New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-02-14
new AMERICAN
WORKS OF ART
Originality in the Painting
of Religious Subjects
and Landscapes.
ONE-MAN SHOW IN
INTERESTING FORM
Forthcoming Sales-The Emile
Pares, Leone Ricci and va
manaka Collections.
BY ROYAL CORTISSOZ.

BY ROYAL CORTISSOZ.
The American artist is certainly hav-
ing his innings in New York this season,
both in the larger miscellaneous exhi-
billions and In the "one-man shows"
Indeed the latter are multiplying now
days past counting. Salient in the long
list is Mr.. A. V. lacks exhibition at
the Worch Gallery. Favorably known
hitherto as a portrait painter of mod
crate ability, using conventional
method, he has now changed the whole
character of his art. His subjects are
religious and allegorical. He paints
them on a large scale and in a new
manner, laying on the pure paint in
multitude of little touches. The effect,
thanks to rather raw surfaces, is not
unlike that of unpublished mosaic.
His nude forms, conceived with GER
tain largeness Of feeling, with an un-
mistakable sincerity. are impressive,
and in at least one instance, in the
"Remorse of Eve" not without beauty.
In them, as in the simple dignity OF
his composition, he rises to the noble
plane of his motives. Reckoning, too,
with the richness of his color, we can
not but respond with good deal of
sympathy to his fine appeal. 1t is en-
couraging to see work so thoughtful,
so full of serious energy. Then fol-
low doubts of the efficacy of Mr.. Tack's
method. 1t is not only harsh in grain, but
it asserts itself a little too sharply,
getting between us and what the artist
has to say. Moreover, the luminous
backgrounds of which he is over fond
leave in the long run u rather Fictitious
impression. They no doubt help the
silhouette Of the figure, but incidentally
they threaten to theatricalize 1T. One
would like to see Mr.. Tack turning
round, so to say, in this new-found
technique of his and showing that he
had achieved a style, not manner. The
charm Of some Of his little landscapes,
notably the sparkling Mountain
Slopes, ;" suggests that he might thus
more proftably affirm himself if he
cared to do so.
Mr.. William De Leftwich Dodge, who
is making an exhibition at the Folsom
Gallery, has long been recognizable as
the Partisan medallist he is noted to be
in the catalogue. He is one Of those
Americans whose French training is in
stantly OWNED. 1t has been good for
him, too. In the mural decorations
which have made his repute he has
steadily displayed some of the best Writ
ues inculcated by the Ecole des Beaux
Arts, an intelligent facility, really clev..
er animation, certain power OF
ordinance. None of our wall paint
ers is more ingenious than he in the
filling of given space, and few of them
have ever been as spirited. His light,
entertaining traits come out with some
added elements in the present show,
which is devoted to the easel pictures
of his later period. Also we observe in
pretty constant action here his beset-
ting foible. His values are somewhat
forced Nearly everything he has to
deal with in a composition is brought
as it were into the foreground. The
restraint with which he paints the bit
of sculpture included in "My Atrium"
is, on the whole, rare. He is too eager.
too vigorous, to care much for the
nuance of tone, the delicate vibration of
light. But with these reservations we
give ourselves up to the dash and
sparkle of his work, the gay plangency
of his color, the zest and the force with
which he carries off his vivid impress
sions. Just once, in the charming DOL
phi. Bay" he plays with fairly subtle
note, but, as a rule, he is uncompromls-
ingly direct. The sunny garden scenes,
with figures, are perhaps his most char
acteristic successes IN this breezy vein.
But for deeper quality we would go to
the three or four coast studies, painted
in different seasons. These, in their
truth and power, do more than any
thing else to show the authenticity of
MIR: Dodge's talent.
The new landscapes by Mr.. Ernest
Lawson at the Daniel Gallery come
like a breath of the north wind after
the overweight, experimental crudi-
ties which are so often shown at this
place. He is not fumbling with new"
theories. He is at his ease with old
facts, the sterling facts of good color
and drawing, of accurate observation
and sane emotion. Mr.. Lawson knows
his trade. Knowing it, like every
artist of gifts he uses it TO beautiful
ends, and with the respect for his
technique which is one of the secrets
of beauty in art. There are times
when we wish he would be a shade
more arbitrary with his problems
Taking nature exactly as he finds
her, he sometimes forgets to make a
picture out of his impression. Luck,
rather than any process Of selection,
would seem to be at the bottom of
his best compositions. When the gods
are with him the spontaneous lowell.
ness of his paintings, as in the "Old
Willows" gives us exquisite sem
sation. The truth is there, to the last
element of atmospheric fineness, and
with it an investiture Of color as pure
as It is original. His originality is
Mr.. Lawson's strongest resource. The
collection of fifteen canvases is curl
ously uneven, embracing works that
are brilliant and works that are, frank
ly, failures, but there Is not one in
the group that is dull. An interesting
character manifests itself in them all.
Mr.. Kenneth Frazier, too, is uneven
in the portraits which he shows at the
Gimpel and Wildenstein Gallery. He
brings forward a few studies and land
scapes which are doubtless Of interest
to him, but which tell US nothing sig
nifcant of his essential ability. In
fact, they do injustice TO the painter
of the full length which has the place
of honor, the Mrs. Lee Thomas" The
decorative scheme in this Is by itself
charming. The slender figure is set
against a background in which an
pattern gets its full value,
vet is kept we'll in hand. Mr.. Frazier's
at this point is ad-
mirable. His blacks and grays are per-
fectly painted. What we like best
about the thing is its emergence as
whole, its quality as bit Of good de-
sign. A thousand mundane portraits
more or less in the same mode have
passed and are always passing through
the exhibitions, but this one would de-