New-York tribune., 1908-02-16
DUTCH ART.
p,ec,ous Uork for Those Hho
WouM Study Its Records.

iase de Groot nsts,ad MIN tIie and eSited nv ia.
var Hawke. Vol i. SO. PIP XIV, $50. The
w&i1,lan Company
.oursecre wears ago a clever English
s"" sooler named John Smith began 10 pub
Pc ve. Of the works of "the most eminent
sn r1sruish and French painters" 1t took
Da''i[ -. eight years 10 bring out the eight
hna a.bich his list filled and after a while
'"- % publish a supplement All told. he
N u;,b but thirty-three painters Of The Dutch
o'@ ., sorr Of the Flemish and three of the
So ,ut even within his comparatively mar
f- Its he made his book so useful that il
u" since been priced by historians. col
and dealers. II soon went out of print
.,,s aay copies Of if provoke considerable
Az .;.;on IL, The auction rooni- new edition
sarelv needed. and DR. Hofstede de
A'- .s inst The man 10 take il in hand
!, learned in the art Of the Low Countries,
= olso brought a keen enthusiasm TO his
travelling up and down Europe for more
@ -,,-aen wears. exploring public and private
Tens and visiting exhibitions and sales.
- accumulated an amount of information
-, has made him the ideal editor Of Smith
-, -. h. has done his work so well as to make
-.,;cs1Iv : new book out of the famous cata-
a hand the work when completed will con-
.f-ute an extraordiuary monument to the sub
5eCi.
,,,,h treated So few Of the Flemish and
r-.,cb nainters that The present editor was well
sisa5 in orrittin- those schools altogether
r. are b4tter left 10 be traNersed in separate
.1,e,,es which Dr. Hofstede de Groot or some
L.r scholar may undertake in the future. The
,orl, is concentrated upon the Dutch
hoo, expandinE the lists which Smith gave
:, .saing seven masters neglected by him,
,r,o-c tberl men as important as Frans Halls
.n5 yerneer Of Delft. How thoroughly the
s.bool is 10 be surveyed may oe inferred from
,+s fact that the 63G pages in the first volume
go exhausted by the catalogues Of but six
crisis ne system followed could not be i'm
moved upon. Take, for example, the first
rsfrrer dealt with. Jan Steen- At the outset
nc career is briefly sketched, all the essential
ta-ts being included. Then follows descriptive
lie, of his pupils and imitators. After this
cor,es a classified summary of the catalogue
devoted TO him. Indicating how the latter is
si,i5e6 according TC subjects. The catalogue
i-salf afixes 10 the title of picture a full de-
seriprion save when the entry is based q
rsje record OF some other source which leaves
he commentator in the dark. If the painting is
sened z note i given on the character OF the
Signature and it place The dimensions of the
rapvas or panel are also set forth Finally,
every Effort is made 10 trace the pedigree of the
rir-ure- the different collections and sales in
which II has figured are enumerated. prices are
noted Whenever possible and are Informed
$50 its present resting place, if that is known.
IN short. the reader is put in possession of all
he facts in regard to a given painting that
Ire most attentive research could reveal
u The careless observer the value of this
riautely tahulated information might seem TO
i4 rather doubtful. Or. Hofstede de Groot
easily disposes Of the point 1T is generally
agreed by experts" he says, that one cannot
.rass Judgment OF the work of an artist unless
one knows his productions, and that ones judg-
rent Will gain in precision with the extent Of
oge-s knoglesEe. Only practising artists
sill sometimes believe that, merely because
they are themselves artists. they are Quallhed
70 Ironounce decisive opinion on old works OF
a., without possessing any real knowledge u
what the supposed painters of these works ac-
carIlished" catalogue like this makes for
knowledge inasmuch Is il is a guide enabling
he student 10 find the works OF a given master
Is he could never dream of finding them un-
AIDED. Ii helps to straighten out and clarity the
lie history q q painter. Incidentally II sets
the reader Tnusing on the movement of that
PAINTERS mind. Il is interesting, as you turn
ie Iages Of tie Jan Steen catalogue, TO observe
toW that indetatigahle painter OF the life about
lin that irrerressible humorist, was inspired
M iHfrequently to touch scriptural themes or
90 make quantity confident excursions into the