New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-17

Stxsnahan Illustrated. PIP. 49, No"-AofA.
Charles scribners Sons. 1888.
Mrs Stranahan explains her history as de-
signed to meet the need of something more COM
plete than @ line and less extended tnan voiun,e
for each artist We agree with ner tnae suca
a need exists. There are over 200 DionoRrapnicai
veferences in the list of authorities prehxed 70
.h;s yolumeI buf there rs no single book which
ear ba considered to make Mrs. Stranshans
history suuerfiuous 1t is true that Charles Blanc
.,,,.s nj oomurehensfveness in sense, but MS
. Frcnch Painting and Artists OF my lime are
soh;eAv biographical and critical, and their plan
comnaratiyely restricted. The little hanoDooh
nv Gerard Smith was designed 20 present sue
einef vet comprehensive, history OF French p''nV
,nr tut the result was little more than meagro
oufitne. sketch. although local color was sup
plied by the authors hostile preiuoice' WIS
Strsnahan's volume iustifes it's existence. anu wo
think thai 1t viii be welcomed pS Ainol,0"n
amateurs and by reading artists. For our arV as
:. - - Az renresents an Indebtedness to the art
:. r>ranca which may not he readily estimated.
7. a. row fortv years since Hunt turned from
DrssaI6orfp 20 Paris but it was not until twenty
- lat.r that his example began to be genersiiy
tcsIcvved nv American art students. for tne iaS'
twentv years our artists have optalneo Vno,,
Education IN Paris and in Munich. we are an
sar,yler ss1th the results Of the change WIN une
l;utroduotion of new ideas and methods IN paihV.
hpr sculpsnre and illustration. the organization Oh
a new and for D time most useful sooletS' an"
tho foundation OF new and thoroughly pro-
rressive art school This new movement pro
coded nv q little the interest OF our sfnaoeurs III
Frsnol ART Less than fifteen wears ago aF
,,i,abls. EXAMPLES Of Oorot and the less popular
n~,s.,osx ware reeurned to Paris because the
ass1eru amid not obtain their price IN TINS CITY
a,.hn,s y the handful of Americans at Barozoh
e ,aAo were among the first admirers OF Mliie@
A pas NOT until well after the painters dea'n IN
,s5s FRAT American collectors deemed
n necessary to secure eAainp"s
tb,s vybr]k This was true, also, oil Dauoieny
bus without dwelling upon the effect OF dealers
ihooms. we have to recognize the hrm estapnSn-
meptaof French art in favor as q means OF eouc"-
ton. q means of enjoyment means u si""A'
inc personal vainglorlousness.
finder these conditions it is strange tnas Snero
has been so little readily accessible maeeriai LUZ
the student Of the French artists repfeSen'eu ~
all our galleries. 1t is time for q more in"T
slrent acquaintance with individual french hi"S-
tors and with the art of the Nation MIS- SO'
ahan modestly offers the elements OF sucn kho"r
sace defining her book one not NANNY LUZ
ssanoisseurs INIT especially for students Never
sS.,.,s ,er history will be found TO be useiul
srs, IN connoisseurs,S the moro so because more
.hor half the volume is devoted to the art Oh
.h,s orntnrv down TO the present time IL Is
~.rsshla chat most amateurs win feel but IAN
"a ,n,erest in the story Of Byzantine influences
d.r (rharlcmagne the development OF sthlneu
&C vo-lr in the twelfth and succeeding centuries
and even the Italian and Flemish influences OF 'ne
efteeutb century. With tho sixteenth century, nov"
.var I'VE enter upon most important phase VI
81 a.velopment. the Government patronage OF
art which has continued since Francis encour-
aged the foundation of the School OF ron'ai"e-
bleau and began the royal collection oil palhAneS.
To This subject Mrs. Stranahan has gwen especi"i
..a..;on She informs us fully regarding the
foundation of the carly Academy OF falhuns anu
scnlpture. the various phases OF the Louvre COZ
lection. the lavish if injudieious patron"ge VI
art under the Grand Monarch" the beginnings
~ formal exhibitions and Of schools unoer wv
eminent control and the various phases Oh .i'e
salon. All this is OF immediate consequence, luz
IL throws light upon controversies whcn nave
continued to the present day. Wne'her VI nv
a paternal policy is finally oenencla,' anu h0"
naternabsm can be made most neipius arc gu0'-
tious still eagerly discussed "ltnouO ioiio"-
,n- Mrs Stranahan in her elaborate presentation
...s nav saw that she has fully carried out her
,urnose Of giving elementary facts concerning
foundations and regulations by the Government;
+he effect of its DEGREES; its direction, suppress
;.sor and encouragement; the establishments
o-ovtb and varying attitude toward art OF the
Academy of Painting and its elements OF power
che SIGNIFICANCE of the various classes OF meoais'
bonors and prizes
Side nv side with the accounts of official pa'-
youare we find studies Of individual masters hiNe
poussin. Claude Lorraine Lesueur ana lie Drun'
and some account of the conditions affecting enen'
~ the Influence which they exertcd, and OF inc
more important paintings which they nave "i'
us The background which Mrs. Stranahah pre-
eorves for her chief figures is q constant alo 10
propcr comprehension of their work. mus one
eighteenth century genre painters nKe Oh"'o'n
and Greuze are moo presented do ao'i"' -
a.o,otea workers lin this field. but due stress IS
,.sa ,,,c, the yfse Of the Third Estate and the
inauenoe of popular feeling just as we IND tne
- 80 free thinking. scepticism and materi-
s,,x,r reaected in the license OF Boucher and MS
,,Iloxvers The powerful influence of Napoleon
,,non xrt the announcement Of military PANT
ing. the beginning of cthnography In arte anu
4he long rule Of classcism, as Represented py ios
saaf1er David are all topics which receive con-
;aretinn nroportionate to their interest, but Tor
,nanv Of ne the actuele history Of French art
4.,ins with the formal recognition OF romanu-
cim in 1924.
II Mrs Stranahan tells us nothing new 10
earding the great romantic awakening wnlca
found expression in the literature and arO oil all
Europe. she nevertheless explains its causes ana
significance inteihgently and as fully as the nm
itatsons Of general history permit. IL is ol1en
hastily assumed that romant1cism ike classiclsn
has completely disappeared, and yet IL is noc
a,ff,cnlt matter to recall recent instances OF ap-
nreciatdon of a purely romantic spirit in htera-
go and art Mrs Stranahan defines romantl-
cism as the expression of emotion and sentiment
as opposed to the aim for ideality OF FORM we
may smile at the Byronic frenzies OF the earlier
romauticists, but the expression Of emotion ana
sentiment Of even romantic cast continues to
awaken response There was sure to 10 an
ebbing of the romantic tide which set in sixty
wears ago but the principles Of the movement