New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-02-21
THE IcHENHAuSER COLLECTION.

AT the American AIT Galleries three exhibitions
are at accessible One is of the watercolors
by Mr.. Alfred Parsons and the paintings by Mr.
T. d. Millet, which have already discussed
Another is of antique porcelains, jades lacquers,
worries and other Orentalia belonging to Mr.. Fred
erick w. Hunter, small collection with some
things in it of great value, but with much that
is of excellent quality The third exhibition is one
of 155 pictures mostly attributed to old masters
and offered for sale by Mr.. j. D. Ichenhauser This
collection. though the most conspicuous in the gal
lery. is not by any means the most interesting. IL
abounds in great names and poor pictures, being
one more assemblage of those pretentious and I'M
convincing old canvases with which have OF
late years been made only too familiar. The most
that can be said for it is that it contains a num-
Der of portraits fairly attractive on historical
grounds. Thus the 'Prncesse CIementina Sobies-
XII attributed to Largere, if possessing only
the slendefest istc quality. is decidedly inter-
esting for the sake of the subject There divers
other portraits here which appeal to us with some
success on the same limited terms notably the tall
Queen Anne" by Sir Godfrey Kneller; the Mo
Fart the Elder" by Zoffany: the Mrs. Keevfi
Davies" by Ruskin. a piquant illustration OF the
great critics labor with the brush and the suavely
painted Queen of Bohemia by Van Ceulen. This
last named portrait is not bad in execution, and
there are A few others which fall into the same
category with it, The John Fothergin,' by Gil
bert Stuart. though inferior to his best work. has
tender passages in it Both the large can
by John Singleton Copley are interesting
the Portrait of the Pelham Children" despite its
muddy color. and the David Garrick.' despite its
excessive sickness. Van Loos Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu' is also rather begulng, and
may say good word for the piece of realistic
religious illustration by Honthorst But even the
best things here leave much to be desired.
a regal procession of names marches through the
catalogue. We have examined picture after pict-
in the collection hoping to find masterpiece
but we have been steadily disappointed The TEN
pie of the Winds" for example which is attributed
to VelasGuez. is one of the most commonplace pro
ductions we have seen in long time. Passing
in review the pictures given to Rembrandt and
Rubens. Van Dyck and Hogarth, Guard and Rae
burn J Hooghe and Paul Potter. we have felt
ONLY gret that American collectors should be
asked in all seriousness to interest themselves in
old masters SO uniformly unworthy these are of
have had enough In this country of the art whose
only claim honor is that it Is old. Bad art was
produced quite as volumnousy In the great epochs
as in our own time This bad art survives in Eu-
rope by the square mile, so to speak, but there IS
no earthly reason why it should be inflicted upon
US We want old masters, but only want them
when they are of a high quality or have some in
dubitabe personal significance The school pieces
with which the lumber of the great Cont
mental galleries filed the copies made by pupils
or other contemporaries of famous painters and
treasured as originals by families all Europe,
might much better be left in the oblivion to which
time and their own dement's have mercifuy con-
signed them.