# The Arts/Volume 1/Issue 2/Art Notes

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ART NOTES
THE Metropolitan Museum of Art is faced by a deficit. Every art lover able to give aid to the Museum may do so either by gift or by joining the Museum. There are four grades of membership: Fellow for Life, gift of $1,000; Fellowship membership, annual dues, $100; Sustaining membership, annual dues, $25; Annual membership, annual dues, $10.
THE Society of Independent Artists has asked that in any plan for a public building to house exhibitions of modern art, provision should be made for their shows. The statement reads:
"The purpose is to call attention to what has been done by the artists themselves, or rather by some of them, to remedy the lack of an adequate public gallery. They have not waited for public support nor started drives for funds, but of their own initiative and at whatever expense in time and energy—even in money, which they have largely paid from their own pockets—they have improvised exhibition places and have there shown the work of American and foreign artists in as effective a manner as has ever been done at contemporary exhibitions in this country.
"This brings to mind the International Exhibition of 1913—the Armory Show—as to which the critic of one of our dailies, while no admirer of the works shown, said that the gentlemen who were clamoring for an art building in Central Park might do well to go to the artists at the Armory and find out from them how to give an exhibition with the resources of space already available in the city.
"Since then another group of men, the Society of Independent Artists, has given four annual exhibitions, each one larger than any previously held in New York. The Grand Central Palace and the ground floor of a business building were rented for the first two shows, and for the past two years the roof of the Waldorf-Astoria has been used. A fifth exhibition will be held there in February.
"The difficulties of this work have been very great, and it does not seem right that the community which benefits by the exhibitions should allow the artist to bear the burden of them indefinitely. It has been assumed by those among the painters and sculptors who have the conviction that every worker and every school should have an opportunity to come into contact with the public. Since the artists who have given these exhibitions have not been mentioned in the discussion before the society wishes to urge its qualification for a share in any scheme for public exhibitions at the Museum or elsewhere."
DURING the course of the exhibition of Modern Prints of the Keppel Gallery, the firm had an unexpected opportunity to acquire a splendid collection of etchings and lithographs by Forain.
So much interest has been shown in the group Forain's prints included in the Keppel exhibition, and the opportunity that presented itself of showing a really adequate collection of his work was so unusual, that it was decided to ask those customers who had purchased prints by Forain from the exhibition to permit the gallery to retain them for a couple of weeks longer.
For two weeks, beginning January 3rd, the Keppel Gallery will be hung entirely with Forain's prints, those which formed part of the exhibition of Modern Prints and the new Forain collection.
Art lovers should avail themselves of this opportunity of seeing a comprehensive collection of the work of an etcher, who in many ways is the most remarkable artistic figure of our time.
AT an auction sale of Washington relics held in Philadelphia, the Mount Vernon Association bought for $9,600 a miniature portrait of Washington painted by Charles Wilson Peale at the request of Martha Washington. The miniature had been presented by Martha Washington to Rosalie Eugenia Stuart, daughter of Dr. David Stuart, a kinsman of Washington.
AUSTRIAN art lovers are hoping that some way will be found to save the priceless Gobelin tapestries which formed a part of the Imperial treasure. To Austria they are not only valuable as works of art, but of great historical interest as well. It is to be hoped that Austria may be fed without being forced to sacrifice the tapestries to obtain food.
ACCORDING to a cablegram to the New A York Times, dated Berlin, December 15th, an important Rembrandt has recently been found in a little village in the Hartz Mountains. Several experts have said that there could be no doubt but that it was by Rembrandt.
​"The picture is painted on an octagonal piece of oak, about two feet high by one and one-half feet wide. It still is in its beautiful original frame and one of the experts, Dr. Hofstede de Groot, declares that the frame must have been made at Rembrandt's special instructions out of Scotch fir. The work dates from the time of Rembrandt's stay in Leiden and probably was painted in 1630 or 1631. initials R.H.L., which stand for Rembrandt Harmenzoon Leiden, appear in a typical monogram above the shoulder. The discovery was made by Egon Mueller, a well-known art expert of Hamburg."
IN February an exhibition of sculpture and paintings by Emil Fuchs will mark the opening of the new Cartier galleries.
Mr. Fuchs is a British subject and has won recognition not only in England but also on the Continent. He has lived in Paris, London and New York where he painted portraits of members of the families of our multi-millionaires. He is also known as a medallist, having designed the Coronation Medal for Edward VII and the Celebration Medal for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.
The eighth annual exhibition of the Association for Culture will be held at the Washington Irving High School until February 28th. It is the aim of the Association to bring art nearer to the people and the galleries are open every evening until ten, and on Sundays from two to ten in order that workers may have an opportunity of studying the paintings. There is much good art in the present show.
THE Brooklyn Society of Artists had its annual meeting December 7th. Benjamin Eggleston was elected president; Leon Dabo, first vice-president; Edmond Weill, second vice-president; Hamilton Easter Field, corresponding secretary; Eugene Arthur Jones, recording secretary; William S. Boylan, treasurer. Those elected to the Board of Governors were: Eleanor C. Bannister, A. P. Couard, Maurice G. Debonnet, Alexandrina R. Harris, Harry Hering, Max Herrmann, Robert Laurent, Clara F. Perry, L. P. Skidmore and W. E. Spader. The Hanging Committee was also chosen: Robert Laurent, chairman; W. J. Boylan, A. P. Couard, Maurice G. Debonnet and W. E. Spader.
RAINBOW for December had a goodly number of excellent reproductions of paintings and drawings by Walt Kuhn.
ON Thursday, December 23rd, a reception was tendered to Mlle. Dubois, at the American Art Galleries. Her wonderful modern tapestry was shown at the reception and speeches were made by Baron de Cartier, Belgian Ambassador to the United States, on behalf of their Majesties King Albert and Queen Elizabeth, and by George Leland Hunter. The reception was attended by many notables in the social and art worlds.
THE director of the Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences, Mr. William H. Fox, and Mrs. Fox, have returned from Europe after several months' absence. There is much interest about the plans of the Museum, for under Mr. Fox's direction there have been several exhibitions of prime importance which have added greatly to its renown.
KNOEDLER & CO., authorize us to deny the statement published in the American Art News that Mrs. Albert Sterner was retiring from the position she has occupied with them for the last six years.
WITH the New Year there is a change of exhibition at the New York Public Library, the old French prints giving way to the second in the series of exhibitions of French prints. It is a show of modern landscapes.
Among the artists represented are Daubigny, Appian, Corot, Rousseau, Jacque, Bracquemond, Lalanne, Huet, Lepère, Legros, Lehcutre, Latenay and Beurdeley. The exhibition will remain on view throughout January.
THE Ferargil Gallery has purchased from Robert Handley his collection of forty paintings by Emil Carlsen.
PRIZES were awarded for prints in the exhibition of the Brooklyn Society of Etchers at the Brooklyn Museum as follows: To Frederick Reynolds, for his mezzotint in color after Van Dyke of his portrait of Maria Luigia de Tassis (No. 133 of the exhibition) the Mrs. Henry F. Noyes prize of $50 for the most popular print in the exhibition. According to the conditions established for this prize, it was awarded by ballot of the associate members of the society during the first week of the exhibition. To Paul Roche, for his etching "The Curtain Call" (No. 134 of the exhibition) the Kate W. Arms prize of $25 for the best print by a member of the society. To Frederick Garrison Hall, ​for his etching "Old House at Vicenza" (No. 68 of the exhibition) the Nathan I. Bijur prize of $25 for the best print by an exhibitor, not a member of the society, to be an impression of a plate executed in the last year. The members of the jury awarding the two last mentioned prizes were Henry A. Ingraham, and the following prize winners of former years: John Taylor Arms, Eugene Higgins and Arthur W. Heintzelman.
THE exhibition of the Brooklyn Society of Etchings at the Brooklyn Museum was so successful that it was prolonged from the middle of December into 1921. The print dealers are having a good business. The Mussman Gallery sold an even hundred of Shope's etchings during his recent show there. The demand for the prints of the old masters is stronger than it has ever been. Doubtless many of those who can no longer afford to buy the paintings of the old masters because of "hard times" are buying prints.
THROUGH the courtesy of the Park Commission of the City of New York, with the cordial consent of the trustees of the Museum, the Architectural League of New York has undertaken to hold its annual exhibition of architecture and the allied arts in the unfinished south wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The exhibition will be opened about March 25 and will close April 26, 1921.
A YEAR or more ago Gustavus A. Kirby bought the Lester Studio Building, on the east side of Madison Avenue, near Fifty-sixth Street. He later bought the adjoining dwelling, 57 East Fifty-sixth Street. It is expected that the American Art Association will make the property their home.
GEORGE O. HART is sailing January 14th for San Domingo where he expects to spend a few months painting.
GEORG CASPARI, well-known as a dealer in modern paintings, of Munich and Berlin, did not conform to the French law of August 31, 1920, regarding the importation of works of art. As a result three Cézannes, a Daumier, a Diaz, a Van Gogh, a Monet, and three Renoirs have been seized in Paris. The present French laws concerning works of art are so vexatious that it is feared that the center of the art trade will be transferred to London.
At the Anderson Galleries paintings by the late Edmond Louyot are being shown. Louyot was from Lorraine and painted his native land with much feeling for its beauty. He died about a year ago and this is a memorial exhibition of his work for the benefit of the American Committee for Devastated France. The prices of the paintings are low.
LAURA G. FRASER is the designer of the medal which is to be presented to the commissioned chaplains in the American army and navy who saw active service in the recent war.
LORD & HEWLETT are the architects who the dwellings, 65 and 67 East Fifty-sixth Street, for the Art Centre, Inc. The plan of the Art Centre was inaugurated last winter at a dinner presided over by Cass Gilbert, the architect. The plan is to have it a home for co-operative art exhibitions. Among the leaders in the movement are: Mrs. Ripley Hitchcock, Charles Dana Gibson and Emily V. Hammond.
Template:DiNO Museum in the country has a more interesting series of lectures than the Cleveland Museum of Art. On January 12th, Thomas Whitney Surette will give a lecture on "The Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano," the fourth in his series on "The Appreciation of Chamber Music." On January 19th Miss Frances Johnston will lecture on "Garden Lore and Flower Legend." "Corot" will be the subject of Henry Turner Bailey's lecture on January 26th, and on February 2nd Stewart Culin will lecture on "The Art of the Near East." Thomas Whitney Surette lectures again on February 9th on "The Song."
Template:DiTHE artist living in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should be careful. On January 6th Leo Toschi, of Roxbury, a sculptor, was fined ten dollars for doing unnecessary work on the Sabbath.
THE Metropolitan Museum of Art announces that through the generosity of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and other friends of the museum it will be possible in 1921, as in 1919 and 1920, to give at the museum two series of free orchestral concerts. The first series will be given on Saturday evenings, January 8, 15, 22 and 29, and the second on the four Saturday evenings in March. Mr. ​Rockefeller will pay for the music of the first series and Robert W. De Forest and other friends of the museum will meet the expenses of the second series.
The concerts will be of the same character as those of the last two seasons, which were largely attended, on one evening there being more than 10,000 persons present.
The orchestra will be of the same size as in previous concerts and the conductor will again be David Mannes. The concerts, which begin promptly at 8 o'clock and last until 10, are free to all without tickets of admission. The museum will be open on these Saturdays from 10 o'clock in the morning until 10:45 at night, thus allowing visitors to combine seeing the museum's collections with attending the concerts. The museum restaurant also will be open on the evenings of the concerts.
At 5 o'clock on the afternoons of the concerts Miss Frances Morris will give a series of free lectures in the museum auditorium on the orchestra, with particular reference to the programme of the evening.
The following free lectures are scheduled at the museum:
January 15, 4.00 P. M., What Dutch Archives Reveal about the Lives of the Painters, by Adriaan J. Barnouw.
January 15, 5.00 P. M., Early Notation and the Modern Orchestral Score, by Frances Morris.
January 16, 2 and 3 P. M., Story-Hours for Children; A Palace of the Moors, by Anna C. Chandler.
January 16, 4.00 P. M., English Country Houses, by Eliza J. Newkirk.
January 22, 4.00 P. M., Dutch Landscape Painters, XVII Century, by Adriaan J. Barnouw.
January 22, 5.00 P. M., Keyboard Instruments ancient and modern, by Frances Morris.
January 23, 2 and 3 P. M., Story-Hours for Children; Through the Doorway of the Past, by Anna C. Chandler.
January 23, 4.00 P. M., French Gardens of the Renaissance, by Bremer W. Pond.
AT a dinner of the painter and sculptor life members of the National Arts, given January 4th, by the Board of Governors, it was announced that the prizes at the annual exhibition opening the sixth had been given to George Bellows, whose "Old Lady in Black" won the first prize of six hundred dollars and a club medal, and to Franck de Haven, whose "Moonlit Stream" won the second prize of four hundred dollars and a club medal.
There have been fourteen new life members elected to Artist Life Membership in the National Arts Club: the painters, Howard Giles, Joseph H. Boston, William Glackens, Leon Kroll, Henry W. Parton, John Folinsbee, Harry Franklin Waltman, Walter Ufer; and the sculptors, Hermon A. MacNeil, James Earle Fraser, Mahonri Young, Anna Hyatt, Edmond T. Quinn and A. Phiminster Procter.
A DISPATCH from Chicago to the New York Tribune gives a clue to a new use for realistic portraits. Mr. Cresmer, wife of William T. Cresmer, journalist and art collector, noticed a light about the house at three o'clock in the morning. Rising from her bed, from the sleeping porch, she turned on the electric light directly over the portrait "The Head of a Painter," by Frank Duveneck, representing a fierce looking gentleman, which was in the gallery downstairs. When the light revealed to the astonished burglar the terrible person he fled in haste, leaving behind him his loot of silver and jewelry.
Less fortunate than Mrs. Crester was William de L. Dodge, who returned to his studio at 51 West 10th Street, New York, to dress for a New Year's celebration and found his studio ransacked. When he started to enter the studio the door resisted. Calling other artists to his aid they broke the door in. The studio was a chaos, the frames stripped of their canvases, one of which, just finished, was to serve as a decoration of the new Albermarle Theatre in Albemarle Road, Brooklyn. It was a portrait of the Earl of Albemarle, unfortunately less ferocious in appearance than Duveneck's portrait "Head of a Painter."
MADAME MARC DEBROL, which is the nom de plume of Mrs. John Storrs, sailed for France, the land of her birth, Tuesday January 4th, on the Rochambeau. She will write for The Arts a series of articles on what is going on in the Paris art world. John Storrs will remain in America until after the exhibition which he is to have in Chicago. He will then rejoin his wife in Paris.
AT the Dudensing Gallery there will be shown through January, a group of Foreign and American paintings. There is a superb little orot in the group which includes also paintings by Blakelock, Ritschel, Gardner Symons, Wyant, Inness, Cazzin and Van Marcke.