New-York tribune., 1903-03-21
ART EXHIBITIONS.
The TUGcktmsGn, CoIgsaa aad B~rItt
Collections.

II.
Be seld next Tuesday evening March "a Cpst3arS
part Of the space is given to collection or paint
tngS ana water c0lore BY Mr.. 6anuel CoInah To-
getheF With eanvases, belonging 10 him BY otheI
artists, These to be sold on wednesday even
Ing March Is. FINALLY. the galleries contain some
prints and old china collected by the iate
r.. MelFose RaFritk which will be sold On "eonea-
day afternoon. March q. and the afSeFnoon ana
evening of Thursday March Dc Each OF THESE
three collections Is of interest, but the first has
special significance, inasmuch as it represents a
man whose art was steadily gaining In vitality and
charm at the time Of his DEATH
I've years ago Mr.. Twaehtmen while waiting to
make his usual appearance in tina exhibition Of the
Ten American Painters at the DuFand-Ruel Gal
leTfes held al that place exhibition Of his oVR
It was representative. so far as it want but the
present display Of works by him is not only larger,
but more comprehensive and it gives, much better
than its predecessor tbs measure Of his talent. II
it leaves unchanged eur view Of his Limitations in
certain directions It confirms ana considerably
deePeAs the Impression earlier received Of the dne
sEd Individual qualities IN his art, It's truth and
its power. His special gift Tor the swift and
eloquent notation of deettng effects OF light ard
atmosphere. At the outset he exercised this g1tt
subject to the conditions which had prevailed for
more than {. generation among most American and
French artists. There few OF his earlier
pictures here, the delightful piece Near OS-
tend" painted in 1881; the Normandy River and
The Windmill-Hoand,' which show that he was
still satisfied with the limitations Of studio light
These pictures make their appeal through delicate
drawing and excellence OF workmanship in gen.
eFaI they have SAVIOR Of originality. but In at
mosphertc quality they do net go beyond the ord-
nary standard of the day. Later kfr Twachtman
came under the influence of the impressionistic
idea as expounded by Claude Monet and thence
forth his art developed along lines wholly SYM
pathy with those followed by the famous French
man. He carried with him. however into this new
phase, his skill draughtsman, q peculiar re-
h1ement Of feeling disclosing itself especially IN
great delcacy of texture and the personal accent
uneven as this exhibition clearly shows This fact
Is to be attributed the character Of his |
temperament than to uctua tons in his technical
aolHty. He was never deliberate picture maker |
q builder up OF elaborate schemes carefully pon-
deTed- and asSi6uously finished. He was dependent
upon mood and any work Of his whether a paint |
ing on large scale or a small sketch. bound
60 stAR1d FOR nothing less than FaRId
seizure Of an effect that had struck him as in a
nash OF observation No doubt he took time to the
actual painting of what he saw, but invariably he
was true TO the spontaneity Of his original impress
sion. AS his mood varied he was successful or not
Often the motive he chose to celebrate lacked in
itself the pictorial felicity which he was the last
+4an II Tue world to Toist upon episode in nat
ure' o1een IT would SEEM the thing seen failed te
p1ng with 1t sufficient Inspiration, and the result
was piece OF painting suggestive but not beauti-
1Ui AT his best, however this exhibition pre-
sehts MIN az his best frequently than has
been the case OF any other occasion he produced
work exquiaite and distinguished
witness, for example, the superb 'eBaIcory in |
winter, with its snow covered plants, Its cold
out living atmosphere, its sense of intimacy with
nature Witness the tenderiy painted First |
Leaves with its beautiful effect of atmosphere
subtiy emerging from details brushed in broadly
and hastily. Witness THE Hidden Pool" 'JJpland
Pastures, Reflections" Inner Harbor-CzIouces-
ter, 'Snowstorn" and score OF similar things
Witness. finally, the beautiful pastels especially
The Pasture" sWild Flowers' and Meadow
Flowers" In all these things we get soma casual
DIT OF nature captured In its ertless aspect
uyif fha oH,{r
dsrful precision the truth which nils each tran
script being made the charming as it is made
the more vivid by the ever present note Of style
The tmpressionism which Twachtman practised in
hE happieSt Haeents is the inpressionfsm that is
controlled by emotion, by e keen sense Of beauty
1t comes out as much in of the slighter
sketches as in the ambitious canvases a
quality BIB Of accomplished technique put at the
service or individual and refined ideas. We come
upon number Of pictures here Ike the figure
study called I'm the Sunshine" like the niagara
"lnterr or Ike "A Pool" in the Yellowstone
SERIES in which the artist fails realize his ain
the effect is heavy. and even artificial But we re- |
peat, the greater number OF the pictures shown are
on Twachtman's more fortunate level and though
in composition may be more engaging than |
others they are all rich in natural magic and in |
artistic quality.
The dispersal of this collection is an event of |
special moment, Irnpressionism has long had It's |
partfsans in this country among collectors as yell
as among painters. Monet and his colleagues haVs
been generously supported in the auction room I
We may again remind our readers that the lats
William H Fuller's eleven Monets were sold only |
g. week ago for more than S3 900. To imagine that
there is great gulf between the work of Monet |
and the work Of Mr. Twachtnan is to imagine a |
vain thing. It does not exist. The French artist
when all is said, is the weighter OF the two. but
there pictures in this exhibition which he could
not disdain to have painted If the question of |
rank is insisted upon need not hesitate to rec
ognze what Twachtman would have been the first !
admit, that Monet led where he followed. But |
the intrinsic value Of the Americans work is the
point at issue the point by which the appreciation
of the connoisseur is to be tested. These paintings
are not limitations of Monet they are the prOduc- |
tions Of q man who If he took leaf from an |
others book used IT carry out ideas Of his own
Good is good art Irrespective OF its nationality,
and what we wish to emphasize is that those who |
value ~nod art as much when it is American as
when it is foreign have here the chance to demon
strate the faith THAI is in them.
Nr Colrnan's pictures not all of the same |
excellent quality: IN fact the more important Of |
his works are the least attractive. He has lively
sense Of the picturesque In 0rien tai and in Western
themes but his draughtsmanship Is wanting in |
rervous force his color in freshness and variety, |
and In his big canvases such as 1.-THE Church and |
IsIaud of San GioFgo, Venice" Venetian Fish |
ing Boats Becalmsd in the Adriatic' ne dllutes |
suavity until it becomes inspidity. Lacking IN |
vitality and in atmospheric bTance, he falls back
upon subtlety of tone Occasionally he is delight
f,I in ths respect. We may cite particularly the |
pverk IN the right hand PoTtien Of THE Pacific |
Coast In Calm Weather. Evening" But art cannot |
live by tene alone, and though we ma some OF |
the larger oils agrealbie-"A Showery Day at |
zaaodaEn" almost iaclipes US to use a more c1rdal
epthet-we are really captivated only in the pres
ence Of a few of the painters water coloTs The |
yUinduiIIs of Zaandam," for example, or the two |
heau,iful sketches bearing the title. On the