New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-27
PICTURES BY JOHN la FARCE.
THE COLLECTION PREPARED FOR THE
FRENCH SALON

hiDit COLLECTION OF his works IN the approaching
Salon Of the Champs de Mars. 1t has given US for
few days. preliminary their shipment to Paris.
the privilege OF studying together the pictures by
our most distinguished colorist which have ap-
peared from time TO time In NewYork exhibitions.
At the Durand Ruel galleries over two hundred
designs hung some OF them dating from Mr.
La Farges trip to Japan IN 1885, the rest recording
his impressions OF the Pacific islands in 1Sso-9i.
Most OF them have been seen before but as whole
the collection has even a richer effect than any
Mr.. La Fargo has produced hitherto. Its interest
is enhanced moreover, by the text OF the cata-
logue, a little volume filled with characteristic
comments and descriptions from the hand OF an
artist who exerts a personal charm. whether
handling the pen or the brush IN po'h ui'e
tons, upon this occasion, Mr.. La Farge carries
you to the subtles most poetic sources Oh inc
beauty to which he himself responded WIN 80
much enthusiasm and facility. In MS Versions Vi
the Orient and the South Seas ere is quite
UNIQUE touch OF elemental warmth ana ehar"''
side nv side with Mr. La Farge's keen sense OF
the deep natural loneliness OF his scenery anu ns-
ures there have gone certain more strictly arusuc
traits which make him profoundly Impressive
10 has felt the poetry. the indefnable grace OF
his themes He has felt also their pictoriai las-
cination and their value as arrangements OF coior'
The result is a collection or pictures III 'he uues'
sense designs which win admiration for their
truth their balance compositions and their
hrilliancy OF color. Going further In his ar
tistc handling OF outdoor life Mr.. La Fargo has
produced some mastery studies OF movement.
These last indeed. are among the most remarkable
pictures shown. bringing back with absolute con-
viction the life OF the remote climes they Illus
trate Take for example No. liz. Girls Dancing
in Open Air at Iva, in Savaii" 1t would be diff
cult eXaggerate the idyllic beauty OF this. its
vivid representation OF rhyt hmic. graceful. yet
entirely unsophls,cated episode in savage life.
The fact is. Mr.. La Fargo clearly shows. that
the types and life OF the tropics are exhaustlcss in
generic witchery. the enchantment OF artless mo-
ton. OF still more aress bearing in the daily 10
ings OF primitive society, and OF color that seems
almost evenly divided between man and his sur
roundings The picture 10 which reference has just
been made is only Of group in which the
active. sturdy native is shown in moments thor
oughy characteristic OF his and environment
For another. 10 No. 81. Girl Sliding Down
WATERFALL better still to No. l22. In which
the same subject is depicted. In pictures like
these Mr.. La Fargo preserves what We must believe
to be the very breath and gesture OF savage life
life rejoicing in freshness, in freedom. and in a
warmth that penetratcs every thing even the hying
water to which the playful woman OF the torrid
zone trusts herself with such confidence. And he
adds TO this veracity poetry OF color and atmos-
phere an individuality OF style. which make him in
the long run Irresistible. The conception IL de-
lghtful and the technique is mastery. The i'm
agination Is touched by the spirit OF design like
No. 100. Soldiers Bringing Presents OF Food In
Military Order" No 9s, presentation Of Gifts
or FOOD on MdnOnO lSldnC, ana at tHe same bi"c
Mr. La Fargo ministers to the aesthetic sense i'm
presses you as has BEEN said by his pictorial fac
ulty and his command over all the phases OF his
work. In the military scene. for instance just
mentioned there is nothing more striking than the
modelling OF the brawny. bronze-like soldiers, the
perfect reproduction OF the play OF tone on their
wide shoulders The large unfinished portrait OF a
native seated. which hangs in one OF the angles
OF the ROOM is a triumph Of technical skill. as we'll
most sympathetic study OF picturesque per /
sonality.
Only here and there has Mr. La Fargo attacked
a notably imaginative theme. When he has done
So as in one or two Of the japanese sketches. the
portraits OF masked dancers, and No. Al, The /
Priest Of Idzumo Watching at Dawn for the Soul
OF the Dragon Which Comes in with the May
Tides" he achieves a fine and haunting result .
The Priest OF Idzumo portrayed in his vigil
by Mr. La Fargo, a bizarre figure on the seashore,
is a figure never to be forgotten. The beauty or
color and OF form in the treatment OF the sea. the
grotesque effectiveness of the crouching priest. are
poetic in a igh degree. But such a motive might .
awaken any delcately hbred mind. Where Mr. la T
Fargo shows his originality. his strength his depth
OF imagination, Is In lending to subjects or much I
less obvious suggestiveness equally poetic Sig /
nincance. See No. 1Ol. THE Hereditary Assassins 4
of King Malietoa." and observe with what felicity b
the right moment has been chosen for the por- F
rayal Of these uncanny personages, with what .
judgment they have been placed In relation to the .
weird lights and tones OF the composition. Or TO /
md the quintessence or M La fABe XIX iVi /
throwing strange glamour over the commonest /
subjects look at No l53 Ford at the Upper End .
OF the Tautira River" The title Is not especially r
eloquent The actual movements OF the three /
women in the landscape are no more remarkable /
They are crossing the ford. 1t IS 10 De presumed.
nothing more. One OF them stands In the shall .
lows on the further SIDE dimiy outlined figure. .
The second is just striking out. and only shows /
her head and shoulders above the water. The third /
comes running down the bank. apparently TO take /
the plunge a moment later. Consider the sequence /
OF action illustrated by these three figures. re- /
member that their graceful forms surrounded /
by luxuriant nature that in the distance above the
wooded banks some purple peaks are rising. ana /
something OF the beauty which hangs over tho /
composition will be family realized from these /
few words The last fine touch the shade OF /
subtety. the warm. bright air. translation !
could convey. Mr.. La Fargo has put into his /
studies much more than can be briefly analysed. /
After his drawing and color have been recognized. /
after the animation in all his studies OF outdoor /
genre is apprehended there Is stl the poetry the
10 that romance 1t is necessary TO come back .
pont of a less elevated nature which requires 10
be noticed in survey Of ms g. coec Eorcs bdn Is ns
the substance OF landscape, Just ms plastic disp9-
Ills sk would be instantly ackno Tledged in works
such as the two vitalzed studies OF Japanese
Upolu" which contains an extraordinary vvid /
portrait OF breadfruit tree or me small skeGn;
tr1o ~. Sea BUT "A closer scrutiny discovers
grander toueh in those half-dozen sketches OF |
mountainous subjects, IKE No. l&, The Peak OF
Mauna Roa" which bring the suonml'y OF ma,
slve natural things into the exhibition the sense
Of relation active in these as IN those denca,e
sea pieces. which recall the reucence ana eH.
pressiveness of Whistler In snort. Mr.. La fhrgc
range is very wide and he passes with perfect ease
from mountain peaks TO flowers. from the MAJESTY
OF the sea 10 the domestic manners OF ms native
friends among the sayages Of Samoa. Among the
later and in their country he has done possibly the
most attractive work Of this exhibition YET the
Japancse drawings excite quite as inuch ehthtisl-
asm when thcv are examined 1t Is not possible
to discuss them all in detail at this time, though
innurnerab,e examples crowd upon the memory
each with some special claim upon the Afternoon
1t is hard TO pass by with no more man "a WIZ orr
such a flower piece that when presents ,ne
Hibiscus OF the Society Islands. such IahuscaaPe
az No naYnN. such COmpOsltlOns as NO