New-York tribune., 1900-12-02

after this fashion. and his biOgrapher shows
him during the Italian tour Of his young man
hood as In almost pathetic subsection to the
ideas in vogue among the cOnnoisseurs Of his
time. He had an appreciation OF the large
breadth the vigor and freedom Of Rubens.
Titan and Rembrandt But che heard on every
side the praises Of the Carracci, OF Guido OK
Guercino and the other faeie paint singers OK
the seventeenth century, and he bowed - "iisAt
seemed TO him to be authority Tnat STATE Oh
mind in which he was fixed at the outset re-
mained characteristic OF him to the end The
pressure of public opinion upon him might seem
to have been an arbitrary and artificial force IN
his development. easily removable by man eon-
hdent I'm the rfghtness Of his own ideas yet We
may observe that on his present biographers
own showing, Reynolds was not really MANNED
/ by circumstances. He was, indeed, IN harmony
with his age and 1t Is improbable that ne Wouid
have put passion into his work. even tnougn
passion had been in the air around him and nad
been demanded by those who bought his pict-
ures We can blame no artistic fashion OK tne
eighteenth century for what might be called the
bland temperature Of his art; we find the expla-
nation in his natural imperturbability. in nis
/ placid temperament. in that self-centred and' We
| repeat, essentially selfish character which made
It impossible for him to be really thrilled by
/ anything under the sun.
| One artistic virtue that should have flowed
from this we miss where we first look for IT, the
intellectual drift of his genius should nave nade
him a great designer. and, as matter OF face' ne
was least successful in this respect when he was
most ambitious and painted pictures IN "nlch
splendor of design should. above all things. have
| appeared. The triple portrait OF the daughters
| OF Sir William Montgomery, originally entitled
| 'Ihree Ladies Decorating a Term OF Hymen,
| but better known as THE Three Graces' or tne
Scots Graces." reaches a fairly satisfactory
| level as a piece OF organic composition, but even
| this is far from being masterpiece OF design
| Sometimes the painters more elaborate can
/ vases, like the celebrated Lady Cockburn and
/ Her Children are distinctly unsuccessful IN
the placing of a single figure on the canvas.
| however or in the portrayal Of mother with
| her child Sir Joshua almost invariably
| feIicitous and whether he was here influenced
| by those observations Of the Old Masters which
he had made with such care, or by his intel
| lectuaI sense Of balance and proportion, ne
| achieved the nOblest effects He had no SYM
uathy with the method familiar IN his day. and
especially in his earlier years. the method vnlch
| permitted portrait painter to plant head in
/ the middle OF his canvas and then send 1, on
| to a "drapery man. to be finished He cut loose
/ from the mechanical tradition which was. per-
| haps not unnatural in an era which saw peo-
pie going to an artist to have their features I'M
/ mortaIized in the same spirit wnicn now pre-
/ sides over a visit to the Photographic. Sir
Walter Armstrong is OF the opinion that II
Reynolds marks an epoch in this respect 1t IS
| because ne painted character in action, because
he had skill in suggesting the energy OF men, but
| on this point we are inclined TO disagree with
| the critic despite the fact that such portraits
| as the Lord Heathfeld" the johnson" the
| Admiral KeppeI" and the Laurence Sterne''
would seem 10 support his contention. There
! seems TO US to be more ground for the lyQothe-
/ sis that if he transmogrifed the English rOr-
j traiture of his day it was because he not only
l wreaked himself, the face. which the lesser
men regarded as the sole index of character. but
| thought Of his portrait a picture in which the
| face was detail. He appeals to Us to-day. Cn
| the whole, far less by virtue of dramatic power
| than by virtue of a charm usually. II not in
variabIy independent of the character OF the
| sitter whose presence rather than whose soul
| engrossed him. Sir Walter Armstrong himself
| points to this conclusion when ne notes that
| Reynolds spent his energies in showing that all
risks may be run for the sake Of clothing a
| pictorial idea in a gorgeous envelope"
| Is it not, after all. the pictorial motive that
holds us before one Of Sir JOshua's masterpieces.
the pose of the figure considered a decorative
pattern the disposition Of the drapeTy. the ar
rangement of the accessories and background;
Here we see that quality of design. tempera-
-