Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-04
A RI N T ES.

grace the Duke of Norfolk, the premier
duke of England. whose philanthropies
are both numerous and widespread; the
Ri Hon. Stuart-Wortley. Sir John Mil
lais' son-in-law, who is one of the lead
ers in the house of commons, and regarded
as one of England's coming men; the late
Sir Henry Irving, the distinguished actor
and theatrical manager. and the Rt. Hon
James Bryce. the British ambassador.
The first of these was painted some years
ago, upon the occasion of the ded-
ication of the town hall of Shelf
field. and was presented by GER
tain persons to Lady Mary Howard, the
sister of the duke. who was at that time
the mistress of his household, or what is
called in England his next LADY, but
the last was painted in this city last
spring at the British embassy. when MI.
Moore was on visit to this country.
All are interesting works. There are
many standards by which portraits are
judged-hkeness. technique and pictorial
quality are all factors which great paint
ers have variously emphasized, and which
therefore play large part in common
criticism. Primarily a portrait to be a
work of art must be something more than
a mere likeness; but, on the other hand
if il does not resemble the person II is
supposed to portray it is obviously a
failure. Mr.. Moore has apparently steer
ed well between these TWO eNlrSHlIlltS vi
possible error. He has set forth on his
canvases characterizations of the men
whom he has portrayed, and his energies
have been bent toward veraeious inter-
probation His work is done with serious
ness and dignity and carries conviction
1t is not brilliant or especially clever, anC
it is not StrikinEly individual, but it l.
workmanlike, skillful and sound. In L
great exhibition these portraits would not
proclaim their presence would works OF
less reticent technique, but they would
certainly arrest the attention of thought
full critics. The portrait of Sir Henry
Irving has, it is understood, been darken-
ed slightly by the smoke of London, but 1t
certainly has been little harmed. Avoiding
all which savored of the dramatic, Mr..
Moore has represented the great actor as
he might have appeared to his friends.
standing in an attitude of thoughtful
attention. The head is we'll modelled and
the expression is admirable. The strong
features and vigorous personality of Mr..
Stuart-Wortley are no less we'll delineated
but the pose chosen is not as fortunate,
though it may be equally characteristic
the figure seems contracted by the fold
ed arms, and for some reason unduly
foreshortened. The Duke of Norfolk is
seen seated at the desk of the Mayor of
Sheffield, and wears not only the Order of
the Garter, but the insignia of his office
of necessity this portrait is pervaded by
a somewhat FORMAL ART represents a
public man in a public position. but 1t
ysis. for behind the mask of the states
man is seen the religious enthusiast and
the ardent philanthropist. Perhaps one
might wish that the painter had rendered
less well the rem rkabie detail of the
carved frontal to the desk, which tends
ITO create double interest, but once OBJ
-svrviRS the face this is forgotten. Tech
nically hhe\PortraiT of Mr.. Bryce is freer
than TN others. az it is also more color
full andSS atmospheric. the face seen in
profile preNents Intimacy of knowledge,
but does n1 lack evidence of distinct per
jamir Constant i1 Paris and HuLArt Her.
komerfn England. 1t is his intention to
xemain for SONG months in this country
He exhibtion/ at the Cosmos Club will
continue unity the 18th, and will be open
'.';;'47'''' '''+ no = ''"' to : ''"'
A sroup of paintings by Mr.. John La
Farsel is hung now 10 the right of the
main Sntrance IN the ". G. Fischer gall
leries~ Several are Samoan scenes, paint
ed in 1890 or 1891. when Mr.. LaFarge
paid a prolonged visit to Hawaii, but
one is COPY of Rembrandt's Christ and
the DISCIPLES at Emmaus.' made in the
Royal Gallery of Copenhagen in 1856.
and another is a grotesque FLOATING
Head done under Japanese influence.
Not one. fcnrelatedly. cast into the pool
OF modern art would probably make a
ripple. but collectively evincing the trend
of a great masters work they are of the
utmost interest and IMPORTANCE Mr.. La
Fargo is great master. and he has rem
dered lasting service to the cause of art.
None has had a wider influence upon
American art than he, but his influence
has been -eXerted more through his
thought than his work. AS Mr.. Sturgs
has said. his life has been like painter of
old time. for he is a traveller. reader, col
GN,,A u
tor; painter in large and in little. and, it
should be added. thoughtful critic and
writer He has been occupied with the
business of art for nearly fifty years, and
in that space of time put his hand to many
things. To him art has no boundaries
and palette may be set with oil paints
or bits OF colored glass. 1t was he who
painted the walls of Trinity Church, Bos-
ton. and designed the stained glass win
dowS in the Church of the Ascension,
New York. For one of the latter, the
Christ and Nicodemus' now in the
Evans National Gallery collection, was
made as a cartoon. In the Comparative
Exhibition" held in New York some years
ago was shown a remarkable landscape
which he had painted, and in the Wor
cester Art Museum is a figure painting
done by him in medium mixed with wax.
Always it would seem, there is reaching
beyond-an effort 10 enter a region I'M
explored 1t is for this reason worth
while to observe the group of paintings
which are now view. to mote tn care
with which each study has been wrought
and the effort which has been made to-
ward accuracy. There is story with the
FLOATING Head"-little kio-Sai watching,
one day. the blossoms floating down a
swollen stream saw what seemed to be
tortoise. but which upon being drawn to
land proved 10 be head lately severed
from it's body; crying with fright, the
child made the discovery known and the
head was given decent burial, but its
identity was never established Mr.. La
Fargo has read into this gruesome incl
dent meaning, and Is supposed to have
expressed in his picture the thought of
the death of the fierce. half-feudal sys-
tenn of Japan which co-eXisted with an
almost too subtle refinement of manners
and thought. Whether this is so or not
there is no doubt that he meant thu pic
ture to convey to the observer something
more than q horrify!ng fact. Art may
not concern itself with such things pri-
marily, but il may we'll serve such pur-
poses.
The exhibition of paintings made in
Egypt, Italy and Japan by Mr.. Joseph
Llndon Smith, which opened in the hemi-
cycle hall of the Corcoran Gallery last
Saturday and will continue for another
week, sets forth another phase of artistic
expression. OF chief interest in this ex-
hibition are the reproductions in color
ba Of oils