New-York tribune., 1907-01-19
ART EXHIBITIONS.
T1rty French Paintings of the
Romantic Period.

F9enry. which Is low on view at the Amer
II. Art Galleries. The thirty paintings IN this col
.,,on all date from that period in modern French
=. ul,ieh witnessed effective rebellion against
s.mic formulse and the firm establishment of
s,crpes at once naturslistie and romantic Since
s,o the historic date by which that period is
n other movements have been started, and
ya Of them have carried the art of painting
s,rgl plases of DEVELOPMENT almost unsuspected
- tho Barbizon group In the study OF problems
a urht especially. Monet and his followers have
hseved results beside which those with which
pousseau for example cOntented. now seem
.rsously limited. The present exhibition we'll
or,es the purpose however OF reminding the stu
ssnt that the dogma OF impressionism does not con-
stinte the whole gospel of art. There many
tinds OF beauty in painting. The beauty which
Cred the imagination OF men seventy-flve years
aeo may be totally different from that which is
referred to-day, but Il is immortal as the beauty
q immortal that you find IN the classical land
seapes OF Claude, or in the realistic transcripts
from nature made by Hobbema and the Ruysdaels.
That is why the Henry collection, illustrating the
school OF 1880 richly. forms episode OF pecul-
Gar interest in the art season recently opened.
II is very much worth while. at a time when
many artists are fearful OF going beyond the unim-
passoned notation of fact to pause in the company
Of masters whose fidelity 20 fact could keep
them from indulgence in poetic reverie There are
seven Corots in this collection. ranged IN a row,
and every one OF them dIscloses a dellcately emo
tional quality. Even in simple sketches like the
chateau Thierry' the ''Premieres Feuilies:
pres de Nantes a casual motive is touched with
more than casual feeling. The painter catches tho
intimate sentiment OF the locality and lifts IL 70
higher power that the little window opened on
his specific scene is opened really on a wider
world. the whole sweetness of nature. Corot
had the art that cOnceals art II ever a landscape
painter had it. There is beautiful composition in
certain Of his pictures here. In The River the
arrangement OF two groups of trees in the fore
mind and ho1a oPs rg,.
with the rising ground across the river would
suggest the most definite intentions regards de-
sign. II is the with the noble picture OF
The Glade" in which three women stand gos-
sping beneath the shadow OF great trees. Il is the
with lie Matin Bord du Lac with its
shepherd piping in the limpid light of dawn It is
the same finally. with the most important OF all
these pictures, the 'Nymphes Jouant
Tigre' woodland scene into which the painter
has introduced figures limiting at the ancient past.
but actually made subordinate to the glow OF living
nature. The point IS characteristics. In all these
paintings Corot is the careful builder OF a well
ordered fabric, HIS Of pictorial unity is
steadily active. but the impression that he leaves
first and last is of "a kind OF lyric ecstacy,
which We trace to nothing more nor less than sheer
delight in the sparkle of sun-lt foliage the wonder
Of sylvan depths. the very unconscious breathing
Of the woods and meadows. Such things touch
chords deep down in the heart OF man, II is not
with the eye alone that he apprehends them. and
il is more than a visual report OF them that Corot
gives you. We may note in passing that the charm
ing figure piece which IS included IN the group of
his pictures. p study OF seated woman called
''Meditation' shows. the landscapes show. the
play Of imagination over visible things.
Rousseau, like Corot, dreamed dreams In the
presence of nature, and his four pictures in the
Henry collection are four psisted poems. There
was however In his genius a bold. rugged streak;
where Corot is caressIng in his treatment OF tree
forms Rousseau defines them with as much energy
rs precision He. too. enchants you at once by his
sentiment and by his design-nothing could be
happier in the mere disposition OF the elements OF
composition than his placing OF four tall. slender
popIars or the luminous horizon OF his Twilight;
hut in these four pictures one Is constantly COM
ing back 10 the mastery drawing and modelling
OF the ground, the trees and the sky. The clouds
in the twilight painted with wonderful
tenderness Rousseau IS deIicacy itself IN the
beautiful ''Paysage en- Sologne." But everywhere
he Is the strenuous searcher after the truth, the
man az poetic temperament but OF an Unsuitable.
almost scientific curiosity. It will be observed
that in speaking OF his works. and OF Corots. We
haze made no distinctions to the merits OF this
OF that canvas. The truth is that Mr. Henry has
been fortunate in most OF his purchases HIS
paintings are nearly all Of high rank: where there
seem 10 be differences of value there are really
only such differences of attractiveness as may
he ascribed 10 variations in painters mood
Thus Dupre who is altogether felicitous IN the
study OF pastoral scene called sunlight Is
quite as brilliant technically in his Twilight, but
peases less because in the second picture he does
not so much observe nature for her own sake as
dramatic her for the sake of vivid scheme OF
light and shade. Troyon, TOO. though evenly au-
thortatve in the three OF the paintings that repre-
sent him. is not equally beguiling in them an
'Going to Market is capital picture capital In
the grouping OF the animals and In the handling
OF the landscape. There is a pleasant rustic note
in The Farrier" The large cattle piece. on the
other hand, lie RetOur la Ferme," though
powerful execution. is not otherwise very dis
tinguished performance TrOyon was not like
Corot or Rousseau. artist bound 70 feel
poetic impulse. matter what the occasion He
painted with a calmer emotion, and sometimes
without any emotion al all.
Daubigny lies somewhere between the extremes
we have Indicated. II his Imagination did not take
the highest flights it at any led him far above
the ordinary levels Sympathy the salient factor
IN his work. the sympathy that finds satisfaction
not 80 much in the wilder spaces OF the earth as IN
those scenes that arc made more friendly by human
habitaion. Witness the houses that enter so pict-
uresquely into the plan OF THE First Shades OF
Night" Witness the skill with which he paints
the portrait OF a place in The Harbor. place
10 which long 10 give name. so closely are we
taken to the character stamped upon IL oy men
and their affairs. Then there is the solemn moon
hight scene the Farm az VillerVille. In TINS we
catch a fyliuapse OF the sea- and the broad masses
OF the composition. broadly painted. convey Tor a
moment a sense OF alOofness from the Interests OF
everyday life. We are alone with the night ana
with the glory OF the moon. But something Is
Suggested here perhaps by the cattle under the
trees. perhaps by the shadows through which one
fancies one might srOpe way up TO the farm
house which points 20 Daubgny's love OF the coun-
try a place OF domestic happiness There iTe
touching slmplcides in his art. quiet and grave
elements IN striking contrast 10 corot's bewitehins
Eayeties stiIl another page in that wonderrul
history OF 1880 is unfOlded by DiaZ- lie Is the
spirit Of the group the painter OF pretty