New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-15
TWO BARBIZON PAINTERS.
rROYON AND DAUBIGNY AT THE UNION
LEAGUE CLUB

| o,,osad m each other. Two OF It's members, Corot
| and Rousseau, basing their work on nature were
nevertheless great by virtue OF the personal eharm
| which thew nung over their paintings Two Others.
| m W. -, nauh,env while individual to de-
| n while sharing with Rousseau and Corot the
| nsrso,al quality to which we have alluded lound
| their claim to recognition upon the piep'"'e anSe
| NJ nature in their work over temperament Inc
difference between these men Is NOT su"'0'en' !" ~
,.oh .rv of them from the standard TO wncn time
a." a' ~, ali accredited but IT Is there ju-t
49, amo and an exhibition Ike that when now
an. the gallery OF the Union League CLUB brings
| :, ~ the surface and Inspires dehhi'e "ah VI
| thought. - 49,. rA
! -, evenlv divided between Troyon and
r,h,onv or either painter 1t Is possible 70 make
a tolerably complete estimate Inc range VI each
| clearly shown. OF both IT Is possible 70 say many
y, the things that often said OF Coro' anu f'Oos-
saau but there are others which only Apply 70 the
two last mentioned Daubgny IL never i"' eAd"-
| ,ia IN. nurely lyrical painter that Corot was n
! no,rlv every painting he produced ana icr the
! noctic even dramatic characteristics OF Rousseau
! IL is plain at glance that Iroyon mas 10 equ'a-
| lent II Is not necessary that he should nave; ne
remains n great artist in his own way But IN point.
! ing out wherein two men In this exhibition d<
nor, from the artistic habit OF their colleagues "
merely take a step in that process OF elimination
which we arrive at the exact nature OF "'e palhF
ines before u.s. reducing the collection 10 us 'im-
| the more ne'crrdiy ~ ~ N"s
because Barbzon art IL often taken 70 mean great
! aa.I marc OF Barbzon life and sentiment than !.
! really does mean in the essential work OF the mas
! ters II is true that II means the reVerles OF
sunny Barbizon poet in the case OF CoroI 'he pas
sionate emotional crises OF pro'ounder nature IN
| the case of Rousseau. the gayeties OF ouoyant
| colorist in that OF Diaz and the ruminauons Of a
man half-painter and half-Sociast in the case OF
| Nillet When you reach Daub.gny you ma him
| painting Landscapes for their own sake Pracucaay
! nothing intervenes between the genus o. Iroyon
and the truths which he painted. He and Dau.
bigny have something 10 tell OF themselves, bat
| they are preeminent among the painters Of Bar
! blzon for telling first all that they possibly can Of
the before them.
Apply these outlines OF Interpretation 70 The mer
as they are represented in the Union League eN.
! hbiton. Daub.gny far more perhaps than is COM
monty realized from apprehension CT MS art In the
confusion of a modem collection. valves the usually
urgent demands OF his sty.e for recognition AID
asks you saturae yourself in the purely natural
| istic elements OF his work Alongside OF the aver
age painter Daubigny is notice able for nothing more
than for his style II Is an absorbing matter FOR
study here But in competition With himself he
afford to relegate style to its proper position He
steps aside TO give play 10 the voices " nature
| in his scenes. to show you without annexation the
| beauties he has seen. Never has he seemed 10 see
so clearly and so much. The range OF his fourteen
pictures is very wide. 1t goes from he sweet COOL
| lucy greens OF the MARSHES a: Opteroz with is
morning freshness. the harder clearer Light Of
The Cliff at Vllerville" and. pass ng 70 rhe ten
derness and pensive key OF the Twilight on the
Seine" ii eliminates in the brilliancy OF the VII
age on the Disc Sunset To revert Tor mo-
ment to the contrasts pointed out above We may
observe that in any Of these pictures had
Rousseau painted them. would insiinctlyeiy
think of the artists mood and reflect upon the
specific intensity of each set of feelings mrrored
in the various canvases. As a matter OF fact the
pictures mentioned bring far less hint OF Dauogays
moods than they do OF natures In other words.
they are intensely. passonately true. fragrant WIN
the very fragrance of the woods and streams. noisy
with the soft moist noises that water fowl make IA
the lesurey movements OF their undisturbed re-
treats. The merely technical felicties OF each one
is mat tier for consideration but the truth Is
that not often is permitted to forset them a-d
when, in the present instance. generous party
OF collectors have combined to hang fairy fault
less group of pictures criticism Is easily persuaded
TO wait on enjoyment There Is no picture here
that is unworthy OF Daubigny at his best. II there
IS an exception to the rule II is the large and
sketchy view of Dieppe," painting somewhat
obscure and muddled in lis foreground. but even
this contains of the artists most mastery
touches Note the justice with which the values
are preserved in this very foreground. as heavily
drawn as though by the overilled brush Of Nolon.
but in the broad management OF color entirely rtsht
and artistic. Note the clarity and precision with
which the houses in the picture are nqng IN o ~;
save the painting from the mortiiication OF Sec
ond place ,,,.o,. ,..a,,n ,,.oo ,s, b. .,v.,
to any one or two OF the paintings wnlch sno" via
such uniformity the power OF Daubigny we would
e Gin at Tiervile Inc former t is masterpiece
OF Interpretation the insight OF the artist pehes.
imag gina ton burdening the result with no more Of
the personal accent than is snieient to MAKE y0s
50 much In the company OF any one but Daqosny
the suDtety with which Its atmospheric effects are
painted; and for the charm OF is comps luon;;
too ons from Us those Questions REFERRED to above as
technical They Include the element Of de:gn sHd
Turn to the villervlle scene for Illustration.
breaks the composition just beyond the bay on
painting h exactly that hint Of ar~no in the least
marks master from pOvGs
ns o iSe 4 k In IN these nSs the po
Ion @ of the srchtectHre ' in 'vnlerSe the BAL
ancing of light and shade in any OF the pic;gre,
While Daubgny the executant could DO much to
impress the behoder in the harmonzins Of es9lo.s,
csnyases and in the 9cidy Of his air While #
obvious that his browning virtue was pa Of fas-
"a Similar fusion is winessed in the work Of
Troyon but there is distinction TO be noted i nSt
Of the famous animal painter speedily 10 The front
more TO 10 with The outcome than they had Il tie
case OF the painter with whom he is now grouped
line and contour. that is handled with peculiar re-
gard for their individual qualities Choose, for eA-
ample the large Approaching Storm" or ire
equally imposing Cows in the Pasture" In either
You feel at once what Daubigny has. but never
shows transpareEty. the beauty ~ pure
draughtsmanshtp and modelling. See in the first
OF these two pictures the serried lines OF the grain
fields. the noble curves in which the cattle swing
up toward the foreground the linear dellcacy with
which the turbd. clouded sky Is managed Garry
the point along more minute lines, and study the
structural accuracy OF the work among the cattle.
the truth with which the standing figure Is drawn
in the COWS In the Pasture For dignity or style
In everything that means composition. drawing me
building up Of an exactly poised design. this latter
picture seems 10 10 be among modern cattle
studies what Potter's 'Bul' is among the old mas