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HOW TO SHOW PICTURES TO CHILDREN

country. But he surprised me quite as much when we were hurrying through the next room, where I was sure there was nothing to interest him, by pausing before the great Velasquez, the Prince Baltasar and Dwarf, with sudden decisive approval, “That’s a nice picture.” And so it is. After all, what does it matter what the child likes best, pianos, pictures, or what-not, so long as it is something in this fairyland of art which will make him want to come again? That is the great desideratum. A picture gallery on a free day is a delightful resort for children. One can pick up many chance acquaintances there. The choosing game almost always meets a response. I have sometimes managed to make friends very quickly with stray young visitors by proposing that we all walk around slowly, and choose the picture we like best. The Modern Masters room at the Boston Museum has many favorites. I have seen boys there quickly choose Regnault’s Horses of Achilles, the Boy with the Hurdy-Gurdy, and Tarbell’s beautiful portrait of children on horseback.

The use of the camera opens a valuable opportunity for training boys and girls in matters of art. The young photographer wants to learn to make pictures, and his experiments duplicate in a far-off way the experience of the great artists. His first care is to get the image in the right place on the plate. If he is taking a house, he must have enough sky above it, enough grass in the foreground, and enough space on each side to look well. Repeated attempts show him what different effects he gets by changing the dis-