C. S. Pietro to Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, 18 January, 1917

              18 January, 1917

Mrs. Henry Payne Whitney
871 Fifth Ave.
New York City

Dear Mrs. Whitney:

I am deeply mindful of your great
generosity to Friends of the Young Artists, which
could not have survived without "your encouragement 
and sponsorship, and before replying to your inquiries
concerning a jury and prizes, I wish to thank you for
your gracious permission to use your galleries a second
time.

Dispensing with a jury, as you suggest, and having
the donors of awards select and purchase the work they
like best, seems to me an excellent idea. Indeed, it is
one that has gradually been taking shape in my own mind.
As one lives with a movement, one grows with it, and I have
come myself to see that it is more art-respecting and more
economically sound for the prize_winner to give something
in return for the prize instead of keeping the picture or
the statue himself. The traditional method of encouraging
artists by means of awards is in accord with the arti_
ficial isolation, which is the lot of the artist today.
It is much better for the artist to feel that his work is