Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-07-07
ART NOTES.


painted thirty-tive times.
The tomb of Virgil at Posilippo, lust
outside Naples, is for sale.
ST. Louis is to have an exhibition Of old
Dutch and Flemish pictures at the Museum
Of Fine Arts.
Sir Frederick Leighton went to the
Royal Academy exhibition the other dav,
and new attendant at the door. not know
ing him, demanded his pass or ticket. y
have none, said Sir Frederick. IL am
SIR +. Leighton, the President. Won
| Know Must show yOur pass. sir" was
| the replE I've been ordered To admit no
one without pass or ticket. cNcept hv
| special permission "Oh. all right Then ~
! returned the artist IL, as President Give
you special permission TO admit me ..
The managers of the American Art
Section of the Paris Exhibition seem. saws
| the London correspondent of the Man
chester GUariiH3, 10 be i'm a fair way Of
getting themselves disliked. Mr.. Story
the well-known American sculptor. who
lives in Rome, has had his sculptures re-
turned to him as not up to the mark.
some younger members of the Jury having
alone inspected them and come to this
hasty conclusion. The section has now
lost both Mr.. Whistler and Mr.. Story.
OF Mr.. Sargent's now famous picture of
Ellen Terry, exhibited in the London New
Gallery, the critic of the London Times
says: 1t is, without exception, the most
ambitious picture of our time The painter
has deliberately chosen a costume which
taxes hlS power to the uttermost. or be-
yond It, and moment when the intensity
Of the emotions displayed might well daunt
the boldeSt attempt of art to realize them.
The scene represented does not occur in
the play as Miss Terry presents it; it is
the moment when Lady Macbeth" the
deed accomplished, is putting on the crown.
She stands with her arms raised on high,
holding the golden circle above her head.
Her dress Is that gorgeous combination of
blue and green and gold, the color of the
Indian beetles wing, which the actress
wears in the play, and, by a stretch of
courage to the point of audacity, Mr.. Sar-
gent has set these against a background of
brilliant blue. The face is pallid as death,
and on 1t the artist has striven to express
the meeting-point and the clash of two
supreme emotions-of ambition, and of the
sense of crime accomplished and the moral
law thrown down"
a few visitors to the Knoedler art-room,
New York, have recently enjoyed an op-
portunity of seeing a head painted by
Rembrandt the original of Waltner's etch-
ing Of THE Rabbi" The painting was
purchased by Waltner some time since.
but after the completion of the etching he
placed the picture in the hands of 4 firm
of London dealers, who sent it to Messrs.
Knoedler q Co. in the hope that an
American purchaser might be found.
None has appeared, and the picture will
be seen again in London; indeed, it has
already been returned. 1t represents a
gray-bearded man with prominent features,
wearing large cap or bonnet which over
shadows the upper part of the face, while
the lower part is fully lighted. The cloak
or mantel which drapes the shoulders in
loose brown folds is summarily painted,
and the right hand fine as it is, represents
rather masters first intention than his
finished work. The background shows
gray and olive lines mingled with hints of
sunlight, and there are golden hues among
the browns which prevail in the cooringof
head and costume. The head may be
called sketch, but the fine modelling of
the face beneath the transparent shadows,
the certainty of the linear work and the
expresslveness of this dignihed cOuntenance
leave few regrets for the absence of exclu-
sive treatment. Only master could paint
with so much vigor and sureness, and vet
with so much rapidity, realizing his effects,
as 1t seems to the observer, almost with the
first broad, free movements of his brush.
The manner shows that the picture must
have been painted in Rembrandt's later
period. In the "Gilder" we see broader
manner showing itself here and there,
noticeably upon the ruff and this we may
take to mark the beginning of Rembrandt's
second period. The continuance of the
change is a familiar story. This picture is
assigned by DR.. Bode to 4 time some fif-
teen years later than the "Gilder." He
regards this rabbi" one of the artists
favorite subjects, as painted between 1868
and 1858, and the intrinsic evidence tends
to confirm this date, although it is clear
that the picture even then was not put
forth as a complete work. Most of the
better known writers upon Rembrandt
make no mention of "Rabbi" which can
be identified with this, but their silence
does not lessen enjoyment of work which
is no more and no less beautiful because
Rembrandt painted it, or because its full
history is not set down in the reference
books. 1t is our loss that this picture has
not been secured for an American collec-
tion.