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Oscar Wilde's Visit to North Attleboro, 1882

Attleboro Chronicle, September 30, 1882  

What’s Coming?

 

      What’s coming? Oscar Wilde, to be sure. Coming! He is here in fact, and will deliver his lecture on “Decorative Arts” in Wamsutta Opera House this evening. Everybody has read about the great apostle of aestheticism, and every one has formed an opinion upon him. We are convinced, however, that the people of this town will not be content to draw their conclusions second-hand, when there is an opportunity to see and judge for themselves. Whatever we may think of the character of Mr. Wilde, this fact stands: He has drawn better than any English celebrity ever in this country, excepting, perhaps, Charles Dickens. He has unquestionably succeeded in making himself famous. Go tonight and see how he does it.

 

Attleboro Chronicle, October 7, 1882

  Oscar Wilde at Wamsutta

 

      Oscar Wilde visited North Attleboro last Saturday evening. That his visit was expected the large and eager crowd which assembled at the depot clearly showed. If the crowd met simply to recognize the advent of a distinguished personage it was fairly successful; but if to gratify a vulgar desire for dead-head sight-seeing, it most signally failed, for Mr. Wilde entered a closed carriage and was rapidly driven to the Wamsutta House. Here, also, was a great crowd, but the visitor again defeated the purposes of the curious by driving under the arch in the rear of the hotel. The inquisitive people who congregated in the hotel office, if they hoped to see Oscar Wilde went away disappointed; he passed directly to the dressing rooms connected with the stage.

 

      But strong as the tide of public curiosity was outside, it did not rise high enough to overcome the price of admission to the hall. Only about a hundred took seats before the curtain, and they were people more apt to be interested in a lecture on “Decorative Arts” than in any eccentricity of dress or manner on the part of the lecturer.

 

      The curtain rose a few minutes past eight o’clock and revealed -- no beautiful array of lilies and sunflowers, but an ordinary table, covered by a cloth put on with charming one-sidedness, on which rested a goblet of pure, cold water.  The rustle of expectancy subsided into an attitude of respectful attention as a tall figure advanced to the foot-lights, easily recognized from portrait and caricature to be Oscar Wilde.  His large, regular features, and long, brown hair, the various newspaper cuts have made familiar. He wore a suit of black-velvet cutaway coat and knee-breeches, silk hose and low shoes. His dress was relieved by white lace ruffles at throat and wrist. A white kid glove adorned his left hand, a jeweled ring his right. His attitude was hardly as graceful as the audience had a right to expect in an apostle of the Beautiful. His left arm, placed a-kimbo, suggested an attack of pleurisy or stitch in the side; his right was carried across his waistcoat at right angles -- the favorite position with a bashful young lady in entering a crowded drawing room. The first sentence showed he was a poor elocutionist, -- his articulation indistinct, his delivery monotonous, his endless rising inflections soporific. His first paragraph showed, with equal clearness, that he had something to say and was able to say it in such a manner as to hold the attention of his audience.

 

      After a few introductory words Mr. Wilde said that Americans had the reputation of being very averse to what is know as aesthetics. They should, however, be the most artistic of men, -- they had sprung from those nations most fond of the beautiful, the English, the Dutch, and the French, and, moreover, they lived in a country superior to all others in the variety and grandeur of its scenery. But there is, to his mind, one great obstacle standing in the way of art progress in America . We do not seem to honor the handicrafts-men sufficiently. The growth of national art must begin with beauty in the common things of life. The art the speaker wished to promote is a “democratic art;” beauty in wall paper, earthen ware and furniture. Artistic excellence is not found in machine-made articles. It grows only under the skillful touch of the human hand.

 

      In recognition of this truth continued Oscar Wilde, a coterie of young English gentlemen, wealthy, highly born and educated, had devoted themselves to the various forms of handicraft: one makes furniture, another wall paper, a third is reviving the half-forgotten art of tapestry. Such a movement must come in America if the decorative arts are to flourish. It is said Americans are of so practical a nature the artistic is lost upon them. The man who runs to catch a train little heeds the color or design of the carpet over which he hurries. But what can be of more practical value than the revival of handicrafts. Fill a house with machine-made furniture, and in five years it will be cracked and disjointed, while the handmade furniture of colonial days is as strong and handsome as ever. We can never secure good work unless the design be fine, otherwise only the commonest people will do the work and such never do work well. “Good art is the sign and symbol of good work.” The word “second-hand” could only spring up at a time when work is very dishonestly done.

 

      Many changes must be made in the external forms of life. The streets should be galleries of artistic designs; the true nobility of dress should be fostered; an atmosphere of art should be created; beauty of form must be restored to the paths of daily life else the artist’s pencil will be powerless. Who built the great cathedrals of England ? The ordinary stone cutters of the time, who learned their lessons in art from the streets of their native town. A music box destroys the melody of Beethoven’s sonnets [sic], and as with music so with the other arts, a machine destroys all their artistic qualities.

 

      Speaking of the decorative art schools of Boston and New York , Mr. Wilde remarked that he had found occasion to admire them in many particulars, but there were two things where change was desirable. In the first place, more attention should be given to the so called industrial arts of the town, the work of the carpenter, the upholsterer, the potter. Second, the work at the outset should be more simple. The students should decorate the common utensils and ornaments of life. He urged the teaching of the industrial arts in public schools, the education of children in the use of hand and eye rather then teaching them the catalogue of intrigue and crime which is called the “History of Europe.”

 

      As “the good is always beautiful, the beautiful is good”, the speaker believed that a knowledge of the beautiful traits of birds and animals would prevent some of the childish cruelty to dumb animals which moral tales had failed to correct. So from the study of nature and the work of skillful craftsmen, all might learn the pleasures found in the secrets of the imagination and all new beauty.

 

      After the lecture Oscar Wilde visited Barden’s clothing store, Draper & Etsy’s paper store and the Wamsutta Pharmacy. He expressed himself as much pleased with them all, but the object he admired most in North Attleboro was Barrows Block. He complimented it very highly. He passed a pleasant hour with Mr. Edward Williams of the Chronicle office recalling familiar people and scenes “Beyond the Sea,” then rode to Attleboro and took the Shore Line train for Providence .

 

(This may have been based on his Art and the Handicraftsman lecture.)

 

Attleboro Chronicle, October 7, 1882

(Editorial column)

 

      Oscar Wilde made one point in his lecture on "Decorative Arts," which though by no means new or original deserves attention. It was when he advised instruction in the industrial arts as a part of our public school curriculum. The fact is Americans are being rapidly superceded by foreigners in all departments of skilled labor. Recent strikes have made it necessary for manufacturers to look for new employees; they seek their recruits from over the sea, not from the ranks of American young men and women. The reason is obvious, -- there are few Americans who know how to do fine work. On advertisement for a clerk or lady copyist will bring hundreds of applicants, while one for fine joiner, frescoer, or for any branch of the finest and best paid labor will not be answered by any save foreigners. The remedy lies in dignifying the industrial arts by giving them a place in the public school.

 

Another stop on his trip was Montgomery, Alabama.

 

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