New-York tribune., 1905-02-02

Mr.. Niemeyer's delicate harmony, .In Brown
and White; Miss cassatts portrait of a woman
and her picture called rThe Toilet: Mother and
Two Children
me hgufe painters who have not thus far
been mentioned include few who have ANYTHING
important or interesting to say The younger
men, like Mr.. Maurer, Mr.. Glackens and Mr.
Shinn, who owe their impetus to Forain and
Degas, and seemed at one time tn be full of
promise have not yet reached the day of fulfil
ment. Like the Whistlerian Mr. Henri. thew
convey the impression Of having landed In an
inp"sse. from which they can only extricate
themselves by retraclng their steps and seeking
new light. Mr. Brush an older hand is. in an
oval portrait OF mother and her children quite
as disappointing as any of these juniors of his
t7e seems enmeshed in formula; his style is
becoming crystalliZed; and this new picture
charmngly conceived as It is, strikes us as dry
10 the point of duiness. One comparative new
conner, Miss Violet Oakley, makes an effort SO
praise~orthy that it goes against the grain to
express dissatisfaction with the result She is
executing elaborate frieze for the Governors
reception room in the new State Capitol at Har-
risburg. and she sends to this exhibition six of
the thirteen canvases of which the scheme is
composed Her subject, as stated in a leafet is
Inc rounding of the State of Liberty Spiritual:
representing the Triumph of the Growing Idea
OF True Liberty Of Conscience in the Holy Ex-
pertinent OF Pennsylvania In the panels now
at the Academy she shows us Tyndal printing
mis- translation of the Bible. the burning of the
books at Oxford in 1886. the Interrogation of
the martyr Anne Askew and so on. The artist
handles her theme with force and picturesque
ness. Her figures are alive. They are grouped
with animation. Capable drawing and warm.
yet restrained, color add much to the effect.
But the effect, unfortunately, is not that of
mural decoration: it is that of a magazine Illus
tration enlarged. or of illuminated missal
In her drawing, expressive and accurate though
il may be, Miss Oakley adheres to the manner
ism which we have so often noted with regret
when touching upon her illustrations; her line is
like the loaded line in stained glass. She tells
her stories admirably, with something of the
feeling for costume and gesture. and with some
thing of the style of Mr. Abbey in his Trial of
Queen Catherine of Aragon." It is all thor
oughgoing. sincere and. within its limits.
cessful. But Illustration is thing mural
painting is another, and we cannot feel that
Miss Oakley has been happy in her attempt to
fuse the two. Instead of producing series of
designs obviously destined to form part Of a
scheme at once decorative and architectural.
she has cut a pictorial narrative into lengths as
though for book.
After the figure pieces come a number of mis-
piece, kissing the Moon; Mr.. Harrison's
study Of the sea in quietude, THE Lion Cloud; ;
interesting landscapes by Mr.. Redfed. Mr..
Breckenridge Mr.. Tryon, Mr.. Jonas Lie and
dozen others; a beautiful Venetian interior by
Mr.. Rolshoven. and pictures of studies by Mr..
Dannat the late Robert Blum. Mr.. H. Q. Wal
ker. Miss S. S. Stillwell and Mr.. f. w Ben
son. Mr.. Parrish sends the Illustrations he
made for Mrs. Wharton's book on Italian gar
dens and the new edition OF Eugene Fields
"Pcems," and other accomplished contributors
70 the magazines, like Miss Jessie Wilcox
Smith and Miss Elizabeth Shippen Green,
also represented. Mr.. Pennell sends some of
his etchings of skyscrapers in New-York,
studies clever enough far they go. but
sadly inadequate when all is said. The collec-
ton Of sculpture is larger than usual and con-
tains several notable things by St Gaudens,
French, O'Connor Rodn and Bartlett. 1t COM
pletes an exhibition which, as we said at the
outset, brings forward nothing Of extraordinary
significance but is nevertheless uniformly in
teresting. There is much good work shown.
Much OF this. as have seen, is to be taken
With reservations Yet all sides there is vi
tality, there Is art which, if not great. has at
all events character r. C.