The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-16

the power of portrait painter to sup
plement the history Of the race.
The dignified matrons. the frail beau
ties. the gay courtiers Of the past. are
made real to us In the portraits of Rey-
nolds. OF Lawrence. and of kneller. and
In the centuries to come another peO-
pie will gaze with the same sentiments
on the pictures that are new to US to-
day.
The grandchildren. perhaps. Of the
little Beatrice Goelet will stand with
surprise and delight before the beauti-
full picture painted by Sargent. OF the
tiny maiden with the innocent eyes and
delicate fiower-like face-her small pro-
portions rtrikingly cOntrasted by the
gaudy parrot in his great gilded cage.
Sargent has in this exhibition the pic
ture Of another little ancestor. made es-
pecially attractive by the great masses
of blue hydrangeas which fill the fore
ground and are charmingly suggested
in this background; the harmony
being further carried out by the same
delicate tint in the stockings and small
satin shoes. while the gleam Of gold in
the child's hair finds a responsive chord
in the subdued brilliance of the brass
receptacles which contain the masses
of flowers.
Happy, indeed. are these favored
ones of fortune. who, being able to pay
the price that such pictures as Sar-
gents command. are at the same time
sufficiently enlightened to realize the
great advantage Of themselves, for Sar-
gent could find many such beautiful
children as models for his brush. but
there Is only one Sargent.
The influence of the poster IL seen in
at least two pictures. and II IL wonder
full tnat 50 much can be suggested by
flat tones--character and proportions
being indicated by simple lines and
iirmness and certainty and u deftness
which prove perfect knowledge of
drawing and value. These pictures
as pictures will provoke a smile. II Is
true. on account of the inevitable ten
dency to caricature. I do not think We
will ever accept them as art, but as
decorative effects. which they undoubt-
edly are.
The poster adds to the gaiety Of our
streets and the latest are certainly a
vast Improvement on the insipid con-
ventionalitles of the past TO France
belongs the merit Of the remarkable ef-
fiorescence. Their art Is that of the
BoulevarSs, the art of the milliner and
the modiste. to which Is added the bril-
lance of the colorist, the knowledge Of
the master In outline. and the artistic
insight for effect and motion.
In the history of contemporaneous art
one meets with few evolutions more In
tere sting or more characteristic.
1t has occupied period of two years.
beginning with the simplest effect In
mo-lithography with black for a
basis, and gaining wonderful impetus
with the growth of a more intimate
knowledge of Japanese art, which for
simplicity and directness is without a
parallel.
The motto of this new craft Is to be
original. at any cost: even as 1t Is In
literature. where in the determination
to be original. some writer's find it nee
essary to be offensive Certain peculi-
arities Of the poster do not seem SO new
to those of us familiar with Burne
Jones. Walter Crane. too. has been
their forerunner. as well as that crea-
tor of the quaint and picturesque in
childhoOd-Kate Greenaway.
Their riotous color, which would be
undeniable In picture, seems entirely
appropriate In the glare and the noise
of the streets and our best artists have
not disdained TO yield to flights of fancy
which have resulted In the creations
which now advertise baby food or a
| Lew shoe polish.