New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-01-23
LONDON ART
Unter academy - Signs of q
Market. =

Tbs McCulIoch collection of modern paintings
-, heen lent for exhibition at Burlington House,
-Asre ten rooms are filled and not more than
lie dozen works are lifted above the line. As
he nictures have been purchased during the last
.sn4y wears and the painters of the regular
,,-,t,sb school have been strongly favored the
..6ernv in rendering tribute to a munificent
.-,n serves the interests OF its own members
s%s,r work is substituted for the antique mas
..-nieces from the private collections ordinarily
shoxn during the winter. and it is seen to better
s-sntaE4 than ever before because the walls
:. rot crowded and the pictures are well hung
= a. indeed a small but superior Academy with
80 or more French snd German pictures
sse5 70 the British works, and with fourteen
hro,zes and marbles in the sculpture hall It
.,u not only draw in the shillings. but also help
- advertise the current wares OF Burlington
House.
The late George McCulloch a Scotsman.
Aa left his birthplace. Glasgow. in his youth;
hos adventures in various countries, and made
,o-+,,ne out of the Broken Hill mines in New
eouth Wales After his return TO England he
ssrsn to purchase paintings. and continued to
.,la-sa his collections until his death, in 1907.
Dis earliest purchase was 1.-The Press Gang by
.lsver6er Johnston one Of the anecdotes in
-o,,, which were popular during the Victorian
-;od This was followed by Lady Buffers
.T,ts--nan.. a more spirited work. and Mr..
zs+on Riviere Mr.. Leader, Mr.. Stanhope
Forbes Lord Leighton, Sir l. Alrna-Taoema ana
otber Academy painters were taken up In turn
The collector trained his taste by frequentlng
she exhibitions at Burlington House. ana &C
oeoted the standards prevailing there In the
course of twenty years he made representative
colection Of works exhibited there from summer
- summer. and he enlarged ii with few Eng
n.h -Raphaelite pictures and French ana
,.s-r,an rafntings selected from small group Of
artists He did not always wait for painter 10
win a reputation. but not infrequently purchased
early works Of promising men. He was now
ever. slow to recognize merit in outsiders OF the
New English Art Club and the Glasgow school.
and seldom took off his Academy spectacles In
iudgine whether a canvas or statuette was
worth buying Altogether he was an ideal
natroa of art from the point OF view OF Burning
ION House. and the privilege Of exhibiting these
$50 works has been gratefully accepted by the
Council.
As one enters the first gallery he sees on the
opposite wall two intensely interesting works
which are outside the range Of academic tradi-
tious One is lovely Burne-Jones. Love
Among the Ruins with the lovers clasped IN
fond embrace among the wild roses and seem
ing half frightened By excess OF Joy, and the
Ford" with the aged knight in golden arnor
riding across the river on a black horse and
carving two children over the food On one Of
the larger walls is the later Millais. Lingering
Autumn" with its BROS stretch Of marshy
ground and low trees gle8oIng with the fading
splendors Of the year. and on the opposite side Is
g notably fine Alma Tadema, The Sculpture
Gallery with variety of marble textures ana
Qualities Of stone surfaces. and a group OF spec
.ators waiting for the slave to turn great vase
sround on its pedestal In the gallery beyond
ths-e is reversion TO the Victorian story telling
rictures in FTldes's "Al-Fresco Toilet ana
woodss Christening" and Leighton's garden
of ,be Hesperides" while good in craftsman
shin. is crude in color; but the Shannon, Mag
noia," is gem Of modern portraiture, and the
abbev. Richard, Duke Of Gloucester, and the
Lady Anne" with its splendid play of reds and
blacks in the funeral procession, is one Of the
American painter's most dramatic works In
the adjoining room where water colors are orol-
narflv shown. are two Whistlers, the beautiful
Valparaiso Nocturne, with its blends OF blue
and the artists own portrait, with its simplicity
of technique and vivacity of expression
In the longest gallery are Dagnan- Bouverets
r5rtraits Of Mr.. and Mrs McCulloch, more strik-
Ing than Michies blue and yellow combination
IN TIE first room but less vigorous than Sar-
gents vivid half-fgure of the collector Win
head propped up with cushions. The centres are
filed with Leighton's classical "Daphnephoria'
with its long triunphal procession. and with
richardson's Young Duke" toasted at
crowded board decorated with fruit and flowers
There IS only single Watts, "Fata Morgana,'
with Fortune in fun fight and a knight in hot
pursuit and catching hold OF her blue draperies.
The collector evidently did not care for highly
imaginative works with intricate symbolism.
he preferred simpler anecdotes, classical or
modern. like Warehouses; Flora and the
zephyrs" Dicksee's Burial of the VIKING
Stones Gamblers Wife, Bouguereau's cupid
snd Psyche" Solomon's Judgment of Paris or
I.ucas's call to Arms" He did not hnd a
Brsngwyn Of the highest quality in Charity
nor a representative Sargent in On his hoh-
Gay: Salmon Fishing in Norway but ne en-
7iched his collection with a pair of Burne-
Jones's Characteristic works, THE Sleeping
Princess" and 'rPsyches Wedding; acquired
second excellent Abbey in Lear and Cordelia,"
with its splendors of color. and encouraged the
Using painters of marines, landscapes and sub
tscs pictures with generous patronage
With the exception of portraiture. of which
the Whistler is the best example, the McCulloch
collection is fairly good selection OF the moo
ern work seen in London during the last geher
alton Pot boilers and miscalculateo ruoplsh
are not lacking but there are many first rate
pictures by nearly all the best English painters
since the pre- Raphaelite movement. and Re"
excellent French works. II is more interesting
taan ths ordinary Academy, because IL contains
SO many "reminiscences Of the best shows at
Burlington House and IL offers more encourage
ment TO struggling artists because there is PROOF
hat there is a market for modern pictures and
that the traffic is not confined to old masters
with nercsrerv dealers running up prices at
the sroen.s &c -o;nio,aires The academicians