Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-12
ART NOTES..

04o4 Nv L LINZ
On Monday afternoon at q Quarter-past
four about hundred persons assembled in
the old sculpture class room at the Corco-
ran School to hear an informal art talk
given by Mr.. r. N. Brooke. the second in
monthly course recently arranged by Mr..
e. c. Messer. the director. The majority
OF these persons were students Of the
school. though there was also a goodly
number of outsiders, who for one reason or
another had been specially invited to at
tend. 1t was in every sense an artists
gathering, and few who were present will
soon forget the impression made by the
thoughtful words of the speaker the wrapt
attention Of his audience, and the curious
surroundings-the plaster casts, modelling
frames and so on, which, In the early
winter twilight. took unto themselves fam
tastic shapes. The subject of the talk was
pictorial conception, and in it's develop
ment Mr.. Brooke suggested several unex-
plotted lines of thought He spoke first of
the remarkable lack among present-day
paintings of any evidence of pictorial con-
ception, for while there are abundance
or Well-painted themes there are literally
lew works which manifest to any marked
degree imagination, originality or even
deep feeling. This he believed to be partly
the fault of the modern art schools, which
or necessity must turn out yearly scores of
untalented painters. and from choice makes
OF the best technicians rather artists. Mr..
Brooke did not, however, discount the value
of academic training. but on the contrary
said that if he had to choose between a
stone we'll painted and Michael Angeles
Last Judgment poorly executed, he
would quickly select the former. What he
urged was the union of the two-the earn
est cultivation by all legitimate means of
the natural imaginative power. When he
a Mr. RrOpxa said ba ha
an idea that Nature made pictures and
that all he had to do was to find and copy
them. Many day he wandered over the
country in vain search for ideal themes,
only to find each composition spoiled by an
unlovely fence, misplaced tree the like.
Travelling in Daubigny's country he saw,
years afteward Daubignys on every side,
out never the exact counterpart of a single
one of his world famous paintings. In tho
forest of Fontainbleau there were countless
Corots but none as the master had painted
1t. In this connection Mr.. Brooke warned
his listeners against the danger of con-
rounding pictorial conceit with pictorial
conception, and urged that they be not car
rled away by fadists, such, for instance as
Burne-Jones, who alone was a blessing but
duplicated would be of little interest or
value To digest well the best work Of the
greatest painters was, he said, the first
duty of a student, after which he might al
low his individuality full sway. To have
message and to strive to deliver 1t in the
simplest, purest form, he declared, made
and would alone make master painters.
X
An excellent illustration of the meaning
of Mr.. Brooke's words will be found in a
collection of etchings and dry points by
James Mcneil Whistler, which was put On
exhibition the last Of this week at Fischer's
1t Is the power of conception which shows
forth In this masters smallest sketch and
makes of 1t a work of art. 1t was not what
he did. nor altogether the way he did It,
which made Whistler famous, but the In
dividuality of the man behind the work.
Not his personality, which is altogether a
different matter, but that indefinable char
acter which manifests Itself so plainly In
his slightest work that 1t can be confidently
identified without history or signature.
In the pleasantly written foreword to the
catalog of this collection is given a para
phrase Of Whistler's art creed. which is as
follows: art in itself is the greatest ard
all powerful force; nature comes second
and is just good enough to furnish the gen.
eral elements for free expression and glori-
fcation of Art and in the appended COR
respondence between Mr.. Whistler and hic
friend. Mr.. s. Wreford Paddon of London.
he is made to bear witness to his own &c
centricity and the unlovelness of his char
acter. In the works which Mr.. Whistler
has left, and those in particular in this
both theories and the man. for they are
readily to be understood and surprisingly
charming. Take for example the oddly
shaped Fishing Boat" number 20; who
will not delight in its delicate lines, its
glinting sunshine, and its excellent feeling
of space? Or who will need to be told that
rumber pictures storm? From first TO
last the story Is told and in every stroke
the observer witnesses the fury of the e'e-
ments. Number % is a view down st.
James Street, and shows how interesting
comm onplace facades can become through
Interpretation: and number IA pictures the
etcher with others in a little French cafe.
Bequet mo. 80, which has sometimes been
called 1.-The 'cellost," is also supposed -
be an idealized portrait of Whistler, though
in the handsome face of the musician little
likeness can be traced to the whimsical
painter. la Vielle aux Loques' is rich in
tone and feeling, and may be found sug
gestive of Rembrandts portraits of aged
women and of Whistler's most famous por-
trait of his mother; a most excellent en-
craving of which, by Thos A. Way, hangs
nearby. An original drawing In pen and
ink of Rives, a pencil drawing of The art
lists family. a plate worn to shadowy
indistinctness, and an etching half de-
stroyed and half remedied by direct touch
ing up by the etcher and loaned by DR.. |