New-York tribune., 1912-02-03
ART EXHIBITIONS.
Oriental 0bjeCts-0Id and Mod
ern Prints - American
Miniatures.

| old and modern Japanese and Chinese on
| jects OF art. belonging TO the collection OF
| Richard r. Halsted, and noteworthy
group OF engravings and etchings. brought
together by the late John p. Townsend. of
this city. The OrientalIa are naturally the
| more conspicuous. The Impression gained
from looking at the Halsted collection, as
whole. is OF the prevalence in II of work
Ct recent date done by the cunning East
ern artisans, who have attempted, in too
many cases, TO meet more than half way
the growing demand for their work in the
| Occidental markets, and In so doing have
measurably coarsened and cheapened their
product. It was inevitable. perhaps, under
the rapidly changing conditions in the Far
East, that such deterioration from an
cient standards should come about. but it
is none the less lamentaole. 1t must he
understood, however. that much OF what
has come from Japanese workrooms In re-
cent years IS beautiful and acceptable; II
is only when one compares it to what
stands for a great past that the descent
becomes palpably evident.
Mr.. Halstcd has here not little in which
the favor and aroma OF an older period
make themselves agreeaby felt Look, for
example, at the antique wooden shrine,
Buddha. No. 239. carved and gilded. but
dull and rich in color. This is not I'M
portant, perhaps, in the art collectors
meaning Of the word. but It is undeniaoiy
personal. and II has beauty OF genuine
sort Again, there are old boxes. lnlalo
and OF quaint shapes; carved ivory net
sukes. screens and rammas Of carved wood,
I'm soft and harmonious colors, and Nari-
/ ETY. Of other objects too numerous for de-
tailed mention. Some of these are little
lacking In the quality OF preciousness which
| fits well the best OF these designs. and
some suggest mainly the monumental pa
tierce required 10 produce them. But the
aspect Of the collection as a whole !s
agreeable. Among these examples OF East
ern art there are placed a few painted
Spanish fans, with sticks OF carved mother
of-pearl
The Townsend prints, shown in the top
most room at the American Art Galleries,
| include a cabinet filled with Rembrandts,
another devoted to Meryon, Whistler and
Albrecht Durer, and quantity OF port
folios containing specimens OF work by
nearly hundred other men, old and con-
! temporary. The standard of excellence or
| these prints indicates the collectors dis
| elimination, and there are rarities among
them. though 1t was evidently not mat
| ter OF mere scarcity that interested the
! buyer, but rather the artistic quality OF
what he obtained.
Both collections will be on free view until
their sale the Townsend prints being set
for dispersal on Thursday evening, Febru-
arv s. and the Halsted collection on the
afternoons OF February s, and TO-
Tho American Society Of Miniatur"
Painters has placed on view at the knoea-
Ter galleries a retrospective exhibition o'
the work OF IT'S members and OF others
not affiliated with the organization, ana
! for the next week, II present indications D"
| fulfilled. there will be no more crowded
art room in the town. The art OF miniature
nsIntIng has had It's periods OF fluctuatng
popularity. hut there has always been ap-
probation OF what IL truly worth while
e,pressed IN this engaging medium. Presi-
dent William J. Baer. OF the American 30
clety. writing a foreword In the Catalogue
dates what hn calls the modern revival
OF tho miniature in this country from me
portrait show. held IN 1895, in the old build
ing OF the Academy Of Design, IN I'h
street As one in n position 10 gauge the
public demand for what he and his col
leagues produce, Mr.. Baer is doubtless cor
r.ct G, FAR az the vogue Of miniature as
q form ~ portrait art is concerned His
ogsar,ion IL apparently borne ont by the
exhibition here OF no fewer than three
hundred Of these little paintings on ivory
a large number OF these being obviously
commissioned portraits.
In eppraisiug miniature as an arr
work there must he recognition not "niN
~ the general principles that should gov
ern all art products. but also or the quail
,Ies special TO this particular medium
I-s,ng an art with deliberately acknowi-
odyed limitations I'm it's form Of expression,
r,I,Iature painters should take account not
,,.roI, Of the small rIze Of their pictures or
cravings in choosing and composing their
subjects. but also and especially OF me
surfaces upon which they are to work.
The luminous quality of the ivory ground
must be allowed TO assert itself else What
"a tho advantage Of using this beautiful
material? Again. there must be wise
cboIc. Of the scale, so to say, upon which
tho brush work shall be accomplished.
nicrIing STYLE is no more TO be admired IN
miniature painting than In large canVas'S'
there is such thing as freedom ana VlSor
within the limits OF the tiny dimensions
allowed. and It is this that the mlniatu1st
who seeks genuine expression must intuse
into his work.
II would be too much TO say that many |
Of the contributors TO this show, whlcn |
must be taken as representing the best
work OF decade and more have reached
a level OF expressive excellence. lhere
are. however, some who have conpiheu
with their feeling for art in the larger
sense the ability to handle the Danllhs /
problems of the miniature. Mr.. baer hinl-
self, with his portrait OF Mrs "llllain W.
Chase his "Primavera' and others uls-
closes enough of this dual capacity 10
give the visitor pleasure. So does MISS
Alice Beckington, with her characterlStlc
Portrait Of Mr.. Lewis while by no one
Of the exhibitors does lie essential hicety
Of the medium seem more fully UNDER
ST ood than by Mrs Lucia Fairchild Fuller
whose ten contributions, most of them fa'
miliar set a high standard here MISS
J,aura Coombs Hills, Thomas X. Manley'
Mrs Alice r. Marsh, Maria Judson STREAM
Iucv NJ. stanton and william " Whltte-
more among the members, also Send dis-
tinctiye work. while that Of the society
secretary. Miss Mabel r. WelCh. contains
several specimens of real moment, headed
by a portrait os Mrs. Ralph Holden, IN
which the visitor will no more feel
sense OF limitation, because OF the actual
size of this well drawn and modelled
head. than i'm really strong etching or
the same dimensions.
Non-mer~ ers among the exhibitors also
make their presence felt. Mrs. Alice Ham
H.. NIin. Al Rn rknr Meta s. Ire