New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-28
ART AT THE WORLDS FAIR.
V I
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GERMAN PAINT
ING.

UNsoPHIsTIcATED REALsM-woRKS BY LEN
BACH AND MExzEL-UHDEs RELIGIOUS COM
POsITIoN-THE ABSENCE OF CoLoR1sTs
A NOTE ON THE AUSTRIAN
EXHIBIT.
(YRoN s1AFr CORRESPONDENT THE TRDrSE)
Chicago, June 22.-The Germans are met
aphysical people. Where their interest IN meta
physics leaves off their painted art begins ii
the Teutonic temperament. when il is artistic. vi
brates at contact with natural phenomena II If
at no pains TO translate the latter into terms OF
such esoterc import as distinguishes the music
Of the Fatherland. Somewhat after the habit
Of the Partisan renlist. the German artist tries
u paint the thing exactly as he sees II on the
surface. Such sentiment as will frequently creep
into his work comes from his heart and not from
his imagination To him the subtle nuance,
which If TO painting exactly what il is TO music.
means nothing in the sphere Of pigments and
brushes lie is. in a word follower OF the
realistic standard Only there is an incalcuahle
distance between him and the morbid or purely
intellectual type. whose importance in the French
section has been discussed He is nothing if not
in healthy state OF mind. and the qualities Of
his art are all such qualities as grow naturally
from condition of that sort. IL is sin9ularly
be more ludicrous than the ascription of sensa-
tional motives to any Of the men whose works fill
Germany's seven galleries in the Art Building
Tricky. hasly effects are unknown The general
ambition seems 70 I've 10 tell story of some sort
as a rule. of mild. domestic nature-to tell it
etraightforwardly and with the best of technical
intentions. Ii is hardly the fault Of the German
artist il he born without a sense Of color
And lie is certainly laboring with devotion
worthy Of his race 10 repair the omission of
destiny.
LENP,CH's PORTRAITS.
The virtue Of industry is writ large across the
face Of the German section. with pause here and
there due to exceptional master in the school
for whom industry is a matter Of secondary az
count II is the irony Of fate that the cXccp-
tons in nearly every school of art should bn
regarded as ,he finest lnmnarics of the latter
This is the case with Germany. Lenbach and
Mcneil. her two greatest names at Chicago, have
little in common with their countrymen save the
TcutOnc integrity. the reutOnic sobretv Of color,
and. in Menzels case, certain outlook upon life
Each Of these two men is obviously German
Their styles couI1 not have originated anywhere
outside Of Germany But neither could their
styles have originated anywhere hut in them
selves. This remains true of Ienbach, i'll spite
OF the suggestion of Rembran1ts manner. which
appears in the modern artists portrait Of Prince
Bismarck. The concentration Of the light upon
the face while the rest of the picture is 40 sombrc
that the resultant effect is curously Rein-
brsndtesque is coincidence. not an echo. HE
vitality in the face the curt but expressive treat
ment Of the hands, and the brushwork IN every
detail could only have come from Lenbach him
eelf. And still more convincing proof of his
natural ability is offered in the portrait OF Pope
Leo. which is his only other exhibit at the Fair
In that there all the good qualities OF the
Bismarck. With them are found closer
approximation 10 beauty of color. an arrangement
of light and shade which is entirely unlike that
OF a Rembrandt, and finally. in a striking de-
gree, the distinction which makes Lenbach a
miracle in his school No else in the German
section has this distinction. not EVEN Mcneil, who
is in other respects lis equal What does it
spring from? In part from the nature OF the
PAINTER which seems TO be really aristocratic ana
refined in fibre; in part from the declcy and
poise OF his touch In his Papai portrait, too,
the hands, which are severe d test OF power
in the painter, are eloquent Of tile hncncss or
his executive method. There is portraiture when
Is more daring and brilliant than Denbachs s.
These two pictures would look tame beside the
extraordinary canvascs of Sargent. But they
POSSESS quite as much as the latter do the
precious qualities of style and power which
qualify a work of art 10 endure. lie German
galleries contain nothing liner.
MENzEI. AND OTHER RE,r1sTS
Mcneil is stylist That is TO say. his Work Is
Enthusiastically his own, ami in its accent not only
his own but dgnihed aud impressive. IL has not,
however, distinction, attribute which Is Tor
eign 10 German art, and in the case Of l"nhacil
is quite remarkable manifestation 1t does
have what IL discovcrablc in lenbach, but IN no
others in the German section, the note OF mas
terry. The picture of The Rolling Min, which
has been loaned by the National Gallery OF Ber-
lin is piece Of pure realism and asks nothing
of the imagination save that II b' touched-aS
il can he touched by such thngs-by the spec
tacle of man controlling dangerous masses of
matter and by the fantastic atmosphere of Il
murky interior Aesthetic charm is not associ-
atcd with hrawny mechanics at work with molten
metal In O grimy foundry. Yet Mcneil demon
strates the possibility Of extracting artistic eff
fects from such material. He rcprOduces with
wonderful truth the movement OF an interesting
nhsse of life lie scatters his lights over the
gloomy canvas with the utmost naturancSs and
with a mobilization of their relative values when
il calculated to fiji an artist with mingled delight
and despair. And he draws the igures-so care
fully observed that each one has distinct place
in The interest of tho scene-with an amount Of
ease and sureness for which your artist OF ordi-
nary stature NAV strive in vain. The picture Is
not the work of a colorist II Is the work Of a
man who's. Knowledge of values is deep, and who
balances tonc as atlroit. a. he does form. There
is one point of difference between Mcneil and
Icnhach which makes the former typical of III"
majority Of the German artists-the point Of view
which has been spoken of in passmg Whi''
his analysis Of his models is not superficial. il is
still but analysis. The impression il leaves is
that il works with the documents supplied by
facial ami other physical characteristics and ac-
cepts them as, the whole, final. II fails TO
suggest the intuitve, imaginative apprehension of
elusive, spiritual truths which lends to ZEN
bach's portraits their atmosphere Of keen pcnc-
tration. So il is with most German genre That