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Show THE FINE ARTS. ?? OF GEN. THOMAS-Gen. S. W. Price has finished a portrait of Gen. George H. Thomas, having received the commission from the State of Minnesota. It will hang in the State House at St. Paul. The original portrait from which this has been painted was taken of Gen. Price at Washington in the rooms of Gen. Thomas. The face is in profile, the right hand resting on the belt, the left on the sword hilt. COPYING-A new process for copying drawings, prints, etc., consists of coating paper with a solution of perchloride of iron and when dry exposing it to light under the drawing. The black lines in the latter protect corresponding portions of the paper beneath, while the other parts are bleached white. A wash in a solution of gallic acid now changes the protected lines into a beautiful blue-black, forming, in fact, a real risk. PORTRAIT OF BISMARCK.-Ex-Minister Washburne has a gallery of portraits of distinguished men of the day, at the head of which hangs the likeness of the Emperor of Germany, sent to him in honor of his services to German subjects during the Franco German war. A portrait of Bismarck, by Healy, was ordered by Mr. Washburne, and the same painter executed the likenesses of Thiers and Lord Lyons. Others represent Gambetta, Franklin, and Richard Hempstead, the first delegate of Missouri to Washington. STATUE OF COL. PRESCOTT.-W. W. Story has completed a statue of Col. Prescott, of Revolutionary fame, to be placed on Bunker Hill. It represents the moment when Prescott advanced at the head of his men. It was a very hot night, and Prescott, who worked at the digging as hard as his men, threw off the outside uniform coat, put on a loose seersucker one and a broad brimmed farmer's hat. There is no portrait of Col. Prescott extant. Mr. Story has taken the fine family type which can be seen in the engravings of Prescott, the historian. CROOKSHANK.-The Magazine of Art for March has a brief memorial of the late George Crookshank, the famous caricaturist, with a portrait and two illustrations of his style; an account of the Royal School of Art Needlework at South Kensington, with three cuts of artistic needlework wrought by the pupils of this and another similar school; and the second article on "Decorative Art," by Mr. Lewis F. Day, which in this period of reviving interest in the subject is well worth special attention. The full page illustrations are "Widowed," from a picture by Frank Holl, F. R. A., of whom a notice is given, and "A Visit to a Young Mother," from a painting by L. Bun, of Bologna, one of the most accomplished exponents of one of the two modern schools of Italian genre painting. DECORATOR OF THE CAPITOL.- Senator Voohees, chairman of the committee on whom devolves the selection of a successor to the late Signor Brumidi, decorator of the National Capitol, declares that he is overrun with applicants for the vacant post. It is safe to say that every one of these eager applicants is incompetent. The position is peculiarly one in which "the office should seek the man, not the man the office." It is satisfactory to learn that the committee have determined to select no man of whose capacity they are not thoroughly assured. But to send to Italy for one, as it is intimated may be done, will be almost surely to make a grave mistake. As we recently pointed out, there are American artists of recognized ability whose studies and whose American spirit thoroughly fit them for this important task. MR. H. S. MARKS, a Royal Academician, hopes the tune will soon come when children will be taught to draw as universally as they are now taught to write. There is scarcely any vocation in life, he observes, in which drawing is not to some extent useful. But such instruction, let us add, to be really useful, must relate chiefly to mechanical drawing of a simple sort. Most people, when the teaching of drawing in schools is advocated, think of free-hand sketching merely. They recall the specimens they have seen of juvenile school drawing, and naturally ask what it is good for? Let children be taught to draw accurately with such simple appliances as every household affords-a pencil, a bit of twine, a few pins, a plain ruler-and their knowledge will often be of great use to them. Add to this some instruction in sketching, to strengthen the powers of observation, and the question of its utility will be easily answered. PHOSPHORIC PAINT.-The announcement that ?? "luminous paint" is soon to be offered in the market has aroused much interest in England. The preparation is based upon the well known phosphorescent property of sulphide of calcium, the principle being that lately applied to producing self-luminous clock dials. Articles coated with the paint continue to emit a gradually decreasing phosphorescence for some hours after exposure to a strong light, and it is claimed that this property will be retained for eight or ten years. The range of application of this invention is great, but it must prove especially valuable in spirit vaults, powder magazines, mines, and all places where ordinary lights can only be used at considerable risk. It has been sanguinely suggested that the time may come when gas and electricity will be superseded by the use of a coating for walls which during the day will absorb sufficient light to continue luminous during the night. ARTIFICIAL DIAMONDS.-Besides the diamonds which Mr. Maclear is trying to make, there is another class of stones known as false, imitation, or Parisian diamonds, composed of silica in combination with other ingredients, which have been brought to such perfection that it is claimed for most of them that they can stand the closest criticism either by gas or day light. Most people are familiar with the story of the gentleman who, designing to pawn his wife's jewels, took them to a tradesman to have false diamonds substituted for the real, but found that the lady had anticipated him. Still the old imitations, the manufacture of which dates from the Middle Ages, could easily be detected by an expert. Besides ??, they consisted mainly of oxide of lead, but they were soft and glassy, and often became dull through wear or exposure to moisture. Two years ago, however, a preparation of gold was substituted for the oxide of lead, and an expedient was found for increasing the refractive power of the product, so that when properly cut it is said to be undistinguishable from the finest Indian or Brazilian gems, even when placed in juxtaposition with them. The artificial gems are cut as carefully and mounted as expensively as the real diamonds, but their cost is only about a three-hundredth part of the latter. So that, even if the Glasgow alchemist were to succeed in his experiments beyond what he is at all likely to do, the "diamante brilliante," as the new stones are called, would probably drive his more genuine articles out of the market. |