Evening star., 1902-08-23
A R T N @ T ES.

4
! Roosevelt. which created quite a sensation
| at the last Salon, are again in Washington,
| having been presented to the Presidents
! wife and daughter by the French govern
ment. They were painted last winter in the
board room of the Corcoran Gallery and
were exhibited informally at a reception
given at the French embassy in the spring.
/ put nowhere else in this country. Just
what disposition of them will be made is
not definitely known, but it is thought that
they may be hung in the loan collection of
the Corcoran Gallery while the Executive
Mansion is undergoing extensive repairs
and alterations This would indeed be very
desirable, as they are excellent examples
of M. Chartrans best work The National
Society Of the Friends of Art, which each
year has one Of the pictures which are exhib-
1ted at the Salon engraved for distribution
among its subscribers, honored the portrait
Of Mrs. Roosevelt by selecting it this year.
and one Of our own popular magazines has
published an excellent reproduction of it.
The original is a large canvas set in a
round frame and pictures Mrs. Roosevelt
in black hat and coat seated upon a
bench In the White House grounds The
colorlng Is exquisite, the modelling extra
ordinarily fine the technique admirable vet
as whole 1t falls short. The drawing of
the right arm is certainly faulty the pose
of the figure Is decidedly askew and the
miniature mansion in the background is
little less than an absurdity. That a paint
ing possessing so many admirable ouaIities
should be hindered from attaining greatness
by such glaring inconsistencies is indeed
distressing, and how painter who could so
skllifuily handle the most difficult passages
can so Slgnally fail in his treatment of reIa-
lively simple propositions is difficult to un
derstand, even though it be from overconf-
oence ana lack of care. The portrait of
MISS Roosevelt is small canvas showing
! only the head and shoulders, but the same
charming coloring and splendid technique
which are seen in the larger painting are
notable In it. The hair Is painted with
truly marvellous skill and the arrangement
OF the drapery Is exceedingly artistic It
Is dainty and picturesque, and will doubtless
call forth much admiration.
Tissot. than whom no artist of the pres
ent day was generally better known. died
this month in Paris. He was born at
Nantes in 1886, educated at the Ecole des
Beaux Arts and made his debut at the
Salon or 1888. During the first twenty-five
years or his artistic career he executed a
large number of etchings of modern social
life in both Paris and London and received
special recognition for his feminine Dor
traits. In 'S6. however. he laid all these
subjects aside and gave his entire attention
to the making of almost exhaustive illus
trations Of the life Of Christ, and it is for
this work that he is famous He was
realist of the realists and even the pre-
Raphaelte brothers were not more Jealous
in their search for truth To carry out
this colossal work he went to the Holy
Land and dwelt for several years among
the people. studying their manners and GUS
toms. as well their traditions and his
tory. The result was 800 drawings in mon
ochrome and coiors, showing the land, the
people and the sacred scenes in a different
guise from any in which they had been
previously presented. Ethnologically and
archaeologically they are of extreme inter-
est, but artistically, and even religiousIy
they are Of small value comparatively 1t
Is their novelty, not their merit or spirit
uality, that has made them popular They
reteii the story of the Gospel in a photo
graphic, material manner quite at variance
with the spirit Of the old religious paint
ers. In 1894 this collection was first ex-
hibited in the Champ de Mars Salon, after
which 1t was shown in London and later
In the United States. Finally the entir.
five hundred and odd drawings were repro
duced by New York publisher and issued
with the text in two large volumes. the
price of which in even the simplest form
was far beyond the means of those in mod
crate circumstances. No book has prob
ably been more extensively or cIeverIv .d
vertised The original drawings were pur-
chased last winter by the Brooklyn Insti-
tute of Arts and Sciences for 100000.
Oe less celebrity more modest accomplish
ment and deeper artistic feeling was John
H. Twachtman, whose death occurred but a
few days after that of Tissot. Foremost in
the ranks of American painters possessing
a lovable and strong personality, progress
sive, yet at the same time conservative, his
influence has been widely felt and will
be greatly missed. He was born in Gin
cinnati in 1853. went abroad In the early
seventies, and falling under the influence OF
Duveneck studied in Munich and Venice.
His work. however. showed little trace of
foreign training, though he was, in a meas
ure, exponent Of the theories of Monet
and the school of French tonalists. His
landscapes were fresh interpretations of
nature as 1t appealed directly to him and
were full of sunshine and air. They were
usually also extremely simple In compost
tion and lacked those picture qualities
which are always productive of popularity.
They We're indeed what is commonly known
as painters pictures the merits of which.
1t is safe to assert, will be fully recognized
to &I.A fxrk 49,