The times., 1900-12-30

Foster, and Joseph Jefferson, and some
others have accomplished great things
without that long and elaborate academic
training and patient, careful probationa-
ry period of painting nature with abso-
Lutte accuracy ana fidelity to the externals
as unframed eyes see them proves moth
ing more than what the exception al
ways proves, namely-the rule. Short
cuts are corning to be so much the fash
ion with students, whose heads, from as
sociation with good pictures and ad-
valced artists, are far ahead OF their
hands. Their ability to draw and their
knowledge of nature is far less than their
knowledge of art. This leads them into
the error of thinking that If some clever
brilliant thing they do resembles the
work of prominent master they have
arrived" 1t is great mistake-there
are no short cuts beyond the good for
tune of escaping the evil influence Of in
ferior schools and superficial teachers.
The studio talks in the American
Notes Department of the "International
Studio is conducted in so professional
manner that 1t is always Instructive and
profitable reading, both to the student
and the thoughtful mature painter. 1t is
very agreeable to be able to offer so
strong an authority in support OF my
theory. The article quoted treats of the
Water Color Club exhibition in New York,
which was recently reviewed al length in
this column.
THE eleventh annual exhibition of the
Water Color Club was disappointing. 1t
looks very much as though our younger
I nxl..
riously. There was shown. ii is true.
much work that possessed fresh color and
volume ip the modelling which the
water color of fifty years ago-the col
ored rawings-entirely lacked But, on
the other hand. the younger painters of
today go to extremes. Either they show
little or no respect for the tender quail
| ties of nature-their sunlight effects are
| washed in with orange cadmium, and
| their shadows in pure ultramarine. they
| shout through megaphone the fact that
| they have observed in nature-or else
| they eliminate all healthy warmth from
| their paintings-so that they seem to
| see nature through 3-cents-a-yard chee e.
| cloth Take. for example. Hermann Dud-
| ley Murphy's The Portiere.' AT first
| glance it's low tone-a charming SYM
| phony in grey-attracts as does Whis-
| tier: but on closer examination We find
| that the objects are illuminated by a
| light that never was on land or sea-
| Anyone who examined the Whistler col
| lection, recently shown in the Lenox Lii
! brary, must have been impressed by the
normal development of that artist The
| restraint, the harmouizing, the faisify
| ing, if you will. of his mature work was
| the result Of making matfer-of-fact rem
| derings of nature in his early days.
| I'VE feel sure that IL Mr.. Murphy ard
| a dozen other painters would paint sun
| light for ten years with the tender re-
4 gard for truth of the Dutch genreists,
| they then might evolve adequate concep-
| tions in the manner Of Whistler"
| Then follow some most timely notes
on a certain weakness in the clubs exhi-
| bitten, the real reason for which this
very intelligent writer seems entirely to
| have overlooked There is also to be
| noted lack of distinction in the work
| OF the members OF this club. We turn
1 again and again from very commonplace
| renderings OF commonplace subjeets--to
| the mature and thoughtful example of Al
! bert E. Sterner, a pastel of a woman
writing letter-"The Note" t222)- Such a
| composition may properly be termed
| distinguished" Here the artist selects
as does HELEN In his etchings and pastels
\ the graceful, pleasing lines and tones, and
| leaves for the amateur photographers The
awkward. the harsh. and the abrupt. At
| artist and in years to come We may see
! some of these water -coiotists speaking
| from their accumulative observation in
| terms more sage and rich. This is the
| charm of the larger contribution of John
| La Fargo. His Birdie Path in TAHITI (56)
| expresses the result of years of obserya
! ton. Every rock sustaIns its place, ev
cry tone in the laZuli waters corresponds
| to the organic as does the formula of
modern scientist. His color is profound
and sonorous. We wish the club could
persuade Winslow Homer to exhibit ey-
cry year as does John La Fargo"
| One of the officers of this club said to
| me recently that the exhibition was ur-
| fortunate in that so many OF the MEM
| bers were absent"
1t might be added that not members only.
but important members, were absent
| artists whose work. always able and
earnest, would have redeemed this
exhibition and raised the standard be-
yond the possibility Of being disap-
pointment to any lover of watercolor and
creditable as well to the metropolis.
Those absentees-m -members-were Henry
B. Smell, the president of the club. and
with him those other always serious and
skillful landscapists in watercolor w. l..
Lathrop. Leonard Ochtman, Bruce Crane.
Ben Foster. and Harry Fem. Among
the figure painters. also members whose
work was sadly missed from the recent
exhibition. were Edward Pothast. C. C.
Curren. Irving Wiles. W. L. Drake. L. C.
Earle A. /. Kellar. C. NJ. McElheney,
George Wharton Edwards, and Mrs. Sher-
wood.
The writer's wish that Wlnslow Holner
might be persuaded to exhibit regularly
as the great La Fargo does will find an
echo in the heart OF every painter and
connoisseur who has any pride in things
American. For when Homer sends
picture one can be sure that it will be
heavy with the salt of the sea or the
odor of Maine woods and not a weak re-
Election of some Partisan success. Homer
is a master of commanding ability and
always intensely American
The week has been full Of gaiety in the
studios The class rooms have been de-
serted. More than usually jolly have been
the holiday diversions and one may
pect both students and artists to take up
charcoal. brushes. and pastels next week
with fresh enjoyment in the work and de-
termined to be Industrious and make the
most Of opportunities.
The great Eleventh Annual of the So
ciety of Washington Artists will be held
this year in the Hemicycle of the Corcor
an Gallery and with the added stimulus of
those munifcent cash prizes offered by
the Corcoran trustees. there is every pros
pect of an exhibition OF unusual artistic
excellence and interest There Will be
many surprises, for more than one OF the
local painters is laying himself out" to
do the picture of his life and l know of
one picture which win astonish the artists
friends when it appears. for, being In one of
the departments. IL is generally supposed
he has no time to do anything SO impor-