The San Francisco call., 1910-04-14
AN ATTEMPT TO PLACE
MAUD ALLAN
By PORTER GARNETT

1t is a commercially inspired concession
to the bourgeois mind which Graves
statement and demands illustration. II
is not art.
Herein lies the weakness of Maud
Allan's truly excellent vaudeville
stunt" 1 translate the term from the
English of a correspondent of the Lon
don academy. whose letter quoted be-
low will bear evidence that there are
other dissenters:
Only in England of the twen-
tieth century would it be possible
TO see the name Of a serious artist
as Miss Duncan undoubtedly is.
printed in one line with that Of
the successful performer of
startling music hall turn. In
view. however. of the heights of
gentility and refinement 10 which
our increased delicacy OF percep-
tion has elevated the variety
stage. perhaps 1 ought to assume
that this apparent sOlecism is after
all. the greatest of compliments
The best opinion in London (which
is simply another way OF saying the
opinion of the minority, while ad-
hitting and admiring Maud Allan's
terpsic korean address-as one is bound
to admire expertness. be it that of the
dancer, the acrobat, the juggIer. the
boxer. the billiardist, or the ball
pIayer-deny her creativeness. One
English critic. who admires both
dancers. says: There can be no man
ner of doubt that Isadora Duncan is
a greater artist than Maud Allan. who
has but little faculty of invention. but
little inwardness. but little creative
ness" To illustrate his point he Of
fers an analogy somewhat strained in
from though not in Import. saying;
Walter Pater is the Duncan; De
Quincy. or. to be more accurate.
Thomas Browne is the Allan OF htera-
tUre."
One does not assume too much in
accepting this comparison Of Duncan
to Pater because. while we have not
yet seen her in California, the con-
sensus Of sophisticated critical opinion
is that she is not merely dancer but
one Of the really notable serious" art
lists of our time. She has done better
than merely TO contribute to the VOL
ume of art; she has advanced art, which
is given TO few TO do. and which is
the only thing worth doing In her
character as creative artist il is
proper TO bracket her name with that
of Pater. for she is TO dancing as he
is TO English prose; as Whistler. Car
riere and Degas are to painting, as
2fr1N ND al
onds are TO poetry; as Villiers de IIsle-
Adam MaeterlinCk and D'AnnunziO are
10 the drama; as Debussy, D'Indy
and Ravel are to music; as Rodin is to
sculpture. Like these 'incOmpris"
Duncan is Of the tribe of the great
But with whom, on the other hand.
are we to bracket Miss Allan? The
answer seems obvious enough-with
Harry Lauder. Chevalier. Sandow and
Paulhan- Like her they are all su-
preme in their various ways. This i'm
piles no disparagennent Of Miss Allan:
II is merely an attempt to place her in
the position of emtnence to which she
clearly is entitled. But when seated
securely on her proper pinnacle with
Lauder. Chevalier and Sandow as her
Immediate neighbors and Paulhan
circling gayly overhead, she NAV OBJ
serve that the distant peaks. on which
with strong binocular) she can de-
sery Duncan and other great artists.
belong TO another range of mountains
from which she is cut OF by a vast
sea-
Skill and address she has in a high
degree. but here is what Felix
Clay has to say in The Origin of the
Scene OF Beauty" on the subject of skin
In relation TO painting IL is a thing
for some artists to take TO heart:
At the present day art has become
so confused with skill in drawing and
painting that a moderate degree Of
deXterity in either Is popularity SUP
posed 20 make the possessor. ipso facto
an artist; We can not even teach draw
ing in school without its being called
art teaching; although such drawing
Is In reality a simple and useful piece
of technical skill. having the same re
Iat1on 10 art as reading and writing TO
A few slight changes in the wording
would make this apply with equal
truth TO any of the other arts The
Inference from the best opinion" ia
that Maud Allan has abundant skin:
she Is Intelligent and artistic Isadora
Duncan has abundant skin; she is in
tellectual and an artist. The one is
clever. the other exquisite. In Paris
they call Debussy 'un cerebraT' he
cause his art Is intensely intellectual
For the same reason Duncan might be
called 'une cerebrale-" Miss Allan,
however, would have TO be called "une
because she represents
the refinement of muscular address
guided by an intelligence that is not
unmindful OF the gold Of commercial
ism and the gilt of popularity. II NAV
De said, IN fine, that her dancing is un-
questions6ly artistic; but II Duncan
comes to California for the estheffc
good Of the community, as IL is to he
hoped she will. 1t will be seen by those
capable of perceiving II that her dane
ing Is art itself
Rarkalav fatn