The San Francisco call., 1908-11-29
/ N { h e A r c w o r / d
By Lucy b. Jerome

"HE loan exhibition just closed at
the Studio building awakened an
i amount oe interest among the gem
eral public directly proportionate
to a realization of its need The OBJ
ject of this exhibition was twofold-
first, for charity; second, to raise the
standard of appreciation of student and
comparison.
Interest centered around the pictures
by John Sargent. the greatest figure in
the world of art of this century.
The head of Robert Louis Stevenson.
one of Sargent's first studies, is one
of the greatest examples of the brush.
1t betrays even at this tentative period
of development something Of the aston
ishing discernment, the grip OF hidden
traits for which all his later work has
been at once admired and so criticised.
The three other heads, examples of
fuller growth, so distinct in characteri-
zation, are as different in effect and
handling as though done by different
persons. The head of Mancini, the cele-
brated Italian painter, shown at the
exhibition only in copy, the original
being hung in the museum at Brussels.
and battling personality. The heavy
lldded eyes. the large brow, the look of
haggard attention and concentration
that distinguishes it, is an effect given
oy Sargent alone. 1t is a human docu-
ment, most vital and convincing.
The two other heads, one of a young
and one of an old woman, fncomplete
IN details OF dress, were done at one
sitting in order to illustrate his own
fact unique Importance for the stu
dent, to whom the question of tech
nlque must be at first the all absorbin q
one. The young girls head shows the
great painter in an unusually indul-
gent mood; the subtIety of the lips. hard
~ expressed the modelling of the cheek.
painted apparently in one broad stroke;
the sort parted hair, and especially the
liquid beauty of the eyes so admirably
drawn. make the head-done evidently
so rapidly. so unerringly, so powerfully,
living thing, and the sight of it
should have been enough to thrill the
student at once with ecstasy and de-
spair
The old woman, more soberly painted.
ugly. with her high cheekbones and
urawn mouth, clearly woman of the
hard working world, is more ruthlessly
treated, with respect but without pity.
- q QuSSb4OIi 1OT the mOrallSt, and
not Tor the painter, a comparison of is
sues It Is needless to dwell upon
IN the water colors Sargent was seen
IN a holiday mood. The wine shoD is
plain 'magics," as wonderful as fairy
tale and as impossible to describe. The
glasses on the shelf, that are apparently
mere blur, yet dazzle and shine: the
race OF the man reading, almost washed
out IN the loose, free color in which
everything is suggested, the lamp that
is so solidly there and that vet is only
line and smudge-all thfs should
nave been noted and understood by the
student or by those who would pene-
trate beneath the obvious in art and
Know 1t for what it really is. Such an
eXhlolt may not be seen in San Fran
cisco for decade. 1t was worth while.
The chief exhibit of the week opened
at Schusslers studio in Sutter street
Thursday. 1t consists of 40 oils and
water colors by Mrs. Alice Chittenden.
the fruits of her two years stay
abroad. For the most part the canvases
are delightful reproductions of the
quaint and charming scenes of Nor
mandy, Brittany, Scotland, Ireland and
many other countries that Mrs Crit
tenden visited and that she seems eto
have brought back to US in these fresh
and colorful studies, glowing with
life and the freshness of out of doors.