Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-29

also an cary COfOt. Wn1cn Il fuil OF arlfS-
tic feeling. though II Is not executed In the
vague. poetic manner by which he is best
known The most striking picture now in
the gallery Is the immense canvas by Ben
tamin Constant. brilliant color study that
displays the celebrated painters snowy
technique. 1t Is an eastern scene, In which
q dark-eyed oriental woman In being lulled
to sleep by the tinkling OF strineed instru-
meHts- A curtain drawn sharply back re-
veals a wide sweep OF deep blue sea. and
in the clever opposition OF brilliant colors
this picture Is a veritahls tour de force.
Mr.. w. H. Coffin has given up his studio
here and will leave in a few days for Chi
cago. where several commissions await
him. He expects to stay there about two
months, and he will then return to WASH
ington for a short stay before going abroad
to continue his studies. While In Vir-
ginia he painted several portraits, and sue
ceeded in catching a characteristics pose for
each subject. His poses are almost always
natural and unaffected as he simply
! chooses some attitude that he finds by OBJ
sitter. The large full-length portrait that
he has been painting of Mrs. Washington
Mclean Is the most seriously studied can
vas that he has yet done, and the hand.
some accessories in the painting render il
more than usually interesting from the
pictorial standpoint. The high-backed tap
estry-covered Macmillan chair in which
Mrs. Mclean Is seated makes a taking bit
of detail in the composition. The figure Is
treated with simple dignity. and is painted
with a skill that shows what the artist can
do when at his best.
collection of water cclors by five or
six different artists is now to be seen at
Veerhofrs. Some of these have compare
lively little interest, being subjects of a
rather conventional sort treated with vary
ing degrees Of skill. but one or two of the
marines by Neil Mitchell lend attractive
ness to the collection, because of the nice
effect of light on the water and good
movement of the waves to be found in his
work. He has given the reflection OF the
light upon the surface of the waves par
ticularly well in one moonlight scene,
though in this the surf has perhaps not
been painted with the same Skill
In place OF the usual Saturday evening
sketch class at the Art League, the even
ing was given up last week to Mr. Moser,
who talked to the students about his ex-
periences In Germany, where he spent con-
siderable time year before last. He also
showed them number of his German
sketches, which were much enjoyed and
appreciated by his audience.
Inc sketcn exnlDltion at the new gallery
of the Society of Washington Artists. 1927
Connecticut avenue, was to have closed to-
day, but it is probable that it will be kept
open another week, in order to give a still
larger number an opportunity Of viewing
the collection. The attendance has been
large in spite of bad weather. but there
have been very few sales.
An art loan exhibition of much more
than ordinary interest and attractiveness
is one projected for the benefit of the Home
for Incurables ir this city, to be held in
the old Corcoran Gallery building for a
period Of two weeks. in April next Pre-
liminary arrangements were made at a
meeting recently held at the residence of
Mr. Archibald Hopkins. and a permanent
organization was effected by the election
Of Mrs. A. c. Barney, president; Miss
Ernst, secretary, and Percy Morgan, treas
urer. 1t is intended that the exhibit shall
Include high-class examples not only of
the graphic and plastic arts. but also the
best products attainable in the more attrac-
tive lines of industrial art. With these
ends in view, standing committees on the
several sections were appointed, as follows:
Executive: Ralph Cross Johnson, Calderon
Carlisle. Charles Poor. JERRY Parsons.
John E. Lodge and the officers officio.
Paintings, Statuary and Bronzes: +. B.
Mcclure. Robert Hinckley, V. G. Fischer
and Archibald Hopkins. Building and
Lowndes. Charles Poor. w. H. veerhofr
and Max Weyl. Decoration: ]. c. Horn
blower. James R. Marshall. Thomas Mel
son Page, Mrs. e. F. Andrews and +. s.
Barbarin. Laces and Fans: Mrs. Hobson,
Mrs. Percy Morgan and Miss Williams
Textiles and Hangings: c. NJ. Ffoulke and
J. B. Henderson. Miniatures: Mrs. James
Lowndes. Mrs Edward o. woicott and Mr.
Fischer. Entertainment: Mrs. Hopkins,
Mrs. Boarcman and Mrs. Arnold Hague
Contributions for the several departments
will be sought not only from the best pri-
vate collections in this city, but from other
cities and artistic centers. and it is under
stood that enough favorable assurances to
insure the success of the affair have al
ready been received. SO that it may safely
be looked forward to as one of the notable
events Of the year, considered from any
point OF VIEW.
The question having been asked of the
editor OF that paper which Of two paint
ings of The Horse Fair is the original
picture, correspondent OF the Boston
Transcript throws the following light on
the subject: Rosa Bonheur's great paint
ing OF The Horse Fair Is in the Metro
politan Museum in New York. 1t was
bought for SIS. 600 at the sale of the A T.
Stewart collection in New York in April.
1857, by Cornelius Vanderbilt, who after
ward presented it to the museum, for which
special destination IT was, indeed pur-
chased. This is the original painting that
made the artist famous, and Is the one that
Is always thought and spoken of as her
masterpiece. The size of the canvas is
eight feet by sixteen feet eight inches The
representation of the same subject in Lon
don is very much smaller, being only three
feet eleven inches by eight feet two and a
half inches in size, and is replica; that is
IT was repeated by the artist from the large
picture, on reduced scale, mainly IL was
understood, for the purpose of being repre-
sented by steel engravings, lithography,
etc. Landseer engraved a steel plate on a
large scale from it" To this IL may be
added that on the occasion of the Stewart
gale above referred to the trustees of the
Corcoran Gallery concluded to acquire the
painting. and a member of the committee
on works of art attended the sale with that
object in view. The bidding was spirited
between him and another gentleman and
the gallery representative carried the COM
petition up to $50 800, when it came to his
knowledge that his opponent was author
ized and Instructed to obtain the canvas at
any price, whereupon he withdrew from the