New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-14
UNION LEAGUE PICTURES.
A WORTHY CLIMAX OF TIE SEASON.

FIR the last exhibition Of the season ut tho Tnion
tcoc,,e Club the art committee have hung collection
Of over hundred water color-. The pictures are III
a medium which Is represented In such quhhu'y gu
the walls OF the clubs gallery only once year nm
which upon that single occasion Is usually seen In
some brilliant examples. This spring the selection
Is extremely good and Interesting. No sch. ol pre-
dominates The collection comprohends early water
colorS by Martin RE. and number 81 The Whuo
iions OF modern Dutchmcn. Weiss.nhruck and Wei
land Mauvc l,rlcls and Neuhuys. II ranges from
works bv Turner and Landsecr 70 other by Abl"T
and Iafargc. There l. matter fr pleasant rei'"'
ton I'm the fact that some - the best men In this
co,moplltan gathering arr Americans. Indeed. there
f. no picture I'm the ,NhilhiOn which Is more mas
tary Illustration Of the possibilities OF water color
than "Thc Old song Ly Mr.. Abbey. work wlhch
il positive pleasure 10 have r'app"ar now Tor 10"
first time believe. since II WA hung at th" Mead
ems some years ago. II almost cmulnt's The cnIac
s Of OILS IN The srilty Of ~ effects. hut tbs l.
more a question Of appearance that Of fact. II l.
r, ally marvel ms piece OF work In winter color II
f. recalls the body of palntin: done In III" heavier
moaigm n l. lccnusr Mr.. Abbey +, In his colcr work
~ I'm his black and white drawings. ~ the northern
rather than 81 the southern iypr In modern PIC
toral art and shares In a." cosc s'yi" 81 The
English school than I'm The rapid suggestive style.
the style In which clio Is prccmincnt. which the In
fin, nee Of the Italian and spanish masters has made
extraordinarily y lnlar. Mr. Abbey knows 10 such
thing Is chic and every hing h" has To say III III"
Old SONG whether II De point OF texture IN 'iuhS
OF substance IN the background and accessories, 81
form or II light and shade. II Is sd with the utmost
care for full technical expression. Yet there j. a
graf culf between Nr. Abbey and the Eneshmcn
with whom he has certain consccntIousness I'm com
mon III, = detail does not sii1"n his STYLE"
In the charming English intrr,r which i reproduced
II this picture without any DETECTION from the rules
OF perspective there /, the most loving treatment "f
walls, furniture ana on, hui not any where do they
ceasc to lie subordinate T. the tlr"c figures whic.
mike the composition. the old man and his wife on
the further plane, and their daughter standing AT
the harp in the foreground Within it, scale 4
deliberate, thonghtfully considered handling It Is still
free in spirit the most dashlng Of synthetic
water clors. The subject IL beautiful and the
cu'ion Is In harmony with T.. In tone also the pie
tnrc Is u fine as any Mr.. Abbey has done.
The surprises OF Mr.. Lafargc's south sea portfolio
incxhaustiblc. with the lovely study Of the
Peak Of Manoa ROa,' which has figured In an OK
libliion before. he shows n picture Of Palms IN
s,orm-Samoa" done In similar key Of dark green.
and two studies Of vivid hucs. sketch Of
respondent red flower Of Tahiti and OF samoan
orator Addressing Us on Presentation Of Gifts Of
FrIi." All the" strongly realistic and al the
Tim" ~ brilliant and almost as dnring Ia color
rs the work Of pure fanta,i>t"" might be-. These
pictures, Mr.. Abbry's water color couple Of English
,inae. arr the p ncpa! works in the American section
With them are landscapes by DIR. Dewey, Mfr. Collin.
10y Mr. >hraw. Mr. Edwards and Mr. Weir who also
has striking picture of dogs and equally artistic
flower siblrc,, ANA srinr olnrr works, ~ which thOS
by Miss Mc(hcsncy and Mr. Wilcs and Mr.. clifford
need alone provoke an ausiOn.
There IL much dlStln-ush"i work among the foreign
Ilcinr"s Both the turner's arr Interesting ana one
OF them The view OF fiarlcn. IS remarkable sprci
his sensitive srnsnous color sense. and his imaeina
livrne,S L., treating "nd,np' Ihs sketch Of dogs
expected. Iands"cr + mo-, one Of the artists Of the
'onpnaivcly Lately departed generation In England
If time. His reputation. based on "A treatment Of
animal subjects That Is in,ipd and sentimental, Is
like i'aiyc' Tor example, IS WAVING. lInt IN The
picture at The Union League Club nc vihdcates his
u portrait Of dog II has power but IFS ex.
stcncc Is chiefly jm,i,d by Its exquisite linear
ing, and rs drawing 1t is considerably above The
l.vel Of the commonpaec. The master just
scented In THIS exhibition by characteristic wafer.
color e" y Tiger Lookng." Other frcnchmrn Whose
forsnkc, his stupid ecccsinsiics ana paint
III excellent portrait Of spanish nnkecpcr, and the
a,nSG cs D b h r S tcs o artists. ~' pn rnwn
shows threc judges considering presumably ni
Lni'e used In The encounter arr In evidence upon
table beneath the judicial bench Technically III"
Interest OF the wrl centres IN Daumicr's simple direct
method and his clever combination Of the with the
brush 10 gain Ills effects. but the picture draws H.
many generally ugly thing. and his figures arr.
rupulsivc even when, as In this picture. the rarcnu
l. not ov"rchnrg'i Hut his analysis was cruelty
piercing. and this grim. II not glasly, leaf from HE
daily history OF The paals DE- Justice Is fascinating
as II Is unlovcly The I+nnd-cap" Near Rome" one
Of the two pictures by Dtamps Is rnniIfnl IN com.
position and c"lor The dcIcacy Of feeling In Il Is
rare manifestation 81 srnn IN Tho Individuality Of
nwamps. lie l. more often ~ u harder. rOiIglcr
temper There arc twenty-five thirty Dutch water.
colorS, and some of thcm-th. pictures by Mauvc and
Isracls-dcnch themselves from their fellows. They
are The most original and the strongest. The rest
are the performances 6f WHOSE styles are les,
marked. But all the Duchmen have rich tonnity.
and the Holland group l. an important one IN the
exhibition As whole. the latter ~ n worthy climax
the season Mt the Union League GLIB. II harbors
stuff. The pictures arc mostly popular. and good
proportion OF them are Of high quality