The Galleries of the Exposition Part 5

This large room continues to hold the attention of the visitor by more excellent specimens of present-day art. Dougherty's marines as well as Waugh's very precise, somewhat metallic seascapes have been referred to before. Dougherty's group of four pictures is augmented by two Spanish canvases by Lewis Cohen, of which the one to the right is far more convincing than the other. They are somewhat artificial in colour. Emil Carlsen's only contribution, a fine open sea, has a quality all its own.

The feeling of pattern in sky and water surface, combined with great delicacy and suggestion of absolute truthfulness, gives it a quality quite apart from the energetic art of Waugh, Ritschel, and Dougherty.

John F. Carlson always has style to his work, a certain unaffected, n.o.ble simplicity, well brought out in three sympathetic pictures grouped near the Emil Carlsen marine. Adding to the conspicuousness of that wall, Charles H. Davis and Leonard Ochtman hold their own in their important setting. The only two figure pictures in this neighborhood are particularly lovely in colour and design, and R. P. R. Neilson deserves much praise for having struck a unique note conspicuous among the many commonplace portraits of the present day. Wendt's "Land of Heart's Desire" is unusually happy, and it supports its t.i.tle admirably. Very decorative in feeling, it is compelling in its appeal to the public.

Maynard Dixon, another Californian, shows an original small canvas, "The Oregon Trail," endowed with big feeling.

Two cases in this gallery encourage investigation of American accomplishments in the field of animal sculpture, and on closer examination of offerings in this most interesting field, we find an unusually creditable lot of work by Frederick Roth, Albert Laessle, Arthur Putnam, and Charles Cary Rumsey. They should be considered in a group if their relative merit is to be fully appreciated. Kemeys and Proctor somewhat antedate them all in their work (in galleries 69 and 72). Roth is next door to Kemeys in 45, among a variety of things done mostly in glazed clay. A very fine sense of humor comes to the surface most conspicuously in "The Butcher", "The Baker", and "The Candlestick Maker". Putnam and Laessle are in this gallery side by side. In sharp contrast with the former's muscular and broad type of modeling, the latter has a very precise and j.a.panesque quality of detail modeling which is sometimes a little photographic. Charles Cary Rumsey is only a few steps away, in gallery 48. In his original subject of a horse and man drinking he strikes a particularly unique note.

Gallery 80.

Here Metcalf's "Blossom Time" reveals the most poetic of our modern American painters. The man who bought it made a good investment. In ten years it will be a cla.s.sic and worth its weight in gold, including the frame. This canvas gives one more thrills than almost all the others by the same man - good as they are. The "Trembling Leaves" is superb, but a fussy frame destroys half the pleasure. Mrs. Philip Hale's elegant and refined interior, together with Paxton's figural work, prove that we have conquered successfully a certain field of genre which the American art-lover has been in the habit of buying in Europe. Paxton's "Housemaid" is entirely in the spirit of the old Dutch, and his "Bellissima" is most luminous alongside of his other works.

Gallery 51.

This magnetic collection comes somewhat as a shock to the public, which can't be blamed for its disapproval of the recent sensational experiments of Henri and Glackens. It is impossible to understand why a man like Glackens should so illogically abandon the soundness of his older work and do those inharmonies of form and colour which he presents on the A wall. His "Woman with Apple" is absolutely absurd and vulgar beyond description. She has "character," if that is what he is after, because her vulgarity is convincing. The rest of the things are ridiculous in their riotous superficiality. Carles seeks the same expression of individuality for which Glackens strives so hard. In his small, square picture, "Repose," Carles is most successful. Here he has created a great work of art - beautiful as well as full of character.

This canvas is one of the most successful of the new style. It needs no apologies, and it has all the qualities of an old master, with modern virility and colour added to it. Let us have new things like this and we shall not regret having tolerantly and patiently watched all the many idiocities which are paraded around under the pretext of research and experimentation. Breckenridge's still-lifes are startling at first, but studied singly they reveal a fine sense of colour. They const.i.tute a serious and successful contribution to modern art, without being in the least grotesque. I should like to have one of them in my house, without fear of their very vigorous colour. In a totally different vein Everett L. Bryant gives some still-lifes which continue certain impressionistic methods with wonderful delicacy. In certain surroundings they will add distinction even to a commonplace room. Anshutz's "Lady in Red" is a very good academic study in a colour which in large quant.i.ties is very difficult to handle.

Gallery 50.

The academic school is continued in spirit in Sergeant Kendall's refined portraits, augmented by a painted wood sculpture of unusual quality, reminiscent of the masters of the early German Renaissance. Louis Kronberg has his customary ballet girl and Hermann Dudley Murphy some of his typical, refined marines. His surfaces are always delectable and like the inside of a sh.e.l.l in their glistening blues and pinks. Both Nelson and Hansen, two native Californians, are well represented - one by a Monterey coast, the other by a forcefully painted decorative picture called "The Belated Boat." Lathrop adds two placid pictures, of which the ca.n.a.l is the more skillfully composed.

Gallery 49.

Peace reigns supreme in this gallery of Tryon and Weir. Tryon reflects all the poetic qualities of the Barbizon group without striking a new note either technically or in composition. His larger canvases are of great beauty, very tender and poetic, and altogether too sweet to have you feel that they were painted for any other reason than to make a pretty picture. His smaller work gives you that feeling more than his larger ones. Alden Weir's art is the direct opposite of this. Searching for truth, character, and beauty, he labors over simple subjects with great concentration and does not stop until they seem like silver symphonies. His art is personal and must be studied at great length to be fully appreciated. It expects a great deal of concentration, but one willing to take the trouble will be amply rewarded by ever increasing pleasure. The art of McLure Hamilton is more interesting in the power of psychological characterization than in painting. His pictures are painted thinly, more like watercolours than oils.

Gallery 48.

No noteworthy contribution is made here, unless one excepts the academically clever portraits by Troccoli, a landscape by Vonnoh, and a sumptuous bed of rhododendrons by Edward F. Rook. Two large "Grand Canons" again demonstrate the utter futility of trying to paint such motives, which, in their success, depend entirely upon a feeling of scale that is almost impossible to attain on a small canvas.

Gallery 47.

Here Blumenschein's large Indian compositions are of decorative character. They are well composed and dramatic. The "Peace Maker" is big in feeling. Typically American and very unusual are Colin Campbell Cooper's New York street perspectives. His originality as a painter is well demonstrated by this choice, which must have taken much courage at a time when American subjects were more or less despised. Richard Millers "Pink Lady" does not look a bit convincing, cleverly as it is painted; it is not interesting enough in the large surfaces of overnaturalistic pink flesh. Half that size would have been just enough for this canvas, which is chiefly a concession to the modern mania for painting large exhibition pictures to attract attention by their size alone. Groll's desert pictures are disappointing. They have neither interesting colour nor sufficient atmosphere to come up to the standard of this typical desert painter.

Gallery 46.

There is a lovely note in this gallery, contributed by Ruger Donoho's garden scenes. Most unusual in subject, they are full of life, vibrant with colour, and altogether very delightful, a most pleasant change from the ordinary run of subjects. Frank Dumond's work on another wall (B) excels in a pleasant mannerism. His work is most thoughtful and well studied. The two smallest of his paintings are perfect gems in every way - well balanced by two small tender canvases of southern Europe by Mrs.

Dumond (on the opposite wall). Two portraits in this gallery, Inez Addams' "Daphne" and Adolphe Borie's "Spring," should not be slighted.

Borie's is very strong, and one of the best portraits on exhibition.

Alongside of it is a winter landscape by Ernest Albert, which, while a little timid, is nevertheless poetic and more convincing than others of that type near by.

Gallery 45.

Charles Morris Young's art is so refreshing, so spontaneous in every way, that it catches one's eye immediately on pa.s.sing on into this room.

His work deserves recognition for more than one reason. His handling of paint is fresh and clear and a direct aiming for a final expression of what he wants to convey. Any one of the six subjects is well handled.

They give one the feeling of the artist's thorough understanding of his material. His own "House in Winter" and the "Red Mill" reach the high-water mark of landscape painting in the exhibition. Griffin's pictures, on another wall, so openly disregard technical rules in their careless superimposition of unnecessary paint that in spite of a great richness of colour and a certain suggestion of truth, they are not apt to hold one one's affection very long. They are sincere, I admit, but careless in technique. There is no doubt about it, because heavy paint and bare pieces of canvas will not make durable pictures. Birge Harrison is disappointing in two pastels which seem too chromo-like, too mechanical, to carry their point.

Gallery 44.

This collection is not at all without interest, but with few exceptions the pictures in it are not strong enough to hold their own with so many good things abounding elsewhere. Ralph Clarkson's portrait, Bartlett's schoolyard, Perrine's technically unique landscape, are all meritorious.

Gallery 43.

Frederic M. DuMond's "Sea Carvings" in the corner, and Nahl's decorative composition attract, each in its way, while in another corner a badly skyed portrait by Hinkle is scarcely given a chance.

Gallery 74.

It will be necessary to make a little journey over to the inner side of the arch of the building to continue and finish the art of modern America. In this small Gallery, adjoining Sargent's, nothing stirring happens. Landscapes predominate, with varying interest, but nothing with any style or unity of expression presents itself, with the exception of Carl Oscar Borg's "Campagna Romana" and a fine sky over the door by William J. Kaula. The landscapes of G. W. Sotter and Will S. Robinson stand out among the rest.

Gallery 73.

Next door, in 73, Alson Skinner Clark has been given the privilege of almost an entire Gallery, without any other justification than historical interest in his shallow Panama scenes, devoid of any quality.

They are ill.u.s.trations - that is all. Gifford Beal disappoints in some superficial paintings of commonplace subjects, which a skillful technique might easily have turned into something worth while. His "Old Town Terrace" is much the best, but the collection makes one apprehensive for Beal's future performances. Paul King's canvas over the door is excellent, well painted, and interesting in subject.

Gallery 72.

There seems no end of productiveness of American painters, and justice demands more investigation and undeniably more steps. Ladies with parrots, with and without clothes, are numerous, but the one in here is more interesting than the others. I hope that not all of these parrot pictures are meant symbolically. Walter McEwen arouses memories of times gone by, technically and otherwise, in a huge storytelling Salon picture. More ladies in conventional sitting posture willingly sat for more pictures without adding new thrills. Meyer's portraits, Gertrude Fiske's sketch, Olga Ackerman's group of children, are all deserving of study. Max Bohm's two big figural pictures are decoratively interesting enough, but bad in paint. One of the best landscapes can be found here in Henry Muhrman's work, over the McEwen. There is nothing sensational about it, but its somber dignity stands out among many modern works. On the opposite wall Mrs. Sargent's" Mount Tamalpais" is unusual in composition and rich in colour.

Separated from the rest of the American section by Holland and Sweden, a series of galleries are in grave danger of being overlooked.

Undoubtedly, to offset this apparent isolation, some of the most alluring paintings can be found at this end.

Gallery 117.

Here is Frederic Frieseke, our expatriated American, with his fascinating boudoir scenes. Very high in key and full of detail, at first they seem restless and crowded, which some actually are, in a degree. But canvases like "The Garden" and "The Bay Window" and "The Boudoir" are real jewels of light and colour. "The Bay Window" is the most placid of his canvases and in conception much finer than his outdoor subjects. Frieseke's clear, joyous art is typically modern, and expresses the best tendency of our day. Luis Mora's two watercolours, while ill.u.s.trative, hold their own in Frieseke's company. Tanner's big religious canvas falls far below this capable painter's usual efforts.

Native talent helps out in a delightful marine, honestly painted by Bruce Nelson, and an apple green and pale pink colour-harmony by Charlton Fortune. Very much in the style of the Frieseke, Rittman's "Early Morning in the Garden" is easily taken for the art of his fascinating neighbor, but it should be recognized as the work 0f another kindred spirit.

Gallery 118.

In 118, landscapes predominate over figural work, at least in quality.

Harry Leslie Hoffman's "Spring Mood," Wilbur Dean Hamilton's tender and poetic canvas, and Louise Brumbach's city view bathed in the grays of an early morning call for recognition.

Gallery 119.

The general character of the next gallery is different from the preceding. Given over to oils, watercolours, pastels, lithographs, and drawings, it presents an interesting appearance. Six pastels by Henry Muhrman and Frank Mura's charcoal drawings are the leaders here, and the drawings generally are the best things among the many oils and watercolours, which were mostly made for purposes of ill.u.s.tration.

Drawings by Martinez, pastels by Miss Percy, two sympathetic drawings by Miss Hunter, and a few still-lifes in watercolour, by Miss Boone, all bear testimony to native ability as represented by California.

Gallery 120.

The last gallery contains Bellow's bold canvases, of which "The Polo Game" is the best known, another fine canvas by Henry Muhrman, and some older American work by Stewart, typical of what we used to send to Europe in years gone by.

In the Garden.

While many plastic works have been mentioned in the survey of the galleries, still great numbers of statues, statuettes, and fountain figures call for investigation, out of doors. Sculpture is, on the whole, not so complex as painting, and dealing with the expression of emotions much more directly than painting, it can easily be understood.

Of the many pieces displayed outside, Janet Scudder's fountain figures earn all the applause they receive, and most of the other sculptors are old friends, since they have been met with in the decorative embellishments of the architecture of the Exposition. There is Aitken, with a bust of Taft; Chester Beach, with a young girl in marble, of great charm; Solon Borglum's Washington, Mrs. Burroughs' garden figure, Stirling Calder, and Piccirilli - all well remembered. It is gratifying to meet all these men, and many others, in freer and more detached expression of their art, under conditions where no severe architectural restrictions were put upon them.

The Graphic Arts

Conclusion