New-York tribune., 1906-04-18
ART EXHIBITIONS
The Del Nero Bronses and Some
Pictures By Mr.. Hoeber.


other objects. Shown at the Union League Club
these productions attracted good deal of attention
py virtue OF their superiority TO the ordinary
orenxes issued by the commercial artisan Ever
since that time Signor del Nero has been carrying
on experiments in his italian workshops and FUR
haoes and in more than exhibition held in this
city he has shown that he has made steady prog
fess In the art OF casting. With assistants whom
ne has carefully trained he sends forth bronzes
Hllo other works from the Del Nero Model Studio
or Fine and Applied Art" and for the next fort
night the quality Of that studio may in
a collection Of about hundred pieces placed
view In the Windsor Arcade. These make in
teresting show
fles certain handicap. Its inferiority 10 the
inal is assumed as a matter OF course. Yet it is
no exaggeration 10 say that Signor del Nero has
proved that reproduction may be a work OF art
IN itself His bronzes have. in the first place. ex
traordinary perfection in respect to form. The
process by which they cast leaves no chance
Tor dubiety even the slightest detail of out
me or of surface. Furthermore, the patna has
beauty rivalng that OF antiquity itself. Take, Tor
example, the superb ''Hypnos' in the British Mu-
scum. or the Rondanni ''Medusa' at Munich. In
each case signor del Nero procures the patina.
which can only be described a kind of bloom so
sucuy ana with such purity is the tone made 10
exhsie from the bronze Fautless craftsmanship
may be made to account in a measure. for the
quality of these reproductions but only true artistic
feehng could have put the final touch to work so
fresh and SO fine. Behind these reproductions lies
the profound study OF artist for whom metals
ana the furnace are only means to an emo the
tools with which TO develop an original ideal Of the
founders art. We have named two of Signor del
Neros mastery performances. All of his bronzes
bear the same distinguished stamp. The charming
heads from the statues OF David by Donatello and
Verrocchio; the magnificent Greek bust THE
Olympian Athlete the famous "Faun Dancing
and ''Nercissus' from Pompe. these and numer-
Gus other pieces here large and small exhibit the
founder lavishins upon his work the knowledge,
the skill and the enthusiasm which convey. Wheh
all is said. impression OF creative art. One has
only TO recall the average bronzes sold in the shops
abroad 10 what tremendous strides he has made
in respect texture and color. Striving to wrest
from the ancient task it's professional secrets, he
has come SO near TO equaliug the old masters on
their own ground, and has watched cunningly
the effects wrought upon their works by the
massage of time. that his success seems almost un-
canny.
II is important to note. too, that Signor del Nero
does not stop al the reproduction of works of
sculpture alone. He seeks TO show precisely
what was done by the ancients in bronze in other
fields One of his exhibits is cast from the small
shield decorated in silver, which was found at
Herculaneun and another reproduces the exquisite
Ostia silver cup In other words we turn from
busts and dainty fgurines (arnong the lat
ter Little Negro Slave" from the Louvre. OF
peculiar INTEREST," items having practical sig
nificance. In one there are some capital mod
els in wax for door knockers in the styles OF three
or four historic periods, and in the centre of the
room there is erected small fountain in bronze
and marble designed by Signor del Nero himself
with much vivacity and elegance. Part of his pur-
pose in holding this exhibition is to show what
NAV be made Of garden furniture by the treatment
Of marble in a genuinely decorative spirit There
are two imposing jardineres IN the room cut in
Carrara marble from originals in the Vatican;
there are two others executed a smaller scale
in giallo-antico with designs in relief based on
classical motives; and among these marbles there
is finally. copy OF the votive vase in the Vatican,
also in giailo-antico. which the catalogue Justly
describes as "a wonder of marble technique" De-
cidedly these massive pieces. with the tables and
benches accompanying them. reach level OF
workmanship infinitely higher than that OF the
mass of stuff which is sold every year. as "an-
tique" Some good wood carving figure in the
show. The whole collection is presented TO great
advantage number of French and Flemish tapes
tries having been used TO supply fitting back
ground Both for its aesthetic quality and its prac-
tcsl interest this is one of the most important
exhibitions OF the season.
At the Clsusen Gallery Mr.. Arthur Hoeber has
just opened exhibition of fifteen of his recent
landscapes. The first suggestion they make is that
this artist has greatly strengthened his resources
and made unusual progress few years ago.
having suffered Interruptions IN his activity as a
painter he seemed TO have crystallzed, ii were,
in a phase pleasing enough. SO far It went, but
wanting in force. Then some long stretches
of work in the open air invigorated his art and
the improvement has gone until to-day is quite
plain that the principle of growth ia in him His
pictures are put together at with sensitive
ness 10 the truths OF nature. and with in de-
sign One or OF his paintings. II IS true dis
close some hestancy in making the of the
pictorial motive chosen. The foreground of Marsh
lands" is not freely enough generazed. and again
in 'Fogbound" the rocks across which we look at
the water not brought into perfectly well bal
anced relation with the rest of the artists
terial These however. are the only pictures which
provoke adverse comment where the management
OF composition is concerned. Elsewhere. Mr.
Hoeber knows precisely what he wants to say, and
says il with sureness of touch. Witness the
-Springtime," which really has in II the sweet
sentiment of spring and is well constructed into
the bargain witness the happy arrangement OF
masses in the Edge of the Woods" and, indeed,
in half a dozen other landscapes. like "A Tide
water Stream" "AutumnaT" and The Pond" The
tree forms are not always as strongly handled as
are those IN the "Autumnel.' or as deeately de-
fined as are those in the uncstalogued salt
Marshes" but the foliage everywhere is skilfully
rendered and in his warm flushed skies the painter
shows himself almost invariably at MS pest he
has gained emotion well as in technique there
is tenderness about the color and the atmosphere
in some OF these Landscapes in which we recognize
a broadening OF his art in the best sense
Az the BIsckner Gallery there some japanese
drawings and prints by Miss Helen Hyde.-....Miss
Florence Wvman is showing come portraits and
illustrative work IN pencil and water color at the
C;aenzer Galleries in East 2Gth street.. Van Per
rine has a number OF new paintings OF the Pali-
sades at the New Gallery, in West SOth street -
In the arnory OF the list Regiment Professor Fer
dinand is exhibiting his painting of Christ
Before plate" Tonight. the Powell Gal
leries In upper Sixth avenue. the members OF the
XII Kat Club open their twenty fourth exhibition
Tomorrow at the salma gundi Club there
will be opened an exhibition OF paintings repre-
..T fFa