New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-20

Of Boutet de Monvel. That hypothesis
Of attenuated line and fiat color goes
well into a picture book. II Is hardly
adapted to the purposes Of mural deco
ration. and Mr.. Du Mond accordingly
fails to secure the needed effect lie
is pretty where his labors ought TO
command weiGh,ler epithet.
Mr.. II. Milton Bancroft, an the elght
panels embelishing appropriate spaces
on the walls of the Court Of the Four
Seasons. discloses an exact apprecia-
ton Of the point at issue. lie also IS
very reserved in the matter OF color.
adhering to a quiet key. But his clas-
steal forms are large. even monu-
mental There are but two or three
figures in a typical composition OF ms
and they are grouped with academic
simplicity and balance. In tnelr an
tioue robes Of pale rose or blue or
green they bring the needed note OF
color into the architectural scheme
but in their broad. flowing lines they
remain true 20 the spirit OF the heroi-
cal structure in which they appear.
These panels are decorative IN the
strictest, most technical sense OF the
term.
South Of the Court Of the Four Sea,
sons is the smaller Court OF Palms, ana
in the three portals which 1t can count
there are as many decorations by MI
Cbilde Uassam, MIR. Charles Holloway
and Mr.. Arthur +. Matthews. All three
have a certain color value. ne deep
blue sea in Mr.. Hassam's Fruits and
Flowers" and the flaming note Of
N,4t
Shirt" are jewel-like in the radiance
which they contribute TO the archltect
ural screen. In respect 20 subject and
design none Of these decorations leaves
a particularly interesting impression.
The next group of mural paintings
continuing our survey toward the west,
is to be found in the rotunda OF the
Fine Arts Palace, where Mr.. Robert
Reid has filled the larger panels IN the
cofered dome with immense compost
lions illustrating the birth of art in
the Orient and In the west and the de-
velopment of a number of its manifesto
tions. Four of the panels in the series
are dedicated to the different Colds or
California. the precious metal. OF course
and then wheat, peoples and oranges.
His ideas are worked out IN lyrical
rather than in narrative form. 1hey
emerge in the shape Of lovely figures,
enthroned on fieecy clouds against the
bluest OF blue skies. The paintings are
placed at a great height and accord
ingly the groups in them have not too
much solidity. They float in space.
lightly, POLITICALLY. In color they might
cOnceivably be somewhat more forceful,
more ringing, but in that case it is pos
sble that they would project unduly
from the deep ornate mouldings of the
dome. As it is Mr.. Reid suggests that
he painted his panels in place, instead
Of in a studio. They are part and par
eel of the rotunda TO which they bring
their gayety and elegance.
One foreigner has had a share in
the mural paintings at the fair an
Englshman, Frank Brangwyn. AT each
Of the four corners Of the Court OF
Abundance he has painted two gigan-
tic panels symbolizing Earth, or Air.
or Water. or Fire. Set on the walls
of the high colonnade, they are tall and
slender in their proportions and semi
circular at the top. Again | leave un-
told the story the artist has 20 tell, for
the sake Of his artistry, pure and
simple. and turning to that | am NJ n
loss as TO which is the more brilliant
clement in Mr. Brangwyn's work, the
throbbing human emotion embodied IN
his paintings or the consummate fe-
licty with which he has evolved his
designs.
Those designs are. in a sense, prac-
tically all of the same type. In a
single instance one of the two panels
dedicated TO Air-he introduces an
architectural motive a picturesque
windmill flung against stormy sky
and the effect | may add. l. superb,
but elsewhere throughout the series he
repeats the soaring vertical lines OF
his architectural frame in straight slim
trees. and then balances these not only
by a fat horizon. but by passages Of
color in the sky drawn similarly
straight across the canvas. The Grass
est academician could not have fixed
upon a simpler or more rigid rule for
the organization of his linear scheme.
but Mr.. Brangwyn half conceals this
constructive eXpedient of his by
whelming his subject in foods of color.
Murmurous sapphire blues predomi-
nate. and after them in the orchestral
blaze come bold. tawny yellows and
deep greens. This sounds, ! suppose.
rather gorgeous. IL is gorgeous, but
Aeck of color anywhere, and all the
time that the major tones to which
have referred are keeping the sym
phony going there are innumerable
feeting shades Of lighter color. tender
grays. violets, whites and pinks. subtly
and enchantingly filling out the score.
The prangwyn panels. addressing
themselves imperiously TO the senses,
loading you with the fragrance Of the
flowers. making you feel the very tang
Of earth. the very heat Of fire and the
very sweetness OF natures freest airs:
touch you. too, with consclousness OF
sheer beauty and taste. This ARTIST
has robust. essentially masculine
style. but the romance and imagination
in him temper his vigor. They leave
him not only q .echn!cisn but poet