The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-06

mun1ty bT becoming nobie venicle Tor the
display OF sensuous beauty. mundane pa
eeantry. and the triumph OF science. And In the
hands OF men OF genius who knows what
splendid and magniloauent visions Of modern
life painting may yet conceive and depict p?
LooK TO ITALY AND GREECE
It Is the duty OF the writer. It Is the duty Of
the professors and guiding spirits OF the Art
Students League. It IL the duty OF the cul-
tured citizen TO watch over the sacred youth Of
art Ia America and to preserve 1t from those
evil communications and bad examples which
corrupt good manners and deform fair souls.
1t is not to France that the students should be
taught to look for precept and example. but to
Italy. and beyond Italy to the eternal source Of
beauty. to Greece. It is not Rembrandt or
Halls. not Titian or Raphael. not Millet or
Rousseau. not vollon or Bonvin. and those
who paint carrot on board and an oyster in
its shell. who are to be worshipped as idols
and looked up to as ideals. The mon who in
the future. snd let us hope in the not too dis
tant future. will cover the walls Of Americas
civic monuments with glorious visions OF ma
tional history and Of the pageantry and ami
nation OF modern life. will rather study to
clothe their spirit In the mantle Of Mantogna.
OF Benozzo Gozzoli. Of Ghirlandnio OF Signo.
relli. OF Antonio Bazzi. OF Carpaccio. and OF the
tender Lulni. who were at once realists and
poets. and sought not merely to reproduce but
to Synthetic.
What wild dream is this I? some readers will
exclaim. What could your Mantesna and your
Carpaccio do with the life OF New York or OF
Newport, with Central Park. with the elevated
railroad. and the crowd crossing Brooklyn
Bridget My reply Is that they would have
made masterpieces with these materials and
In proof l would refer the doubter to the
frescoes Of Padua and Mantua. and the street
scenes by Carpaccio in tho Academy at Venice.
The whole secret lies in having genius. and in
avoiding vulgar and soulless realism.
What nobler source Of example and doctrine
can be found for the young American art stu
dent than the Italian art OF the fifteenth CEN
tury? Where can he see moro magnificent
achievement than in the pictures OF the great
masters OF Florence. siena. Padua. and
Venice? What better precepts than those re-
corded BY Cennino Commit and LEONARDO?
What treatise on painting is more inter-
esting and more modern than that which
was written in the middle of the If
teenth century by Leon Battista Al
berti. one OF the most remarkable
and universally accomplished minds OF the
Renaissance-poet philosopher. jurisconsult,
athlete. and painter? How much advice we
might extract from this treatise that would be
more useful to the art student than all that he
could learn in the schools2 Above all. by
reading Albert he would conceive high
opinion Of the dignity Of his art and become
convinced that the great artists OF the Renais-
sance were not ignorant and pretentious
rapins. but men Of wide culture and exquisite
constituencies. Without culture there can
be no great art II would have tho
painter" writes Albert. "as learned as
possible in the liberal arts-that is
grammar. dialectics. rhetoric. music. arith-
metic. geometry. astronomy. the complete
educational curriculum OF the middle ages
but. above all things. expert in geometry. 1t
will truly be not inappropriate for him to take
delight In the poets and orators. for these as
suredly have many beauties in common with
the painters: and II he is we'll read and album
dainty provided with knowledge about many
things. he will feel no small pleasure in
establishing elegantly historical compo-
sition. Tho glory Of this consists chiefly
in the invention. Now invention has so
great importance that 1t has charm by itself.
even outsi1 Of painting" Albert then goes
on to translate the admirable description
which Lucian gives in his Dialogues Of pic
ture OF Calumny painted by Apellcs. in order
to show the painters how great care and atten-
ton they must expend in the composition OF
such Inventions This description. may add.
was doubtless that which suggested to
Botticeli his magnificent picture Of Calumny
that now hangs in the Cflzi Gal
lery at Florence. picture which
shows how patient and alert was the curiosity
OF the artists Of those days and how anxious
they were to keep UP with the culture OF their
times. Therefore l will quote yet few more
lines from Alberti. where he says: And so I
cannot too strongly advise the studious
into tNf ,v, la - "a
the rhetoricians. and other men learned in
literature. and to court their good will:
for he will receive from these erudite minds
excellent notions which will be OF great use to
him in those inventions which do so much
honor to painting Phidias. the perfect artist
learned in Homer with what majesty he might
best represent Jupiter. Ny feeling is that We
painters. by reading the poets. render our
selves more fertile. moro chastened. and
more greedy of knowledge than OF gain"
One more excellent piece OF advice from Al
berti. very precious In these days Of notes."
and easel pictures. is the following:
" Let us always take from nature the things |
that We are to paint. and let US constantly Sc
lect in them that which is most beautiful and |
most distinguished. At the same time you |
must beware OF reproducing them on. too |
small scale. as most painters do. should |
wish you to become accustomed to large hG- |
ures. as nearly life size as possible. For in |
small images many great defects may rest |
but in large figures. on the con- |
trary. very small mistakes are clearly visible"
In another branch Of art. l mean landscape. |,
we may hope soon to see reaction against |
that commonplace. mechanical realism which |
We owe to the combined influence OF the Dutch |
and OF the English painters. The glorious and |
noble tradition OF landscape is not to be found |
in the pictures Of Hobbema and Rousseau. but |
in the lyric and evocative landscapes OF Claude. |
Of Corot In his finest work. OF Turner and OF |
Cain. and even OF Poussin. who was
! mighty composer and synthetizer OF
The illusion OF nature. Thanks to the modish
tyranny OF the formula Gapres nature. thanks
10 the exaggerated respect OF nature that Is
not respectable. landscape has become q pas
lime for schoolgirls having at its best but the
aeeting charm OF fresh color. Both artists and
public are wanting In the sense OF decoration.
The fashion OF collecting" is disastrous to
both. The artist collects" Impressions.
sketches. notes." often OF exquisite delicacy