Life, 1893-08-10 · page 11 of 16
Life — August 10, 1893 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 91 This page contains a narrative about art dealing paired with two satirical illustrations. **The main illustration** titled "FEMININE TRIALS: HER FIRST ATTEMPT AT ORDERING A DINNER" depicts a woman nervously attempting to order at a restaurant while male staff members gesture dismissively. The satire mocks women's supposed incompetence in public social situations—a common early 20th-century stereotype. **The smaller cartoon** labeled "NAVAL RESERVE" shows two figures in exaggerated dress, likely satirizing military preparedness or social pretension during a period of military concern. The text discusses an art dealer's cynical marketing tactics, suggesting that wealthy Americans lack genuine taste and can be manipulated into purchasing art through flattery and social pressure—a critique of emerging American wealth and cultural insecurity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- 91 He then showed me examples of the old mas- ters, Rubens, Corregio, Courbet, Nast and others. Occasionally I said, * Hem,” but not in such y as to commit myself. Sometimes I smiled, If know what I meant, 1 y my opinion to the awa but as I did not my felt sure that I di dealer, Sometimes I began a deep critical re- not betra k, but I alwa If before saying anything, The pictures stood in their shadow-boxes about the floor, and I looked at several very intently while they were bottom-side up. “Let me——" said the dealer, starting “to them. “It is not necessary,” I said, carelessly, The subjects chosen by the old masters were a cow drinking, ma s interrupted m: an acre of forest, a willow tre a cow drunk, an acre of forest, a willow tree, a cow, etc. Rubens exhibited one of his washer- women's harvest-homes, the women, of Dutch descent, sharing a preposterously but neces- sarily long red shaw! as raiment. They were flying through the air, and they looked rather old for that sort of thing. Some of the animal pieces I cannot pretend to criticise, as the animals are no longer extant. here never were such pictures,” said the dealer. “ You must make many “Nota sale. These Americans—they come in and walk around, and maybe some woman says to her friend, when I eye them sort of sharp, ‘Now, Mrs. Bloom, you ought to buy that’; and Mrs, Bloom says, ‘It would be so suitable for your fine collection, Mrs. Hodgson ; it would suit your col- lection better than mine,’ and then the: both get frightened, sales,” I said. Aas bees) ie ee FEMININE TRIALS. HER FIRST ATTEMPT AT ORDERING A DIN: \i and say they'll come = — in again, and they walk out The prices of the pictures from $5,000 to $40,000. ctures did not vary so much. And then,” said the ler, bitterly, “ the people never seem to know what to admire. They wander around from picture to picture, and then, as I say, walk out.” yd said, * you turn these pictures around and chalk the prices on “My dear si ‘NAVAL RESERVE.” the back, and our people will look at them more under- standingly. “ As the dealer seemed discouraged, I asked the price of a Corot. It represented a night scene. The moon was up, at is the way to get the valu however, and the s| sa fine blue. “That,” said the dealer, with real pleasure in his voice, * is $35,009. Do you like it ?” What could I say? While I was thinking what I could say, the dealer spoke of the picture with a growing air.of congratulating me as if I had already purchased it. He said it was undoubtedly the choicest work in his possession, and that at the low figure he was able to make on it he had fore- seen that it would bz picked up as soon as a judge of art saw it. “Yes.” 1 said. it is certainly a fine work and a bargain, comicbooks.com