New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-03-04
pictures and Studies by Him
Are Placed on View Be-
fore Sale at Auction.
OTHER AMERICAN
ARTISTS EXHIBIT
italian Landscapes by Stark.
weather-Water ColOrS by
Miss Robinson.
az ROYAL CORTlSSOZ.

r,,r,c there we're old comrades 10 mourn
,m in all the great cities OF America and
r,rope and in a good many Of the 90
,rer corners Of the earth. lie had been
;cdefatigable traveller since his youth
"a .bereyer he went he was thcnceforth
ssec,ionately remembered The friends
wbo sorroNed over his tragic end have
,ow chance 20 give tangible evidence OF
,heir LOYALTY and incidentally 10 obtain
.,ms charming souvenirs OF the man they
,ovsd AT the American Art Galleries
,n.rs Is an exhibition of nearly a hun
dred of the paintings, drawings, AMI
.,udes ne left in his studio. They VIII
ns sold az auction next Friday evening
one or two Of the pictures lrave certain
Importance Most OF them are compare
lively trihing They arc all characters
,ic relics of an interesting pei sonality.
The biographical sketch OF Millet writ
ten nv Mr.. Sylvester Baxter and prefiXed
10 the catalogue tacitly offers the es-
plsuatjon Of his failure TO achieve eX-
,,sord;nary distinction as a painter. lie
was. II anything, a shade too versatile.
Ne was a war correspondent and a writer
Of short stories. He painted pictures and
decorations and drew for the magazines.
He was a good executive, sharing in the
organization Of more than one huge ex-
hibition, and, indeed. playing construc-
tive part in all kinds of artistic enter
prises The net result of this lifelong
diffusion OF energy was too early
crystalllzation OF his habit as a painter.
When he FIRST went abroad 10 study he
followed with enthusiasm the tradition
and in later years, when he settled for
some time in England, the tastes OF his
youth we're only confirmed. He had an
academic storytelling bent. He liked
the polish of the Belgian mode in which
he was trained. Why blink the unmis
taxable fact that this intimate OF John
sargents was really I'm instructive sym
pathy with the pedestrian style that from
the earliest years of the Victorian period,
has prevailed at Burlington House? Mil
let clung 10 tho ideas of an older genera
ton and cheerfully let the modern move
ments" thunder by. 1t deprived him Of
all manner OF technical advantages, hut
II left him with an undeniable ability.
Let us look, for example, at little paint
ings like his Courtyard OF the Villa Mar
cissus' or AN Old Kitchen, Stanton.
England" These perfectly illustrate the
dehcacy OF his drawing and the purity Of
his tone. An artist touched by the infiu-
once OF modern 1mpressonism would have
painted both works with greater breadth
and would have invested them with
richer atmospheric quality; but in place
Of these things Niillet gives us something
OF his own that is worth having, sweet,
cool charm. a SAVIOR OF the truth as it
PASSED through his curiously New Eng
andish temperament. II is an odd para
dox In his career that, cosmopolitan as
he vas in many ways. ne kept his art
from beginning 10 end a little cold, a lit
lie austere, as though the spirit Of his
Maine forefathers would not down. lie
had, no doubt. his froer moments. Oh.
serving the bold brushwork and the fat
color In his Girl of Capri" we can sec
that he sometimes let himself go. The
Study" CNo. 55). portrait of a swarthy
flute player. might have been done in
happy emulation OF Rubens. There are
here, too, some notes OF observation out
OK doors, like the delightful "Cohasset"
tNo So, which suggest that Millet had
only TO be stirred by Nature and TO try
FOR a swift impression Of her traits in
order 10 gain at least passing liberation
from his customary too deliberate method.
II Is for these casual memorials Of MS
lighter, more careless. impulses that ;he
present exhibition is especially TO be COM
nended. over and over it affords thu
collector an opportunity TO get an exam
pie OF Millet in his most personal. most
spontaneous mood.
The pictures typical OF his more
academic style are such pictures as the
graceful bit Of sentiment called Wander
ing Thoughts" or the historical anecdote
called The Proposal" This latter work
IL particularly characteristic in its careful
dellneation OF all the Georgian accessories
introduced into the scene. The show also
includes an excellent group of Millets
black and whites, spirited pencil sketches
which be made years ago along the
Danube. and there are several admirable
Winter. and Nicholas Murray Butler.
There are. finally. a number of the origi-
nal studies made for his Treaty OF tho
Traverse dos Sioux" large decorative
canvas in the Governors Room of the
Capitol at 81. Paul. The exhibition. as a
whole. small but fairly comprehensive.
leaves an impression Of a sincere and &C
compiished craftsman.
~ the same galleries Mr. Edward
hgnge is showing collection OF old Chi
hese pOrcelains and other Oriental OBJ
Jeeis. There are but ~ pieces in the ex-
hotlon. but they are Of unusually high
merit The single color vases are espe-
eislly beautiful. This collection will be.
sold next Saturday afternoon. In another
room there In now going forward and VIII
u concluded tomorrow evening. a sale or
PRINTS and books belonging 10 Mr.. ~. g
hoskier, and there opens this morning an
exhibition OF Nr W. G. Hilrs china, pew
Ter. weapons. and Colonial furniture.
Nr William r.. b. Gtarkweather, who
nas collection OF his paintings at the
foisom gallery. IS q clever though somo-
shat uneven artist In several or ms
italian landscapes. such an the "Toyiano
Toward Sunset he IL dull and tursid,
oW IN the next moment he effaces the
memory OF these failures and gives w
coast scenes like the Clear Day or the
ccrai Reefs and Sea- Bermuda which
'fs SPARKLING In color and arc Beautifully
9ftNn II IL the same with his portraits