New-York tribune., 1909-02-21

sighted and neglected storied and tmeWorh
London, with its curving river reaches us one
mighty dome and countless spires, its quaint
blends and startling contrasts of archltecturaI
styles its bustling streets and restful parks ana
IFS subtleties of light and shade Turner dream
ing during his closing years of new mar'eIS u
color with light tempered by smoke and mist
spent hours on his Chelsea roof in patient study
of gray skies and yellow and red fogs; and
Whistler followed him I'm exploring the wharves
and docks and in painting nocturnes or river
and pleasure gardens. Between them they as
covered the artistic resources of London ana d
swarm of minor painters has found employ
rnent IN sketching the street and river scenes
with sombre grays and half lights
Mr. Herbert Marshall is the most industrious
and experienced Of the English painters who
have learned the fascination Of the misty
METROPOLIS He knows the river from royal
Richmond 10 the Pool Uttered with shipping. and
has painted the Embankment the Houses OF
Parliament the bridges and the tranquil reaches
of Chelsea as often Whistler etched the
wharves and dngy alleys leading to them. ne
now has rival in Mr.. Algernon Ialmase' WHO
has at the Goupil Gallery collection OF Sixty
oils and drawings devoted almost exclusively
to London scenes. He is not so close an OBJ
server nor so patient investigator OF the
e,,Ntleties Of half lights and chiaroscuro as MT
Marshall but one of the secrets of the great
city's appeal TO human sensibil1ty mas Deeh
mastered b,, the newcomer This is its endless
variety and fuiness of life He is not content
with paintfng the bridges in moonlight or thin
winter sunlight, Trafalgar Square with snow
and the stately Colonnade Of st. Martins in
f,u light the Serpentine in mist or jeweGed
glitter Solornon's porch at the Abbey and St
Marv's in the Strand, Chelsea Reach and the
Paddington Canal, Brompton Oratory and Con-
stitution Hill at twilight. and many other
familiar scenes and landmarks. He also sug-
eests the vivacity and brillancy of the metrop-
oils in glImpses Of Hyde Park corner in sum-
rner and PiccadiHy with It's ceaseless press of
traffic of Rotten Row and Kensngton Gardens
at their gayest, Of the passing of the Guards
with a throng of surprised spectators, and OF
theatres and railway stations at the busiest
hours In contrast with these animated scenes
are the bleak stretches of Putney Heath, sheep
walk in HYDE Park and the deserted Embank-
ment at midnight
Few painters since Turner and Whistler have
succeeded in reproducing the beauty of London s
sombre coloring. The ordinary practice is to
veil thoroughfare. park or riverside each with
gray mist which conceals more than it reveals
The true London grays are soft and radiant
as the steel-crested surges of moonlt sea- ana
they are most beautiful at night. A Wlndo"
opening upon St Jamess Park commands an
outlook upon iridescent masses of silvery foliage
under a pale moon shimmerlng waters Among
the trees broad expanse Of sparkling lights,
a ball of ruddy radiance at St James, S, and the
hickering lamps Of motor cars and carriages IN
the rnadE-ays Stars may not be seen in this
nocturne vet there is no blackness but beau
tiful blend OF browns and grays Ihe ghtterlng
lanes of haring lamps illuminate the park until
il is aglow with lumber and orange; and the
moving lights in the roadways flash out the
gavetv OF a pleasure loving metropolis II
there be beauty of color at night, so also there
is 4 radiant charm in the soft half-hghts and
misty atmosphere by daylight To reproduce II
on canvas or paper there must be subtle art
here must also be larger collection than
Mr. Taluage's If the variety OF so ancient a
capital as London is to be adequately suggested
t4o gives no hint of the eighteenth century red
bricl London of which there are 50 many
r,ict,lresque passages. especially among the inns
Of courts. He does not reveal the traditional
alories OF oldtlme villages which have become
duu and commonplace hives of suburban popu-
,atton. vet the landmarks remain in the East
End boroughs and on Surreyside and have
I,os,,t, Of their own. Sometimes il is the parish
church with a bit CT the ancient village green
around it and with square miles OF closely built
tenement districts bordering upon it; or il is
row of medieval almshouses strangely out OF
Mace among nocern Villas; or IL is an Eliza
bsthan or Jacobean mansion, still stately in
erite ~ shabbness and neglect where pres
uerous city merchant once lived and entertained