New-York tribune., 1908-03-03
ART EXHIBITIONS.
The Works Of augustus Saint
Gaudens at the Museum

great artist IL has been with positive affection
for him that the members of the committee nave
labcred and peculiarly personal feeling VIII
doubtless tinge the critical appreciation of every
visitor to the stately sculpture hall in which the
collection hes been arranged. 1t is only rev
months since Saint -Gaudens died This exhi-
bitIon brings back very vividly the emotion IN
spired by his loss. Yet in the very same moment
one kndles with the purely artistic aspect of the
occasion and perceves its unique value for the
student of sculpture Here al! the fruits OF Saint
Gaudens's assembled in marble or bronze
where originals have been procurabe or IN plaster
casts or photographs. His is illustrated at
practically full length. and while much that Is
shown is widely familiar. our knowledge OF MS
genius is somehow deepened- We gain sharper
realization of his range. One impression Is cor
rected or amplfed by another. We are not only
g.ad tribute paid to him, but are CRATE
ful the opportunity to apprehend his Work In
a fuller and richer light.
The catalogue, an uncommonly well compiled ana
useful record, something over hundred
numbers. has been chronologicaliy arranged
beginning with the bust OF his father whlcn SAINT
Gaudens made in 1867, when he was in his teens,
and carrying the story down to the gold COINS
which came from the United States Mint only
little while ago. The Phillips Brooks. for Boston
is absent, in far there is a souvenir OF
1t In the study for the head of the Christ "hich
forms part of the composition Another scheme dat
ing from Gaudenss closing period the series
of caryatides Albright Gallery. at Buffalo
is likewise withheld. But the aliegorical groups
for the Boston Library included in plaster
casts from models. and by special good fortune
the New York public is also permitted to see the
Lincoln bronze. which is TO be erected IN
Chicago Again and again as the sequence Is 1oi-
lowed from the works of the sculptors pupIage 10
those of his prime one comes upon things when
have not been visible for years or have been nade
known to the outside world only in photographs
This fresh appeal is made more particularly IN tte
vouminous series of portrait Inedaliions anu
plaques. These with the larger reliefs, have been
bly- diSfr
walls. Here and there A panel has rather un-
fortunate color effect. work in marble being sur
rounded by three four portraits in bronze each
having different patina- But these TWO
marked contrasts were perhaps, inevitable DOM
mating the reefs the heroic monuments the
Farragut and the Sherman, the two lAncoins the
Puritan the idea! figure for the Adams TOMB
This last, by the way, appears at distinct dlsad-
vantage. The plaster gives hardly any ldea OF the
noble qualities of the bronze and without its true
setting of architecture and nature the conception
| loses much that in its present form IL might
| almost be said TO spell anticmax. 1t would
| have been wiser have shown this masterpiece
! in an immense photograph. each of the caryat-
| ides for hte Vanderbilt mantelpiece has been
! shown.
| Such an exhibition as this puts the work of an
artist a test. II IS not question or MS
! being shown both at and if you like. at
! his worst. A may never have fallen below d
| certain brilliant standard and yet, II all his works
| are gathered together in place, he may trouble
in the places for which they were created
excite in the beholder ferent, mood when they
! confront him all crowdeH together and duly IA
| beiled in the curious air Of museum. In the long
run. naturally nothing is really lost because your
| of genius. in the long rum is bound 10 con
| duer no matter how he is displayed. So it is with
| Sant-Gaudens. 1t worth while to bring to-
gether this collection if only to demonstrate the
| mysterious vitality of his art the wonderful va
| riety which a great achieve within the
| JT,,,itc n rty-le he n
| gers upon the clay is of the most eXqusitely
| personal things IN the world. He may adhere to
| the simplest lines OF design in the making Of a
| portrait discard all adventtfous accessories. and
| in fact give to work after the other much the
| same broad character. But to every new work ne
gives a new envelope which is say that to every
| bit of modelling he gives new charm l"
| pass in review Sant-Gaudens's portrait medalIons
| is to turn the pages of volume fun or surprises
Largely this is due will presently be shown. TO
his intense feeling for the human side of his work.
| His concern for character constantly comes out In
his portraits They are brim full Of life: YOU di-
vine in them his for idiosyncrasy. his skill
in giving plastic form simply a sitters feat
| ures but to his temperament. But amazing in this
array of portraits Is the play of technique, the
occupation the artist with this or that passage
of form appeals to him simply for the sake OF
| what he can make out Of it in sensuous modula-
tions of surface. There you recognize the authen-
ticy of his gilt. the stamping OF his individuality
of his inspiration upon the bronze the transfOrma
ton of good likeness" the saying goes, into
| a work of creative art
There Is a point easily enforced by a process of
| contrast which striklngy confirms the dependence
of much OF Saint -Gaudenss success upon nothing
more less than the autographic quality in his
work In his earliest reIiefs. the Cornelius
| Vanderbilt" the head is set against decorative
| background This background has pleasing ef
| feet and similar motive is used to good purpose
| in the Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt" which belongs
| to the same period. But. as time went on. Saint
| Gaudens appears to have been less and less In
clined TO RELY upon expedent of the sort His
| tendency was all toward simpIifcation and he
generally content to lettering or some small
garland or the like to break the of those
areas in a relief lying outside the portrait itself.
| He concentrated himself upon the latter. though
he would reduce his modelling to its purest essence,
| relying for his effect the beauty of a contour
and the caress given surface in the inteTpreta-
| ton Of some last subtety of expression. If you
could cut n square inch from of the gray back
| grounds of Velasquez Yer Nicer YOU would still
| have in the isolated bit OF texture OF
sensuous delight So a fragment from one of Saint
| Gaudens's reiefs would ravish the eye and give
YOU the conviction that great sculptor had passed
that way.
The matter calls for emphasis because Sant-Ciau-
dens's technique peculiarly bound up with mis-
instinct for beauty. The stress is all laid skill
fu craftsmanship in his earliest works-in the in
teresns bust of his fatlcr or in the not particu-
larlv distinguished but not wholly unmpressve
marble statue of 'Silence'-and. in fact the pro-
ducttop of a work of creative Imagination such a
| the Adams monument in his
career But the fascination of cAa rscter almost
Immediately rne,i took hold upon him onse past the
stage of cameo cutting (which is represented here
bv several pieces from his hauGl he became not
only the ardent technican. but the man of ideas
the man with things to say Portraiture which
ne gave so much of his time, served inteectu-
alize his arr; in,erpenetrate that modelling which