The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-12-31
A REMBRANDT IN NEW YORK.
A Private View of the Great Masters Won
derfuI "Le Doreus."
New York Special.

derfuI "Le Doreus."
New York Special.
One of the most noteworthy exhibitions of
pictures ever held was that of Les Cent Chef
d Guvres reunited in the famous gallery OF the
hue de Size a few years ago. It was a loan col
lection of masterpieces of nearly every epoch of
painting. though the French school of the pres
ent day predominated, in characteristic self
confidence. The gem of the collection was,
however, incontestably, lie Doreus," by Rem
brandt. 1t made a great sensation. | re-
member there was no getting near it during
the crowded part of the day. The louvre does
not contain a Rembrandt that equals il, and
many of the most refined Partisan connoisSeurs
then mad. for the first time, an opportunity of
inspecting a work of the very first class by the
marvellous Dutch magician. Mr.. Schaus, the
Fifth-avenue picture dealer, was in Paris at the
time, and the picture aroused his eovetousness
at once. 1t belonged to the young Due De
Morney, who, Of course, inherited it, but
whence it came into the collection of his in
fnitely more artistic father l don't know. Mr..
Schaus set on foot forth with negotiations for its
purchase-fruitless at first; but he kept at it,
and diplomacy and persistence were finally sue
cessful, so that to-day one of the finest canvases
in the world is in America, and with very little
doubt the finest picture in America is in the gal
lery OF Mr.. Schaus. A private view was given
of 1t to-day, and it will be on exhibition from the
29th instant to the 8th of January.
Waltners very satisfactory etching has prob
ably familiarized most of our amateurs with its
composition, but such is the character of it's
qualities, Rembrandt himself, the prince of
etchers, could hardly succeed in translating any
thing but that color, and color that's particularly
rich and ripe is its main trait. 1t is in fact ex-
actly what painting apart from every other
branch of fine art is. Never has such an object
lesson been presented to our painters, and they
ought to spend the next ten DAYS in the closest
kind of inspection of it. Very similar in COM
position to the masters own portrait in the
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with a touch of further refinement and more
genuine exhilaration. 1t is beautifully spacious.
The gray-green background is full of atmos-
phere, and the figure of tine "Gilder" is as round
and real as IL it were he and not his efigy. Only
he would have to look better than he ever looked
In life, and be able to concentrate his whole
character in a single expression at q single in
slant to appear as real as Rembrandt has made
him by the illusion of his beautiful art. His
character is portrayed with Shakspearean in
sight ana ease.
One feels in the presence of q person thor
oughly interesting on his human side. There
are delightful lines of sympathy and humor i'll
the face and the picture is psychologically. as
well as sensuously captivating.
Rembrandt was thirty-four when it was paint
ed, and technically thus it illustrates the transi-
ton between his first and second manners. 1t is
a period which, whatever Fromentin may say of
the PURSUANCE of THE Syndics," and however
masterly the six portraits, is particularly attract
y OoSooSOS IN AOoiuk duy u LAC OoIAy
qualities. he had freed himsel from the trammels
of Recommendation and had not vet plunged into
the romanticism which was by turns splendidly
to illustrate and now and then succumb to be-
fore he reached the serene tablelands of his
final triumph. You feel that here, more than
anywhere else, he was perfectly himself and per-
fectly successful. These are sublime heights to
scale, but here there is no Question Of them; the
manner dictates its own qualities, and to think
OF their limitations would be mere pedaItry.
The tone is beautiful and the chiaroscuro is beau
tifully subordinated to it instead of imposing
itself as it does in the Lesson of Anatomy" of
eight years before. The color is of a charming
golden hue.
The accessories are OF the fewest and simplest,
and painted with a sense of their value and
their subordination that is a marvel of exact
ness. All the sensuous of line, and mass, and
color reaches a crescendo In the face, to speak
adequately of which would require more care
and time than at this date, happily, are needful
in the case of so well known a masterpiece.
There is, as / limited, material for a course of
lectures on painting in the handling alone. 1t
is unctuouS as a Titan, and it has the precious
fidelity of the early Florentines as we'll, and in
this regard recalls a wonderful female head by
Rembrandt in the Brera at Milan. Finally, it's
interest being further removed from aesthetic
associations and conventional categories of the
beautiful, is necessarily further removed from
the Fictitious than much Italian work of the
first order. 1t ought to stay in America, and If
it does it should be accessible to every one.