New-York tribune., 1905-02-04
ART EXHIBITIONS.
4 BIase Collection. and Some Land
soapes by Hr. Metcalf.

--,s-a has never been held n New-Yorl an ex
.-i.i7n OF The works OF William Blake cemparabla
: he one which has Just been arranged at the
r.ier club. IL contains drawings, engrayinrs
,ec scripts books. and, indeed. so much material
= thoroughly characteristic nature that the
- who goes through the collection with svrn
-, and patience ought 10 derive from it a very
- ides OF just what manner of man the cele-
ted Enclishnlan was in himself and in his
The cases are fun Of rarities Blake was
= r,e-ho5ical or popular craftsman taking his
So fl history by the ordinary processes and
ss--ng q more or less compact body of produc-
- 10 his credit. His history offers ABUNDANT tes-
,rr 10 the pl2usibhty Of Dryden's assertion that
-s.t wits are sure 10 madness near allied" and
- tangible souvenirs Of his passage through the
- seem the survival Of a kind of disordered
csrsc activity. defytng the preserFative instinct
the collector His art was long in exciting the
- n thar useful member Of society. When the
80 movement was started. about a quarter of a
.,-7-v $40. il brought examples OF his work but
,,z1v % the surface. Many of them found their
- 10 this country and the show the Grolier
,7pb embraces much which might well excite the
INV Of British collectors. IN il We find for
,-rre some Of the salient things from the collec-
,,ar Of the Earl Of Crewe. which put up at
.c1son Two years ago The presence of these items
:, recently placed upon the market points to the
-s-sltv n enthusiasm for Blake in this country.
-4is exhibition, a whole, plainly indicates that
, srre quarters al least. he is still held in high
-, vith srv seriousness without wondering if in
+s-ezt n him IS bound after al. endure. If it
.ss-s il IS likely 10 BE for mixed reasons
raake has sometimes been compared with Michael
Angelo chiefly because he frad something Of the
-s7ier masters Eran6iose sweep Of lima gtnation.
an h-1Ie very little. of his feeling for majestic
fr-r Teunerarnenrally he was really more closely
lied n that curious figure in the Spanish school.
3 Greco. The famous -Terribilita" OF Michael
Angelo VS. an affair of mystery and al the same
In Elelra Z
II seens fer less matter Of prosd strength than
Of rnar5l6. II governed energy. He is visited
Il tremendous IDEAS. but he hardly knows their
Su1 i-upor-- De- moFes unsteadily and gropingly
sronr t1e cloudy emotions in which they
arerr him. and he expresses them in hating
serrs A. man Of genius he necessarily had,
loth n literature and in art, his moments of per-
<ecrs- ~ u something approximatng TO that
diyI.e scr5zre--ent We recall fine fragment Of
Us a.sl5 verse;
wlr.er, rar thine adamantine doors:
peep sadsz tabitation.
Tn illustration OF his lyric gift might quote
s handful ~ aezUtiful poems. the London or the
Tiger. tiEe-- burning bright his exquisite
Loves Secre----
Never seek 70 tell thy love.
LoFe that never told can be,
Fer the gentle wind doth move
Silently. lnTisiblx-
to-d ny love, told my love,
T-em6l.-g cold n gf5sflv fears. fears
Ah- she did depart
soor after she was goEe from me,
traveller came by,
He took her with sigh
The best Of his work as an artist Is TO be found
H his plates fer the Book of Job-one Of which,
Tie design COMMUNICATING the line. When the
morning stars sang together, and al the sons OF
God shouted for soy Is classic of Illustration
and II Z few Of tle lhings scattered through his
Prophetic Bo0.zs." These more fortunate episodes
p MS career are generously represented al the
erolier CLUB. The impression they leave Is one
q spi-5tuaiized drama, Of fine imagination wreak-
ing Itself on lofty motives and declaring its fiery
purtoss ii free and plastic language The figures
n these designs nobly conceived, and they are
bodied forth with dignity and breadth Of line
Rut evzn n his finest works there hints Of the
secret OF BlaIzes ultimate failure. He was ever
tending toward obscurty and ne had only ftfuily
rhe command ever technique without which The
greatest inagluings are the artist, but so many
rragic pitfalls IN one Of the cases here, Rossetus
copy Ct TIE Gilehrist Life "a copy which, from
the famous pre-RaFhaeltte's ownership and from
h!s annctations Of the text is peculiarly interest
tnr3 lies clen at q page on which We ind this 9 v
sng Of Bikes: He who thinks he can enerave
- paint eithsr without being master Of drawing,
= f0ol.' The VINO wrote these words vas
certainly no fooI but neither was he a master Of
drawing
L is diHcut thing for those who are not his
uBquestioning partisans 10 admire any save a very
Zen o. his paintings or engravings- II IS eQoaliy
oaicult 70 remain unnoved before the strange meo
e Of good and bad work which the Grolier Cub
las placed on exhibition. What IS the explanation
Eues a-- believe. in Rlake's remarkable person
azF lie was ore Of those rare Fisionalass 10
whom ID spite Of their limitations or eccentrlcues
Tie world frstnctiveIy yields respect. mystic Ike
sEe6enberg. q humanitarian rhapsodist ike aheI-
icy, he Veercd into the Infinite with q passion OF
sincerity aud goodness in his heart which shows
IL naueucs perhaps IN nothing more eoncluslVeIT
l4R in Vie way IL which il keeps even his most
fllEastc designs from appearing rlolcUIoAs-
These p-o5lgious figures OF mis-, which Writhe con
Tolsvsls kind Of No-Aan's Land, a place OF
Hp1cavp1c I2ats and shadows, OF swiTling bodies
which 81 once perplex and awe the beholdef move
fae c-iLiC 10 never 70 mlrth Ihe execution
Is fo@al, rot with the feeoleness OF the fcosh
amateur. i IS rather the pitiful weakness Of the
sToas Eza betrayed Of the MANNED seer, STRIVING
g deliver message Of regeneration 10 MANKIND,
a16 frce6 by defects Of vision ana OF speech 10 be
ireaectuaI and even repsilant where he Would De
ifldfag hzULIy eloquent we pront nothing Dy "1-a'
he tells Us Nevertheless, We are ora~h 70 MN as
% orc q natures originals With All ms Iaulls as
EE artist and as q writer. he genuine III both
capacities; d man whose idiosyncracies have a
grave charm and in whose complex genius, turoio'
ai1oe. naive AID ughtning-lit by turns, We reeog-
fs force taat. II fate had so willed might have
o2n turned 10 greatness
An American landscape painter. Mr. Willard L.
Atleatf, whose work has long been familiar IN our
t1nntions and especially in those OF the Ten
american Painters, but who has not hitherto maoe
show Of his own 81 this city. has at last adopted
uaE useful mode Of coming before the public we
sag Useful adyisedly. = painter ranges himself
@aefeVer he exposes his works 10 view yet theFe
nothing ike an independent exhibition 10 clarity
@e elements Of his art. put them in the right
respective and in short TO enable the observer
. sPprehend his aim in its integrity. The twen-
s-9ne caDFsses which Mr.. Metcaf has at the