The sun., 1908-01-12

Take, eor instance. tl ~ ssfect examples
In the n,usenm cOlleclion Of Alexandra
Charrentiers work Nothing has ap-
preached them in their subtle esthetio quail
ties. You almost feel that tnis artist could
model a mist or translate n breath into
bronze His work has no; the more formal
qualities that arTcar in the medals by jules
Chaplain shown near by. Chapla lain is the
master Of virility. The Victor Hugo shows
that, but Cesy ite the rrepOnderance Of this
quality char lain succeeds equally we'll in
the portraiture OF babies, so we'll in fact "a
10 make him almost alone in the excellence
OF this phase of his art. Charpenticr eXCels
here too, but differently; perhaps in less
tender but in a more magically mystical
way. His touch is almost ethereal, as in
the nlalnette of jean and Faul,' and
even in "A sense in the large and wonderful
Maternity" relief. both Of which, by the
way. we're designed 60 be set in the doors
of little cabinet to hold haby clothes. In
this connection il may be well TO hint that
when an opportunity comes to rearrange
and deNpand the present lahels on the medals
and pladuettes of the museum collection
some indication should he given thereon in
full Of their original intention. since they
would greatly assist ones study The de-
vice OF showing the reverses Of medals by
means OF little mirrors is being dispensed
with. Instead casts or electrOtypes are to
be made Of the reverse sides, tinted the
exact shade Of the originals, showing the
diverse sides. The labels will indicate
which is the original and which the cast
when the order ia reversed. Return
ing to CharentiCr, he is. paramount,
sculptor Of the spirit of youth. Never
before has low relief 50 Imprisoned, to ih-
crate again, the full ioyousness Of bang
Young. At the same time his art often turns
around its circle, showing his abilities in a
new and unexpected manner What, for
instance could he moIe fascinatingly un-
sparing q in its beautiful unlovelness than the
portrait relief of pr. Pierre Carl Potain?
Or the relief portrait of Emile Iola' Char
pentier's remarkable genius shines forth
even In the toughest notes, as in the tiny
sketch portrait of Camille PiS=aro truly
wonderful. az any one who knew him will
tell youl. the one Of Iuvis dc thavannes
and the admirable relief OF Edmond de
Guncourt. rerhars tho hest of all,
With Roty's work we may expect 10
find ourselves better acquainted by reason
OF his designs for the coinage Of France,
Chile and the principality Of Monaco. Tho
museum collection possesses some very
fine examples of his art. or these one may
say unhesitatingly the portrait Of Michel
Eugene Chevreul is the masterpiece. Like
Charpentier. Roty exhibits great versatility,
perhaps even more than the other in such
qualities as give impress TO an artists man
nerisms. At least it is somewhat of jump
from the membership badge Of the Jockey
Club Of Buenos Ayres to the portraits Of
his parents or to the French Alpine Club
medals and to the Sucz, Panama and
Statue of Liberty medals.
Too much stress cannot be laid on the
value Of making the Metropolitan Museums
collection Of medallic art thoroughly rep
resentative. Every encouragement shOald
be given it's expansion. And When the ex-
cessive duty is removed from works Of art
of this sort possibly the museum will find
itself the richer in gifts and loan collections,
which il deserves by right Of its usefulness