New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-10
SCANDINAVIAN ART
The Painters of Sweden. Nor
way and Denmark.
A PROSAIC EXHIBITION
The Realism of the North, It's
Technique and It's
Taste.


..on sweden. Denmark and Norway
..,icb has Just been placed on exhibition
:, che American Art Galleries has been
,,oueht here with very practical pur-
rose The show is held under the au-
.oiees Of the American-scandinavian So
-ie,y. and a note In tire catalogue explains
not that body wishes Ito advance the
,.,owledee OF scandinavian culture among
,hs American public" This is, then an
functional affair Ii is not merely a
,usstion Of the pleasure which art may
i've The important thing, we gather. for
,he organizers Of the exhibition is that
,bey should snow us what the Soandina-
ian PAINTERS ore doing. Information on
,be subject has been needed. We recall
m similar demonstration since the Chi
eoeo Fair. save the one at Paris in 1900
Now that the information is before us We
have 10 report with regret that what the
,b,,A schools concerned are doing to-day
8 on the whole, just about what they
we're doing twenty years ago.
The fact is recognized with something
SHOCK. ~ NOAlO seem t'Att'NA M
ersdible that the promise embodied in the
work shown at Chicago should not have
ns4n fulfilled, for it was the promise. in
,bs Swedish contingent at all events, OF
come unauestionably clever men. The
IDEAS OF the French Impr essionists had
made their way to the North. and 1t APP
cared probable that as they were ad-
msted the more skilfully TO the rude viril-
NV Of that region there would emerge
some distinctly original and interesting
,vpes. Norway and Denmark were obvi-
lously a little slower than Sweden IN
throwing off their insular mediocrity, but
Il, was reasonable 70 suppose that they,
TOO. with time. would get effectively into
The modern movement. Well, the years
nsssed and the present writer ViNdiy
,snembe-s with what peculiar interest he
ooked I'D the Scandinavians at the next
universal questionable one in Paris. IL
was natural 70 count upon them lot
nleasant surprise. The surprise was
merely dIsconcerting. BY 1900 the three
,ohoois had settled down 10 the level OF one
and the whole company had then stood
s.,u. This is exactly the impression re-
ceiyed from the present exhibition. Inc
merits Of the school Cfor 1t is no less Just
,bar convenient 10 deal simply with
scandinavian art rather than with SWed-
sen Danish or Norwegian are the same
rrosslc merits and the old defects are still
"a the fore. OF course there are clever
men represented. as there were clever
men to he noted on the previous occasions
N which we have referred; buy. equaiy
q, course IL is the general character OF
,b,s Northern work that first and last IN
vtes discussion. ,
Tho merits are those OF school OF
s;,orle straightforward and even com
roornlece observers. The scandinavian
FAINTER IS not a man OF dreams. nor IN
he main. a man of theories. academic or
o,haruiea There is one contributor. the
Norwegian Per SLrohg. who gives EVIL
dence in two ugly pictures, "Carnival
and "Danse." Of an interest In the eN-
periments OF the Cubists. But ne is the
only individual straying from the beaten
track. For the rest, the materlal OIL
Scandinavian art is found in the everyday
walks OF Scandinavian life, ana IL u
handled with a sincere effort for truth
Il EXPRESSION of its everyday appear
ences. The peasant at nome and out Oh
doors is the usual model, though here ana
there we come upon a study from the
nude. The landscapes included are I'M
touched nv the romantic influence Of the
Barbizon school, and they do not recall as
sharply as they did twenty years ago the
impact of impressionistic ideas OF hght'
In short, whether painting landscape or
the figure, Scandinavian artists seem 10
follow a pedestrian mood, content 10 re-
cord prosaic fact in prosaic manner
Prosaic painting, 10 be sure, may YET
have its dignity, and all through this eX-
h,bition we come upon certain qualities
which command respect They are the
qualities of directness and vigor. After
all. the North is the North. There is
something bracing in it's atmosphere. and
these artists go about their portrayal OF
1.-THE life around thsm with a wholesome
energy. But after all. as we are again
constrained 10 remark, art is art. and
those who practise IT are expected. not
unfairly, TO transmute their raw material
into something fresh and fine. II is in
their failure 10 do this that the Scan
dinavians give us a cruel disappointment.
II that culture of theirs is TO appeal to
our own II must satisfy certain lneXorablt
demands. That they do not interpre,
Scandinavia to US as a region having any
new or special charm Is not, perhaps
their fault, though we had supposed thai
both the climate and the ways OF the peo-
pie would Weld some moderately move
and piquant effects. The exotic motive
however. may easily enough be foregone
What cannot be so freely dispensed WIN
Is the fresh artistic point OF view the
new angle of vision. the new note OF
technique in these things the school is
almost unbelievably deficient. Zorn, the
most accomplished painter in the lot, was
considerably Parisianlzed long ago, and
while We pause upon his works with warm
appreciation we turn 10 his colleagues
Tor traits more significant OF the North
Among them all we have not found one
sith anything really original TO say, we
have not found a single master OF styie'
Of distinction. II here and there
PAINTER suggests some reconsideration OF
MS Judgment. It Is but momentarily thar
ne threatens the critical balance. There
y Bruno Liljefors. with his eXcellently
PAINTED Foxes" dating, by the "ay
ron 1892 and his attractiyely decorative
PANEL Birds IN the Snow" dated 1899.
lis work is excellent. yes: but II IS no
more than that. lie Is a competent but
= no wise remarkable painter. carr
AArSson's engaging water colors, very
tffttE IL nh Ea Of fha gflt1-