New-York tribune., 1909-01-06
ART EXHIBITIONS
,,odern German Painting at the
Metropolitan Museum.

81 esv-i~S by their energy Mooern tIeTTfian
.sp...,,ra Is being rapidly made over. New
srchi'e'. =, ,o-s.ior are being exploited on every
idess y L7;. and private commissions employ the
hsn" large number OF sculptors and the
pseN -rsLe a positively formidable body whose
ps4.,.f,s in Munich and Berlin alone give one a
en- - kind Of unbridled productivity. Then
senss are The illustrated periodicals. plain and
foe N NJ. : -.s-if- 10 the general interest in
eoo'e Tho nation has been on It's Inettle
tsac s- With France, tingling with new am
Eno Somewhere IN one of his essays advert
S"'- S,, she deificaton Of Goethe by the latter S
ins = cn,ntrzrnen Matthew Arnold wittiiy OBJ
feO ~ having created the greatest standing
series -, v-orld the Germans were bound TO
e-1Hs Ia met 20 match. Consciously or un-
SNe -. +ra, lave cherished the same motive in
ss.i,,es with the other arts They have re-
Us +o excel though It were necessary 70 90 so
-, strength. The movement toward the grand
,o+e5 .- av enthusiasm for classical antiqui-
fge Ia+o eighteenth century and early nine
~ =. .loy1v but Conclusvely superseded by
'se-l-, sv-nresSfve Of a thoroughly modern PEG
OF 80 ,rnon proving its efficiency in the general
-, scheme. The calm, as OF sequestered
"a, mich contented the "Nazarenes. gave way
SUI s. ..-vous and even feyered atmosphere of a
70 lae a. ,---s-e interested in a thousand
ssn. u-1s. has been the result? Divers re-
l---l- hrs reached the United States from time TO
~ - evarnplee Of latter day German art have
I'm ...ouv sppeared in the galleries. but hitherto
.se,,t Of the subject has had 70 pursue MS IN
W tons IN German soil. The exhibition which
Teslsa'io,1 Teslso1 ,-,e-e5 At the Metropolitan Museum
hss - oo5 many Of the documents in the case
70 our doors. ,, a.. .so,,.a
..is or that painter nor the failure oi one lioi
= - ~ another 10 have his work Illustrated al
I'-'- ,r.b nav he regarded as inimical to the
fuh % F :. . .-,=-,,,a,,t On the school as a school.
N -, German genius IL manlfests hsel
iAs % r,s a-,rrehended here without any dlf1l-
t. zhafsver Il IS 4 curious genius NlrHe' SIN
ave sud above all things, lnqulsluVe aS l" Do
.s-,sI facts OF existence Walk thfoush tHeee
- = the museum with a mind open 10 those
.nsrsnoental qualities shared hy every
=. -, m matter what peculiar dlrecuoh ms
- -rs- rake and you feel everywhere the IN
1ance n the same national force which mas oulit
s., the army or has given Berlin It's good pave
-,sn-s or has preserved the German loresUS- Inc
-, -ai,,ar roes for the thing that he can
.n,ch and measure, and this. he Il hoteo IN pass
tnC even when he is nominaly occupied Will IN
,r+,s+ivA issues Yet by some strange paradox
he ts not by any means man Ike Gsuuer' lor
bor thA visible world exists. Close as he tries TO
RET 10 tangible objects. Il Is neVeTtheless IN re-
spect 10 vision that he is weakest
On. Of the first things that YOU ask about an
-+,.+ Is How does he see his world" From the
-1sEs-ic drift of his work you would say that the
German rain-er earnestly sought 70 visualize his
ro-5 directly and in terms of truth, but as mat
Ter Of fact. there are elements in natures lndis-
-ensshe elements. which n misses as completely
IS though they we're not there Take, for example,
re landscapes in this exhibition There is one
bv Venzel modern GerInany's great man in art,
which IS extraordinarily successful in its interpreta
ten Of the very intimacy Of a scene in the open
sir This picture The Garden Of Prince Al
tr.cht's Palace. IS vitalized throughout, and In
one massage. the point the right at which path
leads ont from the garden. the impression OF We
sr Mp0Zei is UNIQUE. He
ar Old man when he died. some four years ago and
!ong before his death the school now under dis
cugson had formed itself. II learned little from
hin as regards the painting Of landscape and it
las learned hardly anything more from that i'm
Fessionisrn which began by being French, but has
become European. why-is the "Arco' OF Benno
Becker IN 2 black tone having no relation TO nat
u-e? Why is Hans Thomas Valley Near Ber-
nsa' as inert ana uninspired as map? Why is
Hans Won Petersen winter scene, "A Thaw," not
Suggestive for a moment Of the actual blealness
Of the season Of snow? IN the first place because
none n these a-tists-sud the observation applies
70 al their fAIlows-would appear 10 have really
clear visual conFci0Usness Of his material. There
are landscapes 1r-this collection which are merely
puEsins They show only a tentative grasp Of
ground cloud forms, little sense Of atmosphere,
and, what * perhaps most serious no power Of
generalization They catalogue the facts of nature
rather than translate them into artistic form, and
neir catalogue is, into the bargain. incomplete.
he situation IS a little odd Here are a number
cf painters who nothing if not students Of nat
ure yet nature seems psrpetually to elude them.
They tumble eagerly about her secrets, but these
remain inviolate. The explanation is partly. Of
course. matter n individual character. The man
o. authentic gifts will rise above the limitations OF
hk scnooi. Mcneil rose. Craftsmanship was
distinctive with him and he had. bAdes. the recti-
tads Of the devoted craftsman. II is great pleas
aFe to come UQon his drawings in this exhibition,
Or upon his brilliant little study. done half
usntafy ago Of scene in a French theatre. These
taHss are the work of true artist with the
tsf to see and the hand ps int. Similarly ster-
aag mci;s meet you in the peasant pictures by
toj and Leh@rrnann They disclose not only
k1sEledgs of ns rlre but an intuitive feeling for
Is qualities ttst reside r oil paint and that it is
" hfst duty OF the artist 70 bring out Lenhacf,
ncsh isss than they are in respect 10 color
saa fone, belongs fn the same category. His por-
uaas for good or foT iii. painted Turn from
"sse four men. however al veterans and all dowA
ae' more or less with the power which We Call
ss1ils' ana rarely indeed do you encounter pict-
~ TAT makes is appeal purely and simply as
t70s o painting IN fact there is but one per
Hnsnce on the pat ~ member Of the younger
s'ep which convevs immediate impression Of
.ssiaT, the "Ciirl with Sheaves Of Corn, painted
:. AT'hur Lsnehau,nlar untinely lost in 1901. He
"a ths root of TIA matter in him. He saw his
a-a'e iru;ffuv. re charm he knew how
snEeio7e il IN atmosphere. and his feeling for
'i "as sensitive and just. Lanshamn1er, one
- oeneTs had fair for beauty. Realist as ne
@ le could turn the facts OF realism to higher
me refining processes he exercised have lain
-oho The reach Of the typical German painter.
tNs eelk Of the work in this exhibition is dis
sppohuns for reasons very easily and briefly
.s's II Is heavy handed. often 10 the point Of
-tsnsss. = Is deficient in taste. Where the
Ssste oelicaey O. the noble richness OF painted
T'aoe may be concerned The German painters
~se As sealed. Look at The White Lady" OF
lehs skarbinz. and reflect upon what Orchardson,
England, Or DeHing in America. would have
nsoe ot the same theme The Portrait OF
eE, painted by Reinhold Lepsius does not com
- satavorably with 4 portrait by Sargent mere
. oseause The German lacks the Americans dex-
ls' out because. IN the treatment Of his text
e, The German is sluggish where his motive