Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-23
A RI N OF Els.

A R T NOT Els.
| Some years ago an exhibition of Miss
| Ellen G. Emmet's work was held at the
| Cosmos Club; last winter sixty or more
| of her portraits were shown in Boston I'M
| der the auspices of the Copley Society,
and now, again. here at the V G. Fischer
| galleries seven of her recent paintings are
to be seem They are all portraits of per-
sons well known in this city-Chief JUS
| tice Fuller, Admiral and Mrs. Cowles, Sen
| ator Dupont, Mrs. Whitney, the daughter
| of the late Secretary Hay; Mr.. Saint
| Gaudens, the eminent sculptor, and Mr..
| H. c. Perkins-but their interest is in
| trinsic as well personal. Miss Emmett
| has tremendous technical facility, keen
| color sense and sound training; she paints
with an ease amounting almost to bravado,
| and her portraits, while far from faultless.
| are impressive and convincing. 1t has
| been said that one hundred years from
| now no one will care whether the por
| traits painted today resemble the persons
| whom they represent; that art value
! alone is the paramount consideration; but
| in the present, at least. one of the prime
requirements Of portraiture is likeness. In
| this particular Miss EnInet unquestion-
| ably excels. The people she pictures are
| unmistakab able. and, what rs more, they are
| vital and individual. Far above the aver
| age, her work possesses large potential
tiles, and just falls tantalizingly short Of
attaining greatness Perhaps her por-
! traits are too easily painted too hastily
| and cleverly thrown together: for the
| faults are careless ones. and not the re-
suit either Of inability Or ignorance. A
| matter of ill-arranged lines and somewhat
| slovenly brush work And yet when work
| is as knowing and successful as this it
| seems more reasonable to praise than to
I x,il. to tafi, trfbuto Qthor than
| ungraciously demand more. The portrait
Of Mrs. Whitney is charming in color, rich
in tone and delightfully."- pictorial, and that
| of Mrs. Cowles, which is in a higher key, Is,
| in addition to being a good likeness, an ex-
| ceptienally skilfu bit Of brush work. Ad-
miral Cowles Is represented In full-dress
| uniform standing squarely before the OBJ
server and Senator Dupont 10 seen seated
| in chair with face and figure somewhat
| averted. The portraits of Chief Justice
Fuller and Mr.. Perkins show only the bust,
! and that of Mr.. Saint Gaudens il but a
| tribe larger. The last is especially interest
F.! ing-more psychological than some Of the
| others and more rettcent in handling. From
| the painters standpoint the portrait OF Sen
rectness of it's treatment and that of Ad-
! miral Cowles specially cOmmendable for Its
| forceful simplicity. Miss Emmett studied
| with Mr.. MacMonnfes, the sculptor painter.
| in Paris. And other Of her works in this
| city are the portraits of the late Secretary
| Hay. In the State Department, and of Mrs.
Mark Hanna. which is now in the Corcoran
| Gallery's exhibition.
-
| On Monday in the Veerhoff galleries. an
| exhibition Of paintings by Mr.. H. Hobart
| Nichols will be opened. Consisting Of thirty
| seven exhibits it will set forth chiefly those
| works which Mr.. Nichols produced during
| the past year abroad. There will be Katwyk
| pictures, views at Concarneau. paintings
L r no r,I ~
| the market place Of Paris: Dutch coast
| scenes and interior landscapes. Some are
| nocturnes, others sunny transcripttons.
| There are few large canvases in the
| collection, and some tiny little sketches
! made on wooden panels the size of post
card. All are charmingly pictorial and
| enthusiastically well rendered. The ex-
hibition will continue for two weeks.
| ~
| On the same day. In Morrey's gallery, a
! special collection of paintings by Mr.. Max
| Weyl, Mr.. E. C. Messer, Mr. Richard N.
Brooke and Mr.. James Henry Moser will
| be put on view. About twenty canvases
| will be shown, and each painter will be
represented at his best And this in refer
! ence to these men means more than a lit
| tie, for each may be counted upon at all
| times for meritorieus work, and not infre-
| quenty for noteworthy achievements. 1t
| should. and in all probability will, prove
one of the most important small exhibit
| tons of the year.
| The Corcoran Gallery's exhibition seems
| to increase rather than diminish in interest
| as the weeks pass, the attendance increas-
ing instead of decreasing; which is both
| gratifying and encouraging. On this &C.
| count and because of the urgent requests
made by many the director determined this
week to open the gallery, in spite of in
convenience and difficulty, last evening and
on each Tuesday and Friday succeeding
| Therefore on the evenings of February 20
| and March 1, 5 and 8 the exhibition will
! be accessible to the public. free of charge.
| from until-10 o'clock. In other ways also
this exhibition has been a success. Certain
| sales have been made. not many to be sure
but enough to testify in measure to inan-
cial support and substantial appreciation
mentioned THE Smack by Alice Num-
ford Roberts: Against the Sky" by Frank
W. Benson, to which, 1t will be remembered,
the Charles G. Glover prize and the Cor
| coran silver medal were awarded: North
west" by Howard Giles, and "A Lily of the
Field" by r. D. Miliet.
j X
| An exhibition in which much local inter-
est must be felt opened In Baltimore, at
the Peabody Institute, on February Is. and
will continue for two weeks. It consists of
the travelling exhibition of 124 water coiors
selected and sent out early in the winter
by the New York Water Color Club. and of
100 engraved portraits drawn from the T..
deposited AZ loan in the Library of Con-
gress, and It Is set forth under the auspices
Of the Municipal Art Society Of Baltimore.