The sun., 1901-11-29
nv THE 0ALLERIES.
Portraits by A. Muiier.Ury.

/
A. Muller-Ury, are on view at Knoedler's Z
Gallery. until Dec. T.
The painter has had II In his mind TO give
these oanvases a pictorial quality. setting
the figures against Il use the word advisedly
"A background Of trees and sky, back
ground Of that indiscriminate character,
fiat and fuzzy, which used to be In vogue
with photographers Of certain kind. Nor
is there much more character In the figures.
! fancy the bewilderment Of some student
OF sociology. say fifty years hence, con-
fronted with these canvases and informed
that they are Representations Of American
men and women at the commencement OF
the century. Would he not be perpleHed
by this portrait. for example. OF a gentleman.
perhaps about IS years old. with fresh COM
plexion and a orisply curled black mustache,
who sits on a sort Of stone bench in a costume
that Mr.. Mantalini might have invented
and worn before his experience Of mis-
fortune and the manglo. He Is arrayed In
| what the tailors would describe as full
bosomed, double-breasted, narrow waist ed ,
long-skirted walking frock. a little sugges-
tive OF the redin0otes ia which Tom and Jerry
flashed their way through Ranelagh a
gray garment has high collar Of olive
velvet, standing stiff above the roll Of the
| lapels, and broad cuffs OF the same material
over the soft gray, ,gloved hands, which
mented msiseos s cane. sMsR9eo; Moreoyer. Tom and
| Jerry were every inch Of them men. But
what is thls' It's mustaehe. indeed. pro-
| claims the sex. but for the rest-one falls
back on the convenient ambiguity OF 1T.
Beside this riddle hangs the portrait
Of lady In black gown, perhaps Of tarls-
tan, for the material IL not very reoogniz-
able, with black lace bchu over her shoul-
ders. and black ostrich feathers depend
ing from large black hat and dropping
can we detect the style that char acterizes
a woll-dressed American lady2 However,
let US prudently forbear TO press this per-
sona view and keep TO the technical one.
that shall be allurlng and have little sc-
cent Of caprice: but II lacks all style. The
textures are not realized; there is no allure
OF method, the canvas with all its unusual
ness is tame and commonplace. And only
little less 20 20 Is % a standing portrait Of
fabric: light shining rather arbitrarily
on the crest Of the corsage, the bottom Of
the skirt ranged upon the ground in folds
obscured by kind OF rising mist. The
a smooth precision, that finds no sufficient
echo elsewhere in the canvas, which, again.
Is tame and extureless a eort Of inviscer-
ated Gainsborough composition.
There Is also pink and sleek present
portrait Of the late President Mckinley
wherein the face may have some power,
but the body Is characterless,
Wore there modesty and sincerity in
these canvasee one could have patience,
that II is impossible TO overlook their
shortcomings both In taste and technique
American Association OF Allied Arts.
Tho usefulness Of an association OF allied
arts may be quite demonstrable, but IL
not demonstrated by the present exhibition
which will remain open at Clausen's Gal
lery until Dec. o. Pictures and sculptures
have so long monopolized public attention |
that some cooperation on the part Of workers |
in wood. porcelain. metal. leather. needle |
work and so on may he necessary TO enforce |
the claim Of their wares TO be credited |
with the possibility Of artistic expression.
But such a claim will hardly be enforced
BY this exhibition.
In the first place pictures still claim q
lions share Of attention, and OF these il is
fair to say that. while a few might find
their way into regular picture exhibitions.
quite a number would be better excluded
from any. In the second place the objects
Of handicraft are comparatively few. and
with one or two exceptions. Of little interest.
so much ill-advised stuff Is talked and
thought about the arts and crafts: which
has been we'll Characterised by some humor-
ist a. -artiness and craftiness II seems
TO bo assumed that the mere fact that n
thing is handmade" entities II TO senti-
mental consideration, regardless Of the
way in which II Is made. Thus we are
treated to hook racks with prOtrldinR
hinges that will injure the binding- Of the
books, which are fimsy that they
will succumb very speedily 20 actual use.
10 a table and seat combined, the carved
panels Of which have already shrunk apart,
through not having been originally Joined
according 10 proper metho1s Of crafts
such evidences Of poor work
manship The unpsrdonable sin Ia the
crafts and of poor taste az the attempts
10 emulate the suhile,y Of painting In
burnt wood or birch bark or 10 advance
our appreciation Of the beautiful by cover
ing French or German porcelain with |
decorations derived from books or out
of the operators headthese ar. the
erasperating feotures u such hybrid en-
hibitions
ln'orminglcd with these, however, are
a few pTaisewOfthy examples. There aIs
one or two nioo pieocs Of lace, q bsd-spreAd
some admirable little bite ~ hammered
copper ~oIk. r. 'So I'D ,a.,4noe. ss, Of bind.
poroslain vases by NJ I%ouiss Mclaughlin
If Cincinnati ThsSe last involve very
charming fr,shness of fancy The form
when u leaves th. ~hsel Lac lllck Walis
and tilr surfSo~ IL aft"rvAfd oafN,d away
- a. to psndsT designs of lsAVcs IN relief |
IN E1nie casss the stem forms have l-.n
ntsrlao-d around the nsck - tho vas and
he iutefstlo.s cut through =. az 20 pToduo'
in irregular ul~n latti"' Sork 1lIs oolurs
applied under IA. Flae" HnU in th. pns-iut
tanples drhoats Ers-su- iiti"t and creams
All tIs usoss passfss delightful ryidsuoH
II Individual feeling AID a hgh d'g gru. -
artistic siFuihoano