New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-02
ART EXHIBITIONS.
The SeUenty-ninth annual Display
of the Academy.

11oil II VIII remain open until January 3d. and the
months attendance ought to be large for this is
one or the most creditabe exhibitions which the
ACADEMY has organized in recent wears Fourteen
INJURED works were submitted. Only three hun
'teu ana ulty were accepted, eloquent testi-
oHS l" Inc care taken by the jury 10 maintain. SO
laF as possible. good average The hanging COM
i'i'tee mas done its work we'll. The pictures have
heen so arranged that every one of them deserving
soou place has found It. and the general impress
sion iett by the collection as harmonious as could
be desired number Of American painters living
III FarIs nave contributed to the show which also
contains productions by artists In Boston and other
etues outside Of New-York. Altogether it is plain
tiiat the Academlcians in charge % the enterprise
nave made exceptional efforts to achieve success.
II they have not been aided by the appearance OF
any really inspired paintings before the jury. they
nave at any rate managed to secure good guam
hty Of work done along fairly interesting lines.
The place OF honor in the Vanderbilt Gallery has
been rightly given 70 the 'Ispahan'' OF the late
Edwin Lord Weeks. study generous scale
of picturesque Oriental scene. This canvas Is
uneven There are passages In Il that are obscure
and even feeble. But a composition II is very
good indeed the color is finer in quality than that
which we have usually found in Mr.. Weeks's work
and the style is broader. Too often this artist
gave his pictures a hard and garsh character.
The "Ispahan" shows Of what excellent things he
was capable Near this painting hang several of
the more important contributions. There Is merit
In all OF them. but all of them must be praised
with reservations Mr.. II. o. Walkers Love and
Thought is so admirable in some respects that
we wish the more keenly that 1t better
work OF art. Hitherto this artist has seemed some
times 10 carry his innate suavity to extremes
Now he has struck a holder hrmer note, but he
has lost something IN the process OF change which
his art has undergone, something OF quality in his
flesh tints and Of charm In his color. On the
other ham, merely q design. this is the strong
est thing he has done. and the increased vigor
in the painting Is an earnest of the even more
impressive achievements which we may expect
from him In the future. His portrait OF Mrs
stillweu and Son" in the middle gallery. by the
way. executed in his more familiar vein. yet with
a greater freedom Of touch in 1t than he has al
ways used. is altogether beguilirg Mr.. Sergeant
Kendans Portrait of Miss NJ p. S. like Mr..
Walkers Love and Thought leaves a mixed i'm
preston. The scheme. Astounding in pure whites.
is Immediately t. challenge attention, and the
artist almost accomplishes what he has set out TO
do. But he lacks the technical proficiency with
which to match the audacity of his conception.
The color Is hfeless and cold, the execution is as
hard iron. and through his inadequate grasp OF
the laws OF perspective Mr. Kendall has made the
mirror in the background q most disturbing factor.
Mt. Shiraw's Gathering Sawed is a capital
study OF horses drawing heavy lead up from the
shore. The scerS is effectively put together, and.
saving for the mannersm in the painters render
ing of form, this is a satisfying performance A
precisely similar drawback affects pleasure IN
Mr.. J. ". Alexander's two paintings OF graceful
models, a Quiet Hour and "A Rose" He is so
OF color that a pity TO see him pouring forth.
year after year paintings having little relation 10
life but savorng always OF sheer artihce and the
shrewdly manipulated light OF the studio
This Is. indeed too often the spirit with which we
have 10 reckon in surveying the exhibition spirit
Of cleverness wreaking Itself on one theme or an
other With a curious aloofuess from mere human
nature. Everywhere find men painting skilfully
enough. but missing the actually which Is AFTER
all entirely compatible with the highest
imaginative flights. Take. for example, Mr.. Nc
Even's Dutch picture The old Guard Of the
House OF Orange" Why should Il be so aggressive
~ mere costume study? Why should there be so
little that IS alive in the canvas, and so much 10
suggest the casual model. tricked out In studio
properties2 Mr.. McEwen give us sense or
sincerity when he chooses. witness his excellent
Portrait" sent 20 this exhibition. Mr.. Carl Mech-
ers invites the same comment His Man with
Cloak" has technical value, yet the whole canvas
smacks of the salon. is somehow trihng and I'M
convincing where it ought TO have artistic weight
There is another OF our Parisianized country
men Mr. F. A Bridgman. whose share In the show
carries an even greater disappointment His big.
decorative canvas. AIRS Dramatis' is an ambitious
design but not ono of the many figures in 1t has
vitality Furthermore. Mr.. Bridgman is not only
content with an tnsipid prettiness OF FORM but he
has so poor an eye for values that his color scheme
f. positively cacophonous. There is nothing or
nature here. Never there more artificial
fabric We would not dwell much upon this
asnact % the exhibition If II not that the gem
eral drift illustrated by any collection OF American
pictures is Of the matter OF chefest inter-
est and what conscious OF again ana again
an the nresent occasion IS that arid professionalism
witch may mean promising brushwork and similar
virtues but rarely means any principle or inner
growth rarely means Intelligent study OF Things
exactlv as they are. Not only veterans like Mr..
Brdgman expose the situation; 1t is made plain In
the work of many Of the younger painters
,ev voars ago when Mr. c. w. Hawthorne first
e.-,ra1 In the exhibitions. he awakened curiosity
and insured hope. for he seemed to be drawing
near TO the root of the matter having eyes opened
- tho living world and having accomplished hands
>-,, no too seems TO have reapsed into the limbo
- 90 EFFECT " His Girl in Green" Is far too
t,,+,. and his Portuguese Fisher5oys Is scarcely
narior to it, though the latter canvas has at Ieast
o. robustness in the handling which the former
-. .,d might much better have been awarded
no first Hallgarten prize which has been given to
- ..(,ir1 j., Green" None of the half dozen prize
winners we may add. is of any Importance. me
boet NJ Them Is Mr.. Fl. NJ. Wacotts picture OF emil
drsp nlaying with birds, The Contest 10 WhIch
The THOMAS b. Clarke prize has been awarded out
while the figures in this are tudciously grouped ana
80 conablv drawn. the canvas suffers from the
rotnter's inability to synthesize his material Inc
sitio, NJ form and textures is carried to excess
NJ charles c. Curran has ever been beset by the
sa,ca temptation TO which Mr.. Walcott has sue
-t7 t,It his two portraits Of women framed In
oowers Purity" and "A Corner In Grandmothers
Garden" show that ne is gaining In breadth FOR
~, aginc freshness, n wholesome Sweetness ana
: od daaI Of technical authority. Mr.. +. w. Ben
sous GIRL with a Sea Shell" is 10 be warmly COM
r,cnded. A spontaneous little study Ike THIS Is
-o,tb a dozen of the painfully elaborate and sadly
nerveless pictures which are scattered thFopsh Tue
,bii,ition pictures like Mr.. Sewells THE Birth or
Ocier the Dane" quaint bit of design inert4y exc
cnted. like Mr. Magraths huge overcrowded and
,,ar, roorly painted composition, The Harp That
once Thro Taras Halls" or like Mr. Corwln Knapp
rireon.s crude!y colored Afternoon Tea" With
NJ 1enson's inspiriting picture must mention