New-York tribune., 1909-02-20
ART EXHIBITIONS
The Graues Collection of Paintings
and POrceLdins.

vii
forget the fact Schools wax and ~ane. and can
ons Of taste shift from extreme to the other.
II IS worth while TO be reminded. from time TO
time in thoroughly practical fashion, Of the dura-
lntv OF the real thing. matter what mode Il
may happen TO represent We being thus
minded the present moment. The work OF two
brilliant and intensely modern painters is being
shown in New York. Sehor. Sorollas pictures at
The Hispanic Museum, and extraordinary coll
lection of water colors by Mr.. John S Sargent at
tbe Knoedler galleries. enforce the lesson which Is
y,erhaps. inviting than any other to the
larger number Of workers in contemporary art
These stand for a thoroughly objective treat
rlent Of natural facts. and they especially
concerned in the reaction Of light upon those facts
Many young painter, dare say, would make
almost any sacrifice IL he could but do the sort
of thing that IS done by Mr.. Sargent by Seflor
Sarolla II Is the kind thing that is considered
in many quarters TO be better worth doing than
ANYTHING else. 1t is certainly the thing that is
most in harmony with the taste OF the present
tiue The ideals of the French romantic and
ratlI-alistic painters 1880 have lost something
of their old power the modern ina gination.
FSut have they lost their efficacy? Let student
visit the American Art Galleries and there the
coilectiOn Of Barbzou pictures formed by the late
Henry Graves which is TO be sold along with a
quantity Of Oriental porcelains belonging to the
same estate No doubt he is perfectly familiar
with the traits Of this school. But such a colec-
ton as this. formed largely Of masterpieces and
possessing peculiar unity. brings home the value
Of a great tradition with special force
Mr.. Graves was collector OF enthusiasm and
Discrimination. Occasionally some incongruous i'm
ruse would appear 70 have moved him. and there
are 2 few pictures here which seem out of place.
8 few costume pieces by Roybet. Charlemont and
Eouadroui couple OF 1ninuteIy painted landscapes
hv Pokitonow. two examples OF the Academic art
Of Gerome, and characteristic study OF woman
by Fenner- But least these pieces are all
admirable in their different ways-the two Geromes.
an Eastern interior and a nude. thoroughly
representative of Academic master-and in any
A7r~- --s7f In @7e
HE In this the prevailing note is that note OF
poetry and truth in which the painters of 1880 ex-
celled They TO be studied in splendid form
Nj Graves was lucky he e1acting. He
was especially fortunate in his purchases OF the
work Of Rousseau. The six specimens Of that
psinter are all fine. and some OF them demand even
warner tribute. The superb Forest OF Com
regne' particularly instructive where that Ques
tion Of the different kinds Of painting is concerned
Painted in 1S2 it illustrates transitional phase
of his art The grovths in the foreground
closely defined and the many slender tree
trunks IN the wood crovning the hill beyond. The
tops Of these trees also drawn with great care
and form something like silhouette against the
lirpid sky But II is interesting 10 observe how
fire a sense Of mass the painter has. As he
er1erges upon the broader manner toward which he
was always working he sees his landscape more
and more as a whole. Note. too. the beautiful de-
sgn IN this the manner in which perfectly nat
ural impression Is nevertheless conveyed on the
psinrers oTn strictly artistic Not observa-
alone went 70 tFe making OF ttnS master
hut great gifr Of construction This same gift is
Brilliantly exerted in the Evening in the Forest,
Fontsinebleau' a later and much more freely
painted work So romantically effective is the
composition in this that you would call il little
-1slcdra 4 II not that the artist Is SO
obviously sincere In these pictures and in the
Sumner Morning the Disc" with its beaut-
fally difused light and its loose handling the
point o. divergence between Rousseau and the lv-
fuE painters mentioned above is one not only Of
SO oFf fundamental feeling
Rousseau does not stop AZ surface beauty He in
terprets for you the poetry Of earth: he communi-
Gates z mood he filters the truth through tnag1na-
1iou As he transhgures it does he touch its in
tegrity7 Hardly.
Rousseau had in truth. something % the scien-
tist about him. as vel much of the poet He is
always soucirous for structure for form A kind
Of typographical accuracy underlies even his most
emotional performances Though his comrades
shared his knowledge. in varying measure. they
less inclined bring It into the foreground.
Dsgbigny IS perhaps the nearest 20 him in purely
nsturaLstic power He loves the of the soil,
he sweetness Of softly flowing wgter. the fresh
ness Of growing things. Among his four pictures
here there is one. the Fading Lights, in which
h Is the sheer painter. extortng sensuous quail
iJy from his pigments with direct and fluent
touch. IN his other paintings he is just the lover
Ct the pastoral beguiling you with the charm Of
ms style in the Grey Skies a Summer Day
the Green Pasture" and the Village by the Ofse.
bit making his appeal chiefly on the ground OF
ulln FeCo-ued Win slTnpnCllg ana dn oiAlOSt al
less emotion The key changes in the work Of
Diaz He too like these fellows OF his, has an
instinct for construction Witness the magnificent
composition IN the "E1dge Of the Forest well
the srnau ''Eontainebleau'' and its companion
piece. The Pool" But his aim is first and last to
touch his tree trunks and his foliage with jewel
ike sparkling Of light, and 70 make luminous the
d.stant zistas in his pictures In him romantic
sentiment is flung nature piece Of cloth
ri gold might be fung a figure His is a
eughing and If you like rather superficial tenn
perament
Corot attacks his subject with a not dissimilar
lghrness and grace. but he is tender where Diaz is
dazzling: for his comrades mundane geyety ne
substitutes revery and quiet exquisiteness- MI
firsvess three examples OF him not OF uniform
excellence. The "OId Mil Vile d'Avray' is
very lovely with its cool grays and syery greens,
and there are engaging passages In The Haycock,
but ii Is only in the simple elegance Of the I"I-
light IN lyrical charm Of that picture that
We C'o-ot al his best Dupre is more generously
represented here THAI are any OF the others Eight
paintings by him shown. and while two or
three OF these such the Evening Landscape
and a Ray of Sunshine just good charac-
teristc notes there are several pieces IN which he
uses 10 a very high plane. In intensity OF poetic
ferVor Dupre in his happier moments carried the
barbizon tradition about far il could go. Look
a. the Talpitating sky in The Road 10 the VII
lage," consider the elegiac mood in the Evening
fRiight the stark dramatic power in the Moon
rise In 6be presence of pictures like these you
feel very keenly the scope which the school gave
10 imagination the ardor with which its members
followed the conviction that II is expression
Of NATURES truth 1t is also expression Of the
artists personality. For another confirmation OF
this principle turn 10 the two examples OF Millet.
the Sheep Shearing" and the Woman Making
L5e. which both transcripts from familiar hfe
IN the Of these the painter gives the home
ly sweetness Of the scene its face value, so TO
1. afa l 1