Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-23
pOLD MASTERS IN LONDON
Winter Exhibition Of the ROYAL
academy.
WORK OF LITTLE KNOWN ARTISTS
Early Italian, Dutch and spanish
Paintings shown AZ burlington
= Houss-works By the Late
E. J. Gregory.

LONDON. jan 12-For forty consecutive
years there has been a winter exhibition
at Burlington house and with three or four
exceptions the collections have consisted
Of old masters and deceased masters OF the
British school. Latterly has been added a
room full Of the work OF some artist re-
Gently deceased.
The first exceptions were made in favor
OF watts. Millais and Leighton, and in each
case the reputation and the number Of the
works OF the artist justified the proceed
ing. Last year a departure was made that
called forth a good deal OF adverse critl-
clsm on the part OF experts though the
interest of the public was by no means
abated and there were as many visitors to
the winter exhibition when the entire col
lection OF the late Mr.. McCulloch was
shown as there usually are.
There is something to be said both for
and against showing a collection such as
that of Mr.. McCulloch. For one thing II
indicates the taste Of private collectors,
and II also gives the public a chance Of
seeing pictures that It could not see other
wise, such as the beautiful portrait by
Sargent OF Mr.. McColloch's son, and Of
renewing acquaintance with old favorites
such as pictures by Millais and Burne-
fJones. But on the whole the McColloch
pictures were not Of a very high standard,
and those academicians who had been spe-
cially patronlzed might be accused Of self
advertisement.
This. year the academlcians have re-
verted to their usual custom, and It must
be said that the present show is much
better than 1t was two years ago. and this
T. "a -. a
masters drawn from private sources. the
loan collection, which is stu open at the
Grafton galleries. The order of the pic
lures is the same as usual, early Italian,
Dutch and Spanish leading up through
Rembrandt and Van Dyck to GaInsborough
and Romney, and one room filled with pic
lures by e. j. Gregory, r. A, who died
last year.
Thu early Italian pictures are especially
good and include one or two fine examples
by the less known men Of the Fifteenth
century. Among these Is a Virgin and
Child by Pinturicchio, notable because Of
the treatment of the Child, which before
Raphael, was the weak point in so many
pictures Of the same subject The Child
has a charming expression, and chamring
also is the way he is holding out his hands
as II wanting to play with the cherubs
which encircle the group.
In his last work, Pinturicchio Is said to
have been assisted by Raphael, then a
young man, and 1t may be that he caught
some of the latter's graciousness Of style;
or II may be that, in the evolution Of
painting, he was the link between Raphael
and the more primitive men. Near this
picture hangs a Virgin and Child" by
Bottocni. the virgin seated on. a bank
with a beautiful stretch of landscape be-
hind her. and an open book lying by her
side. The coloring is rich and harmonious
and the distant scene full of atmosphere.
"Srhe Nativity by Luini is the most
important paintings In this gallery, FOR the
Virgin and Child" by Botticelll. the
'Fortrait of a Mani by Giovanni Bellini
and the Virgin and Child with st. John
by. Leonardo do vinci are all open to
discussion. The color Of the Leonar do
is heavy in the halftones, especially in the
flesh, but In the enigmatical SMILE on the
Virgins face recalls the Norma Lisa"
There is a Virgin and Child and St.
Joseph" by Francesca Melzi. who Is sup
posed to have been a pupil Of Leonardo,
and the expression Of the Virgin is very
like that In Leonardo's picture mentioned
above. It is not surprising that so many
pictures of whose authorship we have now
no authentic knowledge should be attrib-
uted first to one artist and then to an
other, as, pupils nearly always In their
early days initiate, their masters work.
In another room is a picture called The
Portraits OF the Painter and His Wife"
which is supposed to be by Rembrandt.
but 1t is more probable that 1t is by Philip
Koning. Rembrandt's pupil. Again there is
a portrait OF a man now attributed to
Rubens which is more like the youthful
work OF Van Dyck, who was a pupil of
Rubens.
To speak Of all the early Italian pictures
worthy OF note would be to copy the cata-
logue. but the "Entombment by Tin
~toretto, the Daughter of Herodias'' by
ritian-a replica OF the picture in the
Doria palace-and Susanna and the
Elders by Veronese, must be mentioned
especially. In comparing italian with mod
Nern work one Is struck with the superior
way in which blue is treated. 1t Is always
rich and luminous, from the deepest ultra
marine to the palest gray blue. and Is In
harmony with the reds and yellows.
In Susanna and the Elders by Yer,
onese. there is a marvellous deep blue sky
which falls perfectly into place. although
the rest OF the picture is a scale OF reds
and warm yellow grays. II cannot be due
entirely to time and varnish, though these
would do much to help.
Among the Spanish pictures Is one bS
Velasquez Of ''our Lady of the Immacu
see In the NatioRaf gallery quite as much