New-York tribune. [volume], January 04, 1920, Page 5, Image 39

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
(good Auguries Left in Annals
Of the Year Just Ended
By Royal Cottissoz
____ oriie in the art history of 1919
_J_M Son? ??*?? t0 make the year
???orable. This is the page on which
S iMM-bed the great bequest left by
S_ lite Henry C. Frick. It is an im
??rfal jjft to the publics?one of glori
^?^ masterpieces fittingly housed,
?ron a certain point of view.it would
WANTED
To Purchase
Paintings
by
Wyant
Martin
Homier
Fuller
Blakelock
Twachtman
Remington
Whistler
.. Murphy, Weir, Hassam
GEORGE H. AINSUE
615 Fifth Avenue, New York
Phone Plasa 688?
See my Exhibition of
SO lattess Paintings
ja* flmoeDler &. Co.
656 FIFTH AVENUE
Announce an Exhibition of
Paintings
' By HAYES MILLER
ALBERT STERNER
??* Paintings of Newport
By GEORGE BELLOWS
Jan. 6th to Jan. 17th.
Direction of Mr?. Albert Sterner
! *
?
Announcement
School of Design and
L?BERAL ARTS
212 West 59th St
New term Opens This Week
f Applied Design.
Interior Decoration,
Costume.
. An Exhibition of
Water Colors
by MARIE 8Tn.l__IA_- (Mr?. W. J.)
R-Pr-S.ntlng OI_D ENGI__8H MANOR
Houses and Gardens and other objects
TO JANTARY 15TH INC__-CSrV__
10 A. M. TO 5 P. M.
The Willow Brook Co.
Interior Decorators
9 West Forty-seventh Street, N. T.
Mezzotints, Etchings, Engravings,
Paintings, Water Colors,
Lamps, Mirrors, Frames,
Restoring, Regilding, Framing
, A epecifilty
Belnord Galleries
SSI AMSTERDAM AVE. (Cor. 87* St)
In tho "Belnord" (
JAPAN Q T. OKAJIMA,
inj *-*i^B____?. Proprlet?
____T fin_r5\ 5*2 L?*i?-toB Are,
STUDIO -^-v??*** near 60tb st*
O-esn-tlTO Oriental Antiques, lias
JLscqoer Work
OOM-ttl Art R-patrln_ of Jad., Pores
a_a> Pottery,. Ivory. Kimonos, eta
THE FLORENCE WILDE
STUDIO OF ILLUSTRATION
CJARMSCil- HALI, STCftlO 184.
87th Strr.t und 7th .. vi-no. _
??* Wn_-K, formerl. of PRATT lN_ff-_TTT_n.
*Mn . r_rtlo-l Cojr.es Four An.rn_.st s W ??_.
,1. l'or a<lvttn_ed Btudents who wish to do
jp? Uliurtratlon. 2. For beginners who
JW? t* do costume or commercial Illustrs
Oja. S. Evening life class for women. Fur
:mt Information will be mailed upon request.
-U-hed 1875. Tel. 6739 Bryant.
ART GALLERIES
.107 W. 46th St, near 6th Aye.
far ea new a fine collection of
FOREIGN AND AMERICAN
PAINTINGS
terns inspection Is cordially In ?..?__
Elmore studios
*?*>?*?. ?r _ _ ?roductlon?. fcUr.l?, Ttits
L- _ _ Ott. *n_ C_-.-n!
$ARDEN FURNITURE
*"'". P*wt?f ? Wrou.bt iron?j?,*..?. Print.
B.Mnvitjr? Cheerfully Owin
3-5 Wc.i 28th Street, N. Y.
TeL .103 Madison Square
NETROPOLITAH GALLERIES
A High Class
vU and Modern Paintings
BOUGHT
SAM _,_?ND FOR SALE
??? MADISON AVENUE, N. Y.
T?t-pt-0__- Plaza ?79?.
REISS
ART SCHOOL
*?ee4mStri?t?*,hn s^?eU
? ^^ ?!* i***??* and Sth (..troot.
?t^^-'Tv%;v_?'_--Tt_--_,
|Li?e : Sketching':
ggttile t Batik t Poster
pI?M?R
??OPEAII ETCHINGS
"ADEMY ART SHOP
M-WtoSTtklt.
' ???? to overshadow everything ois? of !
an artistic nature that occurred In the
last year. But there is another matter
to be cited which is, in its way, quite
as important. This is the extraordi?
nary good.fortune which has befallen
the American artist. He has come into
his own at last, triumphing over for?
eign competition* The old masters
have not lost their hold upon our col?
lectors, nor is the living painter from
abroad neglected, but the Increase of
wealth wnich the war has brought to
the United States has undoubtedly pro?
moted a greater activity in the pur?
chase of American pictures. The na?
tive school, as a school, is riding en
the crest of the wave.
There are entirely credible stories of
individuals who have, in 1919, sold
their works in numbers and at prices
unique in their experience. We hear
of one painter who has thus garnered
a small fortune, of another who has
sold every picture in his studio save
the onu going forward on his easel,
and of Americans everywhere enjoying
a hew prosperity. The busy state of
the innumerable galleries in New York
is obvions. What is perhaps not so
generally recognised here la that,
throughout the country, in the ma-,
seums and in the shops of the dealers,
American pictures are popular as never
before. Whether or not a new crop of
collectors is in sight remains to be de?
termined, but that the American artist
is being drawn upon for the embellish?
ment of countless American homes is
a fact beyond contradiction. The
movement has been going on for some
time. When it comes to be analyzed
by the historian we believe that 1919
will be set down as the culminating
year.
The /Esthetic Fruits
Of the World War
Early In the progress of the war we
hazarded a doubt as to the trans?
mogrifying effects which In some quar?
ters it was expected to work in the de?
velopment of art. It seems reasonable
now to state that that doubt,has been
confirmed. A good deal of foreign
painting has been shown over here and !
we have kept careful watch of the field '
us it has been surveyed in the Euro- j
pean press and periodicals. Attaching ]
all the significance that, can fairly be
assigned to the so-called "modernist"
movement, it is still impossible to say
that the war has thrown up new types
oh the horizon, thijt it has germinated
any new ideas. The theory that in the
crash of civilization artists would be
made' over has been exploded. Civiliza?
tion, the old civilization, has, after all,
survived, and with it we find the artists
"carrying on" in much the old way.
Cubism, futurism and all the other
fantastic isms were, to tell the truth,
invented and pretty well exploited be?
fore the war. Here and there they
have been applied by artists . at the
front, notably by the young English?
man, C. R. W. Nevinson. But these few
innovators cannot be said to have left
a permanent, important mark on the
subject, and the bulk of the war pic?
tures have been faithful to the modes
which the modernist, we suppose, would
call old-fashioned. He might comfort
himself, to be sure, with the just re?
flection that the bulk of the war pic?
tures have not been very good. That,
however, is an indictment of the paint?
ers concerned, not of their technical,
pictorial habit. And the men of the
old-fashioned modes might retort, in
turn, that they bad at least kept their
heads, that they had performed a valu?
able service in preserving a certain
sanity where there were tendencies
abroad calculated to land modern paint?
ing in chaos and old night.
Change, for the sake of changa, Is ?
notoriously dangerous business. In art
It too often means that Ignorance and
incompetence are masquerading In the
name of progress. Some of these days,
when the prophets of new and strange
artistic nostrums have had their fling
and been duly si'ted and pigeonholed,
it is not so likely that they will be
canonized as "misunderstood by their
contemporaries" as it Is that they will
be dismissed once and for all to the
limbo of those unhappy daubsters who
never learned how to paint. The war
?)?=S<><=>O<=?O<S=>0<==K><=?0
Antiques
| UNUSUAL I
| CHINTZES O
I BROCADES . j
|j and ?
j DAMASKS j
I WALLPAPERS
| PAINTINGS
I reproductions!
?OPJENTAL PvUGSj
| D^vidO.Hynn
x ' interiors \
y Fhre Ert Fifrjr-third Street |
j] Phon? 414 -Plut' i
?ScSSMMSS?0<SS><MS=S>0?SaM}?3Ml
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
(From the Triptych by Herri Met de Bles at the Enrich Gallery)
has tested these presumptuous ones,
giving them their chance. We are' not
speaking now of the paintable material
which the battlefield may or may not
have offered. We are speaking rather
of the atmosphere of collapse and re?
organization, the atmosphere of dislo?
cation, in which the old schools may
be presumed to have left the new all
the freedom in the world to bring revo?
lutionary ideas to the front. What have
the vaunted modernists done to ad?
vance on artistic revolution? All we
have been able to discover has been
a quantity of stupid, ill-painted pic?
tures, signifying nothing. They have not
thrown us back with j?y upon the prod?
ucts of the old school. The war pie
instead of the composite, neutralized,
compromising thing which is offered
as a jury's opinion, but which really
represents no member of the jury. If
people say the Independent shows are
bad they must mean that American art
is bad, for no one can deny that those
exhibitions represent'American art in
all its phases and with examples from
every corner of the country. Suppose
they are bad shows. Would it not be
all the more necessary to give them,
for it is only by seeing what we are
about that we can learn to do better."
We call Mr. Pach's observations
illuminating, for they give away with
both hands the naive assumption on
which a pathetic fallacy is founded.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?it-- ??i?iit?*!???? ?. ?
MADONNA AND CHILD
(From the Painting by Cavazzola at the Ehrich Gallery)
tures, we repeat, have been largely me?
diocre. But the modernist has put
nothing convincing In their place. Let
it not be forgotten that in art beauty
Is all, and if there is one thing of which
the modernists are as a rule hopelessly
Innocent it is beauty.
Apropos*of this subject, we have re?
ceived from Mr. Walter Pach, of the
Society of Independent Artists, an il?
luminating letter. He mentions a re
marls that he and his colleagues have
often heard about their exhibitions.
"People say they are bad shows. Per?
sonally I don't agree at all, but I should
be quite willing to let the statement
go, except that I am so sure the re
markers ?and the society are at cross
purposes. They attribute purposes
where there are none. No one who
wanted tq give a good show (or a bad
one) would ever be so mad as to open
the doors to whatever chose to wander
in. He might get some of the things
he wanted, but he would be sure to get
some he didn't want. Now, a society
which takes as its ?principle the watch?
word of 'No juries' can evidently not
have any intention of giving a good
show or a bad one." The purpose of
tho Independents, then, is simply to
give a sl.ow in which the artists con?
tributing may have "just that much
more chance of their carrying out the
ideas they believe in," and the public
thereby Is, on this hypothesis, well
served. For "if the public knows that
at the Independent exhibition there is
a chance to get an nndlstorted view of
what the artists are doing, with exam?
ples of every kind of work?from fa?
mous to infamous?then It can be Inde?
pendent itself and have its own opinion
i s i i . i ? n? T~re?%
Chinese Antique?
?41 East ITth Mrs**
Nn York
The Independents, as they are here
presented, blandly affirm the principle
that an artist, for some occult ?reason,
is entitled to carry on his education In
public. He Is to be admitted to a pub?
lic show In order that he may, for?
sooth, carry out the ideas he believes
in. But why 7 Suppose, as often hap?
pens, that his ideas are worthless, or,
what happens still more often, that he
hasn't any ideas at all? Why in the
world should people be bored to death
by his preposterous divagations? And
who are the persons involved when Mr.
Pach says that "it is only by seeing
what we are about that we can learn
to do better"? The artists? A very
ordinary Instructor in the average art
school could tell a lot of? them how to
do better. This Idea that the Inde?
pendents have no intention of giving a
good show or a bad one, but just a kind
of clinical show, in which Independ?
ence, poor creature, is to be.diagnosed,
like a baby with adenoids, is quite the
worst thing we have ever heard about
the Independents?the worst because
we fear that it is the most candid, the
truest We are acquainted with no
legislative statute on the subject. "We
all have a right to exist, we and oui
works," quoth Andrew Lang. Never?
theless, it seems to us axiomatic and
in the nature of things that in ? world
that is striving for excellence the pro?
moters of any publie enterprise should
be expected to try to distinguish be<
tween good and bad. That is why w<
have policemen to enforce reepect fos
law and order. That is why, in the do
main of the things of the mind, right
thinking human beings recognize th<
play of standards. Authors, dramatists
musicians, artists of all kinds, try t?
find out what is good and what is ba<
In the art they produce be ore the:
address themselves to ths public. I
the painter alone to chuck standard
overboard, to ask the publio to endur
him with patience while he is formini
himself, like a spoilt child or som
helpless 'parasite? That is nonsense
, The public asks, and bas a right to ask
that before he bulges Into view h
\ should wash his faoe and hands, lean
? bis trade.
| There are two kinds of modernisa
The kind that is spelt with a capital
letter and turned Into a fetish is the
kind that mediocrity loves. Then there
is the modernism that amounts to
nothing more or less than an honest
restlessness?a well-meant wandering
between two worlds. It has its weak?
ness?and its strength. Mr. Boris An
Isfeld is a Russian who has turned his
back on convention and In the process
has allowed himself some rather spe?
cious crochets. He has, we imagine,
dipped Into cubism a little. He has
felt the vague, unsettling influence of
C?zanne. But he has remained a man
of talent, with an authentic gift. His
scenery for Maaterlinck's "Blue Bird"
has made a genuinely romantic appeal
at the Metropolitan Opera House. At
the Kingore gal.ory his original de
I signs for it may be seen and with them
! a large number of his paintings,
brought here under the auspices o?
the Interallied Art Association after a
tour of the provincial museums In the
United States. He leaves an interest?
ing impression, conveyed In terms ol
color.
Tho "Bine Bird" designs are sug?
gestiv? of this painter's natural milieu
He was born to function in the theater
there to evoke the atmosphere fitting
for this or that romantic pageant. He
has a large, sumptuous way with him
handling the hues of the gorgeous Easl
as though, indeed, he held that East ir
fee, flinging its riches on his canvasoi
with onbridled lavishness. His weak
ness develops In the rather factitioui
nature of the illusion he creates. I'
is an illusion of fancy rather than o:
imaginations of the decorator rathe:
than the creative artist. He tackle:
heroic themes, "The Garden of Eden,'
"The Garden of the Hesperides," bu
the emotion he excites has nothing t<
do with legend, either Scriptural o;
profane; it is only the emotion that ii
roused by( some glowing tapestry. Hii
nudes and their luxuriant backgrounds
his medleys of leafage, gleaming fruit
and shimmering blue pools, are just si
many webs of sensuously brillian
color. He hasn't an atom of the imag
(native power belonging to a paintei
say, like the French Gustave Moreau
who could make his image of "Salom?
a living, breathing thing?the fl_miii?
heart of a coruscating jewel. Mr. Anis
fold's figures have no individual per
suaslveness. They are simply pegs o
which to hang arrangements of coloi
His dreams are those of the theater
not of the poet. Yet he has his tlei
with a certain reality. Witness hi
admirably drawn portraits, vivid stud
i<_B in characterization, and his variou
impressions of landscape and the set
The silvery "Alder Grove" is a beat
tiful picture. Sketches like the "Wir
ter" and the "Melting Snow" contaii
paradoxically, both the vague breadt
of C?zanne and the piercing truth <
Mr. Sargent. Viewed as a whole, th
art of this Russian painter seems somi
what overwrought, overblown. Tl
blazing color filling it is often n
dundant, too hot. But, even while v
are repelled by the artist's barbar
emphasis, we are grateful for his ei
ergy? his fervor, and, above all, h
originality. For there is soraethit
very fresh and personal about thei
pictures?hothouse growths thouf
they may be. The note of decade
extravagance running through the
cannot invalidate their rich, sensuoi
vitality.
The Cult of th?
Drawing and the Print
There will be a sale at the Anders
I Galleries to-morrow evening, and a
other twenty-four hours later, d
persing the collection of Mr. George
Hellman.' He offers a rare opportun!
to the amateur for whom the enchat
ment of art lies in the drawing or t
print. The very fact that this is not
great collection constitutes one of
chief merits. It contains modest trei
are, the souvenirs for which those w
have modest purses are always wat?
ing. Mr. Hellman is the type of c<
noisseur who is not obsessed by gri
names. Som* such names appear
his catalogue, to be sure, Gorregglo 1
ing one of then., but it is for cha
rather than importance that his c
lection is to be commended.
Cometimos, too, th? charm is .
bodied in a fragment of something vi
Ilk? brilliance. Th? group of th
Fragonards is admirable and on* dn
ing in It, the "Forest Scene," Is a lit
gem.' Before th? "Two Cherubs"
tributed to Raphael and the "Saint
Being Tortured" given to Cesare da
Sesto we remain absolutely cold. Be?
fore tbe slight but characteristic relics
of Cal lot and the draftsman con
jecturally designated aa Guardi we
have a feeling of sheer pleasure. Mr.
Hellraan is a good cataloguer. He
thinks ?the Guardia may be by Bibiena
and says so. Evidently what he most
cares about ia that a drawing should
be intrinsically of some interest.
Hence the presence of any number of
school pieces which have nothing to
brag about save their excellent qual?
ity. There are many modern drawings'
in the collection, pieces by Blum, Ab?
bey, Harry Fenn, and so on. The ex?
amples of Wyatt Eaton are fine, one of
them a superb "Judgment of Paris," a
work which would command excited !
competition if it happened to bear the i
name of Fantin Latour. Students of
the art of Mr. Arthur B. Davies will be
amused by the three drawings of his
early period, landscapes which hardly
foreshadow the poetic achievements of
his prime. Old and modern prints,
some of them in good impressions, are
interspersed among the drawings. The
ensemble suggests the emptying of a
lot of loved portfolios. There is negli?
gible stuff In the mass. And there are,
quantities of minor prizes.
The Hunter Collection
Of Oriental Objects
When the Japanese color prints as?
sembled by the late Frederick William
Hunter were sold not long ago they
gave an uncommonly good account of
his taste. It was plain that he had
had a flair for the right print, the
discernment which is based not merely
on knowledge, but on sure Instinct.
The same idea is suggested by the
Orientalla and other treasures belong?
ing to his estate, which will be sold
through seven afternoon sessions at
the American Art Galleries, beginning
next Wednesday. There is a large pil?
grim-bottle vase of clair-de-lune glass
(No. 728) In a case by itself on the
threshold of the exhibition. It pro?
claims in its serene beauty the quality
of the porcelains at large In these
rooms. Coral red and pistache, canary
yellow and mustardseed, all the ex?
quisite nuances of tone which come out
of the East, are illustrated in ex?
quisite examples. There are some fine
pieces of decorated porcelain, and the
blue and white is interesting, but it
is in Mr, Hunter's single-color glazes
that the collection is most impressive.
It embraces also a remarkablo array
of Chinese snuff bottles, a little world
by itself of miracles in jade, agate,
chalcedony, porcelain and so on. There
18 a valuable lot of Anglo-American
Staffordshire, there is much early
American glass, and to round out the
collection there is an amazing group of
eighteenth century, mirror knobs,
quaint bits of enamel In which both
portraiture and landscape ^are often
surprisingly artistic The knobs arel
JOHN LEVY Galleries
High Class
? PAINTINGS
Announce removal to their
new building
559 Fifth Avenue
mainly of curious interest, but they
have their aesthetic quality. It was
like Mr. Hunter to seek them out. He
knew the value of 'the unconsidered
trifle. Only, to satisfy him, it had to
meet a certain high standard of crafts?
manship.
The Madonna in
T?en Old Paintings
It is a delightful group of early
paintings dedicated to the Madonna
that has been gathered together at the
Ehrich gallery. Diverse schools are
represented. First comes a crowded
triptych by Herri Met de Bles, cnwded
after the fashion of devotional art in
the north, the Three Kings bringing
their gifts to the Christ Child under
gorgeous Roman arches. Beyond the
stately architecture in the central
panel, and in the wing on the right
I hand, the simple beauty of the country?
side is painted with true Flemish real?
ism. There is another strong example
of naturalistic painting in the show,
Zurburan's "Holy Family," which is one
of the noblest, works by the Sevillan
master ever brought to this country.
The composition, as is character?
istic of him, has a simple yet mon?
umental dignity. The ligures are
portrayed with a touch of the grand
style. They loom against a beau?
tiful landscape. Zurburan, the paint?
er of monkish portraits, is ?fter
ascetic to the point of gloominess. Oc?
casionally he had moments of Bweel
and human naturalness, of gracious ant
altogether sympathetic sentiment. Ii
one of them he painted this majestj?
"Holy Family." There are severa
Primitives of mild interest in th<
group, and there are two or three love
ly Italian paintings illustrating tht
purest strain of Renaissance art. Tht
tondo of the school of Botticelli is on?
of these very attractive things. Th<
"Madonna and 'Child," by Cavazzola
perhaps the most sumptuous work or
the walls, is another. The collectior
is small, but well balanced. It is a
pleasant episode with which to inau?
gurate the new year at this gallery.
^?^^?^??B-_______________-_-______--M____i i m r "" r i m ?_________?__?______??
THE HOLY FAMILY
(From the painting by Zurburan at the Ehrlch Gallery)
Random Impressions
In Current Exhibitions
Another war exhibition has been
opened. Miss Thalia Millett is showing
at the Durand-Ruel Gallery a collection
of pictures which she has recently
painted along the Western battle front.
________
A number of Western paintings by
Mr. Warren E. Rollins may be seen at
the New Gallery, Delmonico's, until the
middle of the month. At the Babcock
Gallery there are some California paint?
ings by Dr. Maurice Braun.
The foreword to the catalogue of Cap?
tain Royston Nave's exhibition af the
Milch Gallery introduces "a Texan who
paints with a big, free stroke of the
exuberance of color?a true spirit of the
sweeping Southwest, who, having stood
up in his spurs and cast his eye over the
great Gulf to find Mexico tranquilised
and Germany stunned, pat aside the
sabes; and resumed the brush.". The pic?
tures on the walls make us acquainted
prith a facile, rather superficial crafts?
man. He shows one large painting from
the nude, a clever performance wanting
in the accent of originality and style.
There is more promise in the portraits,
full length and smaller studies In which
Captain Nave's adroit workmanship is
put at the service of a spirited, decora?
tive conception of his task. In color as
brushwork he displays a certain
forcefulness. In neither has he yet
achieved quality. He has already
much ease in attack and so much vital?
ity that ho can afford to give more at?
tention now to the cultivation of a more
delicate manipulation of pigment, a finer,
more* subtle exercise of taste.
KIT KAT CLUB
EXHIBITION
FROM JAN. 4tk to JAN. 171k
Open fro? 4 to ? p. m. oni S p. a. to 1 a, ?.
THELANTERN ?^???ff
160 W. FOURTH 8T, Near 6th AV&.
KLEEYBERGER
GALLERIES
Established 1848
OLD MASTERS
and
PRIMITIVE
PAINTINGS
Frequent importations of desirable
pictures for the collector
and the home
725 Fifth Avenue
Paris ; 9 rae ?e l'Echelle
wesTern - pa in
INTHe NEW CALLERV
?. DELMONICOS
Piftrk ?ve ?t.-44->T
Open dally?including Sunday
10 a. m. to 10 p. m.
Howard Young
GALLERIES
PAINTINGS
A.G.WARSHAWSKY
Now On
Exhibition '
620 Fifth Avenue, at 50th St.
EXHIBITION OF PICTURES
Painted Recently along the
Western Battle Front
BT
THALIA
MILLETT1
JANUARY 3D TO 17TH
Durand-Ruel
12 East 57th Street
MILCH Galleries
Announce a Social Exhibition of
PORTRAITS
ROYST?N NAVE
Dec. 29 to Jan. 15
108 West 57th Street
_'(adjoining Loto. Club)_
j
nUDENSINC
PAINTINGS by
GEORGE INNESS A.H.WYANT
R.A.BLAKELOCK
J.FRANCIS MURPHY
and other American artist?.
45 West 44th St. SSk_??1_?___-.*M
The Picturesque Mountains
and Fjords of Norway in Winter
WILLIAM H. SINGER
A. X. __.
NOW ON VIEW
FOI_SOMG.?._
(Dreloer Bids.) Entra?e? on 46th Btjoot
P. B. Butler & Co.
Decorative Paintings
harly Freneh, Italian and Dutoh
Umdreapm, M orme? end Ftoteer?,
\ 601 Madison A-*e.v(57th St)
J
\ MUSI
BATIK EXHIBIT
ACADEMY ART SHOP
163 Weal 57th Street