New-York tribune., 1907-06-09

but something that would make the spectator
think he was paying taxes In n live American
town. ThereUpon the new school of the West
began to turn out studies of talcum powder
boxes gas stoves tennis racquets, folding beds,
beer bottles drop lamTs, spring tonic TASKS and
many other signs of the times. The popularity
of this new realism proved the wisdom OF the
artists. So enuonced were Tho business men
with the art uOuyeau' that they came forward
at once patrons 81 the artists ana supplied
the latter with uulimItcd quantities of CooTlnS
matter and colprablc area. ThCre was nothing
StlIsy ABOUT these ne" Patrons IhtE "eIt
bound To make Pittshurg art famed wherever
fake Rembraudts are or exhibit. And the artists
themselves dld their utmost .' hNc uP /" 'He
wishes and expectations OF tSCir henefHctors.
The first Pittshurg gallon OF tic art nouVedu
was held the other day across from the Car
ncgie Institute. and the wonderful display OF
home talent brought dtsmay 70 the trustees OF
the latter Institution. Il was o"'l'~S thal IN
days of old fashioned art We're numbered, FOR
the fresh, gay works or the NJ" masters n!due
the pitiful Cauyuscs ~ the Carnegie institute
look like fire sale chromos. one UNIQUE feature
OF the art nouveau" exhibit which attracted me
attention and brought down the wrath of the
conservatives was the fact that many Of the
finest pieces We're cooperative productions. sew
eral painters having worked i'm unison and h2r-
mDuy upon the same Although Tins TrdCtlSe Is
r.aIr "a revival Of tl,c h.=- traditions Of the
early Italian and Dutch schools the euvioLs
persist In calling the new cooperative painters
sign srtisis IL IS. Of course true that to the
undiscrimiuatinE eye some of the studies in the
salon do look Ike signs or ynls2F' mar lnaillsllc
order. the exhibit Is an out-of-d"or affair, on
account Of the enormous size Of the eNaIhlt-d
pieces. most of the productions SHOWN are
pa iutcd upon wood. after the manner Of u" l,"S'
Renaissance art. and the themes are thoroughly
modern in touic and treatment.
II cannot le denied that one Of the MASTER
pieces shown is a modern pendant {" La Iouche s
famous picture The Bath" but varies from the
latter in portrayiuE the bathing lady as about
to step into porcelain, nickel trimmed bata-
tub OF the most approved pattern known TO
Pittshurg plumbers. while the satyr who In the
French picture spies upon the ablutons OF the
wood nymph rs replaced in The art nouveau'
work by Il lecturer standing upon remote
cloud bank, pointer in hand and doscantinE
upon the relative merits Of porcelain, enamel
and plain paint finishing fuT tub.
But the cautious critics who sla"der the new
movement IN art by saying that this and other
productions are base commercial daubs merely
show their own inability 20 rise 10 the lofty
standpoint from which these works can be ap-
prcciatod. Every school of art must suffer
persecution in trying To overcome the prejudices
burg reformers. knowing this historical fact are
working CheorfulIy and undistUrbed Oy the
tauuts and threats Of their enemies. The art
nouvcau" people know that they have broken
All records for big pictures and Will easily break
their own best performances in time They know
that their pictures, being out-of-door works
have more "Itmosphcre" than the Canvases
penncd UP in stuftv galleries and are also
nearer 10 nature" These points of superiority,
though are less significant than the fact that
all the themes Of the school appeal directly
10 the people of to-day Mythology and other
fiction - strictly debarred. and all the modern
tastes, astronomical and otherwise. are catered
TO i'm the most seductive fashion. This makes
the final triumph of the New Academy" GER
tain. For imitess fields are opened up TO those
who willing to use vacant lots and the
acres adjoining railroad tracks for arts sake.