New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-03-16
ART IN BOSTON.
THE Monet Exhibition and the Por-
tro;t attributed to VeLasqueS.


- 4, ,-onlsv Hall, Immediately invites COM
..-sso, With two exhibitions held in recent years
-, .ra same auspices and IN the same place
-. n-a5ecessors have been Sargent and
-I----.,o II is natural to wonder. the
.,o,,o,5 Of the gallery, whether this demon
---o,;on IN his honor IS going to prove as inter
- es the demonstrations made in honor OF
- - celebrated contemporaries One has
.- - cross the threshold IN order to see
=. he holds his own with them Partly this
80 IN the good Judgment with which the
has been organized. Only ninety-hve
-.-.,,1s are hung, and these have been selected
- sharp eve for their representative quality.
-, rive indeed a remarkably full idea OF
=. that his art has meant in the different perl
ss of its development Furthermore these
osctures are displayed TO advantage The gray
svsu covering which was chosen for the whistler
Lt,,.,or svnrlies an excellent background for
AFoDet,s works in the main gallery and the
s-een against which they are shown IN the
smaller room is equally suitable. Altogether lne
Copley Society has done everything that II
,o-s5 do 70 show Monet at his best 1t was
very much worth while 70 go to the PAINS Oh
Tins placing him before the puohc'
.E4e has commentators" said Voltairs Of
v1an.e (which is perhaps one reason why he Is
49, understood" Monet has been interpret
So. IN sn extent that has left him a little puz-
vltnp 10 many lInprofessional observers, and the
amazing performances Of some OF his ilnitators
have served TO make the impressionism for
which he STANDS still more & matter Of dubi-
ETY.. The first conviction inspired by this exlli-
bttton is bound TO be, I think. that Monet ana
tunpressionisnl are not after ALL such porten-
tous mysteries as they have seemed to be-to
some oracles at least It is easy. no doubt and
certainly amusing. TO enter q maze Of specula-
less soie DrinfinlRE
underlying Monet's art II Is. perhaps more
70 the purpose 10 face the fact that he is, when
su is said. an unpretentious artist, looking at
nature IN q way of his own. painting II in g way
OF his own but not growing IN the least esoterlc
sbaut either his vision or his method Take this
exhibition as il stands. and ask. without any
theoretical preoccupations what it represents.
II represents so many different facts Of nature
put on the canvas with Photographic accuracy.
Moners facts differ from those Of Cerot, for
example, In that the effect upon them Of the
light OF the open air is given its full value; but
the difference goes deeper In Corot, as in
Rousseau and all the other masters Of their
group you have TO reckon with the Intervention
Of the individual temperament II is the per-
sonal accent that counts with them. quite as
much as the veracity which proved so powerful
a weapon IN their campaign against the Acad-
envy. The revery OF Corot, the dramatic fire OF
Rousseau. the romantic glamour of Diaz, the
idyllio note Of Daubigny-these the qualities
without which the great movement carried on
by those painters IS scarcely thinkable. On the
other hand. imagination boggles at the idea of
a Monet controlled by any Of the emotions
important TO the Barbizon school There is
almost inhuman absence Of what is commonly
recognized as temperament from these pictures
gathered together in CopIey Hall Yet Monet
is as clearly marked an individuality any in
the artistic annals Of his time. and his works.
though they may be wanting in the high mag
NATIVE poetry Of painting, have poetry Of
their own
Il Is that which lies in the sheer exquisiteness
of nature: in the beautiful truths which we see
for ourselves when the world is fair. and by
The sea or in some fiowery meadow we are filed
with sense OF weubeing. Monet shows US a
slightly troubled sea, purrtng at the base Of
cliff. The water Is shallow and is q cool gray
green in color. It's freshness. its artless en-
chantnent touches you IN his picture It
touches you IN life itself. He does this sort
Of thing not IN picture alone. but In scores
Ct them. He does It without, apparently, giving
any thought TO what an academician regards
Es the essentials Of composition. Composition
is there the balance which makes a pictorial
unit, which makes artistic charm But f. is
there unobtrusiVely; you feel that the painter
JUST the eye of any lover of nature whether
he De artist OF layman, instinctively lauses upon
the loyeliest episode in the scene before him.
Monet has done something to suggest that he,
too. has his formula. In the first place. Their.
were his experiments in lighting TO give the i'm
preston that he was developing a new artistic
hypothesis, thing TO be stated IN logical terms
Ike some chemical analysis. Then his execu-
tion Of one series of pictures after another. each
4aE
1ect al different hours OF the day. was well cal
culated 10 beguile the world into thinking tina.
he had. al bottom much OF a tendency to-
ward system as anybody else. But if there is
CHE thing more than another which this exhibi-
tlon enforces II is the casual way in which
ne has ranged through his chosen fields, record
ing each new impression with a detachment
from the one before OF which few modern paint
ers could boast
: The variety Of the collection is astonishing
snd the when II is considered that
Monet has not travelled to any great extent has
not deliberately sought out all manner Of
themes His figure work. for example, stands
when the great mass Of his productions Is taken
as whole. in Just about the relation to his
landscape work that is fixed in Copley Hall,
where there are only three or four compositions /
INTO which the figure enters Architecture has |
interested him, know from the Rouen |
cathedral series and the Thsmes series. both !
REPRESENTED on this occasion There is one /
painting here, too. q study of fruit, to recall /
his aptitude where stin life is concerned. But !
Tor tbs rest. he has devoted himself TO the |
Scores about Vetleuil. Giverny ana few other 1
places. with frequent visits to the coast In |
ether words. the topography OF his art so to |
say is neither extensive rich in surprises. /
Bur there is never a hint Of monotony in It /
show h-@T-7s with 6t<Fsre0+