New-York tribune., 1907-10-30

cole With Historical Notes nv ~ ILeo'Ry ny
Cafiin ai and Comments by the Engraver. 4to. PIP.
cAM1ALQ4G5T,EIf, IA OF ,3n,r THE MORGAN COLLECTION
Bushnell and William n Gafany fiIiEnTa fiiIEstTa,ed. M.
Of 81 Art It 'NN'' 400 ne Nie"0P0"'a" museum
Mr. Cox is well advised in making a book
from time 10 time. out of his contributions to
the periodicals. To his knowledge OF his sub
ject and his love of ii. he adds a faculty for
clear exposition, and when he sits down to give
an account of this or that master the result is a
very useful portrait. It may lack the note OF
temperament. the charm of work produced by a
writer having unmistakabe accent and style
of his own, but, the other hand, it is Just
and sometimes illuminating. The best paper in
this book, the one Holbein is a model of
what the brief, undogmatic and sensitively inter-
pretative essay should be There is something
of biography, but not too much The historical
perspective in which the master should be stud
fed is indicated, but the point is not labored.
Elsewhere Mr.. Cox observes that the function
Of the critic is not 10 praise blame not even
to weigh or measure or value. but to distinguish.
to discriminate, TO explain" In this sketch of
Hobein he gives perfect example Of the kind
Of criticism in which he believes.
His remarks the Dead Christ" at Bale
are admirably 10 the point Its originality"
he says, 'is in the lighting which is such as no
Primitive, German or Italian, would have thought
Of" Developing the idea tersely but suggestive
~. he offers genuine help to the student who
might otherwise be tempted to concentrate his
attention on the most obvious of Holbeins Writ
ues, his extraordinary craftsmanship. We
appreciate. too, Mr.. Coxs tribute to the mastery
design in the great "Georg Gyze" at Berlin. Best
of all is his passage on Holbeins surfaces the
beauty Of which is sometimes neglected by low
ers Of the drawings. The qualities Of the paint
ing are effectively brought out in these words:
Holbeins sense of propriety in the of
terial Gid not desert him when he came to the
itself differsntiy The time of free handling Of
art, and if Holbein had the capacity 10 anticipate
II he was not allowed to do Minute finish.
imperatively demanded Of him; as a technician he
9ITsys OF 5ae sch9"i OF M van EXSK; @ Els
his surfaces clean and smooth, but this united
ininitabie than the slashing of Halls. the fat i'm
paste of Titan. the flowing sipperiness of
something precious. tewel-like indestructibe, deli
alzed the conception with a consunmate mastery
You cannot guess how IT IS done.dhe art that
have ali Hoibein's craftsmanship and sense Of
character but If they have not his marvellous
handicraft. his mysterious perfection of surface.
they copies. II is by his unapproachable skin
of hand that you shall most surely distinguish his
oFta na5 f NJ ~ o-, Sion. and he I,bo 5oes
not feel sensuous delight and tingling Of the the
never understand the man.
Criticism like this. in which Mr.. Cox is at his
best may be found also in the essay on Rem
brandt and in the on Painters of the Mode"
This latter contains some delightful notes on
painters Of all countries and periods. II is
marked by one curious slip. Mr.. Cox has had
his view Of the eighteenth century in France
obscured by the gayeties Of Vatican and his
followers, and he complains that Chardin alone
gives US plain statements of how people actually
looked and dressed" Surely such statements
may be found past counting in the portraiture
of the period. despite the fondness for classical
drapery and attitudes to which Mr.. Cox refers.
The works of Drouais. Natter and La Tour. TO
mention only two three Of multitude,
abound in authentic data on the social aspect
Of the period. To say that for the true dresses
Of the gentlemen and ladies Of the day we must
go to the caricaturists, who alone take life seri-
ously" IS strangely to ignore the drawings of
such Moreau le JeuDe, Olivier and
LAWRENCE They were not by any means carl
caturists, but deliberately and with the utmost
care produced studies OF the life about them
which constitute to-day Of the richest bodies
Of such documentary evidence that possess.
Mr.. Cox skilfuIy preserves his balance in
writing Rodin, subject which often betrays
commentators to extremes. There is excep-
tional fairness too in his paper Lord Leigh
ton. The essay on the PollaiuoIi is too much
OF book review and too little Of an interpreta-
ton; It brings special freshness or insight to
the discussion of the subject. On The Educa-
ton Of an Artist" too, the author has so little
10 say that the paper should scarcely have been
put in the place Of honor; that should have been
reserved for the study of HoIbein. The long
preface in which Mr. Cox defends the right of
the artist TO exercise the function of a critic
might likewise have better been made less con-
spicuous. if not omitted altogether Arguments
on this point are almost always proftless. We
may repeat here what we had occasion to say
not long ago on the revival of the ancient con-
troversy in London The critical faculty Is a
gift, like any other. 1t is in mans blood or
Il IS not A knowledge OF technical processes is
essential part Of the art critics equipment.
but II would do him earthly good If he
started without the critical fair. painter will
sometimes have this fair, but he often is as in
nocent of il as the veriest philistine. The fact
that he is painter does not automatically make
him a critic. Mr.. Cox's experience as painter
IS no doubt an aid 20 him in his work as
writer but # is not this experience that author
izes him to produce criticism. Given his critical
faculty, he could have written the present vol
ume without ever having made the pictures and
decorations which bear his name.
II has come 10 be not precisely difficult but
certainly somewhat painful to discuss a new
collection OF wood engravngs put forth by Mr..
Timothy Cole There has been something almost
devotional a bout his career. Indifferent to the
worlds distractions uninfuenced by the tides
OF modern art he has wandered up and down
Furope content with the quite unadventurous
task Of reproducing some work by one or the
old ,,.,.o.. ~ hoe dope this with q singeness