The sun., 1908-12-10
STOVE. STEEL AND COPPER.

the mystic The versatile etcher and
his wife alluded 10 the lithoRraphic stone
We saw this quotation on one Of the many
labels written by, Curator Frank Welten-
kampf Of the LIenox Library for the
present historical exhibition Of painter
lithography. II is one Of the most inter
esting ever held at the Lenox. Mr.
Wetenkampf had over Ave thousand
prints to draw upon from the Avery,
Joseph Pennell, Mrs. c. j. Lawrence and
Mira M. O. Van Rensselaer, collections,
and his accustomed tact In selection did
not fail him. From Senefelder, the In
yentor Of the lithographio process, or
drawing on stone, down to the so-called
Parislan decadent school Of Willette
Toulouse-Lautreo and others there are
Few gaps. and the examples are attrac.
tive In color and design as we'll as In
subject. II 10 temptation to moralizt
regarding the survival OF lithography
a very humble relative Of steel engraving
over its naughty and elaborate superior
Its comparative simplicity and more
personal quality made 1t the victor. Not
withstanding this simplicity the variety
Of effects attainable by the skilful artist
has put painter lithograpby in the second
place. after etching.
The label referred to above with it's
happy suggestion about the mystios who
6nd lithography an expressive medium
refers to single print by Odilon Redon,
who in 1904 was honored by special
sale at the Paris autumn salon. This
particular print by no means gives us more
than hint Of Redon's genius. As an
Observation-Disclosures. pictorial interpreter
of the mdcdbre poetry Of Charles Baude-
laire Is Redon best known. Like Rodin
he has read too deeply in "Les Fleurs du
Nal, and his prepossession with themes
fantastic. mystic and depraved is evil
dent when you see much Of his work A
strong decorative bent; a master Of his
means and a draughtsman Of prime rank,
Redon displays a vibrating sensibility.
He is visionary. He also loves the sea-
brous, as does his Norwegian contem-
porary. Edward Mraoh, man whose
Autographs colored-and ex-
tremely personal line could have been
represented at this exhibition; but We
suppose there are no specimens Of his art
In the Lenox collections. OF his impor-
tance. however, there can be no doubt;
despite the horrors and morbdities in
which he deals he is acclaimed a master.
and to our taste Is better revealed in his
lithography than in his violent oils and
shocking pastels. II is no uncommon
thing to hesr Munch's name bracketed
with Ibsen's, though exactly why we can
not say. The dramatist. at least. was a
stickler for the unities Of his art. for form:
Munich simply whistles down the wind at
conventional form. color. composition.
What will be novelty for many is the
lithoeraphic art Of Anquetin, very
gifted painter: Besnard; Gandara. rep
resented by a graceful females head
gracefully posed. attesting his refined
IL not too original manner; Guilloux,
with two striking landscapes in color:
Ibels, whoss leaning toward the an
archist agitation resulted in an extraor-
dinary series devoted to the cause:
the delineator Of Mont
martre life in all it's realistic vulgarity
these and others are worth study
ing. Across the aisle is a portrait of
Goethe by n. II. Jacobs. which is hard
though graphic. Its handling is the
antipodes Of the new mems. Or. look at
moonlit landscape with It's
serene atmosphere and air of easy manip- |
Then there Is Fantin-Latour with |
his vaporous transcripts, which seem to
anticipate Whistler. Gentle James s also |
in evidence, n beautiful bit. a female |
figure reclining; an evocation rather than |
a performance. The hareh truth OF |
Lunois's. Absinthe Drinkers is not so hor- |
rible az the oil by Rops. Ingres Isabey,
the Vernets. Gericault. Huet. Decamps, |
Bargue and other masters are shown |
The Daumiers. Gavarnis. Charlets, Raffets |
are splendid examples. A head OF Victor |
Hugo. young and clean shaven, is only a |
plate. but 1t was executed by |
Deveria. It Is pity for posterity that |
Hugo ever became bearded. He fanoied, |
with his toppling brow. that he resembled
zeus. The real Hugo was the romantic
youth with naked cheek.
The American group, Hunt, j. F. Cole.
Nielatz (the etcher), Winslow Homer,
represented by a nocturne;
Joseph Pennell. with the Rouen Cathedral;
John Sargent, q stunning bit; Bolton
Jones. j. Alden Weir. II. W. Ranger, with
IN admirably composed Scene on the
Seine Bank" and brilliant bullfight by
3oya that rivets the eye. are all note
worthy The Karlsruhe Ranstierbund are
,erc. as are Alma -Tadema, Van Grave
,ende. Nanteuil. Bonheur. Bennington,
Prout. Harding Frank Brangwyn. Herko-
ner, Linnell dr.. Lsgros, Strang, Sickert
Ind Short, Achenbaoh (Andreas), Menzel, l.
and Kriehuber are among
he Germans. The last is represented
BY his celebrated though by no means
remarkable portraits Of Liszt,
Carl Czerny. Ernst. the lithographer
himself and Berlioz. The Hungarian vir-
uoso 10 seated before his instrument and
8 evidently extemporizing, for his eyes
ire uplifted and his pose is histrionic-
indeed the classic model for the genera
ions Of ivory smashers that followed him.
Whether consciously intended. Kriehuber
mas endowed Lisst's old teacher, the
,edagogue Czerny Whose terror breed
ng fame at one time was a potent agent
n lulling refractory infants to sleep) with
,ynical eyee. They seem to say: aLiszt,
h. Liszt! lts all very well for you to
ound the abysses with your poetic An
sers. but Donneruetter! you are putting
,our thumbs on the black keys
Books on the history and technique OIL
by Atherton Curtis and the
'ennelis may be seen. This exhibition will
ernain open for ssveral months. Down