New-York tribune., 1909-06-04
LONDON ART SHOWS
Mr. Beerbohnt's Caricdtures-Mr.
Sargenfs Recredtions.

rscr,,i+ and introduces himself with grotesque
audacity as dapper little dandy surrounded oy
an astonished group OF veteran artists There
are fifteen Of his cartoons among the black ana
white work of MI Walter Sickert, Mr.. John, MT
Pissaro and other careful craftsmen. and they
are more amusing than any work that mas oeen
seen in Punch" since Du MaurieTs time One
IS skit on the repertory theatre. with MI Her
bert Trench battling for life with a whirling
swarm of playwrights and actresses. Others re-
cord the triennial negotiations between Mr. Hall
Caine and Mr. Heinemann. and the reappear-
ance Of Mr.. George Moore in Chelsea to receive
the artist models indignant reproof: Ought
to be ashamed O. yerself-coming an taking the
bread out O pore girls mouths Loro
Curron is portrayed with a grand manner as
nonce a proconsul always a proconsul'; MI
schuster's excitement over the discovery OF
pianist Is pleasantly exaggerated: the annual
protest of Lord Ribblesdale. Mr John and Mr.
Stirling art-Crawfurd against the spring
IA shtons is srotesoueIy illustrated: and Mr. John
Galsvorthy Mr. Hugh Hammersey, Mr Clement
Shorter and other worthless are quietly saurizeo-
The snobbishness of the day is effectively played
with when a fashionable chronicler Is causnt
in the act of zealously noting that Lord So
and-So was oct and about in the neighoorhood
of Piccadilly and that he was looking the picture
Of health
The best Of these humorous Cartoons IL d ia
e.tv Of Mr.. sargents beautiful picture, Cash
mere" in the Academy. The seven girls Win
their shawls and hoods. are regrouped so as 10
create the Impression that they are importunins
the painter FOR sttings: and stalwart Mr. SaF-
gent bristlins with annoyance, is shouting 10
Cooks interpreter: What is II they want,
What No! confound it, Really, this Is 700 pad
Don't they know that I've made UP my nina
irrevocably not 10 accept any more commits
sions?" The conversion Of the seven maidens
into Queue OF fashionable claimants for the
honors Of portraiture is happy conceit- and II
is carried out with inventive skill There are no
poisoned shafts IN Mr.. Beerbohms quiver. he
hits his mark with a touch light as thistle
down. and the victim does not know that ne
has been ridiculed. Exaggeration Of face ana
figure is done with so free a hand that there
cannot be sensitiveness. and the comic spirit
enliveninE caricature and text is So playful that
the subject does not think Of himself as VIC
tim but enjoys the laughter at his own expense
Mr. Sargent himself is contributor to the
exhibition Of the New English Art Club ana
brilliant play he makes of his paints There
are Eve Of his sparkling Oriental and Alpine
sketches in which jewelled effects Of color ana
light are produced by amazing brushwork- Per
hap. the most beautiful one is Far Niente with
idIers playing chess by the side Of a brook with
verdant banks It is Joyous harmony OF color
under the transhgurtng touch OF warm sunlight
Under the olives" Is more sonlhre WITH us
masses of dull green. but the sense OF loy III
life returns with fresh vtvacity In the loNey
sketch Of trees and meadows glorihed by hgh''
In the South" mastery study OF browns
and rravs is The Solitary but even more
brilliant is The Black Brook in which the
shadows are u,assed and the colors deftly modu-
,s,Aa Tha .pActator does not need 70 be told
hit ~rNFfF -
vs,s ~ rapid Improvisation. Portrait painting
ana decorative panels may have become toll
some and irlsorne TO him. but surely he mas
holiday recreation IN these records of nomentary
effects Of light and color.
The New English Art Club. which mas iou"u
commodious quarters in the Sufro'k street ga
leries and nearly doubled Its exhibit has IN MI
John its most uncertain and unequal painter
He can paInt with dignity and power, as Is
shown by his fine character study OF MT VIII
lam Nicholson the artist. but he can also waste
hi. taJents-and he is always mastery drafts
ran-{n crude compositions ike THE way
Down 10 the Sea" with its procession OF four
women in ugly gowns following a naked chlId-
Mr. Rothenstein seldom fails in the psychology
Of portraiture and his portrait Of the Right Hon
Charles Booth. the laborious investigator OF
noetropoIitan poverty and social reforms. Is
most truthful revelation Of nobility Of character.
his library with his books and papers around
hin, and sympathy for the working world shines
cut Of the bright blue eyes and the benignant
face Mr. William Orpen's best work is a por-
trait group of half dozen men naturally posed
in a room full Of atmospheric branch Of paint
ing in which he excels English competitors. MI
Nicholson with a brilliantly painted nude, Car
lima" is the best known Of the outsiders. and
newcomer Miss Swynnerton, has been rewarded
with a prominent place for her vivacious por-
trait OF Sir Edgar Speyer's little daughters In
landscape art Mr.. Wilson Steer again displays
his pre-eminence III composition and color with
Mr William McTaggert coming rival in
two works of distinction. Autumn in Rosslyn
Park" and field of lilies in cool sunlight.
There are exhibitions of Hoppners at one gal
lery and of Jan Steens at another-each a
memorable event for art lovers; and among the
one-man shows the selections Of Mr.. Steers and
MT Clausen's works are highly interesting. The
Hon Neville Lytton has large collection at the
Carfax Gallery. with French water color artist,
Mr. Charles Cieofroy, to I'LL out gaps in the wall
spaces Mr. Lytton has charm and color sense
rather than power, and succeeds in making a
Spanish beauty out of Miss Lillah Mccarthy
without bringing out the character in Mr. ". s |
Blunt's face If he fails in his portrait of Mile.
Adeline Genee. he puts swing and movement |
into his tempera pictures of the morris dancers |
and the Graces. One of the most delightful ex- |
hibtions is at the French Gallery where fifty |
examples of Israels. Harpignes. Matthew Maris |
and Lhermitte are shown If the sea tragedies |
of Israels and the landscapes of Harpignes are /
sombre the art of Maris fills the gallery with |
charm of color and tender sentiment. for there !
are lovely pictures of children In blue and even |
daintier fancies from fairyland. with princes |
and prncesses and enchanted castles and for |