New-York tribune., 1908-05-31

portrai:s made at the finest period of her ca
.eer and a few years before complete loss Of
eyesight prevented her from ever again touch
ing pencil or crayon. on each SIDE OF the
RosaiIas one finds thirty-five pastels by Mau-
rice Quentin de Latour. and thirty-one by his
great rival Jean Baptiste Perronneau. Thus,
at glance, the observer may note and appre-
ciate the dominating influence Of the Venetian
pastellist upon the TWO great French masters.
Pastel portraits ny FRANCOIS Boucher, Char
din CoypeI. Duplessis. DucreuX. Jean Baptiste
Greuze. Iiotar6 Jean Marc Natter and Drouais
are SO placed as t. face a thoroughly repre-
sentative collection Of English pastels. which
includes portraits 10y Sir Joshua Reynolds. John
Russell Hall. Francis Cotes and Daniel Gard
ner Among the finest English portraits are
those Of Princess Caroline of Brunswick, wife
Of George IT. OF Lady Georgina Cavendish. OF
LADY Henrietta Cavendish. OF Mrs Currie and
- Of Mr. Robinson. the famous "Perdita. 10y
Russell: the portrait Of the Marchioness Of
Townsend. by Sir Joshua Reynolds. and the
portrait Of lady and lap dog. by Francis Cote.
The impression derived from this resoute con-
fronting OF the French and English eighteenth
century pastellists is that the art Of pastel Is
essentially of French temperament, and OF ner
vols Partisan brilliancy. The English artists
Of that period VINO accomplished unique and
magnificent results in oil never seem absolutely
at home nor at their ease when using the
medium Of the celored cTayon. Their compost
tons lack the irimitab be French grace and haT-
rnony. their drawings. in spite Of breadth and
yigor appear stiff and angular beside the deli
cate suIpleneSs of la Tour. Perronneau, Greuze
or Natter and The coioring is cold and harsh
IN com risor with the magnetic glow and soft
mellow tones of Boucher Coypel or Dfouals
The feelings ant expressions Of the English
raste!iists nave an air OF artif1Ce and posing for
effect when viewed face 10 face with The good
na1ured simplicity or Chardin.
TIE portrait of Nine. Mase by La Tour re
-ains 4 freshness proba bly, not impaired since II
left The masters easel for this picture has never
before been renewed from the chateau Of the
Naro1Iis de J,iisne 10 whose sreat-great- grand
mother i had been bequeathed Icy Mime. Mase,
who was the legatees aunt. The figure wears
q blue gown trimmed with black fur, and the
hands. resting the lap, are concealed by
sable rl,sff. on each side OF this admirable work
ere TWO portraits by Perronneau. NJ. La Fon-
taine and Nine La Fontane, both belonging Ia
the MARQUIS de Montcalm, and these also have
never before been taken away from the dining
room q the chateau where they had been placed
by The great great grandfather OF the present
marquis in the year 90.
There two portraits Of La Tour painted by
himself There Is a superb portrait by La Tour
OF the Marechai DE- SAKE wearing steel
CuraSS. with head uncovered This was once
che property Of Nine. Favart. whom it had
been given souvenir by the marshal. There
is a portrait by La Tour OF the Marechal
de Belle-Isle in d blue uniform with the
broad rcd ribbon OF the order OF the
Golden Fleece. There are three portraits 10y La
Tour Of the Narquise de Pompadour. the finest
Of which is that lent by the Marquise de Ganay,
which represents the favorite wearing a pearl
white frock with cherry trimmings, a black
velvet ribbon tied about the neck. rustic straw
hat with cherry ribbon. and resting on the bare
shoulder Z shepherdesss crook The dark brown.
almost black. eyes have remarkable expression
and brilliancy, and the dark chestnut hair. of
scanry volume. Is simply knotted behind the
head.
There is fun front portrait Of Notaife.
pete with expression, penetrating intelligence,
tnd remarkable for The piercing glance of the
dark brown eyes and the sarcastic irony define
sJed IL the thin fotds Of the lips, in the firm
aggl essive prominence OF the chin ard in the
~-l1cale lines Of the nose. II is d pity that the