The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-01-06

sparkle and glint-there are stretches of
sunlit meadows and trees and charming
glimspes OF things PASTORAL; and in all OF
them are passages of lovely color and rich
full tones. Most OF these, ] think, were
made near Darlington.
Another thing should be noticed in this
change, and that is his manner OF work.
manner which believe, must follow re-
sistlessly the freer and noble use of color,
just as stronger and lovelier color must
inevitably follow deeper and more absorb
ing feeling. II man feels more intensely
and more largely his touch must nee
essarily follow this impulse. We find
consequently in Mr.. Burleighs latest work
an abandonment to his emotion-which
means less thought of how he is doing
his work-and simplicity and bigness OF
ha ndling which do not hesitate to say
are not surpassed by any water colorist;
while in regard TO technical quality and
strength of expression his work must hold
its own in any collection anywhere.
am convinced that we lose the greater
portion of pleasure in art by not taking
the painter for just what he himself is,
and judging and enjoying his work as il
Angelo and Watteau and Claude and
Manet had never lived. do not say 1t is
always easy TO do this-but any attempt
will be abundantly rewarded. We are too
apt to carry about with US, as il ii were a
| foot-rule, this or that style of work as a
| standard by which TO measure all pictures
and all painters, and unless what we SEE
| approaches il, ii does not interest US, or
we think it unworthy of consideration.
Instead, the glory of art is personality.
I IL has been said ten thousand times That
| which makes il immortal is the quality
derived from the uniqueness of the soul
| of the individual artist, unless the work
| we view be personal, not reflection OF
| this, that, or the other painter we happen
| to know, it is valueless beyond its use
! fulness as decoration-no more valuable
| than wall paper.
! When we approach Mr.. Burleigh's
work, then, we must find Mr.. Burleigh,
/ not even seek Constable, or Turner, or
Anyone else, otherwise we shall in no way
understand the artist or widen our SYM
pathies, or give ourselves any lasting
| pleasure.
| You like your trees green, IL may be,
have always had them green, therefore,
| because Mr.. Burleigh occasionally paints
| them purple he seems TO you not much of
an artist, and you turn away from one of
his best works perhaps, without having
4
pictures another, or that some times trees
| look really purple out OF doors. Because
/ am fond of painting the nude, and Mr..
Burleigh is fond of draping his charming
| girls in lovely Lined stuffs, therefore Turn
| from them, and consider them not worth
| enjoying. One is as sensible as the other.
| 1t is the privilege of each of US to have
some new emotion, some broadening OF
| vision from seeing his pictures, and for
/ my part / have received them, and am
| grateful
| What, then, have / found in Mr.. Bur-
| leigh's pictures? In brief, / find perfect
sincerity. You will discover no petty
tricks, nothing prettily done to betray the
I spectator. Be it what we consider good
or bad in itself, every tone is frank. This
| sincerity is doubtless based upon COM
pletely sane and manly attitude towards
| life. Everything is pure and clear. He
has been too much in the open of nature
| to delight long in the close morbidity of
| psychological mysteries and weird fan
tastes. He prefers the subtiler mysteries
of dawn and evening and the impene-
tratable secrecy of midday. do not re-
| call any picture which leads me to think
he has been touched artistically by death
or any great sorrow; neither do / find any
overmastering joy nor any render
| ing of passionate love. / do not mean
| that he has never felt these things, for /
| do not know. only feel sure his pict-
ures are very reticent regarding them. 1t
| is therefore fair to assume they are not the
things he most cares for. There are no
| Venuses, no Bacchantes, Borgias, no
Delilahs, not even female saint, with one
or two decorative exceptions. On the
contrary, he is always interested, and
therefore interesting, in portraying for us
delightful girls on the debatable borders
of womanhood, clad now i'm the mode, and
now In the ever agreeable robes OF an
tiquity or Japan. They are rarely doing
much, ifanything, and we do not wish
them TO do more, for thus we may observe
the poise of the head, the turn OF the arm,
and the movement of the whole figure,
without being distracted by their acts.
This freedom from passion of any dis
quieting sort gives Mr.. Burleigh's pict-
ures a singular stiffness which approaches
very near the classic.
think il not unlikely that the years to
come may find that most enthralling
quality-sorrow, creeping into his work.
1t is strangely lacking in it now.
He has healthy sympathy with out
door life and play, with landscape that is
invigorating and open, and he paints all
things with a manly strength which is
convincing. His drawing is sufficiently
Accurate for all purposes of expression
The color is excellent and constantly be-
coming fuller and richer and more dra-
matte. His conceptions are invariably
elevated and often very distinguished
and these go far to make him one of the
very best OF water colorists of the
country.
The pity OF it all is that so few people
realize that we have such man with us,
a daily associate and one easily found, 1
whose pictures are purchasable for the
most moderate sums, and which would be
a constant charm in any collection.
Mr.Burleigh ought not TO be permitted to
lay away his work in that studio chest OF
drawers and those uninviting close-tied