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Show M ! j EFFECTS OF REFORM ON ART. H It is highly interesting to note the movements of the so-called H reformers, of purists, upon works of art nowadays. In many inci- H dences the so-called reformers have wanted costly paintings of sub- H jects, over a hundred years old. "done over" to conform to their H rules of decorum. The pictures may be hanging in an art gallery or H ' , j a cafe, and have been admired by thousands and thousands of people H who have gazed upon them for years without having their sense of H propriety shocked. But along comes the purist, with his so-called H pure soul, and he immediately sees the vulgar side of a picture. It H ''is indeed strange that tho purist sees that in works of art which " the usual lover of art and the average fair-minded citizen doos not. It might be something in the mind after all. As a result of a purist's action in Albany, New York, sublime works of art have been "done over" until now they appear ridicu-lous. ridicu-lous. A dispatch from that city, in part, says: As a result of the efforts of the Rev. J, A. McQuaig, a well-known purist, who recently made a tour through Albany, valuable oil paintings, in a local cafe have been "done over" to conform to the rules of decorum and the mandates man-dates of the police. When the owner was informed by officers that his paintings must be either "draped or removed," he hired an artist. The result was startling. "Diana at the Bath," said to have been valued at $10,000, has been clad in a bathing suit of brilliant hue while her attendants wear suits of rainbow varieties. The man in the painting appears in a convict garb, wears a silk hat and smokes a pipe. Another valuable work, "The Awakening of Adam," has been "done over" so that Eve wears a suit of blue pajamas pa-jamas and Adam a pair of overalls. Both have on boxing gloves. |