The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-11-29
N E w BOOKS

AMERICAN MASTERS OF PAINTING. Being
! Illustrated. By Charles H. Cafhn. New
York. Doubleday. Page g. Co. Minneapolis
N. Mccarthy. Price, So.
Mr.. Caffln, most competent art critic,
has in this handsome volume given his
own Interesting estimates of some Arneri-
! can artists of distinction, as Gilbert
Stuart. George Inness, La Fargo, J. N. M.
Whistler, John Sargent. Winslow Horner.
George Fuller. Whistler has wrought his
best work in London. and three examples
of his work are given. Inness, always
a favorite, is represented by three fine
examples of his fine comprehension of
atmospheric effects, and sun and cloud in
landscape painting. His pictures COM
mand deep scrutiny and corresponding
pleasure. Some of La Farge's church
decorative pieces are given. Mr.. Caffin's
critique on the eccentric Whistler is one
| of the best thingssin the book. winslow
Horners fine "West Wind" and "The
| Maine Coast" are fitting examples of his
genius, and of Abbey Mr.. Caffin says:
1.-The peculiar qualities Of his strengthsare
! qu1etness and DEPTH. Homer. Martin is
! dealt with in a most appreciative spirit
| and there are several examples Of his
| landscape painting given. Mr.. Caffn
would rank him with the ''highest of all
| the poet-painters of American landscape -
! OF Gilbert Stuart Mr.. Caffin very sensibly
| says: He was not a painter Of great
pictures, but of some great portraits" =
THE EAST OF TO-DAY AND TOMORROW.
BY Henry Goldman Potter, D. D., ILL., D.,
! Bishop of New York. New York: The Cen
fury Company. Minneapolis: N. Mccarthy.
| Price, 81.
| In this volume Bishop Potter records
| his impressions Of travel and careful OBJ
servation in China, the Philippines, ia
| PAN, India and Hawaii. The root
| evil in China he finds to be the cor
ruption of the ruling class, while he con
firms all the worst reports of the inveter-
| ate hostility to foreigners bred by the
| aggressive greed of the western nations
He regards the partition Of China as a
stupid and shameless policy and views
| the Chinese hopefully, as beginning to
turn toward the true light. AS to the
Philippines the bishop modified his
original views on the American occupation
and now looks hopefully at the insular
| future, after due observation. 'There
are many he says, who will never cease
| to regret our original blunder in the
islands. But they not so despairing of
| their country as to believe that she has
| gone so far from original Righteousness
| that she has no virtue left in her with
which to educate those distant islands for
freedom; and, meanwhile, it is just as well
| to remember that her rulers have never
| animated that this government has any
oeAASA Pun pOcO Ill lCSdlu " them. In
his impressions Of India he records a.
| most hopeful missionary work and the
admission of Brahmans of high rank that
| 1t is impossible to hold the minds of a
! people who read and think down to out
worn shibboleths of a, corrupt and sensu-
| Gus paganism. ' -F@;
WILLIAM MORRIS, POET, CRAFTSMAN, so.
| CAAL!SI; BY Elizabeth Luther Cary Illus
t ira New York: G. p Uutnam's Sons.
Ihls volume, IN Its mechanical execu-
ton, sumptuous binding in black and gold,
is a worthy tribute to a gifted man, who
| did his best to better and brighten the
| homes of the masses by the inculcation of
| artistic taste and the making of labor not
drudgery, but a joy. Like Ruskin, Morris
found limited receptical faculty among the
masses. If he failed in actualizing his
highest hopes of benefting humanity,
John Rusl<in. the sublime art critic failed
also. Disguised with prevailing medioc-
| rity, Norris sought to lift others to his
level. Some of his dreams were magnifi-
cent They vanished when he sought to
| actualize them. At Oxford he intended to
take holy orders, but his instructive love
OF art and yearning to communicate it tc
! others, led him to architecture; then his
! devotion to Rossett, led him to study un-
| der that artist, who characterized him as
having "a touch of the incoherent but q
real man." He and Burne Jones then
abode In the RED House and Morris be
came inspired with the decorative spirit
which proved to be his good spirit there
after, as shown by his art work His ex-
perience with social democracy, with his
! high ideals, was decidedly unsatisfactory
as recorded in two or three chapters, but
he contributed a large amount of liter
1 allure to the cause as he understood it.
The photography shows f1fty-three
books of Morris authorship. He delight
1 ed in fine topography and marginal dec
orations and would have nothing but the
finest handmade paper. The Kelmscott
Press issued ymuch-sought treasures 81
+ book making. He had passion for medi-
i aeval books and he was a bibliohile ex-
4 traordinary. The author. says he rightly
counted the joy to be gained from making