New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-13

talk. He can be subtle. when he
chooses, and he is often vivid. Most,
il not all, of the subjects he discusses
become more tangible and interesting
as he puts them before US. When he
fails it is hardly his fault II his re-
marks on the church architecture OF
the Netherlands in the Middle Ages
leave US cold. il is because that archi-
lecture is not, after all, intrinslcally
thrilling. When he has something 10
bite on. as the saying goes, he adds TO
our knowledge and IS eloquent IN the
process.
We do not know where the student
could obtain an introduction to the
Dutch Primitives so compact, so clear
or so inspiring as that which IS onered
in DR.. Valentiner's chapter on the
HARLEM school in the fifteenth CEN
turv. With a few brief, constructive
touches. he fixes the perspective IN
which his men are TO be surveyed and
then characterizes the latter-Dirk
Bouts. Aelbert van Ouwater, Cert
gen, and so on-in such wise that while
YOU lean upon his technical knowl-
edge you are stirred by his emotion.
The warm human note anlmating the
criticism in this book eliminates IN the
chapter given 20 Rembrandt's Blind
ing of Samson" the great picture IN
the Staedel Institute, at Frankfort.
Even from a small reproduction IN
black ard white, one may catch the
dramatic reverberations Of that mas
terpiece and sense the beauty sur
mounting its central horror, the
lyrical ecstasy 70 which Rembrandt
rises in his portrayal of Delilah, whose
investiture of blue and gold is an IN
stance of color fairly singing IN
world Of gloom. But DR.. Valentiner
does more than pay tribute TO the
sheer power Of painting in the work.
From Rembrandt's conception OF art,
he has the courage TO say, there
speaks a personality that has more
power than art of any ind, and by
the time he has finished describing and
interpreting the picture he has carried
US well into the inner courts OF great
mans soul. The essay is the most
brilliant in the book, but in this hu-
nanizing Of critical issues it is typical
81 MANY of the others. There are notes
here. like those on Rembrandt's repre-
sensations of Susanna, and on the
works by Rubens and Van Dyek IN
American collections, which are val
liable as matters of record for the
specialist. But the volume IS 20 De
commended on broader grounds. IL Is
meant for every one who has any IN
terest at all in Dutch and Flemish art.
In her German Masters Of Art
Frederick A. Stokes Company Mrs.
Helen A. Dickinson has produced an
excellent popular guide TO region IN
which the amateur may easily go
wrong. The three divisions into which
she separates her work correspond 70
the familiar geographical partition OF
the schools. There is an indication on
the title page that she has studied at
Heidelberg. and in any case we would
infer that she had emulated the German
tradition OF slow, systematic research.
Nothing could be more orderly than the
sequence of chapters in which, follow
ing the scheme Just noted, she tray-
erses the different masters Of the
different provinces. She gives US
wherever possible the biographical
particulars which help a little-but
only a little-to give the numerous
minor men certain personal salience,
and she is of course, fairly lavish OF
such data when she has to deal with
figures like Holbein and Durer. In
0uenCes TRANSMITTED are uuly HOLeu,
and, in fact, the author makes q credit
able effort to give unity to her
study. Many well printed illustrations
strengthen her text. This remains,
however, q work OF industry rather
than Of critical inspiration. Il is OBJ
vious that the author has taken all the
pains in the world TO get at her facts,
and that she has conscientiously
studied all the painters in her long
list. II is not plain that she has any
thing in the least original TO tell us
about ANY of them. In the chapel Of
the Castle at Forcheim, near Bamberg,
are remains Of frescos representing
the 'Annunciation,' Alteration of the
Magp and Last Judgment, in which
the types pictured are not lacking IN
beauty and grace" OF that sort OF
thing, which does well enough in
Baedeker, we get too much. an VI