OCR Text |
Show because of its subject or because of the excellence of its drawing and printing, it does not matter much who may have been the artist. The thing is to collect only those prints that one feels are well executed. Good prints, etchings that will lend distinction to any collection, can be picked up for very small sums. The pleasure a collector obtains from his collection is not necessarily proportionate to the amount of his expenditure. The intelligent lover of beauty can derive lasting satisfaction from his carefully selected but inexpensive prints. Remember to get the best things one's purse will afford, though purchases be few. Don't buy too many of the cheaper kind. Possession of a moderate number of mediocre prints, it is true, is not to be despised, but once having these then husband your resources and buy 10 only occasionally, but get the best. The beamy of a collection of prints is not in numbers. One must have a few of the first rank. They give more lasting and genuine pleasure than all the others combined. · Among the old masters, these kings of art do not often appear in the auction room or in the dealer's portfolios. One must be prepared to recognize them when offered, and to pay the price. It is one of the pleasures of collecting that one's taste for the finer things develops with experience. A collection of prints often is improved by throwing away the cheaper and preserving only the best- quality not quantity should be the aim. In buying prints one should take • into consideration the artist, though this is not all-important, the quality of design, the impression the print makes by its beauty, by its appeal to II |