Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-02


ings by Philip Little Of Salem, Mass. the
majority Of which are recent works.
! These are hung in the hemicycle hall.
and collectively make rather impressive
showing. They are for the most part
scenes on the coast Of Maine, but they
are by no means conventional summer
pictures Mr.. Lttle's style is essentially
his own and his paintings are striKinsiy
Individual. One may find fault with them,
for they have many vulnerable points; one
may even not like them, and yet tneir
interesting quality Is not to be oenleo; An
feeling they are more french thaA
american. though MT; Little co Is hos
,, come under French Influences; he IS prin-
cipally self-taught and an explorer IN the
field Of art, seeking new trails ana work-
ing out new problems. And yet mis- paint.
modern French productions. Curiousiy
enough the elements of classicism, I'M
pressionism and post-impressionism are
to be found in his work: classicism In MS
composition. impressionism IN ms use u
broken color for the purpose OF secur-
ing vibration. and post-impressionism IN
his Indifference to texture and imposed
simplicity Of treatment
In many of Mr.. Little's pictures the
composition is rather elaborate. compre-
hending a broad field of vision. This
would naturally require the emplacement
Of the objects transcribed IN two or three
planes of vision, but in most instances
Mr.. Little shows them in one. Preciseiy
the same light and same shadow ran
upon q boat in the immediate foreground
as upon an island at least quarter OF a
mile distant. The effect is therefore some
what that of q landscape set on emu
And yet 1t Is not UNPLEASANT nor nn ls,,
sible, Such q view might be secured from
an aeroplane or some other high view
point 1t is, however, unusual. me
French impressionists. as Monet and ms
followers are called. used broken color
with the purpose Of securing thereby.
scientifically, the effect Of light. Their
paie;tes were keyed high. Mr.. Littles
to the contrary is keyed exceedingly low,
and, though he employs strong color I'M
sparingly. the predominant tone OF In, the
majority of his pictures Is dark and thick,
untransparent brown shadows Weighing
them down, as 1t were. The result IS
a lack Of atmosphere ana feVer1sn not
ness, not altogether agreeable.
to impressionism its chief charm-spon-
taneity-is entirely absent. MI Little
pictures are heavily built up-aEparentiy
painted and over painted SO the pigment
of the canvas. 1t is possible. of course.
that they are done rapidly. even at
single sitting, but they have not THIS
appearance, and it is only from appear
ances-the result-that one can Judge.
Flowers, trees, rocks. water. are all
treated in the same manner, without re-
gard to varying texture. and the fact Is
that In the end much the same eHect
might have been obtained by the clever
use OF worsteds as Of paints. Now. all
this is precisely along the line of modern
experimentation In its sanest and most
intelligent form. In some instances by
these methods Mr.. Little has achieved ad-
mirable effects. That his paintings are
works of art all will agree. but whether
they are pleasing. satisfying. enduring. is
open to discussion. The standard by which
ali works of art must ultimately be meas
ured is whether or not they truly inter-
pref the beauty of nature. The spirit and
charm Of the autumn woods is to be
found In Mr.. Little's painting, entitled
'.October's Last WOrd''-the broken color
and heaped-up pigment seem to lend
themselves with peculiar fitness to the