The sun., 1891-02-10
THE SUN, TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 1891.
SOME QUESTIONS OF ARR
The ExAibitioa or the seney Coiieetson.
spooND NOTICE.

SOME QUESTIONS OF ARR
The E.A,s,tio. or the se.sy coiisetse..
ssooND xor1or.
The most famous picture In this collection q
Millets waiting" which for . number Of
years before Mr.. seney bought It hung In the
Museum Of Fine Arts at Boston. In this ooun-
try Il has generally becn called blind Tobit
and His Wife," but the title now adopted 10 the
one ssnsier used whom hs ranked the picture
amonG the three most beautiful which Mtllot
ever painted. naming 40 the other two tho
Cleaners" and the Angelus." 1t was begun,
he tells us. in 1853. although not finished until
some years later and FIRST exhibited at the
Salon Of 1851. when the Woman Feeding Her
Children and the Sheep shearer." both also
In America to-day. were likewise shown. Ben
sier calls It A page from Millets fllial heart"
explaining that tho first sketch was made
whom tho painters mind was full OF memories
Of his mother, who had Just died after wait
ing long In vain for q visit from her
son. At the time OF it's exhibition Il was even
moro criticised than most Of Millst's works.
being attacked ON all aides by caricstures.
pitiless jokes, and the solemn dictum OF high
authorities" To-day. however. the danger 10
that IL may be rated even higher than Ito true
value. 1t is indeed. as sensier protests.
may understand-the homo OF the old parents.
real homo Of Door people. living In the soli-
tude Of the country. and tho loneliness OF their
waiting; the sun. the wood. and tho road:
painted silence" And Il is certainly true that
the two old people are drawn with the
wonderful knowledge Of Millet, strong,
marked execution" Perhaps, in fHct Millet's
power Of characterization was never
moro vividly revealed than BY the pa.
tient suffering, blind face Of the old
man and his pathetic. yet unexag9eratsd.
cropping movement. Nevertheless. from .
purely. simply pictorial point Of view Nillet
produced finer works than this, pictures which
in composition. In color, and In handling have
little given himself to over estimating the part
which suggested sentiment should play IN
deciding the rank Of work Of art II IL not
wonderful. therefore. that the public should
follow a similar impulse. Yet were the
"Gleaners" hero beside this Waiting" NO
further proof would be needed to show that
In painting It Millet did not touch tho limit Of
bis abilities: and there are other examples In
this country which for genuine pictorial
beauty should be esteemed above II. Yet.
whatever its exact rank among Millet's mas
terpiscee. It is certainly entitled to . place
among them and, a. tho most narrowly crit
y uDk0d8OuUulO
faction In the ownership OF . work that 10
especially famous. We fancy there will be no
picture-lover In America who. whom the COM
ing auction 10 over. will not envy the pur.
chaser Of " waiting" There is only one other
Millet In the collection. the Apple Harvest"
No. 2S6. and IL 10 far less important example.
Rousseau, 800. Is much less generously rep
resented than most Of the Barbizon painters.
while no ono work reveals bim nearly 90 we'll
as the "Tobit" reveals Millet. OF the four
pictures which bear his name tho most inter.
estins perhaps. Is the small landscape. No. l60.
called The Old Oak. with its beautiful sunny
distance Autumn" No. 2S4. is strong and
attractive study. Then We note Decamps with
two small figure subjects and ono showing Q
cat, q weasel. and rabbit In wood, No. 2S7:
and Delacroix with group Of two Oriental
figures, No. 256, which hardly shows him at his
best but with two magnificent, indispensable
little oanvases called Lion in tho Noun.
tains." No. 81. and TIGER and Serpent" No.
2Sa The former was exhibited with tbs
BArye collection In 1889. and the latter
comes from the Escretsn sale. None
In the world of their special kind
can b better. Courbst is represented By q
single vigorous landscape. "A Northsr." No.
ia; Michel BY three landscapes Of average
merit and Isabey by great bright. sketchy.
animated composition called st. Hubert's
Day" No. S07. which shows horses. hounds and
huntsmen coming to be blessed by the church
on the festival Of their patron saint. and BY
four smaller canvases. among which the most
impressive Is "On the Jetty." No. lOs. Those
who care for Josef Israels will find his work
upon eight csnvases and In its very best quai.
ity upon one at least. tho large Infancy and
Age" No 2ea Blk pictures show the work Of
JaoQue In different directions. Among them
We note especially the small Hillside Pasture"
No. 100. and the shepherd" No. a51. which is
An early picture painted in 1855 and. above
all. the little Morning Call" No. 203. In this
We have neither the creatures Of the pasture
nor those Of the bsrnyard, but two delightful
babies felt and painted with almost Millets
strength and charm. Compare this little gem
hangs near By. No. 102. and We soc the differ
ence between an admirable painter and ono
who is merely very popular.
There is no remarkable example among the
six Fromentins. The Wind Storm" No. 216,
seems to be smaller version OF the largo pic
turo Just now exhibited by Messrs. Boussod.
Valadon 4 Co.: the Wheat Harvest" No. 1874,
Is curiously like Decamps In color, and the
others. while good. do not call for particular
notice. Tho single Fortuny Is. again. not 70.
markable. but one Of the two Boldinisis little
marvel. This 10 No. 1853. After the Bath"
which shows nude young negress rising from
heap Of brilliant drsperies. while another
is sleeping beside her. and q gaudy macaw
pscks ct an orange near By. No one. we think,
will care very greatly for Rosa Bonheurs
Choice OF the Flock" No. ATS. VT ile rroyons
sheep hang on neighborinR wall: and the
two Van Marckes Rood though they are. suffer
as usual By comparison with the greater mas
ter's work. The best Of the two single flRures
BY De Melville is undoubtedly "Billeted on
tho Enomy." No. 159, and extremely cood 1t ia.
Daenan-Bouveret sends Market Day." No
l4S. aud an admirably posed and painted
Brigand. One may. indeed. prefer this
last to Meissonier's painting OF q similar
subject On similar scnle. No. 275. where. We
think. the effort to give character" has
brought him nearer to melodrams than to truth.
A very different work is the Bowl Players In
tho Fosse at Antlbes." No. 100. It ts hard
to explain the fascination OF this picture, for
In color It is not attractive: outdoor effect Is
not realized 40 It might be by score OF hands
among the YOUNGER generatlop; thu flaurea