The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-11-05
THE PosTER-TEA

tion was a great success from every standpoint. The attendance was large and the best of the social element was present. The exhibition Is striking and effective. The color scheme of the tea table was somewhat startling, but quite in keeping with the mass of color on the walls. Certainly the Lawn club rooms never held such chromatic won ders before and they are hardly likely to do so again. It was g. nightmare or a prismatic glory, just as like posters or not.
 But to the enthusiastic collectors, Of whom there were many present. the display was marvellous. Only the real amateur des affiches," as they call the species in France, where the fad was born, only he whose soul has been wholly possessed with the passion for that "board-fence art could apprecl- ate the value of MT. Crawford's treas ure And the actual money value while the fad is still raging is no pret- ty sum. There are representative posters of every school and among the signatures are some of the names of the most famous living painters, such as Puvis de Chavannes and Herbert Herkomer, and such lesser lights as Kenyon Cox, Will H. Law, and J. H. Twachtman, the impressionist
 Of the celebrated poster designers, Cheret is represented by some seven or eight of his first productions, Lefebre, who initiates the Cheret's style, has two beautiful examples. Steinlen, who Is an accomplished master, has two of his best designs. George Meumier, also of considerable fame, has two good figure designs. Lucas has fine Russian pos ter and another of more elaborate de- sign, but less merit as a poster. Muchas poster of Bernhardt as "Gis- monda" is at once effective as a. poster, and has considerable portrait value. There is a curious design for the Wind sor Magazine, in which Mrs. James Brown-Potter is recognized.
 Of the English school there are num- berless rare examples of the art as practiced by Dudley Hardy, Greiffen- hagen, Aubrey Beardsley; and of the American school there are yards of Penfield, Hagenjlug, Arthur Dow, etc, etc.
 People wandered about yesterday among the multi-colored panels in a helpless and dazed sort of way. To the uninitiated they are utterly incom- prehensible and baff1ing, and if you try to bluff" and judge them on general principles of sanity and artistic good- breeding you are certain to pick out the least admirable of all as the object of your praise. Posters are not re- poseful Somehow after you have gazed at them intently for half an hour you are glad to go out and rest your eyes by looking at the naked sun. Such sWirling curves and reeling figures, es- pecially is this true of the dizzy Brad ley school. But on. the other hand, careful designing and well-considered detail do not always make a successful poster. The best are those in which the advertising and artistic merit are most subtly blended. Steinlen seems to do this with marvellous ease, and Lautrec, also Cheret, is sometimes a little monotonous and his manner is not difficult to initiate. Penfeld has more funor than any of the other Americans and this use of fat-tones is clever and seldom overdone. Rhead is very decorative and some of his figures would reproduce in stained glass. Bradley is much appreciated by artists, but he Is often too fantastic for the lay mind.
 Of the Englishmen Hardy is un- doubtedly the most satisfying, as wit fI,a rTor tafyy i,, 4l,1 ;o4x ;,,1ts series, and "The Geisha," and the 'To- Day" The large theatrical poster by Aubrey Beardsley is interesting be- | cause it is of recent date and shows a departure from his characteristic style
 The Greiffenhagen poster for the "Pall MalP' is one of the hardest to obtain, and is worth a. small fortune. The big
 'Drury Lane" affair by the Beggar- staffs is another rare example. The two designs by Puvis de Chavannes are exquisite. The color prints by Arthur
 Dow (the Modern Art" and Japanese | Prints'') are on a new order and very beautiful.
 R. NJ Crosby of Yale '98 is represent
 ed by one of his Record" posters There is a clever little design done for | the Harvard Lampoon, and there is a singular one for the Interior" un-
 signed, but resembling some of Elihu | Vedder's work.
 1 Altogether the collection is very com
 plete and we'll worth study.
 Yesterday Mrs Charles DeForest and
 Mrs. Beach were at the tea table. Mrs
 Farnam, Mrs. Dubois, Mrs. Stevens
 and others of the reception committee l k o,,+o
 from the glee club sang and Miss Isa- belle Cromwell acted as interpretress l to the unenlightened. The smart set
 were out in large numbers and the h. | dians will probably keep warm this 1 winter if things go as well this after | noon.
 The tea will be repeated to-day from
 until ', and 1t is expected that the at