And that discrimination against the prophet
in his own country ! Under its ban the native
artist left his home and dwelt abroad ; but the
expatriation which produced pictures of Dutch
and French peasants by American painters was
in time condemned. The good of the foreign
experience lay in the medals which were brought
back out of banishment. These turned the tide
of thoughtless prejudice, and international com-
petitions have kept it rising.
But the worth of the foreign signature is now
of the lesser reckonings ; for with the same spirit
in which the American artist would annihilate
the tariff on foreign art, have the best painters
of Europe declared " there shall be no nationality
in art." It is the dealer in foreign art who
alone fans the flame of such distinction.
