New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-02

ton Of the familiar walk and demeanor
Of the French school Lovely portraits
here, by Drouais. Van Loo. and Vigee
Lebrun. recall the mode Of a period
when the ladies gave the painter his
cue. The feminine influence prcdOmi-
mated making for personal dignity
which was not incompatible with
vivacity and grace. How perennially
charming these women are, Their
traits were lightly lovable. They had
character. as so many Of them demon
sirated when they were submitted 10
the tragic test Of the Revolution. ana
there are few precious souvenirs. like
kocharsky's pathetic portrait of Marie
Antoinette which show us how agony
and tears brought out the deeper ele-
ments in natures previously associated
only with ideas of gayety and softness.
But the painters who portrayed them
in the heyday Of their courtly pride
had only a happy and rcposeful elc-
gance to consider. Their sitters lived
life extraordinarily imbued with 4
sense of polish and measure. ana this
urbane law ruled French art.
II comes out not only I'm the portraits.
| but in those curiously sophisticated
{ and Gallicized NEUROLOGICAL motives
which so often engaged the energies Of
/ the school, and in the pictures Of
stately gardens where laughing. cour-
/ tiers and their danes are endessly
content. because the world is full OF
luxury and love and II is always after
noon. The Fischer exhibition gives us
some delightful records of this incur
ably artificial but somehow genuine
4 and appealing mood in sparkling little
pictures by Vatican. Pater ana their
4 fellows from which we seem TO catch
/ the very murmur and frOa-f from OF the
! time They are fine pictures. The
! Vatican, for example, is gem
Rarely indeed do we see here collec-
ton Of this character so choice and so
enjoyable. 1t is the more welcome, too
because il has been extended so as 10
include two perfect examples OF the
eighteenth century Venetian. Longhi
and with these the amateur who cares
for such matters may also see four
representative pieces by Tiepolo.
For the student of eighteenth century
manners Longhi provides documents of
the highest value. and these are, into
the bargain, most allurng works of
art. AS "A good Venetian he knew the
fashions Of his day and duly respected
them. There is nothing violent or
dramatic about his illustration of the
social movement. Like his French con-
temporaries. he had taste. But he had
humor, too. of type homelier than
was possible in The cynical French
world. Many of his pictures are OF
very humble interiors-it is in fact. by
his transcripts of life In everyday Ven
ice that he Is best known-and when
the fates took him into higher spheres
he studied what he found there with
something of the same wholesome feel
ing. The point is enforced by Mr.
Fischer's two pictures. one OF them de-
picting the morning toilet of a young
Venetian matron. and the other ex-
hibiting a similar parsonage trihlng
with a pretty task by her mothers
side and listening to her cavalier. That
cavalier. we may note I'm passing. is
marvellously painted. His rich cos
tune is handled with technical
finesse which makes the figure by itself
a joy. But the woman's dress is beau
| tifully done, too. and in the companion
picture we again see Longhi as not
only a master OF anecdote but a master
Of the brush.
The Tiepolos are magnificent. One
is study for the central panel in the
ceiling of the church of the Gesuati. in
Venice. 1t shows. like the sketch AT
Berlin slight variations in detail, but
the broad scheme is the same. This
picture of San Domenico Distributing
the Rosaries" is one of those spirited