The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-11-03

ASAfCAilOot, Hno oit8 III pIOuiS, WIFI LcF ACo
upon a footstool and her hands laid peace
fully and elegantly on her lap; the law
and lace Of her cap delicately silhouettec
against the gray wall. She gazes with
tranquil intensity beyond the limit OF ouI
comprehension along the vista Of momorie:
full old age. Nor is there any cynicism
In "The White GIRL that symphony In
white, rejected at the Salon OF 1883, when
the artist was 20 years old. but conspicuous
In the Salon dos REFUSES. The girl stands
mysteriously aloft from all contact with
or suggestion Of the world; her dark eyes
staring into a troubled wistful look. as II
she had been surprised In her maiden medi-
tation and were apprehensive OF something
she cannot fathom and is too reliant upon
herself to wholly fear. The picture is no
brilliant epitome of ~shallowness, but an
almost reverential conception, In exquis-
itely. deal zed degree Of the poetry OF
maidenhood, maturing normally. In both
these pictures. which conn as near as any
thing which Whistler has done to the gen.
orally accepted idea OF a subject. II Is the
significance, in the one case of motherhood.
In the other Of maidenhood that he has
dwelt upon. and In both with the fullest
reliance upon the aesthetic suggestion to
the sense, respectively, Of black and gray
and Of white, elaborated TO an extreme
of subtlety 1t would be impossible. I
mean, that tho color schemes, for example.
could be reversed, each IL 80 Intentionally
and couclusively the language fitted to the
idea. that one might as well try TO put the
words Of Juliet into the mouth OF Volumnia.
Ia pictures like The Music Room
there is a further step to gard abstraction.
So far as 1t represents the interior OF a
room with walls Of ivory white set of with
dainty roso-sprigged curtains In which
a lady in black riding habit stands by a
marble msntelpiece. while a child in white
frock sits u little farther back reading. II
is a genre picture Of that sort that Alfred
Stevens painted. done not for any par
ticular Significance in the figures. but for
the opportunity which II yields of n delicate
scheme of color and exquisite adjustment
Of values, and for the pure enjoyment Of
representing the aesthetic significance OF
these qualities. But IL Is at once more
subtle and more daring than Stevens could
have wrought. 1t involves a problem,
the very difficulty of which no doubt keyed
the artist 10 enthusiasm, TO keep the child
In white behind the figure In black and TO
make the latter a distinguished orna-
ment in the picture, while still preserving
its plant relation 10 its light surroundings;
a problem, not improbably, suggested in
part at least by one of Outamaro's prints,
at any rate in its Caucasian transportation
worthy 20 he red with the work OF
the Japanese master, Nor Is 1t only a
problem in skill. Jet Is beautiful in tone
and texture M so Is ivory, and the COM
bination OF the two, set off with delicate
accents Of roses, creates a beauty Of its own.
Variations in Flesh and Gfeen-The
Balcony may be selected az a still further
advance toward abstract sensation and
expression. These girls in kimonas, stand
ing, sitting and reclining on the edge Of a
river with a glimpse OF factory chimneys
across the water, mean nothing in o sub
ject" sense and lack even the reasonable
ness Of the figures in the previous picture.
They are parts OF a fantasy. pure and simple,
to which they co ntribute impersonally-
an artists dream OF atmosphere and color,
which you will enjoy or not, according
as you can enter into the abstract intention
OF the artist. Reaching the essence of
beauty 70 a degree still less alleged is such a
picture rs -Bognor-Nocturne;" blue smooth
water with shadowy shapes Of trawlers
gliding like dusky phantoms, and Of figures
standing in the shallow surf; blue sky and
atmosphere. penetrated with silvery lumi-
n~ousness. IL IL a scene OF exquisite refresh
ment 70 the spirit. mysteriously etherealized
the artist being so absorbed with the spiritual
presence Of the summer night that his own
soul echoes its very heart beats.
Once again. then, in all these pictures
II Is the essence or innermost significance
OF the theme that Whistler treats; itself,
a quality so immaterial that he shrinks
from expressing even matter In too dis
tinct or tangible a form; enveloping II
in n shrouded light, representing i "a a
concord Of colored masses with a preference
for delicate monotony of hues and soft
a~ccentuations, seeking by all means TO
sp~iHtualize the material. And this with
out loss Of ~stateliness; he has learned the
dignity of the great line from Nelasquez,
and from him, too, the magisterial use
irrelevance Of the visionary; there are
piquancy and virility in all his pictures,
not OF lively color and rampageous brush
work. but attained through subtle sur
prises OF detail and decorative originality.
qualities CLEANED from the Japanese.
Annip In tho trapna-lika intapgity of
kossctti's figures he may have found a
quality akin TO his wi spirituality OF senti-
ment. just as his love Of light and OF delicate
discrimination Of value links his art TO that
Of the lmpre-sionlSts And out OF these
various influences, his own personality,
irresistibly original. at once fanciful and
penetrating, serene and nervous. permeated
with the quintesscnce Of ssnsuOus refine
ment he hasfashioned for himself a language
faithful TO the coloring of his own spirit
IN the strictest sense original and stamped
with style-a style that II simple, earnest,
grand.
And even closer precision Of personal
expression appears In WhiStler's etchings.
For 10 one. who seeks 20 render, not the
acts but his sense OF tho facts, etching
IN Frs greater freedom than painting. II
Ii the art Of all others which permits an
artist To b. recognized by he Omifs,
the one In which the means employed
may be- most pregnant Of Suggestion ana
~ - ~ - lf' I'M
Of the artist. To Nlistieg. therefore.
with his intense Individuality, bic disoern-
ing search Tor the s%ignihcanoe Of beauty
and his instinct for simplicity and eoonomy
of means which shall yet Yield a fun COIN
~ meaning, etcling early D"cEu"
a cherished form 81 sslou. In the
sIittis French S.r.ss' uA5si, the Thames
= .r!,." us1n. the 'flurt henire Series"
usp0i. And the SECOND Venice Series
nsssl. NJ we'll a. in other plate ctclsod in
! ancr. Holland and Belgium, he has proved
the greatest master II the ueesile
Rembrandt Indeed, the eminent
paintrr-actrr and oonnoi--rur sir FRANCES
Hhdrl. IL crediie1 viii the l-~sF
ION that. N hr had 60 disIsisr 4 "tl"f hs
Rembrandt Yf his Nh4rflsr-, u Nuuld H.
a.. fuulaf tlHt BE- would r%rlinpulhh
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