MR. RICHMOND AND OUR ART CRITIC.
[To TER EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:9 "DEAR SIR,—` D. S. M.' made the following statement in a recent number of the Spectator :—.4 Every one outside of this natural aristocracy belongs to the populace as far as painting is concerned.' Then follows This populace had to be coerced by experts into admiring, or feigning to admire, the Old Masters in the time of the Old Masters.' Will D. S. M.' be good enough to enlighten a humble student of history by answering the following questions from him P-1. To what populace does he refer ? 2. Who coerced them!' 3. What was the nature of the expert opinion, and how was it employed in the time of the Old Masters ? 4, With what dates does D. S. M.' propose to define the beginning and the end of Old Masters '? As a man of letters, D. S. M.' should have documentary evidence for the support of his statement. Accuracy is such a rare and valuable quality that I feel sure D. S. M.' will encourage the pursuit of it even by a painter. One of the very few benefits a critic can bestow upon public or painters, is to dig out facts for them and for us to contemplate and make use of.—Yonrs faithfully, W. B. RICHMOND."
[Mr. Richmond complains in the Westminster Gazette that we suppressed this letter last week. We do not acknowledge any obligation to publish all letters we receive, but the " suppression " of Mr. Richmond's was purely accidental.— ED. Spectator.]
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