New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-06

VITALITY OF Ttt SWEDISH ~
PIuCITY OF GOOD WORK ~ NORWAY
AND DENMARK SLIGHT SIG
NIrCANCE or RUSSIA AND
POLAND IN TIE Art
BUILDING.
(yroM A STAFF corRrs roSDESr I'M lRBr>E)
Chicago, June 27-Io say that school OF art
suffers from an excess of strength sounds para
doxical until the kind OF strength Is specified.
The strength OF Scandinavian ard SHvlc art Is OF
the sort which Is variousiy described a. vitality
yirility II world seem impossible 70. a schooi
20 have too much o, II. Bnt when virility = an
balanced by qualities OF pOsc. taste ana measure
il is certain 10 b. destructive oi I'll" hnel elements
in art and 10 leave a school with neither sub
tbty nor delicacy III its methods This has been
the fate of most of the Scandinavans and SlavS
whose works are hung in the Art Building IN
the case of Sweden there are distinct reservations
10 be made touching this ovcrplus OF energy IN"
has control Of her forces. and has directed them
with Intelligence and feeling to the production OF
very artistic work Norway and Denmark. Rn~
STA ard Poland are all delayed at that phase OF
ort in which the temp'ramcn'al Vlgor oil ne
painter is manifested. but not the manual felicity
or the el.astcncd beauty Of color which may d"
Unborn characteristics but are rarely able 10 Dis
n.nse with TIE aid OF culture in their develop
mcnt. The absence OF culture. telling IN diHrr-
ent ways in the work oi the four northern ma
lions Just n2med, does not utterly destroy TIE III
terest OF their collections. II does place them on
the further planes o; such Il view OF the cAhio''
in tine Art Building these letters aim to pre-
sent There il no donbt that if Sweden comes
more into TIE foreground il is because culture
has betn added II her natural gifts
IMpRE:sIoNIsM IN SWEDEN.
OF course the culture that is meant is not alone
the sharpening Of faculties by piachce-hu~sa
and Poland are not devoid Of that-bni The rIel-
ton of an atmosphere in which the relations "l
things are perceived and reproduced with ease
and self-posscssion. The great attrac'oh 81 'h'
three Swedish rooms. with their collection OF
about one hundred ana forty pictures CONES
from the fact that they Illustrate a natural taste
for color apprehendng the impressioniS;ir l'ca
with delight and then utilizing it without failing
in restraint The Swedish section brinsS uheA-
pected sensations. Many have known that Andcrs
Iorn. whose work has been familiar in the French
Salons is a clever painter whether dealing with
scenes indoors or in the open air. That he iild
numerous countrymen very nearly as able as nm
self is piece of information which comes Ike q
revelation. Where he maintains his supremacy
j. in the originality and animation OF MS style
and the crisp forche character of his torch'
His subjects are neither new nor oil very SciIo's
significance. lie paints the crowded interior OF
Mn omnibus with its workadoy types, or he seeks
n hipher social stratum and repr0duccs an0'h'r
and more beautiful commonplace. ballroom iuil
of whirling figures. When he treats the nude out
of doors there is little retirement and lnhnlfeiV
less poetic suggestion in his models. hut In all
these pictures in his portraits OF men ana women
and in such transcript from swedish peasant
life "a the large Fair in Nora" which l. one of
his chief exhibits he charms by the truth oil his
observation the singnlarity Of his point Of view
in his conception Of design and the briiliancy
of his atmospheric and color effects. IT is in the
latter that he bears the closest relation to the
men whose works are shown with his. The his
torv of the Swedish school has yet TO be written,
and the genesis of the ihpreSs!onistic impulse III
the country is not to be stated here with absolute
confidence The assumption may he hazarded
that the school has known Monet and that Iorn
has been especially active N propasating the
cospel of he noted Frenchman. Horn's accent
in his OPEN air studies, which is that of many oil
the other clever Swedes. is the accent of Monet
tempered by feeling for more nervous, precise
effects than he prefers But if Zorn ana his
eountrymen have adhered TO a sharper definition
of form and outline than most students Of Monet
obtain. they have not hesitated in the emulation
of his theories in regard to sunlight IL pea's
in some Of their pictures with all the hot inten-
sttv that DISTINGUISHES landscape by Monet {;
with the same diffusiveness and with the same
uncompromising emphasis Of puppies and oranges
Hpt the similarity is not OF that description which
implie. imitation. The restraint Of the Swedes
has been already mentioned. They have not
abandoned themselves to new idea OF 20 n'
oricinator The pictures Of Wallander. Lindman,
Zorn. LARSON, Prince Eugen AMI Thecerstrom
ARE mpressonistic IN spirit without ceaslng 10 be
very Swedish.
Imnrcssionism is, in fact not the sole object
Of the Swedish school at present, though II docs
count most heavily and is observed, from the
winter scenes of Schultzberg and Krcuger, to
have reacted benefcially even upon some artists
whose feeling for sunshine is slight 1t is It's
inprestionism WHICH gives the exhibit place
here But it would still hold its own through
its good qualities in other directions Nine
tcnths Of the artists, whether they care fof a'-
,nosnbere and extreme synthesis not, arc pos
seseed If n flowing method aud an air of clever
ness. Nine-tenths of them have color. md In
. Iasscr nronortion they have individuality OF
STYLE Bruno Lilliefors, whose subjects are ami
,ra,s and birds in their native woods; Allan Us
to,lind n painter of pathetic genre, and Carl
LARSON who gives In one OF his pictures the
rortraits of his family, and in another the II
urcs of an old fairy tale, have all quickly DIS
tincuishable styles. Zorn is not the only man OF
mark in the Swedish section, although lie is WITH
ont question the most important exhibitor there
Ii is good for Sweden that she has such an ARTIST
II is still better for the country that artistic tai
emit is widely spread within her borders. In
the Swedish section there is felt the living tone
which only comes from national movement
and one that Is healthy and progressive.
NORWAY AND DENMARK
Underneath the style Of the Swedes, under
meath their free execution there IS OBVIOUS ule
virility Of the race. The work is never snano"
1t is like German painting, or Dutch' III hS
Vba