New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-29

ton Rollins Willard. With illustrations. Oc-
tavo. PIP xiv gs Longmans, Green Co.
Dit Wizards book is valuable because II
gives with some system an account Of nearly
all the chief Italian sculptors and painters OF
the nineteenth century II would be more Valu-
able II il conveyed interesting and authoritat tive
general views on the subject but having
neither insight nor criticism Mr.. Willard re-
mains a gatherer Of raw material for the his
torian rather than a guide to the student OF
art He says In his preface that much OF his
information has been obtained by face face
conversation with the leading contemporary
artists Of Italy. This ought. we suppose, to
make him the more trustworthy, but unfortu-
nately, poor human nature being what II Is, We
fear that PET q intercourse with artists is
not quite the best foundation for an impartial
consideration Of their work Mr.. Willard, TO
put II candidly, has much better opinion OF
the work which be discusses than we think
car be held by any one who regards II with
absolute detachment This point means a great
deal where modern Italian art is concerned.
That art is unique phenomenon. Other coun-
tries. claiming such artistic past Italy
claim, have important schools OF painting
and sculpture to-day. Italy, with her tremen-
dous artistic ancestry, has for considerably
more than n hundred years been almost barren
of hrst-rate work. This situation constitutes
one Of the most battling and most fascinating
problems in the history of modern art
Italian art began 10 decline in the seventeenth
century. In the eighteenth IL sank. on the
whole, even lower but with few men reveal
ing in kind OF afterclap, extraordinary gifts.
These men were all Venetians. Guard and
Canaletto revived something OF the older ira
ditions Their paintings Of the Venetian palaces
and canals have elegance and charm. Pietro
LOnghi. a man whose merits nave never re-
ceived due acknow led grnent except al the hands
OF John Addington Symonds and few others.
delineated the social life OF Venice in the last
century with much skill and with captivating
originality. Giambattista Tiepolo. who died 50
recently as 100 recaptured something Of the
power Of Tintoretto and Veronese. and threw
into his numerous decorations, moreover. 50
many good qualities peculiarly his own that he
looms. in a mediocre period, figure Of un-
mistakable greatness But Antonio Canova was
thirteen years old when Tiepolo died. and he
was not out Of his tuenties before ne had be
gun TO count seriously in the art world Of his
time Canova- we need hardly remark. was
one Of the most meretrcious artists that ever
lived
CanONd tOCh HAY captive. lnat lS Il ldllEibi'
fact, but think il has unduly impressed MI
Willard, VINO begins his volume with a long
chapter on this sculptor. He says, indeed, Of
Canova's monument to Pope Clement XIV that
Il "is one 81 the finest works Of sculpture carved
by any artist Of any nation during the last hun
dred and fifty years This is horribly &c
darken counsel Nothing that Canova ever
did could justify such a statement. But
an examination Of his work and Of his relation
10 Italian art helps TO explain the general
sridity TO which We have referred above. Look
ing at his statues or al the paintings OF Vim
cenzo Camuccini, his contemporary with whom
Mr. Willard begins his survey OF modern pie
torial art in Italy, see that art in the
peninsula, far the rising generation was
concerned. was as dead as doornail The
vital energies Of the country had long beer
tagging ard were least of all TO be expected
TO manifest themselves in spheres Of aesthetic
endeavor Painters and sculptOrs seem 10 have
lost utterly their grip on the technical tradi
lions of their forefathers, they had nothing L
say. and on top Of their paucity OF ideas came
Nencs and Winckelmann TO freeze their syinpa
tbies with All archaeological conception OF art
and thereby draw them further than ever away
from that exploitation OF the life about then