The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-02
Especial to The HoraldD

spirited action 81 senator w a ozark
Of Montana in placing d number Of
his valuable art treasures on public
view i'm this city receives the follow
inS comment from james Henry Mo
ser, the well known art critic;
The pictures upon the walls are open
books which require 10 turning or
leaves to disclose the amount Of art
knowledge and taste possessed by tho
occupants OF the house. If the owner
be- a collector, of large means, one
may readily discover. by q glance at
the paintings, whether his purchases
arc influenced 10y personal taste or
the fashion of tho hour. Some col
lections there are. however. which re-
veal on sight a genius for collecting
such as is born. only Of a love Of the
beautiful for its own sake. and an un-
firing devotion TO the study of good
art That kind Of collector Is Sen
ator William y. Clark. who, for many
years. has given more time TO the mas
ters than most busy men consider pos
sihlc
An American sculptor in Paris. who
enjoyed the intimate friendship of the
Clark family. once told mo that tho
senators knowledge Of art values was
equaled by few dealers. and one Of the
senator's secretar ies once lameuted that
his employers attention could be 50
easily diverted from any business mat
ter by the advent Of an art question
or the chance Of seeing a really fine
picture.
Through the urgent solicita ton Of
Mr.. Charles G. Glover. the gallery s
treasurer. twenty-five very Valua bic
paintings from the extensive Clark col
lection have been procured and now
adoTn the north and west walls Of tho
= o l.
Iery of Art.
Through the kindness Of Senator
Clark. this carefully selected group Of
paintings will remain at the gallery
for some months. Being house pic
lures" they arc Of moderate size. no
canvas measuring more than fifty inch
eS in any direction These pictures
arc mainly Tho work of nineteenth con
fury masters. a fow, probably six, be
longing to an earlier period.
The center Of the west wall is held
by one Of the larger pictures. "A COrOt.
that is simply glorious. Its ravishing
beauty of color: its wonderful inter
probation Of light. atmosphere and TO
liagC is simply astonishing
CorOt did few things like that. ! re-
member having seen hut one other.
Such an example ma keS IL very clear
why this artist is credited with su-
preme mastership. and the only painter
20 be named in the Same breath with
Rembrandt
The task Of describing such a picture
in words is q pleasant one. nOtWith-
standing its seeming hopelesFnesS. a
mass Of dark trees on the right. and a
low. shadowy foreground, in which
group OF far too substantial nymphS
are dancing. These might have been
spared. for no painter or cOnnoisseUr
with ina giOation could stand before
such landsCap pc. I'm nature or upon
O.
Back of the trees. in tho middle ground,
.. temple rests upon a hill that slopes
TO a gentle valley wrapped in opal
escent gray. The sky. a mirahle of
Craftsmanship. is luminous and bril-
liant in pale yellow tones. Clouds in
silvery, intangible. almost fOrmlesS
fakes are against il. and through it..
till il looks as uncertain and ethereal
as any real sky. \ crescent moon.
vague and white. upon this field Of
light. fades away before the slowly
rising sun.
The beauty of CoroCs tree drawing.
and the perfection Of il. is demon
strated here in marvellous fashion.
This feature I have never seen equaled
i'm any example by the master. But
the color is the thing vibra ting sym
phony in green and gray, cold. and yet
such warmth. such inviting olives and
browns. in those rich. shsdOwy masses.
The fine tTaCery of branches and CluS-
are done 50 simply it is truly a revc-
lation Of the technical possibilities of
paint. Furthermore. this is a picture
that one must sec to understand how
small part literature plays in all
truly great art.
1t would seem that collectors with
whom collecting Is mere vanity,
would come to their senses. in the pres
ence of such picture az this noble
COTot. and remove the pictures from
their own walls. frauds. or very in
ferior examples. which are only Co
rots i'm name and should be frankly
called bad and not worshiped I'm whis-
perS. Let them rather buy good, in
expensive American pictures, on their
merits. The traffic in names. so in
vogue at present. is eKdSperatinC to
every earnest lover of good art and
true American.
The presence Of the Clark Corot in the
home Of the Wood Gstherers.' by the
same master must provoke compari-
son; but they arc not to be compared
one Is an example Of profound power.
expressed with dramatic emphasis. The
other is q gentle lyric. tcnderly express
i've of tho purity and sweetness of
morning. That 7 prefer the lyric is d
matter OF personal taste, not relative
excellence.
There are two other Corots i'm the
Clark collection-one tiny formal
Italian landscape, that might have
come from Dusseldorf thirty years ago.
one would never Imagine IL a Corot-
just ono of those earnest classical
things which show the course Of Corot'S
Development 10 that wonderful individ-
Ual art which marks an epoch Ia tho
history OF landscape Painting. The
other. figure study of a young Italian
girl with a mandolin. ia balanced on
the opposite side OF the great land
Scape first mentioned. by a small pic
tUre. similar in size and subject by
BOnat. They invite comparison. CorOt.
with his faulty cropping drawing: Bo-
nat. with his severe academic perfec-
tion-One supreme craftsmanship. the
other the bruShwork of an inspired poet.
CorOt knew tho mystery and infinite
charm ot paint; to Bonat il has always
been = sealed book.
In q river Landscape, At Sunset. r."
by Daubigny, the warm color Of the
sky. falling to perysde the right half
of the picture. destroys it's unity. and
tempts one, mentally. TO cut n in two in
the center TO the better enjoyment Of
its technical beauty and color excel
lence. Hanging above II is a red-roofed
Dutch village that is most satisfactory.
and represents Daubigny at his best
The sky. 2 luminous field Of light
slightly broken with clouds, Is m the