New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-11

Many of Du Maurier's Types
Now Extinct in England.
London. .Tulv .


since Thackeray's- George du Maurier
was an effective fool killer during the
middle and late Victorian period. and he
left behind him no successor. His func-
tions are disclosed in the interesting and
fairly complete exhibition Of 166 draw
ings for Punch and his own books az
the Leicester Galleries. He drove out OF
society aesthetics. "chinamaniacs." must
cal poseurs and numerous other prigs
and bores with sffectations and imbeciH-
ties Of their own.
Some of the most vivactous Of these
drawings illustrate the vagaries OF Jel-
Iaby Postlethwaite, Maudle and Prizsby,
and while the satire Is as amusing a,
ever, IL IS less deadly because these gro
tesque elf-advertisers have been hunted
out OF existence. In real life Mrs. Pom
sonby de Tornkyns. the insatabIs tufs
hunter, whose frenzied quest for Ouch
esses and celebrities inspired some Of his
most brilliant sketches. has also fallen
into the background with her helpless.
muddled husband, who was forced 70
explain TO guests and walters that hs
was llldStcE u L1S HOUSE. OuC4ezSeS drA
not so easily baited by pushful host
esses nowadays and captive lions ara
seldom exhibited in drawing rooms.
Sir Gorg1us Midas still survives in his
blatant scorn Of everything except
money and rank He was the most
striking personality in this gallery %
social satire, but, distinctive as were III.
were too formidable 10 be killed off
Manners have changed since this keen
est of observers portrayed lstlsss guests
at dining tables and bored spectators un-
dergoing processes Of entertainment IN
fashionable drawing rooms and country
houses The Victorian tables cIuttersd
with flowers, china and plate are n
longer seen: wonen's gowns are less
ugly than formerly; the concerts. with
long haired foreign artists and mystic
rious instruments, are out OF date; the
comic singer and the professional rectter
have been suppressed and private theat-
ricaIs are reserved for society func-
tons. A string orchestra or high priced
talent from Covent Garden Is hired to-
day when music Is required: and the
smart hostess with a reputation for
bringing out fresh talent at her recsp-
tions is paid handsomely for her services
as social broker
The most ambitious sets have been
transformed since the COS and 7Gs By
the rage for smartness and the increased
power Of wealth Many OF the most
fetching drawings in the collection about
society shopkeepers. the Cimabus
Browns, clerical aesthetics. distinguished
amateurs. lion hunting hostesses and
woman suffrage agitation have lost their
significance. There are new Alterations
of smartness. fresh outbreaks Of snob-
bishness. pedantry and vulgarity, more
inpostures and shan1s coated with social
veneering; and, alas, there is no George
du Maurier to expose them with purgsnt
wit and genial art
Mr.. Dobson In one Of his fine poems
meets in Hyde Park and Piccadllly al
the classic bores, favorites, Hurkeys ard
sentimentaIists. but not Horace himself.
unmatched and unique. That must be
the spectators reflection after making
the pleasant journey around this gallery
and finding himself outside in Leicester
Square. The artist and satirist acted
upon the Horatian precept and OBJ
served the manners OF his day, repro
ducins social figures and fashiona5ls
drawing rooms with their proper color
ing; and there has been no successor
either in Punch or IN current Iiterature
TO take up his work and to whip ths
snobs. quacks and posturers with 6ns
irony.
Outside the gallery George du 3Iaurte-,
like Horace, will be unmatched IN
met; but within it he survives IN his
work. Who can ever hope 70 rival him
in effective exposure OF bores OF every
calibre, and in tender deIineation OF chill
dren and dogs? No hand save his could
have sketched these crowded assem-
blages Of ambitious svells. these niucom-
poops unconscious Of their own inantty.
the fair political economist recommend
ing massage for the sweating system.
the preacher eager to have every shsks
of the stole tell. the turnkey corte-nptu-
Gus OF Rembrandt's subject because not
one Of the family and the practical ex@
pert on domestic happiness. with her
oracular Feed the brute.''
Leech's successor had distirctivsly
French qualities in his artistry. There
was also something OF the English pre-
Raphaelite about him, although his oe-
cuparton as a comic illustrator forced
him 20 be as funny as he could ha His
sketch of Trilby is reminder Of his
French training and experiences; and
there Is a drawing. Death the Friend
which might have been designed by Mil
lais in early youth. II represents
dying man motioning to a monk 70 re-
main silent while woman is playing 3
requiem IN a room flooded with light
from an open window. II was a many
sided man who wore cap and bells