New-York tribune., 1909-04-08
compensation for the inherent weakness and in
sincerity Of the play itself

compensation for the inherent weakness and in
sincerity of the play itself.
Mr.. Spencer Stanhope dying last August in
his eightieth year. could not be called the last Of
the pre- -Raphaeites. for Mr. Holman Hunt has
survived him. Nor could he be truthfully de-
scribed as a leading member of the famous
group for he lacked individual force and re-
peated the methods and mannersms of his early
associates. Yet he devoted the working time Of
long life with consistency of purpose TO ideals
of art based upon the Tuscan primitives. and
lived in Florence for twenty-eight years, labor
ing in his studio with undated enthusiasm TO
the end. The memorial exhibition of thirty or
more of his works at the Carfax Gallery reveals
his loyalty TO the pre- phaelite tradition. which
he learned during his youth at Oxford and at
Rossettis studio in London. It represents every
decade of his career as an artist, and shows that
his best work done at early period, when
he painted Thoughts of the Past" picture
which might be taken for an early Millais,
sincere is the treatment excellent is the de-
sign and beautiful the color. The later work
bore the impress of Burne-Joness influence. but
there no Improvement in craftsmanship and
the use of color became less decorative Yet he
went dreaming about beauty in a world of
his own. where the maidens were pale-faced and
melancholy and the landscapes were as strange
those
worked out literary pictorial theme after
another without reference to the life to the
art of the time, and was apparently Indifferent
whether the paintings were purchased or re-
mained in his studio. a literary and artistic re-
cuse, detached from the world of action and
thought, he continued to reflect the ideals and
visions of a more childlike and ingenious age.
The Carfax room, where this collection of oil,
tempera and water color pictures is shown, is
like whispering gallery where echoes of old
time art are softly repeated. THE Wine Press"
suggests Mr.. Holman Hunts Light of the
World; Rossetti's influence is felt in the long
necked. strangely drawn maidens and in the
warm glow of color; Millais's sympathy with
purely literary themes is shared by the weaker
craftsman; Burne-Jones is reflected in Love in
Danger" with Cupid approaching break in
bridge. his eyes bandaged and accompanying
sprites affrignted, and Watts. who was his first
mentor in art, is vaguely seen in knowledge
Strangling Ignorance" and Patience on the
Monument Perhaps the strongest influence
has been Burne-Joness art. Yet no Keen OBJ
server can make the tour of this little gallery
without being conscious that the painter had
been with Rossetti. He was not a colorist as
Rossetti was: nor had he followed Watts's ad-
vice and allowed himself to he Influenced by the
Venetans. He was fascinated in his youth by
the pale shades of the early Florentine painters,
and never weary Of experimenting with
tempera as medium. When his friend Burne-
Jones told him that his color the finest in
Europe he was encouraged TO go he had
begun, whether his pictures found lacked
purchasers. So he ended his days among his be-
loved F1orentine masters. the true pre-Raphael-
ties and while his color schemes were fainter
and his figures out of drawing more and more,
he was serene and happy in the pursuit Of
beauty as he saw II. / y. F.