New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-30

men who detach themselves from the
ruck. In this instance beginning
has been made by the appropriation OF
some twelve or fifteen rooms for the
works Of as many painters. 1t Is only
a beginning, and | AM not sure but
that IL binders az much as it helps,
for il may easily begUile the unin-
structed into going quite conclusively
wrong. The difficulty inherent in this
nominally excellent idea lies in the
application Of il. If A is to be honored
by Retrospective exhibition, then why
not B Or, to be specific, if Melchers
or Tarbell, why not Dewing or Brush
II Redfeld, why not Bunce, or }. +.
Murphy, or any one of half dozen
other artists? The layman with a
vague sense Of the hierarchies in art
and natural confidence in the author
tiles Of big exhibition can hardly be
blamed If he takes the organizers of
this set of separate rooms as saying
"These are our jewels" And that IL
misleading. There are other jewels,
as have limited, and some of them
of infinitely greater price. But hav-
ing noted the danger belonging to the
administrative policy here exemplifed
we may go on TO see what the rooms
in question signify.
In the first place, must fling the
classical "invidiousness" OF COMPARE
son to the winds and record the abso-
Lutte speriority of one room 10 all the
rest. II is the room filed with twenty
five works by the late John II. Twacht-
man, summer and winter scenes, stud
les Of Niagara, fleeing impressions OF
flowers, memorials of virtually every
phase Of his genius. That last epithet
NCc0uAte,.for the salience of his room.
II is full OF genius, Of originality, OF
charm. BY some happy stroke the
pictures have been beautifully hung
against just the right background. You
come amongst them anil you are de-
lightfully aware of light and color, OF
fresh, personal outlook upon nature
of French impressionism assimilated
by a thoroughly American temperament
and turned to Independent uses The
room CLOVIS softly. with an exquisite
vitality. It Is, in the best sense, dis
tinguished. One cries "A fig for pol
icy!" All that matters is the rich
pleasure that one gets out OF the work
of brilliant painter, untimely lost,
As an outstanding episode the
Twachtman room has its closest rival
in that occupied by Frank Duveneck,
of Cincinnati, fortunately still living,
but figure Of historical rather than
present import. He is memorable as
the cold master" who in Munich and
Venice many years ago led some OF our
most gifted young painters out OF the
wilderness. Ultimately to get into the
Promised Land they had to unlearn
some Of the things he taught them
His robust realism was rooted In an
almost fanatical devotion 70 Rem
brandt, and along with the virtues re-
siding in that ideal there went an alb
sorption in studio light and brown
sauce" we'll calculated to hamper a
man when the new open air hypothesis
came into play. Since the new open
air hypothesis is the one that modern
artists have largely decided to adopt il
Is easy to see why the art Of Twacht-
man, who is dead. ia very much alive
while the art of Duveneck. who is liv-
ing, does not affirm itself, let us say
with quite the same energy Then
too, those old days in the Bavarian
capital were the good old days of btu
men, when the "bulliest" and richest
OF Rembrandtesque effects were to be
had, as It were. for the asking. The
stuff was treacherous lure. You can
sac from some of Duveneck's best
things how It repaid its devotees in
due time with cracked surfaces and
tones turned topsy-turvy. Decidedly
the cold master" made doubtful guide
for the painter having his gaze set
upon posterity. But not for the painter
who, regardless Of the future, simply
wanted TO know how to paint. Du.
vcneck could show him. For Duveneck
knew.
He knew so well that with all his
drawbacks, with all his SAVIOR of the
museum rather than of life, he is one
of the heroes Of American art and one
of the great joys Of this exhibition.
Il Is of next to no consequence that
his "Woman with Forget is
painted in the closest possible emilia
ton of Rembrandt. The importan,
thing is that 1t is painted magnifi-
Gently, that the face and hands reveal
the modelling of q master, that every
touch of the brush spells original
power, the creative artist. He meets
Rembrandt on his own ground and
uses an unctuous impasto of his own
developing q splendid mass Of deep
warm tone. He draws-with the force
and quality of a born craftsman. II
is not Rembrandt alone that he recalls