The times., 1898-12-18
7HE C0RCORAN GALLERY
Its Great Artistic Beauty at
Night.
BRILLIANT RECEPTION
Turner and Moran Compared "A
Splendid Example of Work in
water Color - Yellow Stone Pie
tures nt the CnpitOl-A Good Word
for the Despised Cr0mo.

oeduty' one must see tne CO-cOrdn CIll-
lery of Art as 1t appeared last Wednes-
day night during the reception to the
Canadian Commission. Trancendental
lists may exclaim nothing is perfect; it
matters mott one critical person saw it
and was entirely satisfied. The bare ga,-
lery is stately and full of artistic and ar
chitectural interest. but. with the bril-
liant assemblage of spIended men and
women, lords, knights, and Americans,
with their ladies. was a vision of beauty
10 be remembered Take the figures from
a masterpiece of Alma Tadema, and You
Will discover what the grand company
did for the Corcoran Gallery on Wednes-
day night
People were sensibiy busy, meeting one
another. The pictures and sculpture
added to the fine decorative effect 1t
was not their evening, and no one COM
piained that the works OF art were neg
iected- These works of art are too I'M
portant to be seriously considered or
such an evening. The intelligent person
who cares for pictures does not take such
time to see and study them. Good day
light and quiet hour Is neces arg for
their proper enjoyment.
AuThcT ana hOran.
1t Is to be regretted, when one is writ
Ing of a noted masterpiece that the pic
tufe Is not at the time occupying per-
manent place in some public art gallery
that what is written may be obviously
disinterested- The Fischer Art Company
however. has brought mere OF late several
sueh distinguished examples of the mas
tiers that one frankly admits their excel
nd h..
by their presence here.
There is just now an unusually large
and important water color By Turner. just
arrived, and first shown in the Fischer
gallery. One feels free to say that the
fact that II 5 a genuine Turner signifies
little or less, for one sees Turner's lauded
70 the skies. which ore Justly suspects
are but the rags with which he cleaned
of very fiorid palette. These are often
mounted on stretchers and imposingly
framed. They are far too numerous
There are also men to whom the Turner
craze as they term 1t, is without sfaad-
ow of reason. There is one OF these. a lit
tie less extreme than the others. who ad-
mits Turner'S place in art. but still in
sists that only in rare examples does one
find works of this master that can be
considered good pictures.
ulo Hist dTtlSl hltOHS t1ldl
one swallow does not make a summer.
and in the presence OF the one swallow
this new Turner at the Fischer gallery
he exclaimed. impressively: Just one
swallow. but it is quite enough; summer
Is really here" In his opinion. ,..Is wa
ter color Fluellen, about i2xis inches. n
blue lake with mountains on either side,
Il little village and white sky, is a
masterpiece of the very first order. One
is quite ready to indorse this opinion, for
here one sees that wonderful power which
50 appealed to RuslSin's refined and deli
cate imagination. This picture reveals a
knowledge of nature which one might ex-
pect in a maker of worlds; also the color
sense and an ina gina tive quality border
ing an inspiration. Before this picture
one is Inclined to not only forgive Rus
kin all his frenzied exaltation of this ac-
knowledged genius, but 10 have misgiv-
iugs that Ruskin may be right. Is il rot
curious that this same person in London,
standing in the middle Of the Turner gal
lery. the right eye of the nation artis-
tically. could look about him coldly and
say: us this the Turner gallery 10 which
Ruskin refers-and OF which Turper's ad-
mirers speak reverenfly. something lit
tie short of divine? 1t surely is. and |
am without enjoyment or interest and
deeply disappointed
A Remarkable Water Color.
This dream water color at Fisher's-for
it is but dream-is no more nature than
the soul Is the man. That spiritual some
thing which is the fascinating element
in a great shadowy portrait of Reynolds
which may but imperfectly portray the
brutal physical objective nature, is the
same artistic point OF view. Genius does
what il must let talent to what it can
These revelations are akin to those other
wonders along the worlds history, from
Phidias to Shakespeare and Chopin. They
must be accorded their place respectfully
for the badge of genius that is forever
upon them.
Hamerton has this to say of Turner
art: Poetic art is indeed strangely in
dependent both of science and veracity,
and plainly, in its own way, refuses to be
tested by science. and even by reason.
The artist has only to say that
he did the thing because the picture
seemed to require it, and there is the end
of the reasoning Then quoting from
Regnault: If one were to reason about
painting one would not dare to do any
thing. Art should obey sentiment
above all, and not fear to set exactness
and reason at defiance. Our law. the law
for us artists, is not good sense. but
fancy, and if something absurd does well
/ see no reason why we should decline to
make use of it,
The Matter of Chromos.
1t was remarked by one observer thai
this Fluellen of Turner'S looked like q
chrome. He was not a critic simply d
| man, who. childlike. saw resemb "a ces
with that unerring intuition of ch idhc o.
which is so delightful The DOOR despis