New-York tribune., 1900-07-22


1AIneFlcan seems more than ever an American
men eohtrasted with Europeans after the man
- permitted by nothing so we'll as by huge
17'Hauonal exhibition. Granting the indI-
Fiuuallty OF the school, its purely artistic sig
H'hoance is another question. I hear euthust-
aSllc Americans exclaiming over the difference
between one section and its neighbors as though
me mere difference We're something in itself
Iiallerlng TO Us. It counts and is good 10 see
ou' there are other matters to consider which
are more important What does the difference
amount TO? Chiefly it means that our pictures
nave IN them unusual measure of freshness
,-ii1 sincerity. We may among ourselves seem
h"'"lhg enough Upon occasion. but here the
"o'h Ihat Is most typical Of us seems by con-
Tast almost naive. The French with their
academic thoroughness might say that We
seemed beside them immature out we could
point as TO compensation, to the impression
o. general vitality and variety which our sec
uon conveys This exhibition revives and then
sheiVes forever, the old question of whether it is
good for an American painter to come here and
train himself irrevocably In French methods. or
haNInS learned in Paris some needed lessons, TO
return 10 his native land and there develop along
MS own lines. With scarcely an exception
those Americans who belong emphatlcally 10
the French school have exchanged their birth
right for mess of pottage. They see their
work as a Frenchman would see it. They are
enamoured Of the same gray studio light that
ful1ls his ideal and find it difficult TO escape
us influence, even when they go 10 paint their
pictures under southern or an Oriental sky.
They draw as the Frenchman draws which is
TO say that their drawing is often clever but
rarely distinguished; and their color sense be
comes like untos his. They try as ear as pos
slbie to get into his skin, but, having got there
although received as brothers in the Salon, they
are never really at hOne Their work is hybrid,
and leaves very dubious taste in the mouth.
one or two men in the group are in it, but not
hopeessIy OF ii. Mr.. Alexander Harrison has
not gone so completely into the French camp
as have some Of his colleagues, and the sea
pieces he sends 10 this show. if not among the
best he has painted, nevertheless have a certain
merit. Mr J. W. Alexander. too. has been
Parisianized, but not too much. Along with
facility of execution and q tendency toward
mannertsm that one mOmentariy expects viii
land him among the shallow tricksters who
have their day in the Salon and then
sidered no more, he has some genuine feeling.
He can capture the grace in a flowing line and
can direct that line into channels which cul-
inmate in good composition. He has three can
vases here. In The. Mother" domestic senti-
ment is treated in a mood rather obtrusively
aesthetic. In large Portrait of Rodin" the
dignity with which the head Is modelled is al
most forgotten because of the specous lighting
Of the canvas But Autumn is a joyous de-
sign entirely beautiful. One Of the two women
in the picture is clad in dusky green. The robe
Of her companion, who bends over her, is a
dull wine red The attitudes and gestures Of
the two are natural and lively. Behind them, to
the right and left, trees are massed, with a
patch Of blue sky between. The picture com
bines decorative elegance with spontaneous
charm. one sees in it skill that has been devel-
oped in foreign schools. but is not enslaved to
them.
We may miss on this pleasing and competent
picture, and from Mt Harrison's excellent
marines, the last quality which we feel should
be there TO represent us In the Exposition; but
at all events, If these artists are not American
as Winslow Homer is, for example, neither are
they altogether un-American, as are certain
other Of their colleagues on this side Of the
water. Mr.. George Hitchcock is proficient in his
art, if proficiency means respectable technique
But his Magnificent" the portrait Of a Dutch
peasant in a garden among lilies, is a meaning
less affair, good so far it goes but with moth
ing in it Of emotion or style to lift It above
thousand other average pictures Mr. E. L"
Weeks in his Eastern subjects. especially the
large picture Of some BARRIERS of India at work
in the street, handles his brushes with fexibility
and precision, gains little breadth, little
scene is picturesque, the picture is common
place the sort Of thing which one glances at in
the pages Of a magazine and then eternally for
gets MI Walter Gay is disappointing in almost
exactly the same way. La Maternite" and Les
Tisserands" two studies Of humble life. are
faithful TO the facts without being
badly photographic yet the big stretches Of
canvas are strangely empty Of interest nov
city or artistic beauty. Mr.. Carl Melchers. COM
municating 10 The Sisters pleasant flavor Of
ouaintness proves in the full length portraits Of
men that rude realism however true, is without
value when il is without charm. The quaint
ness mentioned above has more than once been
of service 10 Mr.. Melchers, but never OF very
great service; II has never been enough, ana ls
not enough now TO give him high rank MF
Walter MacEwen takes great pains with the
portrait OF mother and her two little daugh-
Iers but as in this painting and in two others
he allows US to see the strain upon his abilities,
we find his work at estimable and dun
The full length Of lady in yellow, by Charles
Sprague Pearce. is all that devoted emulation
of French traditions could make II; but II
smacks Of the traditOns-it bears no relation TO
life. In Mr. Julian Storys portrait OF ms WlIe,
Emma Eames. and in his 'ColumDlne there
is easy workmanship and there is no originality.
Mr.. Jules Stewards open air nude studies sho"
technical ability spent in the tasteIess comneLil-
Grafton Of merely ugly models Ihe cruoe,
chaotic picture by Mr.. Bridgman OF Pharaoh
and his hosts struggling in the Red Sea and
Mr.. Dannat's three portraits. are mentioned Iasl
because that unimpressive position Is eTnlhehI'y
suited to their demerits-
If the group TO which these pictures belong
has been. 5 a group. discussed hrst II mas Deeh
because OF the Importance Of seeing just what
the work is like that. If report be true, the
French consider American, and prefer. II is not
American work. It does not even begin properly
10 represent US 1t might be said that Sargent
and Whistler do not represent US. There would
be justice and injustice in the argument
Whistler has three portraits in the show-a
shadowy full length Of himself, full length or
lady in black and a smaller portrait Of a gil
in white, this last the famous picture in which
the artist proved that white could be made as