New-York tribune., 1910-02-16
ARI' EXHIBITIONS
Old Drazcings and Modern
Pictures and Portraits.


OF Rutland, now on exhibition at the Gini-
! pei and Nildenstein gallery. IT contains
| some forty-odd pieces. chiefly Of ltalla"
| origin and while they are not of uniform
! Importance they illustrats in an interest,"
I ing manner a phase Of art intrinslcalS
! attractive and comparatively unfaTllillar
/ N this country. Upon rare occasions
! line drawing by an old master may be seen
in New York. one like that remarkable
"Cructflxion," by Jan weirix, which was
shown At The Wunderlich gallery two
months ago. Then, too there are several
good examples preserved IN the Metropol-
ftan Museum. But, on the whole, the stu
dent here Is obliged TO content himself
with reproductions. In reviewing the fac
SMILES published by the vasari Society
of London and by the similar society more
recently established in Paris we have re-
peatedly laid stress upon the great charm
of this subject and have expressed the
nope that American connoisseurs Woolo
presently emulate their European rivals IN
the collection of the most spontaneous. ana
therefore most personal, souvenirs left by
the leading painters Of the great historic
periods, The exhibition just opened offers
them i promising opportunity. of which
/ they Will doubtless take advantage. In
any case. il is good sign.
The value Of a drawing made by a COM
petent painter in any period depends IN
large measure upon It's beauty, bur II rests
also upon the fact that the artist working
casually with pen, pencil CT chalk. musing
over an idea and giving it unstudied ex-
preston, IS likely 10 give himself away
with peculiar nsturalness He is off his
guard, drawing only for himself, and so
everything that means his character, his
style, is flung unreservedly and with nota-
bic freshness upon the paper Even when
he takes pains he is pretty certain TO
make freer revelation of himself than
when he uses the brush Thus the leaf Of
the sketcl1-book whose dimensions can be
counted in a few inches will sometimes
take on the glow and spIendour of mas
( terpiece, for il Is vitalized by genius in
its best, because most natural. estate, Al
the same time. there is no field of con-
noisseurship in which il is more essential
to discriminate Mere antiquity is no cri-
terion- There we're mediocrities in the
Renaissance. as there are u1ediocrities to-
day. Furthermore, since the fifteenth CEN
turv studio for example, was generally
kind of workshop. filed with apprentices
who not seldom, turned inlitators, drawings
closely resembling those Of a given mas
ter. but absolutely innocent of his touch,
are very nearly past counting In many
instances they have passed from one col
lection to another. hearing well meant
but false sttribution. and historians, like
Mr.. Berensor in his ma enuu opus on the
drawings OF the FIo-entine masters. have
70 give much OF their attention TO dis
tinguishing between the authentic jewel
and the school piece, which If not made
of paste is at all events of secondary sig
nifcance The working out of the prob
lens involved Is e fascinating and very
delicate task
The Duke Of RUtland's drawings embrace
some specimens which instantly carry con-
viction and others which leave rather
mixed impression Nothing could be more
delightfully."- persuasive than the two heads
by Pordenone, especially the larger one.
They are beautiful studies. and on close
scrutiny, they reveal the unfaltering touch.
the energetic sweep. the vivid note of
style in which you read absolute authen-
tcty- The same conclusive quality be
longs 10 the Woman and Satyr" of R'i-
; t,-ne the little -.Verae,,a-ir red chalk. OF
Parn7ig igianino and the Study Of a Young
Man by Salvador Rosa Another draw
ing which is IN its way impeccable Is the
exquisite Young Florentine,' catalogued
as by BotticeIH but wisely given, in
slip affixed to the frame. TO Ghirlardajo,
upon tire portrait Among the greater
names in the list. however, there are ele-
nents which induce dubiety. The "SibyI
of Delphi" given 10 Raphael, though boil
stored I'D by a certain relation TO the
decoration In the church of Santa Maria
della Pace, has everywhere 4 linear hard
ness and about the face, a want or us
tinction which would suggest some disciple
rather than the master himself. The Head
of a Young Man" in red chalk. ascrlped
to Leonardo, is similarly puzzling Inc
type is credible and very leonardesque Is
the handling of the curly hair on the
other hand, the features are somewhat
heavily traced and the lines below the
chin are almost II not quite tursld- Inc
Titan. too. study for the "Fierge au
1.anir, - In the Louvre, is curiously lack
inc in Are breadth, and that unforgetahle
felicity which seemed to flow from the nm
oar rms of the prodig gious Venetian into his
slightest sketch But over lheSe dlu1hs
mysteries one might linger for hours ano
II is indeed unnecessary 70 accept all OF
the attributions in the catalogue IN order
- derive from the show most engaging
-+;r,771I1s Debate as TO minute points OF
--z-le ma we'll wait upon enjoyment or Z
collec-io- of drawings which throughout
-.'t,.-airs a high level of excellence The
l7a In this matter IL C'Ci : IA'A-ie N'4~
,,54 op 777aetiuc the masters halfway III
+.7af, dressing gown mood and sympa-
+ra.icauv apprehending what they have
- eav in that language or sheer drdIt0-
,,,,,stir which they employ upon sncA
occasions The public IS 10 be congratu-
1a+.d 1,pou this exhibition, and II is
aarnes+Iv 10 be hoped that the dealers who
-. l. will ne encouraged 10 repeat their
.1,nerir77ent. bringing over as many more
~ these precious fragments as they can
secure in Europe.
r-,der the auspices Of the Academy OF
7-aejen an exhibition has been arranged d
-. Prandrls Gallery in memory OF the late
- Curtis Porter II consists of
--,.e,.y-f,-e or thirty Of his portraits and Is
z,,-olen7ented by number Of photographs
ron, works not shown. He Has an adro!t
nd 7,olfshed craftsman who long ago
-,-.e,-aa = success exactly commensurate
i.7, -. somewhat Fictitious mode he chose
- .4or+ He sought TO revive the note OF
mundane elegance and decorative grace
,,,.,-sote-istjc of eighteenth century por-
rsirf,~e on both sides Of the Channel Ills
,rl< suggests an attempt 10 fuse the pfct-
orss4 method of Reynolds with i1at OF
1so,7cre- or Natter, 70 envelop the hgures
% American society in a more or less court
=, .-,,oenhere Mr.. Porter developed this
- v,g.t, considerable skill. He