New-York tribune., 1912-04-07

The fourteen pictures form deeply IN
teresting collection, which may not be
fully representative in character. but
nevertheless throws fairly rich light on
the masters in question.
A SPANISH MYSTIC.
Fl Greco is one of the painters who
have lived by ideas. The melodramatic
aspect Of much of his work has obscured
this fact. Criticism has been baff1ed by
the eccentric elongation Of form which
frequently marks his treatment of the
figure, by his strange and even sinister
traits as a colOrist, and by his some
times unduly forced effects Of light and
shade. The impression he conveys. as
Of genius lying in a sort of penumbra,
outside the traditional lines of develop
ment in European painting. has been
happily summarized by clever Eng
lish artist and writer, Charles Ricketts,.
The works Of FL Greco, he has said, look
as IL they had been painted by torch
light in a dungeon Of the Inquisition
The saying is perfect save for the i'm
plication it carries Of an atmosphere
bearer to the painters secret i'm his in
genious hypothesis making FL Greco
simply the predestined interpreter of the
spirit Of Toledo. A mystic in the last,
subtlest ingredients of his being, he
threw in his fortunes with a centre Of
mysticism when he made the old cathe-
oral town the scene OF his labors. Man
Of the world though he was, and vividly
alive to all things touching the eye and
tne mind, his genius as an artist was
sun In harmony with the sentiment Of
the Church. This view of the matter
many not be conclusive, but at all events
u AFFORDS a profitable clew, inasmuch
as II directs attention TO El Greco's
more spiritual qualities. These come out
IN all four Of the paintings in the pres
ent exhibition.
me eonnoisseur Of technique wifi
hnger appreciatively over the large por-
lrarI Cardinal Don Ferdinand Nino de
9ueVara' but II he is wise he will 20
On 10 consider the sympathy with which
'He masterful prince Of the Church is
ipihteo' looking we'll into the cleaning
yes ana at the mouth and hands. In
'hs portrait, no less than in the "St
refer and the Christ Bearing the
~oss' there is something mysteriously
'shaht a s0mbre emotion, a point Of
''eW which is not that OF painter
merely but Of a man sunk in half
saniui reverie. The amazing "View of
''eoo, doubly welcome here as almost
''e soie souvenir Of El Greco's interest
:" landscape, is remarkable for much
more Than its dramatic sky, its intense
''0'ufesqueness." What chiefly i'm
E'sses us Is its character as a spiritual
Ssoro' The theatricslity of the piece
oue to no .nisreading Of nature, but 10
e TACT that the scene has been observed
n, MN some indefinabIe Inner vision
tnat vision notably inspired? DO
owe 10 It's OF cration pictures If ex-
Naoroinary moment? Despite the fervor
"'u which FL Greco is appraised in
ie quarters, one may be permitted
uoubt The recent craze for the
masters has promoted varied de-
Vphents When the dealers. ram
mAg Europe anew, turned their at
sAson TO Spain, El Greco came in for
astonishing and not altogether ra-
ahzeo popularity. His present rather
''e1c vogue is not necessarily going
'@ When the ecstatic cease from
\ uOHhg and the scoffers are at rest,
E .p'ee'atlon Of FL Greco will probably
'0und somewhere between acceptance