Jervis McEntee Diaries

Friday January 14, 1881

Jervis McEntee Diary Entry, January 14, 1881, from the Jervis McEntee papers, 1850-1905, in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Friday, Jan 14, 1881 This has been a rainy, depressing day and I have had a most depressing experience. Eastman came down to tell me my picture was the cause of great trouble at the Union League Club and I found that neither he nor Henry nor Waller liked it fully and so I wrote a note to Waller that in order to relieve them from all responsibility I declined to sell it to the club and he could send it back to me. I need the money very much but I saw it would be a great injury to me to insist on the contract. It has relieved Eastman who I saw was in great trouble and had great sympathy for me. The incident has made me feel very unhappy, but I have been in a measure prepared for it. The most discouraging thing about it is the hostility developed at the Union League Club towards the American Artists. The artists of the Art Committee were turned out last night at the election and such men as Avery put on which is most significant. It is impossible to predict where this feeling is going to land us. It discourages me. I am going home tomorrow and I wish I could stay there.

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