New-York tribune., 1903-04-21
ART EXHIBITIONS.
The Ten american Painters.

/
Galleries is distinguished among current enterprises
Of the for it's strong personal note. There may
be things in the sie~ which eesla easily be saF-
! passed by the very men who made them put at
! all events, nearly everything here has III IL the
| quality which lifts work out of the Fuek Fer
| this reason the collection OF less than tWcseeTe
! paintings has lively interest and an Importance
of its own, despite the absence Of what are called
| for lack of better term expressive of ambitious
motives and elaborate compositon- lmp mportdnt
/ pictures. Having acknowledged this fact, we must
! nevertheless confess sone disappointment IN
finding nothing here betokenins that readiness ana
ability 10 grapPle with large problems which We
| have a right TO expect, If anywhere, among the
members of this ersenization. We know that the
ability and the readiness there. but We regret
| that we have no ia 3fr. Reids three 'Studles
! for Stained Glass than the earnest OF Neshty
| scheme now in progress and that Mr.. Simmons
while sending brilliant marine in his afternoon
Wind" has ONCE more, through his absorption III
! mural paintings. been Influenced TO sena hotlHnS
else Even more regrettabe than these easily ex-
plained omissions however, rs the faftrre OF one or
| two of the Ten whose DEVELOPMENT has neeh
| watched with peculiar curia5ity and confidence 10
take the stride forward that we have been waiting
| for them take.
| Mr.. Tarhell and Mr. Benson have only them
selves to blame If they ar: asked 10 make Retier
/ shelving than they make upon the present ee-
! casion Their pictures are clever, but they nave
always been that. and cannot help feeling thaF
painters so accomplished should by this time nave
| learned TO do something better than ring Inc
| changes effects which might as Wen De lefL u
men less gifted than they are themselves In other
words. weary Of praising Mr. Benson Ter sGch a
| decorative treatment Of . gracefully posed ng9Ee
| as he gives US in his Woman Reading and OF
praising AIr. Tarbeu for precisely the same virtue
in pictures Like his Girl Reading" Each of these
| capYases is well executed. each has the personal
| ante to which we have already alluded, and eaeh
TO that extent helps to raise the exhibition above
| the ordinary level But neither be said to
| carry the show ae high aittude as we are
| justified in demanding, 1t is diTicaIt 10 belieYe
| that theze tive painters have been endowed with
| SO much natural taste and aptitude and have ac-
| qured much facility, only to go on wreaking
! themselves upon the hackneyed themes OF their
| salad days. But in recording with sorrow. that
| they have gained m creative power, we must
aot ignore the fact that they are. at any rate. no
| less interesting than they have been in the past
AIr TarhsH is as yvacious and skilful as ever in
his Wei lighted interioF study, Ia the Breakfast
| Room and he has MAGE a charming picture out
Of his open air subject, Schooling the HORSES
| Indeed this small canvas. with its piquant group
OF children watching the horses that move across
! the turf, against lovely background OF trees Is
so captivating in feeling that it almost consoles
| for the failure ef the Girl Reading to leave a
| lasting inioression. Mr. Benson, likewise, Is at
| least worthy Of his familiar self in his four pct-
! lres. The tawny costume IN the Woman Reading
| is admirably painted, il the work as whole Is
rather empty triumph; there Is good passage
| in the drspeFy, though there some muddy flesh
| tiats in the portrait he calls profile HeadH; the
| asIre his Child and the seasheF' is capitaly
!
ceFaed and his Sunlight which we seeTp 10 have
seen before. is very pleasant 10 see again.
| Of Nj Dewlgg's single paneL The Lutte We
| caHnot speak too warmly Epem him We de not
! expect complicated schemes, worked out on a
large scale. His art is III essence poetic. subtle
| and suaVey polished and The conditions most ia
J EeEable its development are just the eendltons
| which are here illustrated. The figure, robed in
some rich material of greeHisb yellow hve Is one
more of those solitary figures which Mr. Dewng
| mas painted again and again, seated Ia this case,
| beside an old carved table on which rests the
musical INSTRUMENT that gives the work It's tlt1e-
If the design has romantic or sentimental sig
nifcance this thrown IN as ii were. incidentally,
tor the spectator TO take or leave. The main thing
| IS the exquisite manipulation OF color, ana the
eToeation thereby of that iadehnsb bic R2te which
| in so far as il can be further stated, can emily be
| called the nete Of the artists teIpperaIaent The
| Lutte" is in short. simply beautiful and indi-
| vidUalized piece OF painting fnere are kffidred
| qualities in the FIVE landscapes by the late j. ID.
! TUachtaan WHICH form kind OF usmoTlal group
| in the exhibition. These works haVe been drawn
| from among those retained by Mrs. TwachtInan
/ when the artists studio was overhauled for the
| recent sale, and they include seEls ef bis HaoSf
| characteristic work; March" with its eloquent
representation Of tunbIing waters; winter After
noen" with it's landscape forms senstiVely fx-
| pressed through delicate impaipable mist; via
Cherry Tree. East GlQgcester, ons OF IWacn1-
mans most vivid, rapid sketches; and the large
.February," which is by all odds the best land
s~ape here. 'sSnewbeUnd," tbs last Of Lae nVe
| pictures is the least satisfactory OF the lot out
this TOO, contains AHe atmospheric e1IacL Il i
falls short conviction in its expression OF ferH
The February by the way. has been talked OF
ss a suitable picture TO represent fwach tn4ah In
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, aIld II ls 10 oe
hoped that something may be done to place II
there 1t is valued at $5,e00 and there ought not
IN he any difficulty in arranging for it's purchase
A fund fer the purpose might be raised by sup
scrtption If no other expedient were forthcoming
Several other painters aTnehg the ten @ cont" ~ lp1-S
| ,andscapes to the show. The three Studies for a
Stained Glass" by Mr. Reid which have been
| mentioned above, charming bits of draushtsnan-
| ship and color, accompanied by an Autumn
Landscape" in which screen Of trees IS deAght-
| fDIlv handled. and by '"The Wreath, in which two
children are painted In sylvan scene, With ad-
nirable decorative effect. Beta pictures are fun
| of light and air Mr. Chude Hassam is more sue
! 1essfuI n his 'Snowstorm in the City" his New
| port" and The Scarlet Tanager," vivid and be
| quilting Impressions than ne Is in his nude study.
! Sunlight which is harsh in tone, or in his
2ortr-'t called 'The Jonquils." which is pleasant
| in cole but too stringy in texture. Mr.. Metcaif
| similarly makes z most persuasive appear IN Two
| aaiieateIy brilliant open air sketches. Havana
| Cathedral and "Eattery Park. Spring., and dis
appoints Us In The Vielets," portrait sldlfully
| and even tenderly modelled. but net on the whole
| as alert in feeling and indivduaIlzed in style
| as it's companions. Mr. J. Alden Weir is also IN
| cyen his laHdseap pss being Infinitely more inter
| estfng than his figure work. The Study in Black
and Gray Is not without certain vague disIIpe-
| ton and there is a commendabie solidity about
| the Fo.rtrsit of Childs Hassarn and the Portrait
| - Max Weed" But Mr.. Weir seems TO give US
| more Of himself q fresher inspire ton and more
- artistic vitality. in the Bit Of WiRdhaTn VII
age the charming Apple Tree spring' and
| the simple but forcibe Overlooking the valley"
which recalls dimy, in its breadth and in its quiet
| o4 he rIf Constable.