The sun., 1901-08-04
Ant Ar THE PAN.AMERfCAN.
a Review % nsms sf ths Figure oub Jects

painters. especially those resident NJ home.
show less aptitude than for landscape. Cor
tainly the exhibition at Buffalo rather tends to
confirm the remark. The figure subjects are
less numerous and will seem To many less
interesting both in subject and manner
Their average of technical accomplishment
seems less high: the point OF view. on the
whole, less dlstinctively the artists one. and
their subjects often Of very slight human
interest.
" this be 10, tho reason Is not far 10 seek.
Tho art for arts sake" rule Of conduct. with
It's much OF sense and more Of foolishness.
infected our painters very strongly. Dread
Of the storytelling picture with its literary
sort OF literalness scared them into the op-
posite extreme OF telling next To nothing
In their pictures This Is a convenient haven
for those who have nothing TO tell. who have
no personal force and no personal message.
but q treacherous one unless the painter
has strong artistic instinct and such q COM
mand Of his craft that he can mako the mere
rendering OF his subject a message Of abb
stract beauty. With feeble mentality and
Indifferent craftsmanship the result can
hardly fail 10 be bansl. while high purpose
aud hating technique or subtle skull In the
latter expended on paltry motive may
equally please. but fail really TO satisfy.
IL Ia the union OF something distinct
to say with q distinguished way OF
saying II that ono finds 20 sparsely
represented Perhaps another reason IL to
he found In the different way In which the
foreign influence has affected the two classes
OF painters While the landscapist has
fashioned ont Of H. q method OF expression
suitable for his own needs and hnds for tho
most part thoroughly congenial motives
In the country around him. the hRure painter
retains more reminisoence OF the methods
learned abroad and OF the style OF subjects
that are there current. And not often moro
vital subjects. those which have some rela-
ton with actual everyday life. He bomoans
the lack In America Of Q picturesque peas
anEy" having eyes only for the frips and
furbelows OF a costume and no insight into
the humanity beneath H. 80 his interest
is not pricked by tho actualities OF the lie
around him and he falls back on the uivinlities
OF tSs studio
Shall We point by way OF illustration u
the work Of Edmund C. Tarbell' Choosing
him because he Ia a purposeful painter
within the limits OF his Technique with very
distinguished command OF drawing and
fne feeling for light and color. doing work
that Is unmistakably admirable But how
lacking II IL in any inherent significance!
One adnlres n the first and second time OF
seeing It and then, for the truth may M we'll
be stated. growing tired OF IT, With the work
OF Robert r cid, even the first-hsnd satsfac ction
IL impaired. We know he can draw and.
therefore, feel less indulgent toward the
hnrd and slovenly treatment OF the arms,
for example, in A Breezy Day" and The
Gamma He has. too. a knack OF color which
may persuade MS nj times that II IL really feel
inR for color But why this present obsession Of
blue, OF which he has exhibited iasrant eI-
amples quite recently? Is II not striving after
individuality along little lines: leaving of
the firm. Ineligible path that might lead
whittier II would be worth whis to go. and
a diving on into minute obscure trails that
lose them selves In the woods! He shows
picture Of a nude on a white rug before
fre. -Renectlons': in which there IL excel
lent drawing and come subtlety OF light
and texture a studio study. quite attrac-
tive. But one has In memory another study
OF nude by Joseph X. d. Camp.
"Oirl Drying Her Hair unfortunately
not exhibited here. This Involves the evi-
dence OF different KIND OF MIND; or one
might go further and say that IN us case
II is mind. In the other the lack OF u that
Ia apparent. The comparison Is an apt one.
for this picture OF MT DC camp WORK mas
all the art-for-artsake QUALITIES tnnt one
could desire ana mas no motive oeyoho
beautiful abstraction OF physcai charmS'
and yet II has the INDEFINITE something else
that strong and purposefui mind can sdn
And II Is just this quality which, 70 Dc candid
seems comparatively scarce among the
figure subjects In this exhibition. Ihey
have not the style Of French work. nor the
simple human sincerity that makes one over
look the lack OF style in the pictures Tor
example. Of the Dutch and Danish painters
How can one consider seriously. Tor In
stance, tho sweet inspidity OF WI II Lows
At the Spring" and The Elysan Lawns;
they have no more aflnity with the classic
spirit than with the realities Of modern life:
while in lien Of poetry II sentimentality. SO
mindless are they and feeble in method that
because Of the pernicious effect they have
upon numbers OF our people who are trying
20 get In touch with this thing art. and the con-
demnable prettiness Of these and similar
pictures leads them on on q fools quest. One
feels the same OF =. 8 Church's oonfections
There is one here, knowledge Is Power"
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