New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-26
ART AT THE WORLDS FAIR
ITALIAN AND SPANISH PAINTING AT HOME
AND In CHICAGO.
THE UNSATISFACTORY EXHIBITS FROM The
soUTH-ONLy a FEW COMPETENT ITALIANS
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES PORTRAITS
THE DETECTION OF THE BEST
ARTISTS IN SPAIN.


REPREsENTED-POLDINTs PORTRAITS
THE DETECTION OF THE BEST
ARTISTS IN SPAIN.
t,pox sr.yr CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUxE.l
Chicago. June 90 "A kind of lghtness which.
if il were based 6rmer touch and finer
taste. would become the chic which is some
times so attractive: that is What is meant By most
mo,lern Italian art Depth of tone is unknown,
and TRANSPARENCY What the Italian artist of to-
day finds in nature is glittering generally. and If
NOT always that, then at least crisp. staccato
effect OF FORM lie is sccnical in his sympathies,
nc the painters in theatres His work Is often
enough pathetic in motive, but in the main 1t Is
an embodiment of gayety. The italian section in
thc Art Building has, there FORE somewhat of an
entertaining quality. The key is superficial, but
NOT dull To say this, however, is to give the
section the benefit of an Interpretation of the
school for which all but few of the two hundred
and odd pictures furnish only partial Justiiicd-
ton A little group of really able artists Is pres
ent. 1t Is embedded in a mass OF mcdlocrlty.
Why no better representation of the Italian school
was sent is at once a mystery and pcrfec'N 3D.
vious II is mystery because there are more
clever men in Italy than these walls proclaim.
Why should they have RETAINED from contributing
TO the collection? Museums or private owners
Nlichettis such distance. but there are aitst'
wording now who could have raised the level OF
the exhibit at Chicago. The Obvious side of the
question appears in tho fact that at its bravest
the school has only small minority Of good ar
lists The departure Of the sccptre OF pctorlal
nrt from the land where II was once nell IN 50
mgsterful hand has been complete. Inc tai
cnted men who remain do not revive any OF IN"
traditional Italian glory. They echo neither the
spirituality Of the Primitives. the cultured an"
spendid materiaism of the Renaissance, nor LOT
that matter, the self-ccnscious ana meretrlciou"
bradth of the Decadcnce. They are whoily
new race, and at their best they possess ou' vi"
schic" which has been mentioned as the virtue
che school as a whole would gain II IL coui"'
Finally. it may be said that the brilliant Roman
..hoo, commonly 40 called, is really more Spanish
than Italian.
7, wopId no pardonable TO describe tho strongest
.~+ist in this section "a more French than Italian
mt Boldini is true to the spirit of his nation III
anita of his long residence in Paris. The french
note in his portraits-of which there are tiree
here-comes principally from the sympathy ne mas
for the French type Of feminine elegance lie i
most often called upon to paint. In his canVases
there t. if anywhere in modern portraitnre. the
atmosphere of vivacity Of dcftness, OF cross con-
sidere1 as worl, Of art. which Is the atmoSpher'
Of the Parisenne. There Is scientlnc logic Wso
IN Boldini's development of his rather ecceh'ric
,daas relating to attitude His sitters ar" posei
in a way that no other artist ever dared Veh'ur'
mon and vet their apparently distorted positions
will, nrovc natural and accurately studied II they
ARC analyzsd narrowly. Ties" are Boldini "i'-
,c;sms his sense of structure and his favorite
TYNE The sparkle the gayly spontaneous sharp
nass ~ his touch, moving across the suria'c oil
tho canvas and leaving a sufficiently broad track
vet leaving also the suggestion Of an e'ccer ''ii
tiness: all this the individual side oil him. j.
modern Italian in the highest meaning OF 'nD
words He is a colorist also, and what wi'h 'i' Al
o,,onalitv self-possession and technical strength
his three portraits in the Italian section arr ''
fnest things there; masterpieces in their purely
unspiritual fashion.
THE MINOR MEN.
Probably the reduction of RoldnIs gifts u one
comprehensive term woull place him among 'F
nrinces. the magical manpulatorS OF sh'Fr pant
without equallinc them in genius he Is r'''arN'
ble for one of the sam" claractciistl"S p'ss's'
nv Sargent and Whistler. hand w ich neve'
,o,,ors h.sore the resistance of pigments HIS
,ro,,- ia Wrought with complet" authority II"
MAYER anpcors 70 be in doubt as 10 what stroN
., ,ba brush will do for his COMPOSITION III J.
the disparity between their grasp OF the pr"'"
and their feeling. which is a. spoA'aheo"s ~
Roldini's that leaves 20 many OF ms country NV"
here whole leagues behind him. hossi w'' Il"
nearest him in merit in a charming venetian s''"'
Of the eighteenth century, such stn'iy Oh c''
tume and manners as Longhi used to paint, nap
pens to cultivate therein a smoother am "0i'
cautious style than is typical Of ltaiy. ihe'' .
q tendency toward breadth and rcpoSe also III ''
dry. unimag nativc but not aito@ether 'o"''
IN. th.
clexerlv done in oils and still rure clevery "on"
in wafer colors. by Corelli. Elsewhere where the
rn,au,terat.d Italian spirit OF vivacity III m"tho"
rny.;ls II il hammered by technical insecuri'les'
Or,v Sinorina Blanca Dali 'Oca comes nca! u
vanouishinr the inmical effect OF the latter III
"The Ouadri!le" picture OF peasants ia e'''
out Of doors. The impure color ana the ih''o'
sive outline are not bad as 10 deprive 'ic co'-
position Of its novelty and balance VI ~
affected movement nor of IT'S ldyiiic c"'' w. ~
=; a. oonsn;cuous works Of Lanrerottc ConcaS'
a,me,;s. Tia Nolin. Mancn. Novo and Pra'l' all
men who are as good a. the best among .''e '"0'
ocrities there is nothing ont hhha'"'"'
manual training and tasfeeSsnrss Vi 'o
court scene called 1.-THE Jurors, py u D''",V'
has u certain soidty Of form, directnesS IN "'
,ao,,inn % co,rso features, which make 1t inter-
es,inc without improving the quality OF i' oo'o
=, ,ono In short il will be seen that ti' att'F
hutton of an entertaining quality 10 thu Itaiia'
section was made with reference % us mus
scntial. national mood, chiefly, anu Win '"' il'
plicaton that not many of the pictures mere "e''
as well done as they were vigorously cono''0'.
Considering the section from severe pun.
view. il contains the smallest possio'e p'"pO'
of work which joins 70 the m'~' o""i"
italian mood the best Italian technique. i'S ~"
urc paintings are seldom done with rKi'' VI ,.
or taste and its landscapes bring forward on,S
ONE man. Carcano, who has come within c'c" ,'"'
;nc distance of Nature As for the sunlieht whic"
Goods the peninsula, it has passed unieeacu os'.
Tho entire gathering of artists They nave NV
even a glimmering Of what it really means ~. ="
paintine Judging from one OF the men WI"