New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-22

blush one is inclined TO dismiss the
technical question altogether and to
take account of the ideas put forward.
There is. for example. the nude by
Hermon MacNeil, called inspiration"
study of winged figure crouching
against mass Of stone and seeking To
pierce the latter with sculptors
| chisel. 1t is a charming composition
and the figure is admirably modelled.
But what we especially delight in is
that the sculptor should have had this
poetic fancy, that he should have real
lied a motive not perhaps startlingly
original, but certainly lifted well above
the plane Of everyday humdrum things.
Here in a word, is the imaginative I'M
! pulse, obeyed to picturesque and in
teresting purpose. We are grateful.
Mr.. Robert Aitken provokes something
of the same emotion with his "Mlchael
Angelo" a group in which he portrays
the great sculptor pausing meditatvely
in his work upon one of the sublime
figures for the Medici Chapel. In his
reproduction of that figure the young
artist discloses his own ability, but
again we think less of technical prof.
cheney than we do of Mr. Athens fine
and sympathetic thought. In one re-
spect, to be sure, he is little dlsap-
pointing. The portrait of Michael An
gelo ought TO be, one would say, the
dominating factor in the design. AS
matter of fact it is fairly overwhelmed
by the heroic nude at which he is
working. We repeat, however, that
merely to have conceived this group
was for Mr.. Aitken to have affirmed
genuine artistic vitality. 1t may be
added, by the way. that his 'Frag-
ment," a study OF a delicate feminine
type, is as winning in sentiment as it
is skilful in execution. OF his nude
statuette, "a Thing of Beauty we
can only say that it hardly justifies its
title.
Among the pieces done on a large
scale. and done with some power of in ,
vention Mr.. Fraser's fountain for the
Hartman house at Arden strongly as
serts itself. This nude faun is no con-
ventional type, but stalwart, living
creature at home with his attendant
beast. and altogether richly suggestive
of those ancient pagan woods in when !
the Greek soul Of him once had, as one
imaginatively feels. an authentic exist !
ence. 1t is interesting to note, too, /
how beautifully this figure is composed, +
how excellent it is in line. Decidedly /.
work like this makes the sculpture eX- /
hibit worth while. And there is much /
else. Turn to the kneeling nude. TN |
Anima," by Attilio Piccirilli. a figure |
Of grace and poetry, modelled with re-
markable adroitness and polish. Turn .
to the weighty, well balanced and de-
lightfully animated worcester FOun- /
tain" of Messrs Fry and Harvey, or I
to the robust "Ploughing oxen of Mr. /
+. G.. r. Roth, or to the nude, AT the /
Threshold" by Mrs Burroughs, which 4
is technically a little wanting in ner- /
NOQS Ibitfs Dut i4ieliN'S w '"'
through its tender feeling, its really .
exquisite sentiment. Here and there /
we come upon disappointment. MI. {
Sanford's "Fortitude and Despair |
group of two nude figures is only i'm
pressive through its scale, and Mr.. Bit
ter's two large tablets for the John
Heron Art Institute at Indianapolis
leave us quite unmoved. The rather
fat effect sought i'm the reliels in the
upper parts of these tablets is inter
esting as illustrating a problem IN
workmanship, but it cannot be said /
that the motive in either instance was /
happily thought Of or developed with |
any personal force. But what a COM
fort it is that these panels should at
least arrest the observer and give him
something TO ponderi
The sculptures thus far traversed are /
all generous in scale, and thus come /
automatically well into the foreground. |
As we have shown some Of them keep |
their places there by virtue Of solid |
merits. But there are quantities OF /
smaller pieces to be seen, and among /
them some of the best contributions |
that are made to the exhibition. II is l