express my meaning, and I have spoken to the most intelligent people about art and they have not understood; but among people who understand, words are not necessary, you sayΓÇôhumph, he haΓÇôand everything has been said. Public taste has not been advanced one jot by writing about art. I think literature has only done harm to art." This, which is truth itself, is akin to Talleyrand's remark that the religion of all wise men is about alike and his reply to the question as to what the religion is, "That is what wise men don't tell."
That situation makes worth while getting a collection that is the owner's personal exponent, and especially to the man who, in forming the habit of achieving by his personal efforts, has learned two great lessons of life: the keen pleasure in pursuing an elusive object, and his own judgment based upon sound knowledge as, for him, the court of last resort.
