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Home My WebLink AboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1927-08-04, Page 2SIR JOSEPH DU VEEN X Who He Is And What He Does, Explained—Things We Have Wanted to Know Art lovers and the public at large i have fox’ the past few years often wondered who Sir Joseph Duveen was. “How come” that a “Sir” should j send art treasures from New York! to “The Grange” in Toronto and lend , canvasses of priceless value for ex- • hibition in Canada. An article by Walter Tittle in the July “World’s Work” cleared away the mystery and we quote excerpts for oui’ readers’ in formation. FRIEND OF CANADA i least as prominent as any other coun try in this field, owing partly to her j preeminence in Its twin art of archi- I lecture, America is by far the great- ! est of the nations in this important art. One of my liveliest Interests is jin the British School in Rome. After architecture students have had their training there, they are sent to Ameri ca for additional study, “I have no patience with a current notion that art is practically a thing of the past. There is plenty of great art being produced to-day, sometimes I think almost as much as was ever produced at any one time. People so often think that a work of art to be good must be old. What a fallacy! A thing is never good just because it is old; there are enormous quantities of old rubbish on the market. Re cently In England, I started a move ment for the buying of contemporary art by an appeal that I made in favor of the artists working to-day. I ad dressed an open lettex- to the Prime Minister on the subject and received a most enthusiastic and sympathetic reply. The idea was taken up gener ally and the newspapers were full of it for weeks. Interest of this sort is much needed to-day both in England and in America.. Secrets of Success. "One of the most important secrets of success in collection is elimination. From tho mass of material offered the precious things must be chosen, j Every day, in my own experience, I have to turn down important pictures that are offered to me. I refused two Rembrandts yesterday; they are genuine, but not up to the necessary standard of excellence, and condition. “I make it a rule novel’ to buy a work of art hastly, and never one that I do not love, no matter what the market value of what profit it could yield. I never buy at first sight. If the thing is great it will be better the second time I see it; if not, it will dwindle. All the mistakes that I have ever made resulted from hurried de cisions. If these things can happen to a professional, what chance has an amateur, unaided? “No amateur, however good, can make a fine collection without assist ance. Expert advice and guidance are utterly indispensable. I know of no great collection that was ever formed without professional advice. One of the greatest difficulties for either amateur or professional is the temptation to buy, and it takes many years of experience to learn to resist that temptation. One Is so apt to be carried away by immature enthusi asms. Most people buj-- too much. In eighteenth were often only a few A Sonnet by Rostand (From Tho Century), To Sarah. In those days without beauty, you remain ... Descending slowly some broad marble stall’ Sword in hand, with a lily in your hair. A queen of grace, a princess of dis dain. In these times without folly, you com plain To miiBlc, die for love, rejoice, des pair, Bld soul and fiesh Jay one white bosom bare, Or Phaedra dream what dreams our selves contain. Rattling Windows With hot weather, windows some*^^ times dry and rattle. Tighten the window fastening and screw the aide moldings tight. Wax Paper To keep left-over slices of water melon, oranges or cantaloupe fresh* wrap tightly in waxed paper and put on ice, His Early Life. Sir Joseph Duveen was born in Hull, England, in 18G9. His father, Sii* Joseph J. Duveen, was born at Meppel, in Holland, in 1843. He was drectly descended from a Duveen who was an army contractor to the King of Saxony at Geisen, but was ruined by the refusal of Napoleon to ac knowledge the debts of the-Saxon forces. Sir Joseph J. Duveen settled in Hull at the age of twenty-three, and fortune smiled upon the small antique business that he started there. He specialized in tapestries and Oriental porcelains. In 1877, with •his brother Henry, who had become his partner, he opened a branch in New York, and two years later return ed to England and started their first house in London, Henry remaining in charge on this side. Their Paris es tablishment followed, and now their organization covers Europe. Early Transactions. Sir Joseph started as a “runner” for his father’s business, his duties being to “scout” and buy works of art. For many years, he told me, he crossed the Channel to England weekly to pass the week-ends at home. Excel lent training, this learning of the fundamentals of the business, supply ing a ground-work of inestimable value against the day when he would head the art business. Art and National Wealth. From the beginnings of the little ishop in Hull the house of Duveen was destined to blaze new trails in the his tory of art dealing. When England the creditor nation of Europe, formed her great collections at the conclu sion of the Napoleonic wars, the prices paid for many great Master pieces now in the National Gallery and othex’ British collections seem ab surdly small in the light of recent de velopments—though they were, in many cases, sensational for the lime. The shifting of wealth to our side of the Atlantic, coincident with a vastly higher average of wealth for the en tire world, has caused America .to pay stupendous prices for works of the great old masters. Wealth can in crease, but the number of the works from those hands, long still, remains a fixed quantity. Recent Thrills. The house of Duveen early started its quest for ths best art, and years ago startled the world by the acquisi tion of a Raeburn at the record price of $111,300, for which the artist had received $250. In the long list of suc cessive purchases that might be quoted, I shall content myself with a few. An epoch-making milestone in their successive dealings was the pur chase, in 1906, of the Hainauer col lection in Paris for the then unheard- of sum of $2,500,000, and the art world hardly had time to catch its breath when news came of the acquisition of the Rodolphe Kann collection for five millions in the following year. Of individual pictures the list is long: Rembrandt’s “The Mill,” that passed from Lord Lansdowne to Mr. Widen er; and Reynold’s “Mrs. Siddons” and Gainsborough’s “The Blue Boy,” that went, with many other English mas- terpeces, to Henry E. Huntington California, may be cited as outstand ing examples. “The Mill” and “Mrs. Siddons" are. among those that are reputed to have cost their possessors u lialf-million each, while “The Blue Boy” brought $800,000. Duveen Brothers spent $14,000,000 buying back from tile Morgan collec tion works of art, xriost of which they bad originally supplied: the price nip^Kin the famous Chinese porcelains, the finest collection ever assembled, was j $5,000,000, while the Fragonard room | brought $1,250,000. The magnitude of their activities can be realized in some degree from a selection of some of tho leading names of the many col lections that they have formed, either wholly or in major part: The collec tions of Henry C. Frick, Peter A. B„ Widener, Benjamin Altman, Henry E. Huntington, Philip Lehman, Henry Goldman, Clarence II. Mackay, Jules Bactie, and Mrs. Hamilton Rice. Very recent, thrills of the same sort have been afforded in the purchases by Sir Joseph of Romney’s lovely lit tle portrait of Miss Davenport Jor $300,000, Lawrence's superb “Pinkie” for $377,000, and—only a few weeks ago--one of the Stillman Rembrandts, of moderate size, for $275,000. These stupendous sums would have been sufficient to form a whole collection a century or more ago, when England had a happy hunting ground on the Continent, and tho paint on the eigh teen thcentury' scarcely dry. i i BRITISH FLIERS DEMONSTRATION Six men leap from planes with parachutes perilously close together in aerial pageant at Hendon, England, witnessed by the King and Queen. “I asked for a step ladder, and a close inspection revealed it to be the llnest portrait by the Florentine Laur- ana in existence. Only a lialf-dozeii are in all the museums of the wo-rld. I bought it for a few hundred francs and sold it to Mr. Frick. In passing his house from Fifth Avenue you can see it standingr in one of the win dows. It is one of the treasures of i the Frick collection, ] “In another room of the samo cha- ( toau groups of arms were arranged for decorative effect upon the walls: spears, swords, helmets, cuirasses— you know the sort of thing—mostly junk. In the middle of one of the shields, however, I espied a marvel ous old sword of Richard Coeur de Lion, with his arms worked into the ' hilt, a rare and exquisite piece of - workmanship aside from its enor- Later I wrote century huge collections assembled that contained really great pictures. Thrilling “Find.” “A remarkable discovery contingent upon an amazing coincidence came to me in England not long ago. In St. James Street I met an old friend, Sir Samuel Scott, whom I had not seen in a long time. He asked me to run down to his country place on the fol lowing Saturday for luncheon. The following Saturday found me at Sir Samuel’s. As we ,sat smoking beside the fire after luncheon, he motioned with his pipe to an old cabinet. “ 'There are some interesting docu ments in there,’ he said, and^brought out a large sheaf of bills of sale from the old Wertheimer establishment, bearing dates of sixty years ago. I looked them over rapdly with mild interest, casting my eye along for the large totals, and found the final one to be around $350,000, a huge sum for those days. One item caught my eye: 'Spoons, knives, and forks, French, Louis XIII., pale tortoise and gold, 1,000 guineas,’ a considerable sum to spend for articles of that des cription, so I asked about them. “At his request his wife brought from another’ room a box in which, on three trays, were knives, forks, and spoons of a ‘beauty and quality of workmanship utterly unique. Made — — )g of France himself when the standards of the goldsmith’s artj were very high, they were exquisite. • My friend explained that one knife, masterpieces was & . Sir Joseph Says—* ’ Good Art Need Not be Old. “The time has mow come for proper representation of American art in British galleries, I welcome it, I in- jcludo sculpture irt thin/ Amwrl?^ is at one fork, and a spoon were missing from the set; they had been sent to Christie’s by mistake with some other things and had not been recovered. “I coveted those beautiful objects enomously fbr my own house, and asked if I might buy them. My friend agreed, and in due course, after the average of these, appraisals by lead ing London houses had been struck, they Came to me for about $10,000, al most exactly what his father had paid for them. The following Saturday found me at the house of my other friend* the acceptance of whose hospitality I had postponed, and after I had related to . him the story of my find, he got up from his chair excitedly, rushed into another room, and came back with tho missing knife, fork and spoon! He had bought them at Christie’s auction, and Insisted that my sbt be made complete. It was one of the most remarkable coincidences in art collecting that i* have ovex* observed. Another Find. “Another happy adventure covery occurred as tho result of my annual visits to Paris, camo to tlie •office to see mo man of eighty, who had spent most in dis- of one Thor© an old of his active life as a runner for our firxn, and many years ago when I was occupied in the same service we had worked much together Gladly we in dulged in remlnisconcos of the happy times we had had in that pursuit, and he begged me, for old times' sake, to make one more trip with him. Our objective was to be an old chateau in the Midi where a set of very fine old tapestries could be acquired. I know from photographs that he had that the tapestries would be of no use to me, but it was evident that a re fusal to make the journey would be a bitter disappointment to the old chap, so I gave him my promise. I regretted it later, as one business complication after another over a period of nearly three months caused postponements, but finally, to keep my word, and the day before my de parture for London en route to New j mous historical value. York, I met him at the railway station to the owner and tried to acquire it, at seven in the morning and ed on a tiresome journey hours. At the end of this motor met us and another able ride brought us to the “The tapestries were excellent, but I could not use them, and aS my friend was expatiating upon their ) quality my sense of hearing suddenly' dulled and I was drawn into a dim corridor by an object- that I saw on top of an old armors. It was a sculp tured bust, and it seemed to have great possibilities even in that inade quate light. “ 'Is it of plaster?' I asked of an old servant who accompanied me. “ 'No, six’ it is of marble,” was the reply. ‘We dxfg it out of the Loire twenty years ago.’ I Canada to Have Airports Victoria, B.C.—Harbors along the coast of British Columbia will be ex amined by experts of the Canadian Department of National Defense shortly in their search fo rsuitgble locations for national airplane sta tions. The Canadian Government is planning to establish airports at many points to promote commercial naviga tion and ip theix1 selection the Pacific coast will figure prominently. Loca- j tions around Victoria for the most j western outposts of aviation in Can- 1 ada will be investigated by Federal Government engineers this _ summer. Sooke Harbor, outside Victoria, is be- ing suggested by Vancouvei’ Island commercial interests as a suitable base for flying operations. Milk Box 8 If your back porch faces east, ^aint a small box the same color and ask your milkman to leave your milk and •cream there whe-re tho sun cannot reach it. Spotless Refrigerator U&e covered jel-ly glasses instead of saucers to put left-over bits away in, , use jars instead of pitchers for liquids and prevent all spilling c-f foods to keep r-efrige-rators sweet and clean. Stain Circles To pxevent circles around cleansed spots, cover the spot first with French chalk, then put a towel both over and under material and saturate with cleanser, rubbing with grain of the goods. x Japanese Trays A Japanese tray which has become shabby can be renovated by first rub bing1 with sandpaper to procure a smooth surface, then coated twice with paint, and, lastly, once with enamel. Each coat"must be allowed to dry before applying the next, Mildew In Linen To remove mildew from linen, make a paste of one teospoonful each of soft so-ap and powdered starch, two teaspoonfuls of table salt, and en ough lemon juice to mix. Spread the pdste thickly on the mildewed spots and expo-se to the fresh air for ;a Short time, th^n wash the linen. A Smart New ^Waste-Basket Cover the cutside of a wire waste basket with black oilcloth, and line in side with red oilcloth. Atach two glass bracelets to the sides for han dles. The bracelets should preferably be green or red. This makes a sim ple but smart-appearing basket for living-room, sun-room or porch. Pearl Barley Soup Stock from the mutton,, a quarter of a pound of pearl barley, a large bunch of parsley, three or four onions. Soak the pearl barley in cold water all night. Boil it on the day it is to be eaten for two hours in water, then .. strain it into the stock, add the par sley chopped and the onions. Lot all simmer together for an hour. Oil Stains You.-Can remove these stains with out Injury to the fabric of any dress material thus: Mix some finely-pow dered pipeclay and Fuller’s earth, as you please, to .a,cream-like paste with water, apply this pretty thickly to the stain, leave it on for four or five hours till perfectly diy, then brush it well till all the powder is removed. Such stains can also be taken out of silk or satin by damping the stain on both sides with water, powdering it thickly with magnesia, and brushing this off in about a couple of hours when perfectly dry. " Parsnips Peel the parsnips, cut the large ones in half, and put them into a saucepan of salted boiling water. Let them boil about one hour and a half quickly. Tako them up and drain them and serve with a little butter melted over (them. Greedy of grief, you make our tears your own; Have wo not seen gathering In your eyes All sorrows in all hearts hidden alone? And yet you keep one secret still . . . th(e lips Of Shakespeare, while you speak hie fantasies, Furtively pressed upon your finger tips. —Translated by Brian Hooker. --------------------- Tolstoy’s Love of Music In the seventies my father was- so carried away by music that he played for three'or four hours a day. The Impression produced by his playing 'is one of the most vivid of my chikli-s'h ■recollections. When we children went to bed lie used to sit down at the pianoforte and play till midnight and after, sometimes taking part in four- handed pieces, with my mother, I well remember how at that time he played sonatas by Mozart, Weber, and Beethoven (of hie first period), some things of Chopin’s, Schumann’s "Jud- I endalbum,” the "Acceleration Walit- zer” of Strauss, Rudolph’s “Tr-ot,” and others; how he tried to play pieces •of which the technical demands were too great for him, such as> Chopin's Scherzo in B flat minor, Schumann’s “Symphonic Etudes” or Ilenselt’s “Boerne d’Amour,” and how he play ed (in duet arrangements' with my mother) Haydn’s and Mozart’s sym phonies-, Beethoven's Septuor, and other pieces. , I ’remember my first sweet impres sions of music heard by me from afar —from the upper storey where my father was playing—impressions ming ling with childish hailf-uneonseious dreams, merging gradually into sleep. For some reason I specially remember the first bars of Weber’s Sonata in A flat major, of which he was- particul arly fond. Subsequently lie express ed to N. Rubinstein his astonishment that this sonata and other pieces by Mozart and Haydn were scarcely ever performed a.t concerts. Rubinstein replied that they are difficult, because thoy must be played..faultlessly Remembering now my father’s play ing, I should say it was rhythmical 'and expressive, but sometimes inter preted in a way of his own rather than as the composer intended; and insufficient technical mastery hind ered him from fully expressing what he himself intended.—From “Family Views- of Tolstoy,” a chapter written by his son, Count Sergius Tolstoy. •w The Cork Cure. - A young woman called at the house of a homoepathic doctor, and, after discussing on* all the topics of the day, i settled down to tell him her ailments, among other things, she said she was I greatly alarmed by a “sinking/ feel ing.” The doctor prepared a bottle of medicine and gave it to her, with directions as to how it should be taken. The woman began to talk, j but at length, after many vain efforts 1 on the doctor's part to get rid of her, ! she -made for the door. She had justi opened it, when she turned and said: “Oh, doctor, what shall I do if this medicine-does not cure me?” “Take tell mo feeling.” we start-) but he had learned my Identity in the meantime, and what do you think he demanded for it?” Sir Joseph threw his head back and gave vent to his ringing laugh. “The equivalent of four hundred, thousand dollars! And he evidently l didn’t know it was worth a sou be- ( i fore!” [I He leaned forward and tapped me ■on the arm and said with a chuckle: I “I'll get it yet, s?brfte day,” and the look in his sparkling eyes carried con viction with it. —......................- - Paradise for Prexys. The story goes that several college presidents were discussing what they would do after they retired, would they be fit for, was the tion. "Well,” said one of them, “I know that I’d be fit for anything, but I know what I’d like to do. I’d like, to be superintendent of an orphan asy lum so I’d never get any letters from i parents.” "I’ve a much better ambition,” ex-' claimed another. “I want to be war-1 den of a penitentiary.. The alumni never come back to visit.”—Harper’s. pf five ordeal a consider- castle.* What ques- the cork, he retorted. “They that is good for a sinking 1" i Canadian is King’s Chorister Edmonton, Alta. ■— Robert Henry Palmer, a boy soloist of Holy Trinity Church in theis city has received the position of probation choir boy in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Eng land. During the visit of the West minster Choir to western .Canada in the early part o fthis year Dr. Fel- lowes, who accompanied the choir, heard- this Edmonton lad sing, and ar ranged for his inclusion in the famous English choir. This boy is the son of Col. IL Palmer, D.S.O. This is be lieved to be the first time that a Cana dian boy has been chosen King’s ■chorister. c=r.~:.r,7:::...................... .............. __ Window Shades Window shades can be renewed if sci'ls-d at the bottom by removing from the roller and- reversing, hemming the ten snd tacking the bottom on the roller. * ADAMSON’S ADVENTURES—By O. Jacobs- Scapegoat. dear; -•*>. me, have Swallows Through the warm rain, Dipping and darting as they go, The swallows whs-el and turn CnixCcesly to and fro........ iTttloijce and gentleness" is power —Lolgl) Hunt The cycle is like this: When he is a little boy, his father knows more I than any man in the world; he is a i walking encyclopedia. When the boy '• becomes ten oi’ twelve years old, his father begins to go back, and by the time he is seventeen years old hts Agatha—-“Did Ella dare to find fault' father’ is absolutely dumb and knows with her young daughter for arriving : nothing at all. Then cbmes a change, home with the milkman?” • | and the father begins to pick up. By Harriett—“No. She scolded the time this young man is twenty-one milkman for coming so late.”—Life. ' his father is almost normal again. <Egg-Beating A simple method of beating an egg quickly is to break the egg into an ordinary- glass tumbler. Place piece Hold keep band shake the tumbler vigorously two or three times. The -egg is then ready for u.se without further effort. Children's Rooms Children, allowed to help Dad’paint or papeir their rooms, take twice as much pride in it. New ombre paints ■can be applied by the’incat inexperi enced hand and appliqued paper bor ders must: be ciijt out just like aper dolls which is an interesting task for children. How*to Make Cinnamon Toast Use* fresh white bread, cut afloat one-quarter inch thick and (oast on one side only. Spread the untoaMod side thickly with butler, then gener ously with a cinnaihcu mixture (oniP tablespoon cf cinnamon ’to thro?, of .powdered sugar), dot with butter and Mea-; pi-j.ee under the broiler, with gas on full, but, in the lower part of the oven fax’ enough'from flame to let the mix ture melt 'slowly and sink into the that, bread, browning it only slightly, This Is tho perfect tea toast or serve with, milk as a treat for the children for luncheon. Repairing Damaged Plaster The cracks should be brushed out, then wot and All them with plaster of Paris mixed to a thick paste with cold water, with a few drops of vinegar to .prevent it from hardening too quick ly. ' Mix, only a small quantity at a time to prevent hardening. Press *$® -■ mixture inter crevices1 with a kitchen knife. Smooth off surfaces, then brush across with a brush that has been dipped in Water Wliexi haW, nib at right angles; with sandpaper , ■ , and wipe off with soft cloth Then ftp- A botanist tn the Assam and Tibet ply a coat* of white shellac aM allow border has found'the mountains oar- twenty-four hours for diyiHc! befora potcxl with flowers up to .14,000 feet. [ stm^xg to paint or tiixL „ —i ',R* Not Doing a -Thing. Wife (sternly)—“What is that hair doing on yonr shoulder?” Hubby (regarding hair innocently) —“It’s perfectly quiescent, my it’s not doing a thing.” Year after year, j Sunlight and shadow dashing through, ’ ■The blue backs glitter far and near i And wheel and turn anew. --John C. Van Dyke, in "The <J,ows-.” Ownership In Doubt. Traffic Cop—"key, you! Is your car?” "Well, officer, since you ask considering the fact that I still___ fifty payments to make, owe three*re pair bills, and haven’t settled for the new tire', I really don’t think it is.”— Outlook. Before and After. “My wife has boon using a flesh-re- ducing roller fol- nearly two months.” "And. can you son any result yot” “Yos-dho roller is much thinner” --Dio Musketo (Vienna). glass of clean tissue-paper on top. it firmly down all round and out the air. Place the other on the top of the paper, and %