The sun., 1904-05-15
EoYAL ACADEMY PORTRAITS.
BETTER DISPLAY ny OUTSIDERS
AT THIS YEARS SHOW.

BEI DAn1 A<HA "A W. -.
AT THIS YEARS SHOW.
New Regulations In Foree-POrtraits 7hat
Appeai I.egitlmately to tho Public,
and Others That Don't-W0rks BY
sargent ana other Americans.
LONDON, May THE iseth exhibition
Of the Royal Academy is now open. This
Years exhibits number l,sAi, as compared
with .sa0 last year.
There are eol oil colors, which Is an in
-.Aase and ss4 water colors and miniatures,
which is decrease. The sculptured OBJ
ietts number 1T, the black-and-white
exhibits 1872, and the architectural drawings
81. These figures indicate little change
II is the hrst year Of the new regulations.
limiting the individual academician's ex-
hibits to six and permitting the outsider
TO submit only three works instead OF eight
a. heretofore. One result OF this tightening
,he labors OF the selection committee Is a
hetter disrlay of work by outsiders and this
seems TO be the feature which best charac-
terizes the present exhibition.
u must not, however, be understood that
the selection committee has at last dis
charged its duties in thoroughly efficient
manner. Such we'll known outsiders as
Edward Stott and Mark Fisher for ex-
ample, have had their most important con-
tributions rejected this year. Tho refined
work OF Edward Stott will not be new to
readers Of THE Sun. and Mark Fisher is,
Of course. one Of the best known American
,ainters who live in England but do not
belong to the academic body.
Having given these statistics OF the
Roya] Academy and it's exhibition. and
coming TO consider next the quantles OF the
objects shown. suppose that II all those
not possessing sufficient interest to Justify
their beng placed before an Intelligent
publc could be blotted out by some benef-
icent destroying angel there might then
remain in Burlington House. high on the
walls, low on the line, scantily distributed
through sixteen spacious rooms. $50 works.
Being collected, these would form an at
traetiye exhibition contributed as to two
thirds by outsiders and as to one-third by
some members OF the Academy. And what
would be likely to seem to the celestial
iconoclast a curious feature OF his task
would be the quantities OF portraits he had
TO destroy.
Besides the many works which are really
only portraits OF some comely woman
whom the artiste call Ii more, maybe-there
are, including lsl miniatures. at least five
hundred portraits-portraits in oil. water
color, chalk. charcoal, ink. wash, silver,
bronze, marble, plaster, even in colored
wax. And yet the academic regulations
state that mere transcripts Of the objects
OF natural history are not permissible ex-
hibits.
In this profusion OF prosaic portraits the
destroying angel might well see the refec-
ton Of a seli-complacent age Of cash ideals,
for what are all these portraits but the
expression OF self-satisfaction, and what is
oontemporary portraiture but a mode OF
making money under the @zis of art? Lon
don exhibitions are no worse in this re-
sbeot than those Of New York, Paris or Ber-
In. But, II you come to think OF it, the be-
thn confronted 18th q host Of commonplace
pfesAntrnents Of quite ordinary people
Ia a so-called exhibition OF works of art
might fail to crafty the intelligence Of
Ttmbuctoo.
There sre three modes In which por-
trait may legitimat4ly apr ell to the public,
and here they are, given in the order OF
ribine artistic importance: First, as being
the Likeness OF some interesting person;
SECOND. as being the work of some interest
tngartist: and, third, as being an interesting
work Of art.
Hereby. then. numbers Of those at the
Royal Academy are dismissed as pos.
sAsline n-ne Of these qualifications. Of
the remainder . few are sufficiently i'm.
portant to be considered by themselves.
Tho portrait painter most noticed is, ot
course, Sargent. His six exhibits are all
portraits.
Surely IL Is an unklnd destiny that directs
a painter Of such rare ability to fabricate 50
many Of these portraits. sp lendid as in many
ways they are. For at all times there exist
IN human beings, and in the world at large
truths more beautiful, more worthy Of the
able artist, than the transient min t 10
which distinguish superfcially one person
from another. Vastly more important
thln the difference Of season Is the truth
Of time.
An explanatory object lesson is not far to
seek II you will look at portraits by Velas.
quez or Rembrandt, you will see that they are
not out OF date. Doubtless the clothes are
out OF fashion, but you see a deeper truth,
one which Is always true. Whistler's por-
trait OF his mother has Il is deeper truth.
II you will next look at portraits by Lely
or Lawrence you will see that they are out
Of date-not merely the clothes. but also the
weAreas. The wearers sspired to features.
form and gait which are out of cate, no
longer fashionable. Lely and Lawrence
sought to express no deeper truth than
this, their sitters' fashionable aspiratic n.
temporary and superficial thing In
ssrgents portraiture q similar tendency
is strongly Indicated
Tho subjects OF the Sargent portraits at the
Royal Academy are the Duchess Of Su her.
land, the Countess Of Lathcm. Mrs Vet.
heimer, Charles Stewart. Sixth Marquis OF
Londonderry; Major-Gen. Lex nard Wood
Of the United States Army, and 1 L. Dewitt,
president OF the Shipping Federation.
The most popular Ct these works will
doubtless-be the full length of the Duchess
Of Sutherland; which represents a tall and
handsome woman, wearing brig h. green
evening dress relieved with white The
lighting is that Of studio. but size is stand
ing in q garden. II you do not object to
this convention you will like this picture
very much.
The portrait OF Lady Lathom ia ,nsid-