New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-26
ART EXHIBITIONS.
Il Fine Collection of old and Mod
erR Prints.

frates each rner,ter Of tina group at his best For
the collector the show derives its iTnporU lance
largely from the fact that it places before nm
so1ne brilliant and rare Impressions The lAyInah
while proating by the same circumstance. Is per
hRps even better served through the mere connpIe
henstVencss Of the display, which forms KIM u
history IN little OF the salient figures II eIeat
linear art Though the catalogue runs 70 only 81
numbers. these are admirably representatives F0F
example only half q dozen Italian prints are
shown but these brin over with the charm OF per
haps the most charming OF al schools the single
plate by G3Uuo CaInpagnola- THE AstroIogeI' -
an EXQUISITE bit Of Southern art. the line IN Il
possessing both Grmness and delicacy, ana us
tone riyaIling that Of eighteenth century nezZo
tint IN purity and softness. This IS an unusually
engaging specimen Of Italian nalvete In oeslsH'
and In the treatment OF architecture as q sot4So
Of effect IN the background. The shepherds OF
Dcmenico CampagnOa IS Ike 1.-The AstroIoseI'
somewhat archaic In detail. but. though the land
scape forms are rather badly modelled a real4y
sylvan note IS struck IN the general atmosphere
OF the work Three engrayings by Marc ANTONIO
including the superb Massacre Of the 1nnocenU
and a hardly less beautiful Mars, Venus ana
c,lpid' are here 20 show The more robust. even
heroic styie which equally characteristic OF
the art IN the late fifteenth century But the es-
peutial beauty Of these plates, as OF me o1IeIs
sret mentioned. and OF the fne impression or
eSs-olsrno aIocettO's Judgment Of Midas Wtllch
As also exhibited resides IN the almost classical
simplicity controlling them as regards compost
ton and the MINUTES OF technique Inc spirit o.
fhs early italian engTHvers is refined ana olrecI
constantly suggestive OF the austerity OF pIaSuo
art The plate by Mocetto sums Up the merits Oh
tbe school Severe IN its delineatiOn OF form. re-
strained yet cuTtously eloquent In Its interpIe@-
t.on OF movement, and fuu OF the pure beauty OF
line where huttering draperies are concerned, Il
combines with the dignity OF the antique al that
sweetness and human fexi6inty when We 1SSO
edate with tha Renaissance
II Is Interesting 10 turn from The Italian 70 me
German 10 exchange the grace OF Glulo ano the
polished suav5ty OF Marc Antonio ior the e1t.N
Gothic realism OF Martin schoengauer anu AZ
s,rsoht 1Durer types OF sheer power me EaS-
- nv Martin in q series OF twelve plates, : 4
perfect specimen Of Northern strength trluinpiii5
over difficulties. From this work the sNl1e-e i--
sse how figures may DO crowded into d comps
tiou without dslocating It. how design while IN
picattng the veriest tangIe Of forms may he'eI-
sheless retain unity. These pictures are animated
BY deep feeling but their great merit les IN 'l9-.
linear briIiance IN Martins learned grave OI1
soraehoy very personal use OF the ensraNeIs A@-i
Fuage his uncompcoEisiIlg respect LOT as -
Fude- D1rer was greater as ne was d 41'0
sec1,nd master. He had more delicate sense o.
beauty as witness the famous "Aooucuon "a
ATnymone," or any one OF the ha-1-ooIeA "a
donnas IN this collection He may not nave 44s1N
n much higher fdeal Of form. but his line Is more
subtle: Il has II may apply the epiIaet 10 q
,IrallRbtsrnan OF such might, more tenderness
The same may be said Of Heinrich A4oegFe'ei'
represented here IN e beautiful impression o. "is
ssT2hea Sylvia" one Of the most gracious Oh on
German studies from the nude Yet. as q KIM
Of sDiritualized paganism prevailed among INC
Italians so a kind Of stern realism, touched with
seursous fervor and an imaginative but Macabre
impulse prevailed among the Germans. TO con-
trast them IS 20 bring out the difference between
what We're after all two peculiarly racial lines OF
DEVELOPMENT IN the history Of engraving Inc
Italians in the fresh. buoyant mood OF the
South have invariably a certain poetic beauty.
Tie North lays its much heavier weight upon the
Germans and they are impressive where the 4taI-
fans are enchanting: It IS Of their strength ana
their truth that We chiefly think Dtrer and Al
decrever may, as we have shown, have finer
elasticity than some OF their countyInen- but they'
toe Ike schoengauer. Israel Van Mecken and the
others touch Us first and last with q sense OF
4heir solid qualities. OF all Of them, It may be
added. this exhibition gives an entirely adequate
account. The impressions OF their WORKS arc
throughout Of the highest grade
After Italy and Germany IN this collection come
she Low Countries, with the richer color ana tho
rauch more complex web Of line which the WIDER
,lezelo puaent Of etching made possible The group
e rlafes Nv Adrian van Ostade IS Of excep-
fsonal value giving very full idea OF the art OF q
man whose prints figure perhaps less frequently
than those OF some other men in local eIhnloons'
rtsde suffers somewhat from the character Of the
substance o. his work which was based on obser-
walton Of lie on lower levels Of the society OF
lis time BIS topeTs. smokers, begGars and ro--
Kicking peasants generally are an modifying. IN
lovely lot Here, one would say there Is no
beauty at all But beauty IS there, the beauty
Of pictorial schemes -ich in the natural yet most
srtistically managed display Of light and shade;
the beauty, above ali, OF line doing masters VIII
The conuoisseur's appreciation OF consummate
Workmanship IS needed for absolute enjoyment OF
ostade. but the layIaan who looks In these plates
FOR the qualities just indicated viii presently find
himself taking pleasure in genre for which. at
she outset he may feel that he has taste. Re
zneubering however, the difference that must al
Esvs exist between the highest genius and genius
Of & pedestrian order, he viii get very definite
sensation IN the transition from Ostade to Rem
Brandt, By whom there some twenty or twenty
I've eachincs n the exhibition under review. Os-
tRds's Festival Under the Terrace is an attrac-
sive pastoral. but compare it with Renlbrandts
ss7lIlage Near Canal" or with the Large Land
scape with q Cottage and q Dutch Hay Barn The
difference that IS II once recognized Is not simply
sl,et 1,er,veen an accomplished hand and in
splred one; II IS the dierence between an ordinary
mind and the mind OF q great man The KEN
trandts here have been especially well chosen.
They include not only the fine landscapes have
cited not only such vivid pages from seventeenth
century life as the ''Beggars at the Door OF
House and The Travelling Musicians" but one
or two Of the glorious pOrtraitsnotably the second
state OF the --I1phra1m Bonus, in q faultless i'm
rresson-and some OF the religious subjects. Ike
The Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus," one Of
the really sublime compositions IN European
The show embraces several OF Van Dyck's famous
portraits those ulsEes OF realistic elegance. but It
IS with Rembrandt 50 mastery In technique. 50
poignant feeling. and supreme In style. that
TIE linear art OF the older time eliminates, and
he marks the division In this exhibition between
the past and the present
Storm Vans Gravesande and Charles Jacque
hold their own well enough among the modern
men. and Il l. good 70 sec here half dozen OF
1Leryon's sombrely romantic plates; but the etch-
nvs.TT-r