New-York tribune., 1908-02-23

ReStlVe remark OF dH -uAI1tA-E OL TIE c2Jl-9
represented These angels" he wrote. "are 50
skilfuIly painted that one can see the different
key in which the voice OF each Is pitched" IN
other words this polyptych consists os = series O:
niraculously veracious studies from lie The
Van Eycks were consunTnate craftsmen,
using line with equal purity and precision
They were also masters Of plastic effect and
gave their figures almost startling reles. u
would perhaps, be too much 70 say that these
figures are bathed IN light and air They are
not enveIoped in atmosphere in quite our nod
ern sense. Yet they are certainly detached from
the background with such art that they seem
really to exist in space. to be living figures
standing between the behoI1er and the Ia1d-
scape against which they are ranged
Most of the actors in the well filed scheme
are immobile, but this does not mean that their
garments cover nerveIess bodies On the cor
trary the men and women Of the Van Eycks are
creatures Of flesh and blood. portrayed with
anatomical knowledge The style 0f these mas
ters is the polished style Of their period yet
being animated by genius. it is never merely
hard Their essential breadth comes out too.
with great brilIiance in their color. This gI0ws
as with the radiance OF Jewels You would say
that it recalled the art OF the eEacleler Il L
we're not that, as a matter OF fact the color o:
the Van Eycks has the quality which les II
paint alone. Truth was precious TO them. but 50
likewise was beauty Deeply versed in a. the
mysteries of their Craft-in drawing. IN model
ling. in color and in conpositiOn-theE achieved
a kind of passionIess perfection Thy make
no slips There is nothing tentative bout what
thev do Theirs is the work which. in Mr
WhistIer's phrase. is finished from The begin
ming. and in its rounded felicity there 3 s1-ne-
thing very nearly unCanny-
1t was based upon clear vision and ring
sureness Of hand When Nicolas Abigail
Cardinal Of Saint Cross. visited Flanders II
1431. he paused for short time at B--s=s. The
duke ordered Jan Van Eyck to paint the church
mans portrait. but there was 10 tine q Do
more than make a drawing You may see this
drawing in the print room az Dresden. and
compare it with the painted portrait az N-"-E4
II would be hard 10 say which IS the more
remarkable production The carefully ez Ite1
painting is life itself but So for that matter. S
the delicate silver point, produced IN ID one
knows how short time The method OF the
Van Eycks may appear retiCuous N TIE Y
trAr7e TO spell slow labor but az bottom = WGT
evidently as spontaneous and free a method as
any ever practised by even the broadest and
most fluent of brushmen- It Is this subtle eLts-
ticitv combined with truth 70 detaLl sr,ll. EiIs
of the scientist that gives such p-oisiJus V.ti--
Y the portraits Dy Jan 81 --
rrrr1nhs like the John ArnOlf1rt and VIE N
the National Gallery, the Sir Baldwin de Ian
nov" at Berlin. and that great 'EsIui-e OF ne
Order of Saint Anthony" in the same gallery
which is better known to collectors. from Cali
lard's engraving. as The Man with the F---A-
II was given to the Van Eycks. as II has r-Te-y
been given to painters. to realize their ideal 70
the full Their grasp upon character was aoso-
lutte Technique as they conceived il could not
have been carried further than they carried Il
Yet thev were far from exhaustirg al the re-
sources of art. Their very fawleSSness icv'Fsi
n loss of what can only be described a. persona.
charm the fresh and winning note which YOU
Will find in an Italian contemporary Of theirs
such as Pisanello. There is. indeed. nothing z
them Of that naTveta which is 50 rich a source
of delight in the early art Of the South, there
is nothing Of that poetry which r-Cs through
the work of the FIOrentiue pioneers -6- q S'.le-
thread II Jan Van Eyck could have -Fed on lo'
n few deCades and could have seen S'--e OF tle
rictures of BotticeTi he would not have h2o""
what 70 make of them He would have oevh
equally nonpIussed by the classical enthusiasm
Of Mantegna In fact the inteilectl1. and L1hAs-
NATIVE developments Of the Renaissance oore
art into spheres Of which the Van Eycks knew
nothing But that their range was Carro"
causes no regret In their own field tHey were