The San Francisco call., 1906-04-01

=. ERN DUTCH ARTISTS" by f. B..
1 E4reenshields. is a recent publication
- which the author devotes about
lrundred pages TO explain some OF
she best qualities OF landscape paint
irg. and then another hundred to en-
Enthusiastically call attention to how ex-
> quisitely the modern Dutch painters put
. this hneness into their work. The volume
: IS very largely taken UP with quotations,
g used TO enforce and TO elucidate Green
. shields views. These are very interest
; ing and from such varied and authorlta-
tive sources that ii is useful to have them
thus collected and applied to a special
) hne of thought There are forty-f1ve
handsome. full-page illustrations Of the
pictures OF paintings done by famous art
lists. Most Of these are by the modern
. Dutch artists, but 2 dozen Of them are
taken from the masters Of various ccun-
tries and ages TO accompany the first
hundred pages and help explain those
; general principles Of painting which the
b authOr wishes TO dwell upon as having
close relation TO his discourse on the art
Of the modern painters Of Holland. Such
IS. 3he work considered in its two divl-
sions; as a whole Il is a brief history Of
landscape painting from the awakening
% OF art IN the thirteenth century to the
time of the French impressionists and the
modern revival in Holland It is hand
: some bOok-in paper, print and pictures,
being pleasingly broad margined, and
adogn those margins are agate quota
tons about excellence in art, taken from
-.the writings Of master painters and great
critics.
= Much Of the first portion of the book is
occupied with telling what good art is An
old subject Of course, but as each art
lover hes some new way. of expressing
what are arts essentials, il is not apt to
tire the attention. The present work is
he
p. Subjective View Of Landscape Paint
8. ing.s and Il IL Greenshields' emphasis on
+ the value Of the subjective element in
= painting that is the motive of the book.
There was much demand for the essay,
and in response 70 that call the volume
A. prepared. One Of the first things we
r. from Il is the answer TO the question,
..-YV What Is a picture" ?" "A picture may be
]. defined as a representation on canvas or
other material. by the use Of color and
form. of the vision which forms itself in
. the artists mind when he looks on the
landscape, or on the people and the scene
he is. painting, or when he recalls II in. his
memory. This vision in pictures painted
Z by great men changes as 1t passes
through their Imagination. and is sf-
1ected by their personality. From
many authorities. this truth Is enforced
and made clear, 50 that more and more
as you read on you realize that photo
graphic accuracy Of reproducing scene
even II an artist could possibly be so
closely initiative, is far from being great
art
:. The power Of realism is of worth in
p. order that 1t may express realism, TO
body forth the soul of the artist s
thought. but realism is not worth the
:. artists IaboriSus attainment II he does
:. not combine it with idealism. In an ef-
:: fort TO explain such truth as this he
A 6ar xr~hn j.
Z thor rates as one Of the most Subjective
: painters in the United States; In my
g desire to be accurate became lost in
maze Of detail The artist
? should fear TO- become the slave. Of de-
- tail He should strive TO express his
thought and not the surface Of II. What
-avafls a storm cloud, accurate ip form
and color, IL the storm is not therein? 2
p. A very good brief intimation of what
3: the author is bent on. jmpressing upon
the mind and heart Of his readers may
be had from the following verses,
which he uses by permission OF Barry
Dane:
.s' Art FOR ARTS SAKE.
Art FOR Arts sake: but IN that art.
Tie true the beautiful the good.
Traced from a throbbing human heart,
should tint that sky, that neld that wood
80 lens may catch the soul that lies
Hidden N Natures wondrous breast;
-
n Nay there blissful moment rest
And how be wonders and adores
As 70 his soul her own replies,
And yields the mystery Of her Shores.
Her trackless floods. her boundless. skies.
The foremost half of the volume, al
though il is complete in itself, almost
seems q deliberate preparation for the
latter half and It's effort to make the
reader Understand anu appreciate mod
ern Dutch art Speaking Of these
artists Of Holland, the author says en-
Enthusiastically: "They have caught a spark
splendidly alone" All the fore part of
the. book was mainly an inculcation Of
the worth OF the subjective element in
srt-the spirit OF his own best thought
wh1ch the painter puts upon the can
vas in addition 10 making TECHNICALLY
adequate representation of natures
work. and in the part devoted specially
to Holland we are told that the seven
chief Dutch artists form a unique
group, .inasmuch as their paintings
have this strong subjective phase, this
revealing Of nature, and Of their own
feelings unconsciously inspired by ma
ture They have shown us
new phases OF art. they have expressed
the ideas that possessed them in new
and varied forms. and they. have trans
ferred their thoughts TO canvas with
mastery execution ia large and noble
manner and dignified style. giving the
Impression Of power in reserve"
These seven Dutch artists are
Johannes Bosboom. josef Israels Anton
sMauye j. II. Weissenbruch and the
three Maris brothers-James, Matthew
and william. The characteristics of all
these are well explained in series of
seven chapters. Among these unique,
the unioueness Of Matthew is perhaps
most curious and Interesting. lie is one
OF those artists difficult to compre-
hend-at least il is said some find him
so but those who do see beauty in his
work are strong admirers. The paint
&ihgs done in his earlier years have
Wilder appeal, but later he tried TO put
more OF the subjective into his work
than he could make The canvas trans
late clearly to unsympathetc behold