New-York tribune., 1909-01-13
AN AMERICAN SALON
The Exhibition at the COrcoran Gal
Iery tn Washington
From e star Correspondent Of III. Tribune

ans building every two years with an exnibi-
,.or Of works by contemporary artists. they as
.,,red the SUCCESS OF rheir plan by making a
-.s,,, good start The ssow Of 1857 embodied
, noliev that boun6 to attract public sup
,o-- and 10 make the artists all over the coun-
-, hestir themselves with q sense OF q new and
1ne opportunity. The Jury did :ts work well,
about $4,000 was spent in the purchase Of piot-
,,es-some 90 which went TO enrich the gaerys
,e-nanent ccIiAction-and the idea got abroad
that here. - East, We were 10 have something
l:ke an American salon" The show of 1909
confirms that IDEA. II the institution which
has been 50 long and 50 widely discussed
is ever to be crsaied in this country it can
nnly hs through the adoption of certain
methods which maybe summed UP in q few
words Make your exhibition. representative
Of the best men: give budding talent its chance.
hut do not unduly Coddle il; restrain. so far as
Is humanity possible, the persistence OF fat
rediocrity and keep your collection of pictures
within reasonable numerical bounds. They bear
these dictates Of common sense in mind at
Washington, and the result. admirable in itself.
is also full of golden promise for the future.
Local pride is 2 fine thing but national pride
is finer. and it is an open question to whether
We may not some day subordinate the annual
exhibitions in New York. Philadelphia and Pitts
burg 20 Of concentrated significance at
washington. The enlargement of The Corcoran
Gallery. which is only question of time. would
make this easily practicable. 1t may be noted,
too that when the architectural renovation Of
the national capital. now going forward, is
finally rounded out the city will provide such
setting for q great annual demonstration of ar
tistIc progress could hardly be paraieied
anywhere in Europe. Much, no doubt, remains
70 be done and several generations may pass
before the plans that exist On paper are all car
ried oft in marble and in the materials OF the
nj s% fa-ich ING n
see what has already been accomplished. Mill
ions are being spent upon public buildings, and
the new movement for the making Of q beauti-
full CITY has been developed with so much care
that every fabric now rising from the ground
is work Of truly monumental architecture 1t
z-ouId be interesting TO dwell upon the different
contributions that being made in this artis-
tic campaign. 10 describe the new office build
fngs for the Senate and the House and 10 ex-
hfbit the wisdom with which plenty Of space is.
little by little being gained, not simply for
buildings but for the background that they
need. The Washington OF the future viii be
admirable for its architecture and for
its fountains. greensward and trees. The sub
feet is too large to be treated in passing but
there is one structure. completed not long ago,
OF which II is irresistible TO linger though it
be only for moment. This is the vast Union
Station, designed by Mr. D H. Burnham. 1t is
work Of magnificent simplicity. perfect in its
proportions, genuinely artistic in all its details
and. in short, standing proof that one Of the
most prosaic OF utilitarian edifces may be in
vested with & kind OF nobility. There is one
railway station In Paris in which a similar ef-
tcrt has been made to gain e large artistic
sglt, but the building hardly be compared
with this one, and in no other European capital
Is there station worthy 10 be so much as men
nnned n the same breath with Mr.. Burnham's
majestic composition. Here on the threshold OF
Washington, quite much elsewhere the
imagination is touched with sense Of the ulu-
mate destiny Of the city as the logical centre
for the periodical display Of the best in Aueri-
can art
Returning 70 the exhibition at the Corcoran
Gallery and to the question Of It's bearing on the
evolution OF Salon. II is natural to ask II II Is
better than that OF 1907. It marks an improve
rnent at least in so far as II marks certain i'm
portsnt difference. The earlier collection was
dominated by MIR. Sargent: he held the centre Of
the stage with his state portrait Of The -Four
Doctors He is conspicuous, as always, upon
this occasion, with three or four old and new
portraits one OF which. the recent Miss Town
send" illustrates his virtuosity in its lightest,
most aIluring mood But the specially interest
ing thing about the collection Of nearly four
hundred paintings Is its variety. II is not an
affair Of q few star pictures. surrounded by
quantity Of conventional stuff but well bal
snced show disclosing the main currents OF
American painting, and all the minor eddies that
have any value. The who have long since
ranged themselves and are. so 10 say, horS con-
c0urs make no doubt, their very detached and
distinguished episodes upon the walls. There
are the Sargents, there are two Of Abbott
Thavers best known canvases. and John La
Fargo and Winslow Homer both lend weight TO
the exhibition. But If tour Of these galleries
Is peculiarly stimulating il is because il shows
us American art in the making, shows US the
who are conquering new ground, expert
mentng, and filling their work with new He
Al this distance IT is, perhaps. futile TO enumer-
specific pictures TO any extent, or 10 describe
them. II is the broad impression that counts.
This is one of exhiIsrating individuality ana
technical adequacy There are al KINGS OF
pictures In this collection. and so many OF them
ere sood, On. may turn from Mr.. Dewing's
Yellow Tulips" type of mastery exquisite
ness 20 picture like the 'Croupe d'Amis' OF
newcomer Mr. Robert MacCameron, work in
which an ugly theme is made profoundly inter
esting bv sheer power Of technique. Against
the fdealisu1 Of Mr.. H. O. Walker or the sca-
denic performances OF Mr. Barse and Mr. Cox
you may set the vivid realism which crops out
in score Of different ways. in the still life
studies Of Mr. Garrison and Mr. Chase. in the
open air figure pieces Of Mr. Benson ana MT
Reid in the similarly luminous interiors by MI.
Tarben and Mr. Hassam, and in landscapes past
counting
The trend everywhere is toward the best of
ideals that which makes for truth and for a
really personal handling of the artists medium
There is Of course lot OF work here flustrat-
.rg the specious cleverness Of the studio-the
turning Of a portrait into decorative arrange
devoid Of light and air; the exploitation OF
color for its sake; skflful trihing with ora