The sun., 1909-11-17
ARo0ND THE GALLERTKs.


Company are located at $50 Fifth avenue.
between Forty seventh and Forty eighth
streets. They are oommodious and we'll
lighted. and they were recently inaugu-
sted with some pictures from the private
collection OF Mr.. and Mrs. Charles p. Taft.
shown 10 the public for the first time.
Not many dealers can boast OF such a
sdedica tion OF the house as this gathering
| OF old masters. Mr.. Taft is a collector
Of taste. and does not conine himself
| TO any single school or nationality. The
eleven pictures hung gt Scott a Fowles
by no means represent the range Of the
Taft gallery. but they suffice as a proof
OF catholic connoisseurship. A Rem
brandt Reynolds. two Gainsboroug CHS.
three Frans Halses. two Raeburns. Hob
bema and Hoppner make up an sttrac-
| tive exhilition. The ohief Halls In a large
standing portrait OF Miohielsz de Wael.
formerly in the collection OF Mr.. Arthur
Sandsrsen. Scotland. IL was exhibited
at the winter exhibition OF old masters
at Burlington House. London. 1907. The
paint is Halls Of the bravura period: tho
head may be seen at Haarlem in the
Doelen group. the -Arohers OF st. George
The two othe, portraits by Halls are from
the collection OF Lord Talbot de Malahide,
Ireland. and depict young man holding
his hat to his side and a young woman
with one arm over the back OF a chair.
There is charm in the woman's expression.
and the painting OF her gold bracelet is
mastery; but both heads are literally
imprisoned behind a shiny coat OF varnish.
| You feel that IL the lady's smile was less
subtle she might crack the canvas
In picture dealers parlance the Rem
brandt is important II belongs to his
early. smooth and less profound period
nSSS). and contains pa ssa ges Of flowing
/ paint. admirable draughtsma nship. and
as composition is finely suggestive.
This picture was formerly known as
the Pourtales Rembrandt The Hob
bema landscape, with figures painted by
Adriaen Vandervelde, is good Hobbema.
For the Sir Joshua Reynolds. a portrait
OF Mrs. Weyland and her son. dated l77a.
we confess to less liking. though il has
some of the grace and the color OF the
English master. Gainsborough's por-
trait OF Maria WalDole is worth looking
at. but the portraits Of the Tomlinson boys
are better. Both examples hoast dis
tiIction and rich coloring The Hoppner
is a portrait Of Mrs. Coussnaker tl7ss),
and the Raeburns are heads OF Edward
Sackville Fraser and Jane Fraser TytIer.
This latter is a notable picture. lis to be
hoped that Mr.. and Mrs. Taft will extend
the time limit OF this exhibition. New
York is getting a liberal education this
autumn in the Dutch schools Messrs
Scott a Fowlee are also showing a Romney
Of superior quality, a portrait OF Mrs.
Corbet and child. lovely in tone and
feeling.
the American Fine Arts Building, West
Fifty-seventh street. Is distinctly a hen
party and is mildly entertaining With
few exceptions-that leap from the walls
to your eyes as our French friends would
say-the show is feminine. Water colors.
pastels. gouache. tempsra and their nu-
merous permutations are in the key
Of feminine fancy and ingenuity. MIR.
Dufner's cold-sweet combinations are
the theme Of laudstion. get he is more
feminine in style than Paula Himmels-
bach the daughter Of the pianist John
Himmelsbach- whose series OF locomo-
tives. evidently studied first hand at the
Baldwin Locomotive Works. Philadelphia
might have come from a virle fist. There
are nearly 400 pictures, miniatures in
cluded. and about a dozen are worthy
OF a second glance. Colin Campbell
Cooper's Columbus Circle seen from
above. is by no means as confused a pat
tern as the actual spot seems to be: at
least the artist has made a pattern and
presented II in a broad way. Alexander
Robinson continues TO improve on
renewed acquaintance; his color spots
are deep and vibrating. his vision nfal-
iibly pictorial. Hlda Belchsr has been
awarded the Beal money prize for her
Young Woman in White a graceful,
neatly modelled young woman in a sitting
posture. The textures are excellent. but
within the gown OF the girl there isn't
much substance. &. p. Gruppe has al
ways something to say. and Jerome
Myers color notes are human. Tony
Nell's single figure has chic, and Charles
! Warren Eaton's Italian pictures a classic
touch not in key with their surroundings:
the same may be said OF Howard Russell
Buffers -Autumnal Sunset. a carefully
| balanced composition. cool in quality.
the tree silhouettes recalling-not too
markedly Elmer Living
ston MacRae shows shrewd vision and
plenty OF technical assurance. and Luis
Mora. fresh from Spain. is brilliant but
without convincing warmth. There are
| other contributions that must go un-
noticed. but they have admirers in abun-
dance.
Among the acquisitions at the Metro
politan Museum are a striking sketch
for his famous Raft OF the Medusa" by
Gericault. and a %Cruc;fxion- by Gerard
David. An overscrupulous observer
might wish that this specimen from the
Flemish Primitive master were an attribu-
ton. IL only family recalls TO any one
who has studied him at Bruges or Brus-
sels his gentle. naive sweetness The
exhibition OF the Dutch masters still
holds upstairs and Ia acting multi
tudes. as IL should. Rich in Rembrandts
with several glsring exceptions). and
Ha lses and vermeers. II is weak in Jan
Steens and minor masters; and there Is
at least one Halls that should be signed
Dirk instesd OF Frans. The De Hoochs
are Of quality; better are not to be found
outside OF Holland. and for richness Of tone
they are hardly surpassa BILE even In the
land OF dykes. n the artistic -spolis-