The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 38

THE NKW y6kK r173rES. AT' JTJNE T. 1911- WHAT IS MOST SPOT I Well Known Artists Express Their Preferences and Show an Astonishing Lack of Unanimity, No Two Selecting the Same Place Upset the Popular Opinion That Skyscrapers Are WHAT la the preltleat spot. Id New York? That la a question asked not only ly the hordes of. vtsltots who annually visit New.

York, but by an ever-Increasing number of realdent New Yorkers. Ua constant recurrence Implies that It la a question not easy to anewer. For of late years we bava been waklug up to the fact that, from an artistic point of view, tlM inetropolla of ours la anything but ustV. were taubt formerly to believe end moat of ua, witJi exceeding docility, agreed to believe that the prettiest spot In New York was an outward bound tranaatlantie liner. We became convinced that when bualneaa entered tha door beauty flew out of tha window, that.

In art. a akyacraper was taboo, llkawls anathema, that-ln short Everett Shinn Finds Washington Square Fascinating. This Painting by Him Shows It In Winter. that Naw York might be everything In tha world but-as for Its being beautiful pariah the tbougbtt Now an la different' Not only baa this City been quietly acquiring a large asaott- uent of extremely handsome buildings, but It has been steadily forcing Its way IsXo Art on Its own general nterita. Now.

adays the majority of Naw Tork' a artlat colony men trained tor the moat part In Europe, accustomed to paint all those Stock bridges and gables and peasants-returning-! rom-work which stand for Old World art are enthuslaatlo upholders of the theory that modern New Tork Is a beautiful city, skyscrspers and all. What Is tha prettiest spot In New Torkt Tun Timbs last week asked that question ef a Jury of twelve well-known artists. From their answers It will easily be seen bow artlets as a body look upon New Tork. Of all those Interviewed only one cams out with, a statement wholly disparaging, and even he confesaed that he had found bare at leaat one thing which commanded his unqualified admiration. As for the others but here Is whst they said when the questlo.

"What Is New i York's prettiest epotl wae put to them: Skyscrapers Beautiful, Says Colin Cooper. First and foremost In enthusiasm for the New Tork of to-day, tha city of towering skyscrapers and fevered street traffic. Is Colin Campbell Cooper, who 'may be' considered the skyscraper artist par excellence of America, alnce no man baa done aa much aa he to win a place In art for theae giant at rue Tears ago Mr. 'Cooper became fascinated by ultra-modern life and he Aas stuck to his first love through thick and thin. When asked the other day at.

hla atudio overlooking Central Tars what ba considered the prettiest spot In. New York, be never hesitated for a moment Broad fctreet above Beaver Ktreet" he anawerrd. "I consider one of the I grandest things ever concocted by man. Nothing anywhere else approaches lt.lt baa a very bandeome skyline, a perfect It waa one of the very first things I painted after arrtvtng In New Tork. "I took a vacant room at 10 Broad Street from the windows of which I could get aa excellent view northward aiong Broed Btreet and at once set to Work to paint And VUle I waa In my upstairs room, busily at work, another lover the modern American skyscraper, Mr.

Joeeph Fennell, waa seated on the atoop it tha. aanie building sketching the same view which had so strongly appealed to "One of the points that moat strikes me about thla view up Broad Street la the dramatic, contrast between the old. low type, of bulldlnge, put up In the Ota both tha brick buildings and thoae of the type occupied by J. V. Morgan A Co.

-and the great skyscrspers. My pictures are built on thee contranta. I've sketched Ili-oad Street front both Its aldewalka. and tram ita middle. In tart.

It la hard to find a pUce from which tha view la not excellent In corn position and balance "Recently the big Mender Building. tn Naaaau Street tha continuation' of Broad, was torn down and another skyscraper of a different kind put up. Hut the latter, to my mind, hae -actually Improved the view looking north from Besver 8treet." New York a Horrible Mining Town Oeorje Oe Forest Brush. No parts of New Tork. are beautiful." oeclared Ceorge De Forest Brush.

It Is a horrible mining town." w. He said It In hla atudio on Uinlaiinl that Paradise of Naw Tork artists, whera ha epeoda hla time whea ba is not at Dublin. N. or Florence, Italy. Mr.

Brush 'la by bo means averse to American subjects. Years ago he first won prominence byt hla paintings of American Indiana and Astecs. But New Tork has never appealed to him. After that remark of his. though, he evidently repeated of Ha harshness, for be recollected that he had Indeed found something hers thst was beautiful Just one thing.

There Is a little bridge In Central Park," he bethought himself, which la not only the one pretty bridge In New Tork. but tha one pretty bridge In all America." The reporter eagerly Inquired where this paragon mlcht ba found. It's, near-110th, Street, in the north Ji Ji Off CO -ffOVJ. -New York from Weehawken, Ast Painted by Henry RenterdahL He Considers That View the Most Beautl. ful Hereabouts.

western corner of Central Park, close to the Subway exit on Amsterdam Avenue." replied' the artist "It wss merely by accident that I found It In 'going to one of ray art classes I took the wrong Subway train. It landed me east of Central Park. I decided to get to my deattnatlon on the west side by walking through Central Park. In doing so I found this bridge. It relly is very successful.

Somebody, Just by luck, happened to make It a bandsome bridge." Prettiest Spot Here Is Known', to Few "Gntzon Borglum. Outson Borgium. the sculptor," was asked whether he bad views on the question. Which Is tha prettiest spot In New York?" Very decided ones! he promptly replied, a reply In keeping with Mr. Borg-lura i well-known reputation aa a militant fighter aa well aa sculptor.

"The prettiest sfot In New York." be said, "la the Ramble In Central Park-that portion of the Park on the northern edge of the little lake. Oh. I'm sure of that there are no two waya about it What la more New York doesnt 4 p-preciate it "Do you know why It Is that e'ery time a movement la started to encroach on Central Park, New Yorkera Invariably step forward and successfully oppoae It? Because tha men who originally designed the Park guarded its natural features in a manner far different, from what would have been done had It been design in theae day a. The entire Park, with the exception of- the Mall, is free from tedious landscape architect conventlone. Its strange natural beauty.

Which peralsts In spits of drought neglect and lack of appropriations. Is responsible for the Park remaining what It la. No spot in the Park has more this natural beauty than the Bjimble." Mr. Borglum was asked to express exactly what he meant Ha shook bis head. Why, to gtx'e adequate expression to my Ideas about the Ramble I should have to recite a poem by Keats," be declared.

The bent way to approach tha Ramble." be continued. by the ball ground Just aouth of It. To go through the throng of gayly dressed children, playing gamea otf that field, and suddenly to find yourself In the quiet, of the Ramble makes a wonderful contrast Instead of the ahoiita of the players, which a minute ringing your ears, you have the rustle of tree, the waving of the green grass, the songs of birds. almost expect to find KeaU or Shelley ted pn one of the benches to the Ram- bis a t.let patfca "It is a place where shouts and hurry are out of place. You want to rest there.

It Is a place where Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream 'mlght be Ideally given." V- Th PUt Iron la ReautifnL" Robert Henri. Robert Henri was found In his studio, hard at work amid canvases big and little and multi-colored pats of paint laid out like Ice cream of 'assorted flavors. The noted Insurgent painter, renowned as the leader and tnspirer of it. 4 i i i til a'tMW Sl "EH -a Vernon Howe Bailey Has Partiality for the View of Lower New York from North River. A Drswisj of It by Him Shown Here, by -f Courtesy of Harper's "The Eight" declared be could not pick It Is rn New Tork that his.

most ambf-out any one spot aa the most beautiful In tlous work bas found a home. Hla are New York. When he finally did make special mention of one. he insisted that be thought of It "among many other beautiful spots." "New, York City ta beautiful for many differing reasons," be said. I will cite Just one spot' because it always seems beautiful to me.

ThU is the view flown Fifth Avenue with the' Flatlron Building in the back-around. The Flat iron Bunding Is, la one sense, a sheer work cf art It la beautiful In many senses, yet never so much as when considered as typifying the New Tork spirit the spirit of modernity and progress." AU New York fa Picturesque Jnlea Querin." There Is no artist more enthusiastic about New Tork than Jules Gueiin. Ha haa wandered over it. up and down, ex-(loring Ua most recondite- and. Judging from what be he baa never failed to hit on aomethlng beautiful.

New Tork ha been bis hobby for years, as scores of pictures by htm attest And ''I hit 4seW-' if is 'Ill -3 vT thoa colossal mural decorations In the lobby of the new Pennsylvania Station on Seventh Avemve, before which even UTe traveler with but a few seconds to spare before train time must needs stop to aimlre. i Guertn's fame rests largely on bis work as a decorative illustrator, especially of architectural subjects. LAe Cooper. Pen-nell. and others, ba haa fully recognised the beauty of the But be by no means confines his attention to that giant form fof structure.

His eye for beauty la aa well satisfied with bta et But They UglyV. old New Tork as wltb the best examples of tha restless city, of -to-day. 7 In' he waa.wholly'unable to pick out any one spot as the prettiest. an New Torlt is picturesque and beautiful! he exclaimed. I can pick out any number.

of pretty spots." He began to cite them at random they tumbled from bis lips rapidly, one on top of the other. 7-" One thing that particularly appeals me." he "Is the iw from a point on the Hotel Astor roof garden, above the level on which tha tables are I'-'-Vff WW Broad Street, 'Above Beaver, Here Shown In -Colin Campbell Cooper's Painting, Is Artist's Choice As the' Prettiest Spot In New York. placed. past the 4 Times and down Broadway, "In. the foreground you have, seated at the tables, the groups of men and women, all dressed in gay colors, an having a good time.

below them, la the upper half of Times Square with tha cars and people looking- like dots, and the long lines of red and green lanterns that mark the traffic lines cocktails, I call them. "Then, beyond; them, eotne Broadway and Seventh Avenue, with crowded sidewalks and bright lights. "Thatls a beautiful 1 "It la also distinctly a theatrical thing -ev thins; of modern. New, Tork. you want a' beautiful snot of old New York that which comes first to my ralnd la.

feel mire, known-, to mighty few New Yorkers. It fa Beekman Do you know where Beekman Place 7 No." said tha reporter. 1 I thought not- Well, It. Is an old street running along the East River between -East Forty-ninth and East Fifty-first The backs of some of the houses there are. so close to the water that the ships on the East River appear to be sailing past only, a few.

feet a way-It seems as if they would poke their way Into the windows. These windows also command' a 'beautiful view of the new Queensboro "On, there are plenty of pretty spots! Let me think of some more. Mind you, I won't mention Union Square or Madison Square or Grant's Tomb. Everybody thinks of those. like to talk- about more places not ao wen known.

Oh, bere'a one old State Street, down by the South Ferry, where the houses are that take In immigrants when they first arrive. These houses are of a beautiful old type." "Doesn't Battery Park add their beauty! inquired the reporter. Mr. Gueiin shook bis bead emphatically! "It does not" ha declared. Battery Park has been spoiled by the L.

7 Another beautiful bit is the view of the Manhattan bualnesa district from under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn A person viewing the mass of skyscrapers from there' is just-the right distance away. They don't look squatty. "Returning uptown, I' think Columbus Circle Is a beautiful spot I call It the Place Plgalle of New York, because to me It bears a close resemblance to the beautiful square of that name In Parts. Still another beautiful thing; the view from far uptown on the west side, across the Harlem River, to the Hall of Fame. Oh, I repeat ail New Tork la pic-turesque! :7 Another Boost for the Skyscraper As a Work of Art.

There are two minds of beauty In New Tork." said; Vernon Howe Bailey, whose pencil has been busy for years drawing pictures of this city, especially in Its up-to-date aspect He was found In his stu which Is perched, on the very top or the Flatlron Building; and he wore over his regular clothes a long, blue, flowing Paul Cornoyer, Who 7'kde This Painting of Madison Square, Considers f. Wat New York III i '-nVy -x 4 t-r -t TMr View of Columbus Circle by Jules Queria Shows One of the Beauty Spots He Ukes r. affair, highly suggestive of art and work. W. 4.

1 1 quality of charm," continued Mr. Bailey, the kind that la to be found in Gramercy Park- or In quaint Greenwich Tillage. If I went out looking for xharmi tur spots Pd look for them in those older sections of the elty. But on the other hand, take the Metropolitan -Tower over there "he waved his hand toward his atudio window, outside which the snow white giant rose majestically Into the air" that tower la under, certain conditions of atmosphere aa impressive, thing." Seen from serosa the East River It Is perfectly beautiful. 7 Tha same is true of downtown skyscrapers, especially of the group of them seen from the North River.

If I were to pick out my favorite from among these views, of 'skyscrapers should take thla group: The Hudson Terminal, the City Investing Building, the Singer Building, and the West Street Building, as seen from the North River. This mass of big contrasted with the low buildings and ferry houses lining West Street makes. an Impressive and' beautiful view. 1 A To' me it Is the concentrated essence of the downtown skyscraper. AH the buildings forming it are different in style, yet together, they form a.

whole that la perfectly stunning. What a bully akylins they V. i1- "One thing that contributes to this ef fect la that the West Street Building la beautiful not only for. Its. else and architecture but from the color, standpoint Owing to the rich coloring around its roof and upper istorles It contributes very materially to the beauty, of the whole group.

"Another favorite with, me Is the view down Madison Avenue, from about Tbis ty-flrst or Thirty-second Street, toward Madison. Square Garden. There you get tha old tower, with ita. statue of Diana, 'and all its soft-terra; cotta In the tore-ground, and In the background the great white Metropolitan New York Is AH Very Beautlf uL John Sloan. The most beautiful spot in New Tork is the spot where you happen to be at the -time you are seeing it right said John too.

is a member of The Eight, young, but famed already-as a painter of the slums, of the "depths of city. life." Sloan halls from 'Philadelphia but years ago the beauty of New Tork lured him away and kept him away from the Quaker City. 17-'-- "New Tork Is all very beautiful to me." he said. "Not being native of the city, tt keeps. up Its Interest for me.

1 lived In Philadelphia from early childhood. Jrom the very fact that I knew Philadelphia so well I had to. go further to find its beauty. The surprise waa off things thst was the trouble. it's not Everything seems new to me and beauty la easier to find.

"On successive days one spot In a city may run all the way from ugly to Beauty depends on the condition of the eye at given moment Tastes as to the beautiful things in a. city differ as much as they do. regarding the beauty of women. And you know tastes differ there which Is what makes It possible tor all of us to find mates! This 'difference in the way of seeing things is the real for the' existence of the artist: If I should pick out for you what X' considered the prettiest spot Jfe w.York at this moment a photograph of It might give me the lie. Tet the photograph would exactly reproduce the place.

"I could go oot every rday. tor two weeks and coer the aame route and a short roots, too without noticing any. thing ha particular. Yet on, the last day I might suddenly find somewhere along that route a' ixpot which I might consider the prettiest I had ever seen. "The city eqiures In New York have Most Beautiful Spot.

intrinsic charm. Lately-1 have looking at the western half of Btuyvs-sant Square. Usually It seems to me very beautiful, yet to show you how one's tastes vary there are times the heat of Summer when It la too hot to be beautiful The Hudson River ts one of the finest things how many people dally miss its beauties by coming to New Tork In the tunnel underneath tt The Hudson varies' greatly at different times and tt seen through differing mood a And tt Is not only the artist sees the same things In different ways, according to his mood. Take the ease of the business man crossing the Hudson in a ferryboat toward New If business Is good. New Torkv from that ferryboat, looks good" to him; tf business: is particularly good, it seems like the gates of Paradise.

But If business Is'bad, that same-New York looks like the gates of hell Xa-tha. all men are artists. One reason, why I find tt difficult tol choose one spot, In preference to another Is that. In my work, I seek to eubord nate mere places to the persona paint and to the idea of city life seek to convey. "Hers, now M-ths artist took tip picture of a group of persons tn TJnien Square "this Is a good illustration of what mean.

It represents, as you a Spring. day In a beautiful spot for Union Square is a beautiful spot Here you have'a recruiting Sergeant seeking to enlist men in the army. Here you have a young man who. Instead of enjoying the freedom and beauty, about him, Is glancing at the Sergeant and the poster beside, which latter Is standing. evW dently meditating the aacrtfioe of ms freedom.

Now. that's the way pslnt-TJMoB Square, you see, is simply the spot where that Incident happens. Nol cannot pick out any one spot as the prettiest In New, York. If I could, I'd get through my work here very quickly. As It is, there are so many beautiful epota in the city that an entire lifetime seems too short for painting them." Madison Squire Has a Champion.

Paul Cornoyer. well known as a palnV er of New York subjects, answered the question as to the prettiest spot to New York thus: "My. first. choice Is Madison SquaKaj my second Washington Square." Madison Square has such a broken he continued, when reasons were demanded. Then its clumps of trees, the- variety of.

architecture In the bandings surrounding It and the beauty of the old Madison Square Tower all eon tribute to the fine effect of the whole. But the principal reasoa for my partiality toward tt is thai It lends Itself se readily -to pictures. I have painted many tinea t- Cornoyer'a studio grvea ample proof of that" Madison Square from various points of view ties about la corners or oa easels. Another painting on the earns favorite subject Is now a part of the United States exhibit at the International Exhibition at Borne. I like combined with people- combination' of landscape, buildings, and the life of the city," the artist observed.

Then be said a few nice things about Washington Square and went on with his '7 14 Nothlnj Like North Waihlojtrt Square "Everett Shlnn. But It took Everett Shlnn to sing the real paean of praise to Washington Square. To begin with, he loves it so that he Uvea In Waverley Place. Just around the corner from It and. to judge from tM number of paintings adorning the walls et his home, this energetic member of Th Elsht" spends a good part of his time putting his favorite spot Into art That north slda of Washington 8quar (Contlaaed on rage 104.