The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-27
SEEN TN fHB WORLD OF ART
THE Purchase OF TEE FRA1S
HALS Ar THE MUSEUM.


The QUESTION most often heard on the
Avenue last week was: Have you seen
the $50. OOo Halls az the M,lseum!' or
what do you think Of the Kahn $500 900
Hala?' No one said: Have you seen thu
beautiful Halsy' The price seemed TO
he the star. not the work Of art. There
was n time when man was called the
measure Of all things now Il u money
What have hard cash and Halls in oommon?
Why mix zap art and gold? Apart from
the vulRarity Of the proceeding. why
should any one care a rap whether Mr.
Kahn paid dealer a vast sum Of money
Cor a pictured Tho question at issue n
tins intrinsic merit OF tho canvas. The
commercialism that has the pitiahle souls
% % many Americans a. in a relentless
vIae has invaded the Frts. whether the
doalsrs are to blame or not We need not
say: certainly some Of them are turning
their professionalism il ought to he . pro-
Fsssion--into a circus and a bazaar. To
Ret the most Tor a work of art is n per
footly lsa1tlmAIe transaction. The only
trouble nowadays 10 that. thanks 10 shrtii
tr1npetingH. a picture, no matter lts
artistic worth, il not accounted much
unles- IL ~ "A star performer and touches
The stars ia prize. Consider tho over
rated Rarhasons, Consider the criminal
prices paid tor names the values %
which in a few years will have shrunk
~ least loo per cent.
Would the Kahn Halls have brought forth
On much comment II its price INV the way.
exaggeratedl had not been 90 grossly
exploitedg We believe not. Americans
are pragmatists. A picture sAid TO
have been sold for half = million must be
. masterpiece: dollars are more eloquent
Than quality Mr. Finck long ago de-
arribed our national prediction for
sxaRgeraiiOn. boasting cit u not confined
90 this hemisphereD, a. Jumhoism. We
admire Jumbo art. JUmho statesmen.
Junsbo writer's Barnum knew m long
before We knew ourselves. Luckily the
new Halls in = line though not prime speci-
uaen OF the DutchmAn's art. When we
aay prime We mean that IL cannot be
compared for a moment with the Regent
or Archer groups at Haariem. II THE
-Fauily scene were hung in the HAAr-
hun Museum IL would not be placed in the
little gallery with the governors. Insn
and women Of the ~. Elizabeth. and the
Old Nsn's Hospital. or the corporation
pictures. And IL - markedly anterior TO
the portraits of Frans Halls and his wife
in the Rijks Museum. Amsterdam. We
have heard IL said that the Kahn example
IN superior TO the new Halls IN the Royal
Academy. The former il a b-ttsr con-
triyed composition. for five figures. not
INCLUDING the dog. are easier 10 handle
than the ten in the London picture. How
ever let Us bs thankful TO Mr.. Kahn.
America u the gamer. ami. apart from
money consideration. his act was q
chivalrous one: chivalTo1s because he
purchased a perishable object for the
love Of art II needs money TO buy
Hais. but there il no more relation between
money and Halls than between a man
manners and has reli giOUs belief Or betwseU
rhe b@auSy ~ - woman and her bonnei
All the money on ths surface % the earth
cannot bring back IA ne second FTans
Pals. And ~ FOR ApollO's sake let us
pretend thai we are not a patton Of money
grubbeFs'
The first wife Oi Hal AnnskR Herman
noon. he ~ said 10 have worried into a
premature grave by his brutality This
may be SET down 10 malicious gossip.
His second wife. Lysherh Reynier does
moi look like the sort ~ woman Who could
be worried anywhere Inde,.d. she looks
like the -worrier Fran- regards her
rather auiz1ically VIII She endure his
IaFs hours agd early thirst tie presses
with his vital looking thUmh thr hall oT
his wifes thumo 4 hint This kshn
picture is admlrabi.. Halls from the dog
20 the landscap" Once the properly Of
Lieut.. Col Narie. o. must hav. hesn care
81. 2
since its purCna-. ia 1859 az the BristOW
sale. IL now hangs IN gallery 20. Metro
politan Museum lsnt hv the present owner
Tor a shoTi p-ripd.
In the same gallery h. ,p-'tli-d HAS
lille Bobt,s the Witch 81 Haarem.
q il IN the Maryland ,'ullecu"n az
course the original. as - we'll known
hangs in the Royal Gallery Berlin Why.
isn't this dingy Mari,Iau'i pi"tur. calIet
-Schooi 81 Has
The reception ~ Berlin Ut The American
pictures 10 about what Ne expected. The
German critics fnd ~ weak IA fgur.
and rIr technique too de-
rlyatiye in laudscaus Naively they think
thar earth. AR and water are different
Ia American. Nature - all rocky noun
tlins ar sandy deserts, humans all COW
boys or Indians. architecture all ~ the
skyscTapsr kind Remington ~ their
man. tie is their idea - an American
artist For wears nave sought IN
vain among the work 81 German land
,.oap,sts for any particular indication Of
national traits. Bah painting Is the rule
in Germany ~ We saw az the exhibition
lssre last year and a. for the new men.
the secessionists. they ar" simply ridic-
sllous. being victims To- French impress
..ioaism misunder~tOod. We fancy the
Americans can more than hold their own
in either Berlin or Munich We arr mOvsSi
10 these remarks principally becAu-e the
p ambition of Ten American Printers -
now in progress AZ the MOntross Galleries
md wouId he an object lesson for any
,lotltter az to the superiority % American
American vision. over German
iceab4 and techniaue. Twenty years ago
we should not have dAred tn Suggest any
such comparison. While French influences
were fermenting. the old heaven had not
altogether ceased working. TTuthfuIly
speaking. the further you 60 hack in Amer
>. - art the moro auDaihnR becom@s the