New-York tribune., 1888-03-26
THE WOLFF COLLECT. ON

"A tho Amssacan Art Galleries Way 30 sssa iee
u,,rtngs collected by tho late Chr istan n woah. OF
pb,la.elphls- Mr Wolff was one Of the older gonerar
lion of collectors, and many o. his pictures may ss
cll be- passed In charlv bio silence. There are
,thcrs which have historical interest," ana others
s,llI OF much pictorial mevl The smaller aud hesher
of the two Daubgnys as painted In 1SoT' aucr 'he
artist had received ser cra medals, but before no haa
earned tho general r1eogRiiop at home which, socoro
Ing TO Abort Wolf, began to come TO hum IN iooo
This is charming little picture OF Brittany harvest
scene a areap plain with figures, and cart and horses
I'm the m,tie distance, trees on the right, and low
hills beSond Tho details arc given more exactly
than ia Daubgnys work OF about 1870, but his tend
ency toward swff broad brush work is already to DO
noted in the pantiqg Of tho foreground Ihe other
Landscape, scene tho Seine, painted few years
later Is more eiaboraely composed and executed al
thosE IN the com position is not at all conventional
There Is stretch Of river with boats, flock OF sheep
ON the opposite bank and above them belt OF trees
stretching seross the. canvas. Both paintings are
more satisfactory pictorially, than the largo land
acape and figure by Diss. dated 1866, in which the
study of form shows eoarseness and haste, and the
eoIo,ine is thin, as compared with tho rch f bodied
and luminous pictures which Diaz painted seriously.
As a study of form jacques Landscape and
Cattle- has certain interest, but there is little to
be said Of tho texture Of the color. A smaller
pioure. a study Of chickens, Is at least much mora
cheerful The Letter OF Condolence' is not tn be
taken as a fair example Of Do Nettis's c,evor work.
but hcra. ~ In other instances, 1t y clear that tho
collector In advance Of his cine. In his "Chi[
dren Carrying Basket Srore has exaggerated the
expression Of tho besSe,s strain upon the arms and
yet this expression conveys such feeling OF weight
as we find In, the tense arms of Miliets peasants
carrying q calf The former study is moro preten-
tlous, sdt that truth of action which should make
sssif apparent not clearly felt Bat the picture
prettyn In its way and there are many Of us who
are content with smooth contours, little story and
dash OF sentiment. At least Freres art was honest
and this cannot always be said for the art OF the
Franco-Itaans, who have been prone to disguise the
lack of sound education and thoroughness with effects
of art,6ce often more or less remotely derived from
FoHuny. Here Is Mchetu, whose pictures are usually
clever and often effective. his Through the Fieds
is the kind of picture often described as taking
but II VIII not bear close analysis DRIVING ,he
example called simply Rome" 1t is not worth
whlie TO spend more time upon the. miscellaneous
and Laibinet. the earlier water color by vbert, the
and the dreary stlil life by Philippe Rousseau. Tho
examples Of the ART OF Iern and Dusseldorf are stu
Hoguet who gained in Paris certain feeling for
tight, aimosthere and color, and and there sn
Under mole favorable Conditions might have done
good WORK as coiof1st, j. I'll. H. re Haas Is repre-
pictures from Berlin brussels. aid Antwerp in which
dlgent search will doubtless reveal meitorous charac-
The Three WocmD of CrevecOeut' we are inclined 10
consider extremely valuable as snguarly complete
example of what picture should not be. go
The of American artists NAV as well begin with
en- American by adoption, Thomas Suy. TO whom we
find ascrbed a head. dscreditable and so little IN
keeping with Suy's better work. that IL would be an
act OF charity doubt its authenticity. Another
American by adoption, Robert Wylie painter OF real
foce certain directions is represented by BRIT
tSny Peasant Girl work distinguished by care Tor
truth rather than by apt arrangement color or
texture Mr.. g. H. Broughton Is American only by
courtesy but his Winter" cur!CUsly barren. oD]ec.
tive record. Is of the artists early paintings OF
scenes near Albany. little suniTer lake scene
by the late S X. Clifford comes next. and then
We find Two landscapes by George lnness. painted
nearly a quarter OF a century ago. One is study OF
an evening shower, gray clouds and fields with The
green showing fresh and bright and the distance ind
cated with some care study with evident lmi tatl0ns
but forcible and truthful. so far as Ii goes The
other picture oae In the Woods" has less In IT,"
as the saying is It will be found worth attention
There ale landscapes by Mr. Charles Lnford, some
Of which unattractive in color, portrait OF
Mr. O. p. A. Healy by himself. good example OF
MIR Bruce Cranes landscape work OF few years back,
pasture scene with figures which is not at all dis
credtable to Mr. Poore an excellent earlier exam
pie of Air. McEntees painting OF autumn, landscape
BY Mrs N S. J. Smillie, "a marine by f. Moran, an /,
early landscape by Mr.. ". T; Richards and study
of a meadow brook by Mr. Whttrcdge. In addition !
to his oils, Mr. Wolf collected few water colors, |
bis preferences being for the English school which Is
by Hardy and Pearson