New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-06
First to Carry Absolute
Conviction in ReproduC-
ing the Great Work.
MR.. SHURTLEFF'S
LANDSCAPES
Some Excellent Pictures Shown
at the Several Galleries
Fine Oriental Rugs.
BY ROYAL CORTIssOZ.

to reproduce through one medium or an
other. the picturesqueness Of the great
work going forward on the Panama
Canal. Mr.. Jonas Lie is the first TO carry
absolute conviction. Others have done 50
well that we have not expected anything
especially new 10 come out OF the sub
iect. but these latest works. now on view
at the Knoedler gallery. pretty nearly
eclipse even the best OF their predeces-
sors Several things 80 10 explain thelF
success. but ii is probable that what
chiefly helped Mr. Lie-apart from the
sound technique that he took with him
was the simple nature OF his point OF
view There has been. not unnaturally.
q good deal OF high-erected talk about
the canal. and some OF il has been IA
tional. 1t IS TO be feared that the more
rhetorical OF the tributes paid TO the cy-
clopean work Of the engineers has scared
a few of the artists who have gone down
there out of ther wits. They have felt
in duty bound TO be prodisiously heroical.
Mr. Lie has known better lie has paint
cd the canal with what would seem 10 be
an almost artless sense of its scale leav-
ing the majesty" of the affair TO take
care OF itself The result is series or
paintings the sincerity Of which consti-
tutes half their charm.
The point is especially worth noting In
the presence OF that picture which ne
calls THE Heavenly Host" If one can
forget the foolishly precious" title. Inc
great cranes are at work. and those huge
black buckets which so to and FRO as
though on threads make queer fahtasuc
blots against the sky. But it is delight
full 10 see how Mr. Lie has refralned
from trying 10 weave any decorative pat
tern out of his buckets, how he has kept
them in exactly the right relation 10 the
whole scene. and has, in short maze
that scene count with true pictorial unity.
This. indeed is what he does throughout
the collection. He is aptly observant Oh
details, he makes the most of the long,
linear effect embodied in the railway, he
uses TO good purpose the tall. thick sp.-
rails of black smoke from the locomotives,
he causes his figures to tell here and
there as piquant accents. and he knows
precisely how 10 express the bulk ana
weight OF immense masses OF earth. But
all the time he is careful TO see his SUBJ
iect as a whole. to give us a simple nut
well balanced composition, 10 fill II with
light and air, and, particularly, 10 do
what no one else has done so sympa-
thetically--to bring out the color values
I'm his theme. We have seen Panama
pictures that were good to have as rec
IN haVa NOT OnlV
for that reason. but because they are
works of art, painted with an unforceu
yusto and stamped with the artists en-
cacing individuality. The show only lasts
until next Saturday night. No one shouid
miss II.
There are two or three other exhibit
tons at the knoedler gallery count
Chabannes la Palice shows a NUMBER OF
portraits They are drawn pretty "e"'
in a rather hard fashion. but are other
wise a little too sleek and chromo-i
Mrs. Henry Mottet's portraits and paint
ings disclose an agreeable talent. she
has pretty sense Of color, and presents
her feminine sitters with gracefuhS
decorative touch. a good example IS pro-
vidcd i'm the Miss Eleonora NJ. kissei'
Tho portraits painted out of doors give
coma nromise of an ultimately effective
handling OF light Mrs. Mottet is un-
usually successful in her portraits OF men,
modelling the heads with good deal OF
force. II is plain, however, In all her
vorl, that she needs to strengthen her
technique and especially her knowledge
of form. The current exhibition OF prints
oh nu \ l.
e,,Iste Iepere. one Of the most distlh-
guished of modern Frenchmen. His ar
chitectural subjects are mastery studles.
.opero is one of the few craftsmen
who can express structure with fairly
lavish attention to detail and yet leave
an impression of mass beauuiully gem
oralized. His landscapes are exquisite
recalling the tenderness OF Corot in the
treatment of tree forms and diaphanous
LEAKAGE There are but twenty-thrce
prints on the walls here but they make
an impressive array. 1t is because Lee
rhre has the secret Of style
Nothing could be more welcome than
the exhibition OF landscapes which Mr..
II NJ. Shurtleff has opened at the Folsom
Gallery. This sterling artist. one or the
veterans OF the American school the
comrade of Wyant and Inness. has for
many years been painting the teauty OF
the Adirondacks with loving hand. lie
knows the magic OF tho forest and puts
il into his work. putting IT there with the
more felicity because he never tries TO
heighten the effect OF given scene py
any adventurous means. This exhibition
is fun OF things accurately seen. OF great
rocks half hidden by the trees. OF giades
winding through shadow into sunlight, OF
sylvan episodes 80 wild. so cluttered Win
tho rattle of old wood and leaves that
Won wonder how the artist has neverthe-
less contrived to give 10 his picture the
precious quality OF design. Mr. shurtieH
gets that always. with an adroitness born
., axnerience and with a freshness be-
speakipg the unfagging ardor OF his
splrit. He shows only one water Color
and We wish he had SHOWN more. Inc