New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-03-16
MATTERS Of ART
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sonal atmosphere Of the whole AFFAIR.
1t is the personal note that counts 'hs
full and rich expression of singular
point of view. Mr.. Dewing mas 1t III
his single figure which is catalogued
as a portrait but really makes It's ab-
peal not as an Interpretation OF char-
acter but just as delicate impression
of form and color The emphasis is
finely placed on these things. Ihere
are no accessories. there is nothing TO
encroach upon the simplicity OF me
background. Mr.. DewinS is content TO
take his stately and lovely figure Tor
itself. wreak upon ii an exquisite CRAFTS
manship and invest il with the pure
force of his style. Decidedly, TINS Is
personal work. Such work IT is nat
we find also in the five canVases or Mr.
Alden Weir. especially his landscapes.
All of these are good, and one Of them.
the Autumn" is superb In It's easy
spontaneous disclosure of the depth am
beauty of the woods. Neither of his
two figure pieces, The Lutte Player or
the "Portrait." is an instance of wholly
felicitous design. Mr. Weir seems to
have been curiously at a loss when ne
came TO deal with the head OF his mu-
stefan. The awkward pose seems 10
have been made worse by being fum-
bled. Yet in both these paintings there
is an abundance of sound technique
which is, into the bargain. full OF lndl-
viduality. II is odd TO see how MT
Simmons has oscillated between these
two phases Of the same element in MS
Portrait OF Mrs. F." and his other
portrait of a lady which is called, from
an accessory brought effectively into
play. The Crystal Ball. The first of
these performances is merely bit OF
efficient but pedestrian work, TESTIFY
ing TO nothing more than the fact that
Mr.. simmons knows his trade. In The
CRYSTAL Ball. he endues his efficiency
with a finer more distinguished quail
ity. In design. in color, in sentiment.
in everything, this is not only ma
ture but a most engaging production.
The painters of light and air here
represented seem to have been spend
ing much of their time indoors one OF
them. Mr.. Childe Hassam. has not by
any means lost in the process anything
of his luminosity. In fact, while his
Summer Idyl," with its deftly intro
duced nude is typical enough of his
open-air habit, il is not half as good as
it ought to be, in view of the beauty
which he has often got out of similar
motives, whereas the interiors that he
now shows are among the best things
he has ever painted. The large one.
Young Woman Reading a Letter"
altogether admirable for its color. is
also very beautiful in its painting Of
light. Delightful as pendants to this
are his few tiny panels. illustrative Of
an unfamiliar vein which il is To he
hoped Mr.. Hassam will not neglect
His still life, Fruit and Chinese Jars,
good as to the light but too hot i'm color
is as a picture uninteresting. 1t is the
only painting III MS group OF nine
which fails to give pleasure. Apropos
of this question of illumination, it
seems a pity that Mr.. Benson. per-
fectly natural and successful as he is in
the open air, as witness his "Septem-
Der Afternoon a picture Of two girls
sewing, should fall upon an insidious
sophistication when he attacks more
formal themes. my Daughter" is
portrait so alluring in its picturesque
ness that one shrinks from applying to
It even the faintest shade Of dispar-
agement, yet the sweet spirit Of the
work and its skilful execution cannot
conceal the excessive artiflciality with
which the painter has arranged his