Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-01-15
Montclair Museum to Be
Informally Opened Tonight
Institution Made Possible Through Generosity of Wealthy Res
dents of Mountain Town-Fne Collection of Paintings and
Sculpture, Including Work of Local Artists.

genius and is executed with the grace
of the artists of the age which pro-
duced the Perseus of Florence. The
subject is that of the Indian youth
who tests his prowess with the bow.
1t is such statues as this and that
! noble work, the bronze Washington
which adorns Newark's own park
that put to shame the meaningless
iejune and feeble public statues
which the imperial city of New York
presents for the ridicule of millions
of visitors.
Within the museum the object of
art which deserves the most extended
notice is the work-perhaps the last
OF Mr.. Copper, a life-size statue
"A Crown for the Victor" The sub
ject was suggested to the sculptor by
a Pindaric ode, interest in which
form classic poetry has lately been
revived by the discovery of some OF
the ancient authors works supposed
to have been lost.
The poem which inspired the sculp-
tor was the one describing the wear
ing of the wreath of wild olive for
the brow of the victor in the Olympic
games. The figure is highly idealized
and is instinct with the genius of
poetry, but the pure classicist might
object to the modern air and self-con-
scious sentiment expressed in the
beautiful and correct profile of the
woman. 1t is the Greek maiden that
one sees, but 1t Is the French polish
of the artists of the salon that over
lays the simple grace of the creature
of an unsophisticated age The
moulding of the hands and of the
foot that is seen is deserving of the
highest praise,
The style is the man, says the
Frenchman. He might have added,
the art is the artist. One glance at
the refined and noble face of the
sculptor, one look into the deep
brown, glowing eyes, will explain the
refinement, perhaps slightly overdone,
of the superb statue "A Crown for
the Victor"
Paintings Above the Standard
The paintings in the museum. as I
have intimated. will be particularly
noticed in these columns later. Those
who have not known of this museum
will be astonished at the splendor of
both the permanent and the loan col
lections. The former is the GROWING
gift of that true patron of art, Mr..
Evans, The other is the more re-
markable that, contrary to custom,
inc paintings were not submitted IN
this initial instance in the life of the
institution to the judgment of a jury.
Each artist-there are seventy-five
resident in Montclair alone-was per-
mitted to exhibit three samples of his
work. 1t may be said here that the
result is the assemblage of paintings
some of them beautiful, some of
them daring, all of them above the
standard which would relegate them
to the purgatorv of the sky line.
A collection in which the museum
directors take especial pride are the
examples of Indian art. the gift. of
Mr.. and Mrs. Henry La~~ among
the most generous contributors to the
museum fund. This collection was
begun by the mother of Mrs. Lang,
the late Mrs. Annie Valentine Rand.
An art patron of Newark, a man
of great wealth and far greater civic
spirit, sighed as I asked him about
the prospect of having such a mu-
scum as that which today will be
thrown open in Montclair.
sWhen Newark remembers" he
answered, that factories will never
satisfy the natural art instincts of
the youth Of the city, then, and not
till then will we have such a mu-
scum"