New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-16
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A GREAT scULproR's LIFE.
IIrE AM WORKS OF ANTOINE LOUIS BARYk; By

We have received from the bsrye honu"ehe
Association the :" Life and works OF Aneoins
Louis Barye.n written by Charles DC hay ana puo-
,sbes bv the Association. Our readers will re
member that the superb exhibition OF Baryes
works now open in this city was organized by an
.s~oc;at,on composed of admirers Of the great
.eu,c,or,s art. who desired to aid in the erection
~ = mouument TO Barye's memory IN Paris IL
g. stting that this interesting and exceptional
undertaking should receive permanent literary
commemoration. Our two great magazines had
already published special studies OF Barge. one
bv Mr. Theodore Childs resident OF Paris. the
other by Mr. de KAY a resident Of Ncw-York, who
was naturally chosen by the American Barge AS
ISOLATION to prepare this permanent American me
mortal, The edition. limited 20 525 copies. is
prjnted upon Holland paper, with broad margins
and uncut leaves. The white cover bears de-
signs stamped in gold. The pictorial illustra-
ton of Barye's art. obviously an important
feature. has received careful attention. The
front!spiece portrait Of Barge at the age OF Sky
by Flameng is followed by no less than eighty
five wood cngravings and artotypes. Ihere are
fonr portraits and one contemporary caricature OF
Barvc. The woodcnts are those which were pre-
pared for the Century" and Harper's" maya
zines. and occasionally we find some discrepancies
in the captions. Thus the portrait OF Barge AZ
tbirty-fve in Harpcrs Magazine" was described
perhaps incorrectly, as from water-coior IN MI
Walters sScollection, whereas 1t now appears rs
after a Autograph by Gigoux Again. Mr. "hiV-
news engraving Of the Theseus ana CehUiur lor
- The Century, was after photograph of the
plaster cast the character of which is clearly III
dicated: but. despite the color and texture, the
.noravinc in the present volume has the sub
title Bronze But the two primary require
hav
manner which is most creditable to MIR. de Kay
discretion and industry. The subjects are well
chosen. and, as a rule, they are excellenty re-
produced Mr. de Kay has formed most valu-
able gallery of pictures, arranged usually IN
chronological order and illustrating Baryes WORK
from the milo and the Lion" OF 1919 10 the
figure of the Seine executed in 1865. Some OF
the engravings arc printed upon inlaid lndla
paper and others directly upon the Holland paper
of the page For the Photographic prints an
artotype process has been employed, with results
which will certainly prove generally satisfactory
The printing has been done with inks tinted to
represent the various patinas of the bronzes.
"1hus" Mr.. de Kay writes in his preface. this
is in one sense pcture-book. But many as
are the illustrations, the author INDUCES hope
that readers will not consider the text for that
reason negative quantity" On the contrary, the
text is certain 10 receive the attention which is
the Just due of an author who has devoted so
much time and study to q noble theme. Con-
tinuing, Mr.. de Kay explains that in general the
letter.press follows chronological course, but
not rigid one. The main movement is from
Barye's work on single animals and groups OF
beasts to monsters of legend and myth. thence TO
symbolical groups of human beings. Baryes
range as sculptor was wide that the old
masters of Greece and Italy are passed in review
without finding parallel TO him. Despite all
this merit, it remains nevertheless fact that
much which has been written concerning Barge
is forced, and therefore untrue. Barge would
smile at its extravaganza could he read It, The
reason for this lies in the fact that his genius has
been warmly felt by men to whom the why and
wherefore of that genius were hidden. In such
matter much, of course, remains, and VIII re-
man, obscure, but there is no need to despair oil
light In the following pages certain facts are
offered which may account in some small degree
for tie appearance OF Barge in our century ana IN
France So far as possible within the limits
assigned have tried TO place Barye against his
background"
This is certainly the only true biographical
method. and in our day it is the method generally
adopted But there is another and correlatlve
requirement for successful biography, which is
that the bographer shall approach his task with
out any preconceived bias, mpelled by a desire to
determine facts exactly, to set them forth can
didly and to illuminate the central figure by that
figures own deeds and words. This does not mean
q colorless reorganization, for the events of any
life recorded in their proper sequence and in all
their relations will place before us distinct char
Bcter Such biography will have color, due
not only TO the biographers tact and discretion In
selecting and arranging his illustrative facts but
4. oh 4l,a
biographer may Justly draw. But and this is a
fundamental requirement. no bographer is ?ustl-
fed in positively imputing to his subject ideas or
theories or plans which have not found such eX
preston that they may be regarded as matters of
exact knowledge. Inference is natural, hut sweep
ing assertion regarding matters of opinion at ono"
DESTROYS any claim to authOritativeness. The bog
rapher who uses his opportunity to advance a per
sonal theory. or who approaches his task IN the
spirit of a special pleader, may receive the atten-
ton due an ingenious advocate. but he does
not make history and he leaves distorted picture
for the unnstructed reader.
Barge as we know, entered upon active life
in time Of storm and STRESS" a time of in.
tellectual unrest. of artistic, literary. political
and social fermentation He felt the spirit Of
the time, like Gercault and Delncroix. Like them,
he expressed himself in an art unconventional,
free and impaesioned founded upon that close
study of nature itself which was new to his time.
These are familiar facts. but some OF us NAV be
pardoned if even Mr. de Kay's eloQuence fails to
persuade us that the artist even half con-
sciously teaching the great lesson of evolution
in which. so far the writer is aware, for the
first time Barge is shown to have done his part"
1t is quite immateral whether or not the author
has made special and forced application of
Spencer's theory of the evolution of the arts but,
notwithstanding the interest of Mr.. de Kay's
pathological, NEUROLOGICAL and scientific dgressions
VIC are compelled to regret that he should have
reverted to the old-time method OF purely sub
lcctivc criticisms and have been content to shape
this biography to fit his personal conception. The
character of Barge, as evolved within our authors
osu,, m ind character Of rnunh in4o.A.4 H.. ~.