New-York tribune., 1912-04-07

| forrader have we got? Beyond the hint
at truth there is nothing; no distinction.
| no style. no beauty. 1t is the same with
his sculpture. Here and there II dis
closes a lucky passage, a bit of form ac-
curately expressed. But what it is that
! separates these commonplace hints"
from those of any young student at the
League remains mystery. Is 1t indeed
| mystery? AS a matter Of fact the
enigma is largely I'm the eye of the be
holder. The fad is ever with us. There
is always movement" which, by
virtue of being the latest, is, for some
people, immeasurably precious. For a
| certain type of mind there is no anguish
more terrible than that superinduced BY
the ieers of the "elect" To be left
| out when new cult is toward is 10
! suffer unbearablc humiliation. Well. !
llttie humor is a great help in the solu-
tion of these fearsome problems Mr.
| walter Sickert, a good painter and
good writer, reminds us OF this in
passage on Matsse recently printed in
! The English Review" In it he SAYS:
/ III,
! she sometimes did, to understand the
| earliest efforts of NV younger brothers IN
| the formation OF prose STYLE was wont 10
| console herself by telling them that they
were talking "DOuble-Dutch | too used
| H. earlier days to try to unravel the
Double-Dutch of the Higher Art Criticism.
/ But nave long given IL mp. | remember
/ the occasion of my dehnitve remuneration.
/ perhaps | should call ii my defeat | used
| 10 follow, with the respectful awe OF peas
ant IN the presence of learning. the HoTnes,
3 II ,I...fss
; complex incantationS. How can any one :"
i used to think, know so much?" / once
| knew French governess who, when de
| fCated in n struggle TO express herself i'm
! her still imperfect English. would say
"Enhn' je me Comprcnds" PERHAPS" /
thought they understand themselves. II
not each othef; But. in moment of i'm
prudence. Mr.. Berenson. who I understand
car command serious Zee for giving an
opinion on the authenticity Of the ObscIrest
I o. obscure 0id masters. promulgated, as the
cream of all his Investigations. the conclu-
sion that MatiSse is the great modern mas
ter! That kind of Connoisseurship. then
must have purely mystical basis. II
must he entirely unrelated To the more
pedestrian criticism that is based on such
| trivial grounds tradition observation
and comparison. 1t enters rather into the
region of dogma. and IS purely subjective
and capricious For me. as for my mothers
! old cook it must remain Double-Dutch.
The Double Dutchness" of the oraclcs
y ilo hbulu IdNe uE regard MatlSSe WIN
| reverence is never more wearisome than
| when il seeks to identify his empty
| rhetoric with the large Uttcrance Of the
early gods TO recapturc that utterance
n modern artist must be born again He
cannot achieve the synthesis of the
Egyptians or the Greeks by arbitrarily
taking thought. Their genius must he
in his blood. and II il Is there he will
give us work Of a really convincing
grandeur. 1t is conceivable that Ma
tisse has floating about in his mind
stimulating memories Of the finished re-
suits of great Primitive art. But this
does not automatically mean that he has
learned IN old heroic language or has
anything 10 say. Both his sculptures
and his drawings suggest a man who
could use tolerably efficient technique
II he chose to do so. but has preferred 10
diffuse a small talent in n weltcr Of
futile theory