New-York tribune., 1910-01-15
ART EXHIBITIONS
The Laurence Collection of
BrORSes and Pdintings.


objects which have been assembled in a life
time by man so distinguished in his tastes
as to have enveloped his possessions in the
atmosphere of his own personality. Such
a man was the late Cyrus J. Lawrence,
whose collection, now on view at the
American Art Galleries, is to be sold next
week He was no less discerning than en-
thusiastic; the flare of the collector-which
Is gift by itself-was his in high degree.
Not everything here is a masterpiece but
there is scarce anything without some genu-
Inc point Of interest and the bulk of what
is shown is extraordinarily fine and valua-
hle. Paintings. porcelains. enamels. and
oivers other things are I'm the collection,
and there is. above all. a magnificent gath
ering Of the bronzes of Barge. A note in
r the catalogue states that these will first be
offered at the sale at nominal upset"
price for the entire number, to facilitate
the purchase of the collection by some art
museum. It would be splendid thing for
an American gallery TO take advantage of
this opportunity. No such chance will
ever come again. The Lawrence Baryes
are equalled in number and quality only
by those in the Walters Gallery at Balti-
more and those in the Corcoran Gallery at
Washington. 1t may be added that bid
for them all will only be accepted from q.
public institution.
Barge is the unique GnintGJier OF modern
times. the one artist who treated the car
nivorae and their domestic congeners with
an eye fixed solely upon truth and beauty,
and with absolutely conclusive power. In
his youth he was trained as a craftsman in
the precious metals, and he could model a
piece of pure decoration as well as the
heroic portrait of a wild beast. But his
genius expanded as he sought inspiration
in nature pure and simple. and the keynote
10 his work is found in a poignantly synpa-
thetic realism. How this quality was de-
veloped in him is indicated in the follow
ing passage, from the introduction prepared
by the present writer for the catalogue of
the exhibition of Mr.. Lawrences bronzes at
the Grolier Club year ago:
Some of his statuettes might have easily
been produced by a disciple Of Cellini. But
Barge craved wider field Of activity, and
found the key. TO it in that impulse which
drove him to the Jardin des Plantes. Fre-
Cuenting the collection OF wild animals
there, absorbed in contemplation OF their
as an artist and as a naturalist. To Della.
croix's instinct for the sinuous beauty Of
the leopard or the tiger he Joined a scien.
fists inquisitiveness as to the springs OF
action in those 1.-THE. cleaning bodies He
studied the movement Of the muscles un-
der the ripping skin and he noted every
nuance of expression about the mouths and
eyes Of the great cats. He watched them
feeding, or moving with their ceaseless
in ineffably graceful repose. He marked the
reference of action to emotion, so Synthe-
sizing his observations that, when ne came
to paint one of his water colors or 70
model one of his bronZes, he made his lion
panther. his tiger or crocodile, an as
founding unit of form and feeling. me
tread of one of his tigers is full of power
and menace The whole body seems to
culver. No beast of his is irnmobile, un-
Jecc he IxriSl IA
even then one is always aware, as in the
presence Of the living animal, of an eX-
traordinary latent elasticity. Not any trf-
umph of Greek plastic art is more yitallzed
than is one Of these masterpieces of Bdrye
His works have in them spark OF thae
life which makes a thrilling mystery OF tne
depths of the jungle. Like Blake. with his
Tiger, tiger burning bright, this drtlSC
flashes upon the imagination an authentic
image of terror and beauty.
He could do this. in the first place. be
cause he knew his subjects so We'll, because
The value Of the truth in his work IS
transcendent. But If his pictures anu
sculptures are TO be treasured II Is aIsQ
because they give expression to great
artistic personality, to a man with the
secret of style He isTnot content TO make
a realistic portrait of one OF ms mooeis.
He must caress that portrait with an in
5fyiduaiizing touch. he must determine IFS
outlines and it's effect in the mass. so that
It is interesting to note too, tnat you ma!
turn a bronze Of BaTye's about, looking a
IL
is interesting as the animal itself would
be moving hither and yon. There IS a
wonderful holiness. there Is a kino ,(2t OF
~ IS a subtle master. one whose work, no
natter now spontaneous 1T may seem 70 ne.
leaves invariably an impression OF arusuc
construction of delicately wrought COM
position.
The Lawrence collection illustrates these
traits of his not only with great fulness'
but with peculiar authority in everything
that relates TO the subtleties Of what might
h. called his manipulation of bronze. He
was Z. master Of chiselling, he made much
of pdtind. and there is sometimes as great
a difference between two proofs OF one
Of his works as there is between an i'm
preston of Whistler etching pulled by
the master himself and one pulled by an
ordinary printer. Mr.. Lawrence was an
exacting connoisseur-and fortunate into
the bargain His Baryes are mostly Of the
finest quality, proofs which show the great
sc11Iptor's art In it's noblest estate. With
them, by the way, there are grouped sew
eraI of his paintings and water colors and
a sheaf Of his pencil drawings. Barge has
here, in fact. kind OF monument.
To have reared that monument was not
enough for Mr.. Lawrence. In other fields
he pursued the collectors hobby with
something of the same ardor and with
much OF the same BOOu JuuSIltHl ne
brought together, for example, a remark
able little group of paintings and drawings
bv Daumier, that weighty figure notable
in the romantic period for his sardonic
humor and uncompromising realism. There
are some precious examples here of his
bleak satire and his ruthless dissection Of
character. but even more welcome is the
light which these souvenirs throw upon
his superb craftsmanship and his dis
tinction as a painter in the strict sense
Of the term Very choice did Mr.. Law
renee make his small Daumier gallery.
With couple of oils, three or four wash
drawings and two biting caricatures he
managed to cover practically the whole
range Of one of the most indlviduaized
men of genius in the history Of French
art So too, in his dealings with the I'm
pressionists he found truly representative
things His five pictures by Monet, the
two by Sisley, the two by Pissarro. the
five by Boudln and the three by Lepine
are all good, characteristic pieces. and
was like him. too, in purchasing mis- single
Degas, to secure one of the most delightful
OF that painters studies of race horses. He
bought half a dozen of the paintings Of
Marv Cassatt, among them one Of her most
brilliant achievements, the Mother Feed
ing a Child, and Puvis de Chavannes
never painted lovelier bit than the
Just as, in his search for the works of