The evening times., 1899-04-19
A WASHINGTON ARTIST.
The baltimore Suns Tribute to
JRmes Henry MOser.

In an interesting letter to the Baltimore
Sun" Washington correspondent pays the
following tribute to James Henry Moser,
the well-known local painter:
Apropos of the Water Color Club comes the
work OF James Henry Noser, its president. Mr..
Moser's studio is down r Street, in the heart
of the business section. that when you step
from the street into his quiet studio. like one
of his water colors. silent. well composed.
and restful, ii hardly seems possible that the
| intriguing, changing. hurly-burly Of Washington
is just at the foot OF the stairway.
OF the accessories in thi, studio there is little
to be said, unobtru,ive are they the value
of ''lack Of detail being a quality of which
Mr.. Moser is a truc disciple and his studio. no
less than his water colors. possesses this rare
gift. One particular deserves passing
comment. II is clever bit OF composition with
little effort. Against a neutral ground of tap
estry the artist has placed piece of Flemish
oak, above which hangs bii OF bronze holding
a bunch Of peacock feathers against the wall
Over the whole. on a jutting shelf stands a
bowl OF dull Indian red, which on reception
days the artist fills with pale pink azaleas
Mr.. Moser has lately been elected a member of
the ''New York Water Color Society," a very
great honor nowadays. as artists well know He
modestiy ascribcs his election 10 . group of win
ter landscapes lately exhibited there. and en-
titled "A January Thaw. Original in concep-
tion and equally in technique, the little So
ries is a most interesting one, carrying the
remarkable for the amount Of breadth achieved
in tiny space. for there i nothing small about
these sketches except their actual measurement.
which. to your asst onishment. the artist tells YOU
is 81 by inches.
In another portfolio Mr. Moser has what he
calls his private collection sketches too val
ued by their owner for public exhibition. and
only shown to the favored few. Among these
'.An April Shower catches the eye OF the initi-
ated at hy the difficult effect which the
artist has caught with breadth and truth The
shower has ceased. the clouds rolling back.
in few seconds break forth and dsperse them
! entirely. The foreground j. damp from the re
cent rain, and the atmospheric effect produced is
capital
In an entirely different manner arc painted a
set of foreign sketches. done in a little German
town. of which Mr. Mo>er was. TO speak.
the Christopher Columbus. These sketches are
aglow with color, full "f quaint architecture and
crooked streets 50 delightful 10 the artist soul.
and they fully show the versatility of the artist.
When you ask the question: ITO what school do
you belong. Mr. MoserI' the artist will show you
a water color Dutch Amsterdam: then one
which looks though Ann Hathawar's cottage
was around the corner, and from another corner
he will bring with the tender greens and
grays of France. and he will frankly tell you
that he uses any medium legitimate, and any
school to translate the effect he is striving for.
Besides being yearly exhibitor in New York.
Baltimore, and Washington, Mr.. Moser has water
colors in number of well known collections The
Corcoran Art Gallery has group of his work,
and the wellknown collector. Mr.. Ralph Cross
johnson, has three examples by him. Mr.. Moser
is largely selftaught, although his early studies
were directed by John Witt, and later he as
cribcs much to his friendship with the we'll
known landscapist, Charles H.. Davis. of whose
work the CorcOran Gallery purchased fine ex-
ample at the recent Clark sale.