New-York tribune., 1876-03-11
FINE ARTS.
MRS DdoGENE ROBINSON MoRRELLs PIC.
IIlRES

lUUgIMCnI IOTtIEU
brought home 10 receive The judgment OF the ladys
cOuntrymen
The subjects Of the pictures Washington when in
Camp at Newburgh Welcoming the Arrival OF the Pro
vision Train" and The First Battle Of the Putans'
incident described by Longfeow in his "Courtship
OF Miles Sandish."
If letters distinguished people, all 10 the selfsamc
tune and words giving these pictures the most unsntcd
and unqualified praise, could make great pictures Of
the the business would be well ended and the critics
task reduced to compaisant aCquiescence But on the
contrary the louder the challenge. and the more per
sent the claim tho greater the need of the cr ic who
must offer to the artist less than 10 the public the
service of pair Of unbiased eyes.
Yet to speak Justly Of such pictures these OF Mrs
MOrrel-n way the public and yet not wound
the artists d difficult task Here two large can
which have cost the painter several years OF
honest and unremittng labor say thing of the eH
pense little appreciated by lsymen which every picture
represents that calls for much study from the model as
these have required Every figure here has been studied
from the model and not only the men, but the horses ana
IN the Washington subject the Washington and the Han
ton efully finished portraits Mrs Moireh mas
had all possible advantages in studying her profession
She began early life she has been under the guidance OF
the best teachers in Germany and in France with Camp
hansen and Couture and she to have been much in
earnest. She has worked patiently, an she has shown
pluck under trials that were hard TO bear, paint
ing over again on fresh canvas one OF
original had been destroyed by the explosion OF pow
der in the gardens Of the Luxembourg during
the siege of Paris which blew her studio into ruins and
nearly killed her When her work on these pictures
was ended she invited the most famous artists of France
to see them, and they came. Many OF them had long
been friends and aequantances With some OF the
best of them she had studied and they had given her
their advice and their opinions during the progress OF
the work. And now, at last they put their hands 10 let
tcrs in which they speak in warmest most cordial praise
of what our counrywOman has accomplished This is
the story and the pictures and read the letters
and after all, have 10 judge for ourselves.
Itwoud not under ordinary circumstances, he neces-
sary 10 crticse such pictures these very closely They
might be passed over with slight description, and COM
mendcd TO the public good specimens OF class OF
work with which we abundantl familiar. But their
probable destination is the House of Representatives.
/ Chamber in the Capitol at Washington. Ihey were
painted with the expectation that if they were thought
worthy they might find themselves some day resting
in the panels whose had been taken for that
/ purpose and therefore are bound 10 look more
! seriously at them. We must decide II we can
whether they ought to go 70 the Capitol and help
redeem the bad reputation Of that building on the scOro
of Art or whees they ought to he kept out Of the Capt
tol So as not to make bad state of things worse And
after careful study of these pictures we think ii fair
verdict that there is nothing in them that would bring
any further discrcdt upon the unfortunate building at
must be something very bad indeed that
could do tnatHnO tndt tnb Wnoie II
in the Capitol any where good as Is 10 be
found in these pictures. This however, in spite Of Mr.
Washburne and Gen. Torbert, of BOuguereau, OF Gus
tave Dor6, Of IsdorC Bonheur. OF Brion Of Philippe
teaux, Of Merle, and Of G. p. \. Heaiy, all
singing 10 Pgan, Is the best we can
with a clear conscience bring ourselves TO admit The
names many of the artists who have written letters to
Mrs Morrcl are Justly distinguished and II they were TO
be taken as giving the real opinion of the writers they
ought to carry great weight But any one who knows
the work of these and their own standard, and
knows too something of the state of criticism in Paris
and Of the relations artists Is obliged quc ly to
set all these letters aside IL they had never been writ
ten and TO remember that 60 most Fronchnen diving is
an easy matter compared 10 the difficulty Of speak
ing truth to woman Mrs. Morieu might De re
minded that another woman calling herself
an artist but in reality one Of the
most audacious little bumbugs OF the age, phenomenon
of successful impudence such no country but America
ever did or ever could producc-shows just such heap
OF tiers as hers and that tho fae Dor6 calls her too
cOufr6re and praises 20 the skies II Clark Mills were
woman-but may lie glad that the other phenone-
non is a so-called man-if Clark Mills were woman
however and 10 let down his back hair ana snper
ingenious in dotted muslin Dorc and The rest would
write the same sort of letters him. and aise him
through all the time honorod catalogue Of com ments
There would be no need OF considering ths 20 deeply
il were not that these letters made TO exercise an u
due influence Americans, and fence 10 nd the
pictures they so Depraise Win Wdl VI tieIpHs
hard To break down
artist errs as we think she does In taking too
mucb for granted as 10 the merit OF her work and in in
sting too much the opinions Of famous artists she
also errs in Offering such artists as the late Mr. Leuize as
the standard by which she is willing 10 DC Judged There
k much better painting in these pictures than Icutze,
n rule put into his works. and precisely the foundation
fault of Mrs MoTcs pieces IL that they recall the
vicious school on which they built WHAT
saves them is whatever freedom they can boast
from the tralmels of the academic unnatural preten
tous German historical school. the curse of its own
country and 20 far 1t has been able to get Itself
lanted here the curse Of our= Fortunately Or herself
and Us Mrs Morre does not know enough OF the re-
cpcs and has not daring enough in mixing what nEre
dients she does know 10 have inflicted on us al over
srong dose of the Kaulhach Leutze Dusseldorf school
The result is therefore, TOO tame to please pa!ates
strung ND TO tho eaciar Of the German ideal Hers Is
history seen through tho sheeps eyes of Meyer Won
Bremen or of our Mr. Carpenter II II hardly more
stirring TO tho blood than the patitUde OF Irumbul
Chapman, and Weir.
Mrs Morren has, 80 far we can see, no vocation
whatever for the art known in these days rs historical
naming It is nothing tn # by The aid OF guide or OF
the printed comment with the pictures, we are
assured the accuracy with which the facts Of each story
are fitted 60 the pictured narrative. Taken WHOLE the
accuracy does not exist. These not of course the
scenes as they occurred. They fancy pictures as
the slang has IT. they would look well in worsted,
would make neat pictures for the Illustrated magazines
and newspapers Looked al rs pictures intended Tor he
decoration of tho walls Of the Representative Chamber
| they must be judged wanting. Thcy 0re are not
decorative at all and they certainly do tell any story
The story has TO be told for by Mrs MoIe by the
prnted description Judged by technical rules there IL
no composition in these groups, ana The more IN
tcresug Of the two The Fret Battle Of the Purtans
oends US as picture with IT. figures out Of proportion,