CHILDREN - Lesson 2: To tame the wild beast

Child

Hi. This lesson has two stories that we think you’ll like. The first comes from a magazine published in 1866. The second comes from a controversy about a plumber who wanted to enter a museum in 1897 but wasn’t allowed in. The stories ask questions like this one, Who is art for?

Adult/Teacher

Hello. This lesson presents two stories that we hope will be interesting to a child. By using examples from the 19th century, a child will be able to note how art serves a purpose as a refiner of society. Or does it?

To tame the wild beast

On January 1, 1866, the first issue of The Juvenile Instructor was published. It was the ancestor of Friend, published today by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for children around the world. The Juvenile Instructor was a slim thing, just four pages long. Today we might call it a newsletter. George Q. Cannon was the editor, publisher, and owner of The Juvenile Instructor. To subscribe—it was issued twice a month—cost was $3.00 per year, which was a considerable amount in 1866. Cannon wrote of his intent in the first issue, Vol. 1, no. 1, “…to render this a paper that will be worthy of the patronage of parents and every person who takes any interest in the education and development of the children of this Territory.” [1]

As you would imagine, the content of this little publication centered on education and spiritual development, but also refinement. In a pattern that began then and continues more or less unaltered today, Latter-day Saint children were encouraged to learn about the things of the world and the things of God which build character. The first issue of The Juvenile Instructor began with a poem, “Little Birds.” Here are its first and last stanzas:

The earth is covered deep with snow,

The streams are frozen fast;

The mountain raven circling low,

With measured wing glides past.

Then do not hurt the little birds,

Even in simple play;

They cannot speak their thanks in words,

But in sweet chirps they may.

In the third issue, February 1, 1866, The Juvenile Instructor begins with another poem, “I’ll Never Use Tobacco,” and continues with an article about learning to draw, “The Future Artist.” The image that accompanies the article shows a little boy with his slate—a sort of portable blackboard that students used in school instead of paper. Common to us now, paper was expensive and hard to get in the Territory. The boy is proud of himself and the little drawing he has made, although the drawing is not very accomplished. Basically, it’s a stick figure, the kind of thing that much younger children draw. But the point is that the boy is happy with it and proud of himself. The article concludes with this, “Do you ever try to draw? If you do, be not discouraged even if your attempts should be no better than [t]his one. ‘Try again’ is a good motto; so keep trying till you make a good picture of what you are endeavoring to draw. There are rules by which you can learn to do this, and if you have a desire and talent for it, do not neglect that talent,—it is the gift of God, and is given to be wisely used and to do good.” [2]

In both of these examples, art was used to teach a moral lesson—don’t hurt animals and be persistent. In later issues after it became easier to print images, pictures continued to teach. Art illustrated moral concepts. 

If you were asked this question, “What is art for?”, how would you answer? Imagine that you are living in 1866, what would you say art was for? George Q. Cannon, who was also an apostle at the time—and a fascinating person to read about—might have answered that art helps children learn important lessons in ways that merely speaking can’t. He also said that art is to “do good.” 

Look at any issue of The Juvenile Instructor or the Church publications that came after it, The Instructor, The Children’s Friend, and Friend, and you will see similar uses of art and encouragement of artistic development. Visual images, poetry, and music taught lessons to the children. Another lesson is that art is good, refinement and creativity are good, and the products of talent serve a larger purpose.

What do you think is the purpose of art in your life? List as many responses as you can. 

Thinking of visual art and objects specifically, what do they contribute to your life? 

Let’s end the lesson with another 19th century story. 

The plumber

One day, in 1897, a plumber in his overalls—some said he worked in the sewers of New York City, where he lived—walked up the stairs outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue and wanted to go inside to see some art. The museum wouldn’t let him in. This denial of entry caused a public scandal. People argued, what is art for? Who gets to see it? Is it only for the rich, or is it for everybody, even people in their smelly work clothes? A city newspaper printed this headline, “Sober Workman Has to Leave Art Galleries. Art for the Well Dressed. Sensitive and Refined Plumber Affronted.”

This was a public relations nightmare for the museum. It was founded in 1870, and its stated purpose was to show art to everybody. In fact, American museums took great pride in the fact that their doors were open to all, unlike European art collections held by royalty and seen by them, alone. Ultimately, the issue was resolved. The Metropolitan became even more dedicated to its public, and perhaps the notoriety brought additional people to want to see art in the museum, to see what all the fuss was about.

In the midst of the scandal, the president of the Metropolitan, Joseph Choate, wrote to his boss, the president of the Department of Parks. The letter is really interesting because it describes how far the museum had come in changing the behaviors of the public. In a way, he is saying that the museum had tamed the rough character of its visitors, “You do not see any more persons in the picture galleries blowing their noses with their fingers; no more dogs brought into the Museum openly or concealed in baskets. There is no more spitting tobacco juice on the gallery floors, to the disgust of all other visitors. There are no more nurses taking children to some corner to defile the floors of the Museum….” As art historian Calvin Tomkins summarized, “The barbarian hordes were learning to tread timorously in the muses’ shrine.” [3]  

Can you imagine going into a museum and spitting on the floor or going to the bathroom in the corner of the gallery? We have come a long way!

In those days, art was seen as a way to tame the savage beast, to soothe the soul, to gentrify, to smooth away their frontier roughness. Many thought that if a rough person was simply in the same room with cultivated art, he or she would be elevated and made better. And maybe they were right.

What do you think? Does exposure to art change people?

[1] George Q. Cannon, The Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 1, no. 1, 1866, p. 3  Did you know that all of the early publications of the Church are available online? Here is the link to The Juvenile Instructor.

[2]George Q. Cannon, The Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 1, no. 3, 1866, p. 3.

[3] Calvin Tomkins, Merchants and Masterpieces: The Story of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1970, p. 21.