THE MENTOR 1918.06.15, No. 157,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
LEARN ONE THING
EVERY DAY
JUNE 15 1918
SERIAL NO. 157
THE
MENTOR
THE METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART
By SYDNEY P. NOE
DEPARTMENT OF
FINE ARTS
VOLUME 6
NUMBER 9
TWENTY CENTS A COPY
DOES ART PAY?
“Art is a vain pursuit,” says the shop-keeper. In that convictionmany an immortal painter, like Corot, has, in his youth, beenpacked off from home by a shop-keeping parent, and made to shiftfor himself. “The stomach must be filled,” exclaims the shop-keeper,“let Art wait on that.” To which the young painter answers, “Artmust find expression first. Let the stomach wait.” And so the shop-keeperand painter pursue their separate ways, and it often happens, inthe course of time, that they come together again. The painter gainsrecognition, and his pictures make him famous. The shop-keeper risesto be a millionaire merchant—and becomes a patron of Art.
It is all very well to talk, as some cultured people do, about Art as akind of goddess that calls into existence paintings, statues, temples,and museums, but, as William C. Prime observed some years ago, “Artis, after all, a practical work. Her noblest products and her homeliestalways did and do cost money. That was a wise thought, in the earliestdays of Art, of the monarch who recorded on the Great Pyramid thequantity of onions, and radishes, and garlic consumed by its builders.”
There are still left some who ask, ‘What is the use of beauty? Whatis the practical good of increasing art production? How does itpay?’ The life blood of modern commerce and industry is the loveof beauty. A great city, its wealth and power, rest on this foundation—tradein beauty, buying and selling beauty. Is there anyexaggeration in this? Begin with the lowest possible illustrationand ask the questioner, ‘Why are your boots polished? Why didyou pay ten cents for a shine? How many thousand times ten centsare paid every day in a city for beauty of boots?’
Take from the people their love of color, their various tastes incotton prints, and one factory would supply all the wants suppliedby fifty. Consider for one instant what is the trade that supports yourlong avenues of stores crowded with purchasers, not only in holidaytimes, but all the year around. Enumerate carpets, upholstery, wallpapers, furniture, handsome houses, the innumerable beauties of lifethat employ millions of people in their production, and you will realizethat, but for the commercial and industrial love of beauty, a city wouldbe a wilderness, steamers and railways wou