New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-12
ART EXHIBITIONS.
PICTURES AT THE UNION LEAGUE CI,ryn..
wINsLOw HOMER AND GEORGE rNNEss
HOMER MARTIN AND A. II wYANT
THE VAN GIGCH COLLECTION
SOME OLD PORTRAITS NOTES.


SOME OLD PORTRAITS NOTES.
The test Of durability IL a dangerous one Ia ma.
in matters OF art, but there are occasions unon
which II does not seem unreasonable 10 employ :,
At the Union League Club there Ia a collection .,
nifty pictures. twenty-five OF them by the Lar.
George Inness the other half by Winslow Home,
Nearly all have been in public before IN nm.
gallery another. Nearly all have conanoraa
warm admiration In the past. Taken togetns,
now. for the nrs, time the fifty pictures wear a..
! tonishngiy we'll They do They reauv
! leave n deeper impression than they have loft h.
fore In each the artist Is represented a, nm
length TO gay the dates ~ the InnAss andscape,
ranging from 1919 to 1894. and tho pictures by ",
! Homer illustrating the whole scope ~ his ar, from,
its first phase in the sixties when he was painting
army scenes 10 those recent years IN which he hs.
devoted himself 10 the portrayal Of scenes and
types along the Of Maine Both men stana
: forward with all their virtues and dement's 7, IA
/ no exaggeration 10 say that the latter are 80 few
that at the end. at the beginning, % a careful
study or tho collection. one is convinced that he 4.
! In the presence Of two absolute masters
| The master is known by the logic and persistence
! OF his development lie is bound 70 change &c thu
! years pass. He would not otherwise he a master
| for inertia means medlocrty But With him changa
! means always an advance along lines which we're
laid at his feet AZ his birth. The great painter Ike
| the great poet r. born. not made and you can
/
OF his style the germ residing In his earliest work
| These observations are provoked with peculiar
force by the art Of George rnness. and the student
| is enabled by the exhibition at the Union League
| 20 put them 10 the proof No. -. Rocky Dell"
! was painted IN 1919 at the outset Of the artists
| career He executed 30 - After n Summer
Slower, No. II. winter Morning Mon,csir";
! No. T. winter Evening" and No. . "A Sunny
| Autumn Day" at the apex ~ MS maturity. In The
first instance you have picture DISTINGUISHED by
the close somewhat hard method which IN
vogue even in the days Of Ruysdael. and later IN
the earlier years OF the early English laniscapists
The analysis Of natural forms Is accurate the
foliage "a almost too accurately painted. being
handled with just enough leaning toward excess
In detail for II to make the picture seem half
mantle and half academic Tho tones are not
OPAQUE but they are not ably transparent Tho
atmosphere Is dry. In any OF the other pictures
to which we have Just referred the gorles of
nature are fairly alive upon the canvas the work
seems 10 have been done with that spontaneous
fusion OF technical mastery with spiritual insight
for which, among the schools OF the world, that
Of Barbizon has been most conspicuous. But Just
as the art OF Corot unit from the days u
his apprenticeship TO the days OF his brightest
fame lust "a the Rousseau OF the Charcoal Burn
er's Hut"-which was sold In New-Nork the other
days easily to DO discerned in much earlier and
more tightly painted Canyases, so the painter u
the Rocky Dell" is plainly visible in his very
in the construction of the earlier work, In the COM
position which is based strongly on the biggest
truths in the represented; then 1t Is seen 20
reside also In the faithful observation Of twig and
leaf and lastly IN the breadth Of the picture AZ
a whole. I'm the great dignity and simplicity with
which the scene "a taken from Nature and made
a work Of art The style is therc-that noble, d.
rect and profoundly eloquent style which gives 10
the art Of George Inness the last touch Of distlnc-
ton. Into minute description Of the twenty-five
pictures here displayed we do not propose to en-.
ter. but the broad issues which they involve can
not be too often stated
lnness was an impressonis II that term Is
taken to describe a who paints the world just
it strikes him. His landscapes are among mo
most spontaneous products of modern art But
their freshness Is never a matter or haste nor OK
guesswork Take ,the first painting cataIogued
tho Winter Evening" 1t has the vivid truth OF
a painting executed In a flash OF enthusiasm, yst
the design is one OF striking conference. and wnAs
Il gives vcritable pageant OF the skies, peTtecs
blaze of color. there is a quality In the WORK
which cannot be described as anything but the
quality Of repose and quiet strength. The note IS
not forced There is nothing melodramatic about
the composition Everything IS sober, well consld-
cred. etoraally true. and yet as we have said as
fresh as though the work had been done In an
hour This shows how much Inness worked from
his Imagination well as out Of his powers OF
observation lie gripped the material for pict-
ure like this saw IL with piercing eyes. and then
held Il in his brain with sureness. In one respect
the hand IL not the vision. seems TO have failed
All through this collection there are evidences mat
Innoss either neglected the study OF textures or
pursued 1t partially In vain. lie IL not ha"ess on
this point In a picture Ike No. 49, Summer
Foliage" which depends largely for its effect upon
the manner in which the textures are rendered.
the final effect OF beauty is really gained by tho
bold massnS OF the trees. one is deceived INTO
thinking that Inness has painted the LEAKAGE as
something more than 4 mass Of color ne had
thus painted II In sense. He had fell the Sl'
van wltchery of the scene and put II on the
canvas swiftly. without thought OF material text
ures. Hence this painting and many others VIM"
subjected to searching criticism. are In the shgh
est degree disappointing. But how ephemerai T"
this disa ppontment! The massive truths ana iaos'
less beauties of the work remain; in us sump'uous
color in It's exquisite atmosphere, IN It's poetic
feeling and It's individual charm there IS noihhs
Ike Il In American art and you have 10 go 10 'n'
Barblzon school 10 find It's rivals PICTURES 20 'e"
cately exact and at the same time so oroAu' 50
free as the winter ACCOMPLISHMENTS. are orp
painted by men OF genius. Their faults are eashy
forgiven.
The genius OF Winslow Homer has points OF con-
tact with that OF George Inness. and tho nomose-
ncity which We have indicated in the art OF mo
latter Is recognized In the art Of his contemporary
Homer has, too. the same large massive feelhs IN
his work. looks at nature with the same pene'A
ton. and treats IL with the same dignhed Simple
itv But there is an important distinction between
the two men. Inness. master as he was carried on
what might be called the tradition OF french
naturalistic landscape. and took his place oesloo
the men Of BarbIzon. He did the some ming tha'
they did IN his own way. but In the same sphere
Wnslow Homer stands alone. and IL, on the wh0'e
as rare a figure as Millet or Delacroix. or Fortuny
or Whistler. Like Innsss. he Is OF the SOIL ."
American type II ever there was one. but he p''A'
rev ground. painted familiar subjects as no OTTO
had painted them before him. 80 that he seems
10 move in a world OF his own. Millets peasants
have been painted by OF artists, but they re-
main Millet's Homer's fishermen have posed for
hundreds but they hts own; no one else mas