New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-03-07

| latter day Western observer which has
| been developed by too close an ABSORB
| ton i'm seventeenth ard eighteenth cen
! fury models.
\ sood deal OF What thosc models i'm
! ply must be thrown overheard upon the
| present occasion one must look in the
Japan Society's exhibition not SO much
| for linear elegance as for 2 kind Of virilc
! simplicity. not 50 much for keen hrilli-
ance Of color as for depth and original
| itv Il is the old story SO trite ina Sculpt-
urc and architecture end not unknoNn
| in painting the ancient fathers. with
their ruder. more naive. touch. have a
! way Of SURPRISING IN a certain nobi"
! force all that comes after them, though
| their successors may refine a thousand
| times upon their original inspiration
| Take for example. the forms Illustrated
| m thie collection The bowls and vases
avoid rather than sock an extreme grace
Of contour They ore designed. instead
within bold. swelling lines. which rarely
taper down. but reach their base with q
repetition Of that dieuifed breadth which
characterizos them at the rim or N the
shoulders. The ornament too. when IL
IS used AZ all is applied with a notable
reserve. We have nc intention OF tray
crsing these objects ono by ono. but
reference TO a particular piece may con-
! tribute little TO the general purpose or
these remarks The Sung dish Of soft
grey-crecn ccladon glaze GO. $40 pro-
,ides an eloquent instance OF the deco
rative restraint Of these masters. In the
centre is prodigious dragon and on the
sides there is a scroll OF foliage which
the catalogue aptly describes as bold
Yes. bold" IS the word but with such
exquisite judgment does the potter Keen
himself in hand that this fairly Fam
boyant ornamentation seems really
hrcathed upon the surface. Among other
things. the Sung craftsmen possessed
impeccable taste. That taste. to he sure
was no. exactly like our own. In color
they-by preference. We ina Sine--kneW
next 10 nothing about those sharp, pow
erful hues TO which our modern eyes
were long ago comfortably adjusted
One Of their favorite tints was blue or
the sky after rain" There are in IT. for
us. faint greenish nuances. They loved
rich. resonant lavender-rich, vet with
making itself felt in the slow quiet
scale. And, best OF all. AS for our own
part We are inclined 20 say. they knew
some glorious monoch-omcs. unctuous
cream white which make ivory look thin
and hard, and sombre, clustering blacks
and browns, Occasionally. too. they de-
Neloped effects OF romantic. reconcile
beauty such effects as YOU may see in
the little conical bowl (No. $3.50 Of dark
reddish ware. burnt black and streaked
with lustrous golden brown We have
seen Venetian glass that tried to be as
transparent and enchanting es this-and
pitifully failed.
The piece Just cited is typical Of much in
this exhibition in IT'S bloomlike delicaCy,
its fine, fragile beauty. But the essential
note of the primitive potter was one of an
almost majestic weight The extraord-
narily synthesized beauty OF Greek line
and mass he could not quite reach but. in
his way. lie used something OF the same
grand simplicity There are here guam
tity Of bulb bowls which reproduce I'm
their forms some Of the conventions of
old Chinese work in bronze. IT is interest
ing TO note how justly they do this; how.
in his baser and more perilous material,
the potter nevertheless rises to certain
plastic authority and gives us a vertically
r1any trait of his that we recognize one
of the leading motives in the exhibition.
7 he Sung Primitives recall us to all that
was fresh and racy in the great creative
period of an historic school. Eighteenth
century brilliance seems also eighteenth
century preciosty as We think OF It amid
these souvenirs Of q Younger. healthier
day. We balk little at the outset
seVorinS the comparatively unfamiliar
ideas OF the pioneers with some hesita-
ton. But. like all simple, genuine things,
they besuile MS very quickly, and we end
in mood OF almost artless appreciation.
This exhibition is made for sheer sensuous
enjoyment. u starts ones thoughts in
countless different directions one
could speculate indefinitely as TO the
possible source Of the strange architect
ural design Of the Iga water Jar CNo,
81, and one could compose a dithyramb
on the complex beauty Of its glaze
There are Jars here recalling clas-
scal amphore. which stimulates more
curiosity. and there are episodes Of deco
ration which in the oldest way make YOU
think OF Gothic LEAKAGE. Ancient wine pots
fantastically correspond in form to latter
Gay teapots There is no end TO the
p.quant, Turing suggestions that crop out
in one group after another. But when all
is said it is the great merit of the exhibit
ton that ravishes the eye. TO a certain
extent it is new and strange, and many
visitor will be long in co-ordinating the
aesthetic issues it presents. Yet he does
not need to do this in order to be happy,
in order TO feel in these masterpieces the
lovely charm Of Eastern art in It's purest
estate.