Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-19
ART At THE EXPOSITION

The other evening at the Auditorium two
strangers were commenting upon the unin-
teresting and commonplace appearance OF
the audience. Every one has experienced
that same feeling in looking at a strange
crowd of people. 1t is due to this superficial
impression that so many European travellers
Judge a city, or perhaps a nation. 1t is not
fair. En- masse people are a mob; in
dividually, they may be charming. So, a
hurried walk through the Fine Arts build
ing gives one the impression that collectively
the pictures are a disappointment. 1t is the
strange crowd, and we must go again and
! again to select from this mass our friends;
or, better still, let them choose us. Natu-
rally we each choose friends who are con-
genial and with pictures our choice is not
apt to be above our station. We must re-
member that our liking or disliking a pic
ture is not only a test of the picture but it
Ia q test of us as we'll. Readers who find
9TH Old Oaken Bucket" thrillingly sweet
are hardly expected to be equal to Brown
ing. People who rave over the boy with the
pinks by ]. G. Brown will hardly stop to
look at the harmony of the woman in yellow
by J. w. Alexander.
1t is Just as difficult to lay down rules by
which a person may judge of a picture as 1t
is in literature to give rules for testing the
merits of a book. In the first place there are
so many different points of view. One may
depict a nature in a broad, decorative way
as does Puvis de Chavannes (No. 1861, or in
an impressionistic manner as Pessaro and
Tuxen have done in Nos. 419 and 53l. The
former dissects his color and puts it on the
canvas in spots of pure color, as do the
pointellists. hoping thus to secure the vibra-
ton of light, and if you stand at a distance
SrN,, Tho ,;n4,,,, ~ a,,rsa yto,,r nya {n;n.
the colors together into a tone. Others work
for simplicity and tone. as ]. w. Alexander,
or for dramatic effect, which NJ. Roybet has
produced on his huge canvas. No matter
what the point of view, every artist should
paint with sentiment-not sentimentality-
and paint with conviction, to convince. Many
people think that if a picture tells a story
IL has fulfilled it's mission.
Breaking Home Ties" at the Worlds
fair and the "Wordless Farewell"-No 329-
are examples of pictures which tell a story,
yet are so entirely lacking in other respects
that they can never be called good pictures.
People are not critical of the common
place so long as 1t appeals to a certain
sentiment within them. Crowds gather
around the "Wordless Farewell and SYM
pathize with the dog baying at his mas
ter's grave on the western plains and are
quite moved by the expression of the two
mems faces. which are hard and wooden.
There is no atmosphere at all between them
and the spectator, and the sky gives one
no idea of light issuing from 1t. The draw
ing is poor-so it is the story only which
appeals to the untutored eye.
A good picture is not apt to appeal to
the uninitiated any more than does good
literature or good music. 1t is to be re-
GREETED that in the west many who do know
how to Judge of books and music care
nothing for pictures and some of them
feel like Carlyle, rather proud of the dis
~tinction. At a dinner of the Royal academy
In London, Thackeray and Carlyle were
guests, and at the table the talk among the
artists around them turned upon Titan.
One fact about Titan" a painter said, lis
his glorious coloring." And his glorious
drawing is another fact about Titan" put
in a second. Then one added one word of
praise and another another until Carlyle
interrupted them, to say with deliberate
emphasis: And here sit !, a man made
in the image of God. who knows nothing
about Titan, and who cares nothing about
Titian-and that's another fact about
Titan" But Thackeray. who sat silently
listening, paused and bowed gravely to his
fellow guest: Pardon me- he said, that
10 u Il luCl dDOul I'D II u u tl-dI
a very lamentable fact-about Thomas Car.
lyle"
People who know nothing of what din
culties the modern artist is attempting IL
his endeavor to paint light-sunshine-i
certain hour OF the day-walk into tn
northeast room OF the Art building and say
We'll, what does 1t all mean?" "Whoeve
saw anything in nature which looked Xix
that" But stand back in front of that pic
ture by w, X. Leigh-No. 345. Look at i
through a paper rolled up into a telescope
and it is beautiful. II looks as II it nigh
have been painted out of philadelphia
the Wissahicken. The light simmer
through the foliage and glitters on tn
rocks. The eye penetrates far into the dept
of the tangled wood and yet see how simpl,
the distance is painted. In the foreground
are rocks covered with green moss. One feel
that they are rocks and not mere spots o
paint. The tree trunks are OF bark aud tn
wind might rustic the leaves and foliage
: To thus preserve the texture OF each differ
ent material is not a mere matter Of acct
dent.
5 II is full OF life-the life of nature. 1t /
full OF atmosphere-the atmosphere OF tn
woods. IL looks as II II had been done a
. one sitting, in one light. SO well does
hang together. Those of you who have neye