The sun., 1907-03-24
THE SPRING ACADEMY.

The mild inebriation which follows a cup
| Of tepid tea slowly swallowed is the sensa-
! tion nearest akin TO that evoked by view
Of the spring Academy pictures. The eN-
! hibition is now in progress at the Fine Arts
J Building 2l5 West Fifty-seventh street,
and is the eighty-second annual affair OF
| the National Academy OF Design and the
| second since the amalgamation OF the
Society of American Artists with the present
] body. SO there is nothing standing in New
/ York art between fat mediocrity and the
! public but the Upper Ten-the American
| painters at present holding forth in the
Montross Galleries. Let us not mock tea.
De Quincey, VIII occasionally swallowed
laudanum by the pint has declared that
the Chinese herb is the beverage of the
intellectual. 1t can be both nerve soothing
and a mental astringent; at the current
Academy exhibition il acts as a slight ex-
ctant, though even in large doses it will
not create sleeplessness. This comparison
must not be taken in a symbolic light.
We have always held a brief for the
Academy against those who expect from
its walls miracles of paint. 1t is not in
existence to further the few exceptional
talents. Starvation, negleQ, contumeiy
| furnish the best soil for eblossoming OF
genius. The Academy knows this fact and
has never interfered with the wisdom OF
nature. Therefore let us not demand the
impossible. Besides II all these exhibitors
| were swans, where would be the unique
| Joy OF discovering a black swan or white!
There are some excellent pictures at the
spring Academy, but no remarkable ones;
even John 8. Sargent fits well into the
general scheme OF respectable dulness and
amiable gentility. His portrait OF Rev
erend Somebody was seen at Philadelphia
and described in The SUN. At least a dozen
canvases in addition to the Sargent were
also at the Philadelphia and Washington
exhibitions. The New York function dis
plays 429 entries, 37s of which are paintings,
the balance sculpture.
We will accept the catalogue as a critical
hngerpost. It's first illustration is that Of
Sergeant Kendalls "An Interlude," which
has the place of honor in the Vanderbilt
Gallery. It is in the usual key Of Kendall.
variation in tone, though not in sentiment,
| OF the picture at the Metropolitan Museum.
A little girl stands by her mother. who is
sitting and showing Is only her profile
book is opened and lies on the maternal
lap. The mother is pressing her lips to the
eyes looks out Of the frame into futurity.
Perhaps It is only tiny pain in her stomach,
children are 40 deceptive In their express
sions. The hands Of the two figures ire
dismissed in a summary manner. The
canvas exhales the charm Of maternal az
| fection and Of sweet childhood. Its effect,
however, is rather fiat and Photographic.
II. Bolton Jones is represented by his "Old
ss
ish Jonesy that further comment would be
needless. Irving Couse shows one Of his
Indian subjects, The Mirror Signal which
is an interesting anecdote. c. Y. Turner's
portrait sketch is a capital illustration Of
a man seated as he comfortably puffs his
cigar and no doubt, congratulates Mr..
Turner on keeping up the standard Of the
hanging committee. W. H. Howe's Home
| After the Rain depicts some COWS at the
water trough. Van Boskerck's -On the
| Seine is a very pleasing landscape, with the
true French note. The prominent position
on the west wall OF the Vanderbilt Gallery
! is held by William Cotton, whose Princess
has attracted and will attract much atten-
| ton. 1t is a theme better handled by Mary
Cassatt: in fact. theme and pattern are so
Cassattish that one halts in the doorway of
this gallery and e1claims: More Of Mary's
babiesl"
Mr.. Cotton is a young talent. He man.
ages his draperies with skill, and his color
is smooth and attractive. II he had been
frankly realistic or frankly decorative and
had not attempted the touch of mysticism
in the eyes OF the lady holding the powder
box his picture would have made stronger
single appeal. There is too much sentiment
of a certain obvious sort. Why should the
lady wear such brooding expression? The
little princess with the pretty little tum-
tum will soon be powdered and ready for
the fray-her supper. Yet, a promising
work. w. s. Robinson's New England
Pasture" is a seemly composition. Leonard
Ochtman's November Sunrise" is charming
in feeling and design. +. S. Church in a
more ambitious vein presents large canvas
Of a German animal tanner. lady in black
conducting two big felines into the arena.
The scheme is green and black. and IL the
lions are more real than the lady that is
because Mr.. Church so felt his subject
The fabrics are very well done, but the
picture is airless. 1t is picture bound to
attract the eye. A wholly charming, withaI
artificial. arrangement is the portrait OF
Miss Vivian Gould by Benjamin c. Porter
The very sweet young miss advances to-
ward you bearing basket of flowers She
is in the centre of conventional eighteenth
century landscapes; the picture recalls Rey-
nolds. Lawrence, any of the favorite eigh-
teenth century modish portraitists. There
is no mstaking however. its effectiveness
The tonal pattern is sumptuous.
Frederick Ballard Williams has an open
air composition near the Porter. 1t is-The
Gorge" and in it Mr.. Williams Is more
sparing of his Monticellian harmonies; the
chord sounded in the torrent that gushes
over the rocks is more like Ruysdael. Il is a
very agreeable picture. At the last Acad-
emy Gustave Cimiotti. Jr.. had small land
scape exotic in color and OF artistic quality.
His big canvas now hangs over the Kendall;
it is called The Family Outdoors" and is
a scene on a sparsely wooded height over
looking a great expanse Of fiat country.
There are several figures. though they seem
to be introduced as color notes. The sky
is Of that hard blue dear TO Segantini and
Boecklin. 1t Is a breezy, brilliant picture
and well deserves its position.
-The Church at Old Lyme is one of
Childe Hassam's favorte models, a sort Of
pious still life, which he last showed us