New-York tribune., 1908-04-04
ART EXHIBITIONS
The BIakeslee Collection of Paint
iags by the Old Masters.

he
,rg their way into American collections this fact
has not implied the enforcement everywhere of a
tfeb standard: il has not made impossible the m
,e-fation Of quantities hopeiessly mediocre
rsrxases- II has To- years argued in this
Mace that the only old masters really wanted in
-hs United States were old masters Of a certain
,.,-sista bic quality. Though the greatest tri-
v-1phs OF the past zre nearly all permanently es-
-shlished in the public princely galleries OF
Europe genuine and beautiful old pictures fire.
,,ertIv turn up in the auction rooms OF London
= Paris and there has been reason why these.
30 these alone. should not have been made the
,o-stsnt aim at American buyers The masses Of
,no- stuff brought 10 this country have only set
80, The clock. It is good 10 observe that the tide
* turning. There is exhibition at the
American Art Galleries a collection of paintings
mostly old masters. belonging TO Mr T ] Blakes-
,se = shows what can be done when dealer pro-
ca.as on the hypothesis that it is worth while to
,-sst the public with respect. offering il pictures
sa-iocs grounds
yh,s is q good collection made rlp Of paintings
.sst have something TO say for themselves, that
AZ -or always prodigiousy important are generally
cf substantial interest II has cataloEued too
vfrh intelligence and discretion a point by itself
xc-thv of comment School pieces are frankly en-
-s-e5 se such. and in more than one instance the
--.sas- phrase ''ascribed to- used in place Of
,-e r'v too familiar bland Of authorship
ms catalogue is not fawless. The portrait of Van
1,v.k CIo a. is entered as by William Dobson.
,i-h The observation added that ''the painter has
here given fine presentnent Of master
s-5 nstron who taught him handle his brush
viii such skill II should nave been noted that
-his is COPY OF the well @nown portrait in the
hermitage which Van DrCk painted OF himself
several -epefitions of which ara known to exist In
-hs rnai- however. the compiler has done his
vrh Judgment. eschewiny the grand pretenslons by
-Aich publications Of the sort are often dis
sru-e5. Full Indications are generally given TO
sHsche- z specific painting acquired from a
-rsre collection purchased from dealers abroad
Ike The AEnews or Sedeimeyer. The intending
,u-chase- Of the Richard Chauncey. Esq for
ezs-rle by Si- Joshua. could not ask for fuller
.-fa--.stfor as 10 previous ownership OF the work
-rsn Is given IN the statement that il from
NJ aubrey Csrtright. Edecote Park Banbury.
where TIE portrait has remained until recently In
ire family since il was painted II I75S.'' In short
the mode Ct procedure adopted in the case
Of this sale-vhich is scheduled 10 take place at
Men5elssohn Han next Thursday and Friday even
frrs-co-1nands respect. and. what much 10 the
poi1-. the pictures themselves inspire confidence
Trs- they have been brought together with some
feelirz for quality Is shown by the inclusion or
certain portraits of men These hardly as
decorative. and certainly not as fashionable as
- portraits = women which dominate rule,
IN collections e che kind. but they make CT
course. strong ap1ea- 10 the mere Connoisseur Of
good painting. Raehurn for instance who has
still 70 gain the popularity that he deserves
Kris country. is admirably represented by one
stately portrait large scale Lord Glenlee''
Z Master
eE--" and bv Two smaller canvases. George
Joseph Sell and Mr.. Patton which are peculiarly
Interesting illustrations o. his technical
---y- TIE NJ Patton IS affair Of rich. a.
most fat surfaces In the George Joseph Bell
tfe tones are J,-rer aPd more lnpid In all these
portraits there < the SAVIOR Of Raeburn's dignity
a. sincerity. He * member, has been in
d.-ste5- of impressive group Among the por-
traits q men there are. from the English school
alone, the beautiful Major Parsons" and the less
fe-ung nut rtIII admirable Captain BeaucharnD''
and AIr- Hugh Scott" by Romney: the vigorous
"AErrt-aI Seymour q Sir Martin Archer Snee:
III deIlcatelv and precisely painted lord Sea
forth Of Sir Thomas Lawrence: the solid. suave
-f- Woods OF Hoppner and tie exhilara-ing
-I.erd NIountsrJIart' Of Gainsborough Dupont. An
t-6ariug all these there are. among the portraits
f-- William Dobeon. al least two OF men wnIen
,r-ve good impression, the Earl CT Digby' md
81. Marquis Of HuntIy''; and there Is double
portrait 5g ll.u1- Tie Sir Charles and Lady Lucas
u which the husband J. sUperbly painted. The
g-c1r OF seven or eight Dobsons IL may be noted
r passing. while uneven in quality. is very vel
come throwing Hight on the easy craftsman
sli- ru5 harmonious color OF Van Dyck's clever
Gl-ctr-a lie not widely known in this country
alG q. = vel Tat H. should be made more ia
1-Gliar That a good D5bson l. infinitely 10 be
preferred ro q poor II false Van Dyck is a
l-S-aa eaIa1f-ndinE itself 10 every collector.
The rl-asanJest thing about the representation Of
t1z English school tils collection Is that it main
lage are not r=splendently illustrated but neither
TIE other hand they affixed TO wholly unin-
teree-51s pictures only OF the seven portraits
gwen 10 Roruney l. really disappointing. the big
"Dar.E Garrick and Mrs Siddons." The value Of
E.y male portraits here shown has already been
signal iZeE and ne Is revealed i'm cha -nng mood IN
ire Mrs Beaumont and child. the Mrs Wright"
ard TIE dainty Lady Clanrcarde- The Sir Joshua
mentioned above is pot boiler. but his grace and
oslicscy. i not his brllance. may be studied IN
The Mrs. Thomas Orby Hunter and the Mrs
Hutchinson" Neither Of the two Gainsboroughs
more than hint at his genius. The stormy
Landscape" has some but not quite enough OF his
Charm lying IL its obscurities. and the handling OF
the 5Iue dress in the Lady Knighton" just falls
short OF conveying that Of feathery hghtness
which Ke get from his most characteristic work
Lawrence comes Of well in all of MS four portraits
snd Il Is especially gratifying sd in the collec
Ton three thoroughly representative examples OF
slr william Reechey, who is beginning TO come
into Ms oEn a minor but not ineffective figure
the school Of English portraiture- Scattered
among the portraits there are few landscapes by
Barker q Bath, Cotrnan Old Crou1e. and the like
Ta,s size of exhibition, though not particularly
E-rolg Is 81 4 measure good
Ire best paintings Of Continental origin are again
portraits They come from divers schools, early and
st.- n some cases the work Is scarcely worthy or
IRE source 70 which II is ascribed- The Portrait OF
CSe-tle-,7a'' given 10 Amberser. is very pedes-
rsn. hr-n-drzln thing. compared with the hnes1
Productions OF that master 80, too with the
Ei-Enese NobleTnan" OF CrlstofoTo More'lo' the
Venetian T,gritary'' of TIntoretto, and the 'Por-
rsit OF p Man by Pordonone there merits to
Be ctsoe-ned the paintings are not bad, but these
Rings do not stand fer any inspiration; they arc
ofdinary, conventional performances, where' III
view o, their origin, one would like them TO be
distinguished. II is however, with few II anS
Qualifications that one enjoys such portraits as the
eeaghtful Three Dutch Children" and the Head
O. Dutch Woman" by Cornelius De Nos; the
holbenesque Young Lady, ascribed 70 tne Ger
4ragf os 8