The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-25
PAINTINGS b. JOHN ". ALEU-
AMBER.

are the work Of a painter who has supple
mented his French training with many
years residence in Paris. and has come
under the influence of the latest researches
in the direction of delicate tonality and of
subleties OF light and atmosphere. He
Possesses in marked degree the pictorial
sense. which views the subject a. picture
and interprets il by means essentially
pictorial. He is. in fact an artist in the
true sense Of the term and one Of delightful
sensibility, that is at the service of a person.
atty refined and gracious.
He il modern to the finger tips, and III
very charming fashionable. for example,
to express the esprit of a lady of to-day.
and yet to represent her within the limits
Of an easy but unmi-takable decorum.
And a similarly choice instinct regulates
piquancy Of momentary gesture but
avoids the extremes of suddenly arrested
movement. which astonish us in some
pictures for an instant and then leave W.
fat q led with the exaggeration. The action
in his figures always stops short Of that
fnality ,f movement which defeats its
own end by Suggesting no further develop
ment and accordingly seems fixed and
stiff. Among these pictures no better Illus
tra'ion Of his ability in drawing can h" mem
toned than a Rose What really
exquisite wind Of movement in the figure Of
this girl In greenish silk dress. striped
with black, as she bows her head over "A
rose in the act of lingering itS petals! The
gesture il 40 supple and continuous. every
part of the body responding to ii. More
over, how the delicate color scheme and
the intricacy Of the lighting are attUned
to the sentiment ofthe gesture, Ina picture
ike this. to my thinking. the artist reveals
himself most persuasively. II il con-
ception Of delicate imaGinatiu ion; not, indeed.
Of the kind that scars TO great ends. but
which hovers close to earth, spontaneous
and songful
Near it hangs the portrait of lady UD.
She IL seated in profile, her face dainty
featured and fresh in color as flower,
one arm upon the chair and the other held
al her waist, as she leans forward with
graceful alertness. The dress il of amber
greenish satin, with bunch Of autumn
tinted foliage at the bosom, whose deli
cate Wilderness II accented 10y some little
arrangement Of lace and the mer.st sug-
gestion OF a blue jewel and pendant But
the chief charm of the pict ure is in the
skill with which the painter has conveyed
the sense of bloom and fragrance, AZ Of
a scented butterfly. Again how hands ONE
in the ample spao ing Of the composition
is the picture A Quie, Hour" of girl
sitting on the floor reading before a window
There is a suave dignity also in the toral
arrangement Of see green and silver grays,
and a sentiment Of peu~ive grace in the
pose Of the figure and expression Of the
face
A similarly que, distinction pervades
the canvas a. in which mother il leaning
over "A sofa on which her baby il lying.
while a shaded light creeps in from the
right side and eliminates with pearly
glow certain parts Of the dim interior
Yet there is in the illumination some want
OF clarity which makes it less completely
satisfactory than the portrait 90 Of
child seated in front of her doll--for here
the atmosphere is 80 fresh and pure in its
mistiness. so impregnated with light,
through which the white Of the child's
Gress and the more distant sid, board,
with liz bits Of porcelain and q silver can
dl,s,ck, receive their due value, Of light,
After the uu1rcos displayed in these n I.
ures | doubt IL We ii all be al'oget her sat t.
fled with the director statement Of the
portrait of a lady in white dress ga ana
Of one IN black velvet ,2,. In the latter
the figure below the waist has disappeared
IN tie fiat and formal arrangement of the
skirt, whiio in the other though the move
mert Of the body i fully felt. Tn. drcSs is
reated With slimmariuns- If manner that
seems harsh ard un,ugge~tive We may
lie disposed to think indeed that Nj Alex
ardcr is rot at hi- best when he forsake.
the intimately subtle in an effort after
breadth Of style. For mo same reason Va
may prefer his pictures Of women. That
II" can paint a man is proved by his por-
trai, If R"dn ON: but those Of DR.. Patton
and the one numbered ! ar. hardly salts
factory The former il largely glorifca-
ton Of the black silk gown. while far away
up a, the top, isolated and not very inn
pr"ssive when you reach il, i III" head
In n" treatment NJ II therc Ia little inaDljness
of feeling; one might have guessed /, TO be
the work Of woman, not 50 much in the
way II is painted ~ in the way II has been
felt -- more realization of the elegance Of
soft gray hair and fresh colored features
than of character expressed in the constrlic-
tinu of the head ~ well a. IL he expression
In the other portrai, again, Their" is an
effort after bigress which il not virile,
tho subject being represented with legs
crossed and tho hands laid upon them and
tho body and bead brought forward with
an intense gesture that suggest a middle
agod variation oF one Of Mr. Gibson's love.
struck Young men.
ON the other hand. the portrait of Ruim
i, altogether bigger work, inspired bv the
,,n vi h, .,,t1,t,,r