New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-12
THE CHRONICLE OF AXIS.
LIMITATIONS AND OTHER TOPICS.


o.,. -, zach ten days the art season may
Du'.,s '',o icon actually started Ihe Union
Leone CHI hegan last Thursday i'S SNr,
montb,,. axhihitions with display OF carry ISL,
and Dutch pictures and, as VIII De 1T. Gre,
below the interest among the iii'"o' ,,,dn,oh,s
raised bv the Netteship exhibition '' " 49,
hos haon increased The Loan Exhipi.ion d. .,e
Academy Of Design continues uh,i ''o .., ~,
,roa, ,a ,,,e river in the Art Association ''ai-
,orio, on ,,ortay,e-st the Brooklyn ATT Schoo'
last night opened its second autumn" 49, CIT
pictures by instructors in the Soto' IT Doe
law w NJ Chase Theodore Rop"iSo" - a. ~,
! ton j. NJ Rhind and Elizabeth L. ,har,.
with sDcclmcns Of work by the s'uu'"'" ~
| selves
If there was one feature OF the ART eN"'D 49,,
the World s Fair which more thah ANY ~ ~
,ho .'., % hoin,, wholly new it was the group OF
impressionstic pictures in the o"e''' ,,,o,
introd,cad half \ dozen men. AnderS "oi'' nm
WaIIandar Prince Eugen Of S"eue" ~ ~
WAY and few others, who seeineu ~ ' ,
planted the perfervd art OF Monet 10 'Ne WI nni
| 10 have there developed it with ehersS an 49,
nality Zorn was plainly the inita'oh =. g., bic
,nent rarresented by the little coilec'on !" ~
' ,, ,rb,s much was suggested by the
| eunro,roc,, of his work. and it was aiSo " ' "
| ferred from the fact that he had preN'o'''' ~.
heard of in Paris, whereas ms coh'p"'' go. -,
| known No such bracinS indiViduah'S d" ms
been presented to us in q lO55 '"'''' - -. A.
oneI not only curiosity but enthusiasm. NV vi
| 49, -, ,,,,h, q number of his works TO New
vorl, and sbov,s them at the keppel Sdiieiy' ne
| appears as both painter ana etchei' "
| character he has very great 'die"' 800. ,so,
| the whole more satisfactory with Tue o'"''
| with the needle Even as painter he "t' "
sharnv defined limitations. OF the hVe pictures Il"
| this exhibtion-two portraits two ou'-uoo, "e -
| e,udios and a marine-therc is not one III "iio" nv
gives so much as "A hint OF a scnsi'i'e' ue"
imaginative temperament As an i'e'
| spiritual moods in nature, ii IS NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. -
| he could have any success Whatever NJ ~
| his greatest deficiency But if his analysis sue
| costs hardness and frlgdly ncisive temper II -
| not for that reason any the less roh''ie GA"
nluminative He has, there can De no q"e'",
| IT, a penetrative eye. lie Is also, ana u n'D0
| greater degree closely observant or Surface i''
| Strengthened by these attributes he mas rapiu
| n1 ho,1 aImost curt executive habit. His color
| is in = high key but is kept well In hhhd' anu
| leaves him vivid. spirited and IN sood 'aS'e, &C.
fined in pitch rather than in tone Inc sum lo'',
of his art Is expressed as a brilliant reais'i io'
| porially on that Of Monet, partially on the sc'e"
| ,,n ,chool nonuarzed bv C;ervex, and accented by
tho sincerity Of a Northern Individuality Inc rst
| of the five. paintings at Keepers. large foff"''
Of Mrs d." typihes that realism IN us pest Pn'S
| without charm in the strctest sense vi '''e WI
! II has yet the charm OF texture anu Hsh' ue"'c'
with swift accuracy and piquant note oil man
rer With Vitality il IS superabundantly pro-
| vid-I in the expression Of the eyes ana lps' Ill
the tit Of the head in the suspended acton Oh 'e
| left hand which pauses on Il book at 'he sitter
| side and in the unaffected pose OF the entire
frame The naturaness OF the portrait Is the pii'-
cn,l element in it's effect. After that naturaness
| there is felt the direct, energetic method OF ''e
,echnlclan and then the hnesse with which, oy tne
| distribution Of his lights and shadows ne mas
| brought out facts OF structure which less aIer'
| scrutiny might have overlooked or slufreu' Inc
first and last OF Xorn's merits Is MS TRUTH Inc
pronoln IL used advisedly for. like all reailS's anu
| impre sslonsts h. misses the highest plane III
| nature and stands self-confessed as satisfied with
| ,,,,s Tho personal equation which in his art Is
| marked does not mean it does with every TO-
manifest or lealist, that he insists upon the inner
Significance OF his theme 1t is declared rather III
| a reliance. upon his vision OF things just as they
| are to the eye OF materiasm In the PORTRAIT oi
| Rec a study of a child. the character OF ms SUD-
| lao, b,s NOT moved him 10 any efforts more subtle
| ,b,n those of the larger works The vague secret
of childhood escapes him, though the general Duoy-
ancv OF life does not. II Is the same In "A sum-
| mer study" an outdoor nude picture. ana In the
warm sketch of a girl dressing In the open ar Inc
| level is imaginative to a degree but on that Level
! his yeracity especially as reSaIuS hb"' - "a -
| quite unusual sort
| Tho impression Iorn leaves is an impression OF
| nature That argues ability of n high order ana
reservations are be made with caution But reser-
| vations are inevitable when his etched work Is
approached They indicated perhaps most COM
| pr,honsiyely by saying that among the painter
ctchers. with whom he is naturally classified he is
| more Of a painter than etcher. His sturdy
| MODELLING his veracy, his style his eXuDerance
If vitality are all the equivalents OF qualities TO be
found in his paintings. and they are eminenty
| painier-llke. His line. which is the test or an
| ctchrr's genius, Is OF the most unetcher-like
we have met In itself it has no beauty, as the
! line Of Rembrandt Whistler has beauty, and
neither does II perform the mission 10 which II
should be- assigned according to those masters, the
, mission Of defining form with kind OF self-re-
! spcct with a preservation of its own suavity and
grace and dclicacy a quick way In which 10 en-
force this fact is to compare say No. 10. The
Printer Liebermann." No. 5. The Artist and His
Wife" or No. H., "Rosta Mauri" with Whistler :
with the portrait OF Daou by Legros, In the works
Of the elder etchers there Is nothing more con-
with which II has been compelled to express form.
fnemcnt with Which it has followed the play
OF light in hair or about nose ana eyes and chin
tn copper as draushtsmans pen might traverse
latter is indeed what confronts US In these etch-
IGss They are probationary clever, They are more
than that In the painter-like relations which have
been pointed out. Iiut etching is etching. II is a
linear art. and has remained so even in the hands
of SO panter-lke a man az Seymour Haden. There
Is nothing but admiration for the individuality OF
Hou's work, for the SURPRISING realism OF his
portraits of Antonn Proust. Lebermann Prince
l.ugcn. Renan. Count Won kosen. Mile. Olga g..
and Henry q. ,Mareuand. There is nothing but
| regret Tor the license he has permitted himself,
for his continual cross-haching. for his abrupt.
| short even brutal, strokes. for his abandonment.
| in short. "A catchy and effective but not at all
| beautiful. or really mastery. method. As Il pen
| draughtsinan he would rank among the highest.
A an etcher his position IS very likely be fixed
| much below that of master when the first un-
| brill,d enthusiasm OF the moment has subsidized.
| IL might be wished that he would study some OF
the recent exquisite dry points OF leleu In those
| he would ind his own impressiOnsm and liberty
| rvalcI. and the spirit OF true etching, which ne
| has dci.iel maintained intact
| Mr.. Keppel has placed exhibition with Xorns
| paintings ana ctchinss collection Of cngravings
| by William Sherborn. of London. Sherborn has
| won celebrity In England through having sue
| cessfuy revived the early German style of line
engraving. lie is a fertile designer when dealing
| with heraldc ard Hoial motives, and the bulk
| of the present collection is composed of book plates
produced for English amateurs. Sometimes he
| oVprcrowds his plate, az IL Nos - and % but as
| a rule he employs his decorations with much tact
and ingenuity and II is more just to estimate
him in design like No. 80 the cy-libris Of Lady
Constance Eaters a, which is clear. compact and
beautiful These book plates have value Of their