gone to Europe to live. The gentleman had a wide reputation as an art connoisseur, and his pictures and bric-a-brac were in especial demand. My friend simply took the liberty of banging my paintings in the private gallery of the mansion, and, as he shrewdly anticipated, they went off like hot cakes. I suppose it was extremely unprofessional to be the beneficiary of. such a trick, but I soothed my oonseience with the reflection that nobody bad really been swindled and a deserving young artist had received some much-needed assistance in the nick of time. Anyhow, parvenlies who get their opinions ready-made oughtn’t to complain if somebody now and then levies a small tax on their snobbery.”—N. 0. Times-Dem-ocrat.