Life, 1887-12-01 · page 5 of 16
Life — December 1, 1887 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 303 Analysis This page contains three distinct illustrations with satirical commentary on 1880s American society: 1. **Mercury and Apollo figures** (left side): Classical statues depicted in fashionable contemporary dress—Mercury in evening wear with knickerbockers, Apollo in a tailor-made suit. The satire mocks wealthy collectors who dress classical sculptures in modern clothing, treating priceless art as fashion objects. 2. **Venus of Milo illustration** (center): Shows the famous armless statue clothed in contemporary women's fashion. The text jokes about the difficulty of dressing a statue lacking arms, suggesting absurdity in the collector's practices. 3. **Greek Slave figure** (lower right): Likely references Hiram Powers' famous neoclassical sculpture, depicted in modern dress, continuing the theme of incongruous modernization of classical art. The overall satire ridicules wealthy art collectors' tastelessness in altering priceless classical works.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“DPF E > A LETTER TO ANTHONY COMSTOCK. PITTSBURGH, Pa., Nov. 21, 1887. Dear Sir,—1 wish you would come and look at my art collection. I have inaugurated a new departure, so to speak, which I cannot help thinking will meet with your hearty approbation. The statue of Mercury standing in my hall, with his right hand ex- tended as though he had just let go acurve ball, has hitherto been unclothed to an exaggerated extent. He has not even, until this winter, worn a coat of paint. Now, how- ever, I have procured for him a pair of trousers, of the wide, influ- ential brand affected by our dudes. His new ulster is of the latest pattern, with a latitudinarian band around his waist. It would make your eyes water to see my Apollo Belvedere in evening dress, with knicker- bockers. A mackintosh is thrown loosely over his left shoulder and his feet are en- cased in silk stockings; a great improvement over the air of openness with which he was formerly clothed. But the new wardrobe of the lady members of my collection will delight you especially. As you doubtless know, the Greek Slave has hitherto not even had a porous plaster in (or on) her trunk, In fact, she has stood through all weathers in full dress carried to extremes and then thrown away. Now she rejoices in a tailor-made suit of exquisite workmanship, and a chest protector with pongee embroidery is covering a portion of her superficial area. Her hose is of the striped variety, and her feet wear the cutest little shoes you ever saw. The Venus of Milo is another statue of the female brand which has hitherto had nothing to wear. I had some difficulty in providing her with clothes, owing to the unfortunate accident whereby she lost her arms. I have, however, clothed her with an opaque Mother Hubbard, which will meet the requirements of the most fastidious. I would like you to look at her, though, and if you think best, I will get Dr. Mary Walker to construct a pair of trousers for her, or purchase a number six bloomer. Several other women works of art look quite trig in their x MERCURY, GREEK SLAVE. new garments, provided with bus- tles, passamentaries, false hair, and other articles of feminine garmen- ture. Come and look at them any evening this week when you hap- pen to have leisure. Yours sincerely, Wo. H. SIVITER. P.S.—I forgot to state that I have placed a pair of pantaloons on the limbs of such chairs as infest the art gallery. W. H. S. VENUS OF MILO, IMPLICIT FAITH. ¢¢ CIR,” he said, as he handed the youth a tract, “are you a young man of Faith?” “Yes, sir,” the young man replied, “I eat a Third Avenue table d’hote dinner every night.” T HE Ornithologists are much interested in a recent dis- covery that birds travel by night during their migratory periods. It has long been known that jail-birds possessed this habit, but it was not suspected of the innocent members of the feathered kingdom. _ INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. 1 is to be hoped that the Authors’ Readings in aid of In- ternational Copyright, the last of which is to be given this afternoon, will have proved as successful as they deserve to be. There is no more crying evil in this country to-day than the absence of such a law. Our Government recognizes all professions but literature and art, the two that contribute most to the health and happiness of the general public, and not only are these two professions ignored in the “ division of spoils,” but it seems as if everything were done to give them a black eye. Comstocks are permitted to browse through the fields of Art, thrusting their hoofs through any and every canvas that has the misfortune to rouse unholy passions in their breasts, while, by the absence of a copy- right law, the literary men of the land are literally driven out by foreign competition. We have men in this country who can produce fully as good work as any of the foreign literary guild, but whose labors are rendered valueless to them be- cause dishonest American publishers can steal three or four works of foreign authors, and sell them all for less than one work by an American author can be sold at a fair profit. The present system is demoralizing to the American people. Every purchaser of a cheap reprint of English or other for- eign books is a purchaser and a receiver of stolen goods. If it is pleasing to the free-born American citizen to reflect that he is an accessory to the crime of literary poaching, we congratulate him upon the density of his epidermis. comicbooks.com