The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-07

y" N-,
reading Of Kenyon Cox's crit.
ical study Of the art Of winslow
Homer privately printed by Fred.
erick Fairchild sherman. ami 80 1t
occurred to me II was high time that
! should read this work for myself.
This devoir I have now accom-.
pPished.
My recommendations. " course.
had not been blind ones. |
had read attractive chapters from
the essay ne they appeared in DIR.
Willy valentiner's magazine. Art In
America, to which as ! read I occa.
sionally objected. but more often de-
ligbtedly acQuiescei. The reader who
gets both pleasure and pain from a
critical production Is having n good
time. 1t should he th& aim OF criti.
cism to supply both. The review that
Ia swallowed whole and digestet un
consciously has either been read by
an imherile or Is poor stun In the way
Of criticism. The good writer and the
good reader are almost upon equal
terms. ms Emerson pointed out.
My disagreements with Mr.. Cox. the
writer. are not serious and will only
he mentioned by way Of honesty
and after the more important acqui.
essences have heen dilatei upon. !
was not inaamed by any OF Mr.. Cox's
conclusions into the violently eruptive
state OF a Nietzsche tmore's the pity -.
who said such emphatic Noes to a
compa ratively obscure hook that ne
felt afterward obliged TO write his
"Genealovy Of Morals" In which the
title Of this obscure little book is brill.
iantly emlnlned for some time to
come.
Nor was I aroused even TO the furi-
Gus pitch attained by the mass Of
tnow philistinic) Ralzac worshippers
WIN So foamei during the past sum
mer at the free analysis OF that mas
Ter by Emile Faguet that they almost
forgot their terrors Of the war raging
about them In the annoyance OF realiz-
ing that a critic had looked at the
great one with n glance that was on
tho level: and | believe the presses
are hot at this very m with their
books in re~futation.
No. on the central point Of Winslow
Homer's greatness Mr.. Cox and HE
present reviews agree 50 thoroughly
thar nothing else matters. What are
a few trihing differences ~ opinion he
ZEE friends; Oh. you take 1t that
way: | take II this way. look M
the picture again with renewed inter
eat. trying to love the imaginary line
between the herrypicker's hat and the
canary hir! To- which Mr.. Cox calls
my attention. and II ! cannot rise ia
his enthusiasm for ,hls particular lime
the fact remains that We both love
the 'Berrypickers" enormously. And
that's the main thing.
Then. too. Mr.. Cox writes charmingly
simple English. 1t Is limpid and clear
like the water in Winslow Homer's
mountain brooks. His style IL quite
as good as any that the best young
English writer's Of the day. who. like
Borrow. have gone back In theii
search for directness Of utterance. tt
the manner OF he Foe: and for tina
reason l felt quite proud when certain
copies were despatched abroad for re
viewing purposes. II Is just as wei
that these young Englis hmen should
know the sort of work that some Of u.
are doing over here. But the review
In the burlington Nd0dsine has JUS
reached me. Ii IL disgust
ingly short. feel quit,
piQued at the Burlington. Blu
OF this more non
$50 far as we can Judge by his ef
feet upon us. his contemporaries,
writes Mr.. Cox. land without waiting
for the verdict Of posterity, Winslov
Homer was unquestionably a great ar
tist. He has given us pleasures ani
tinn, liHaeant In blvd from, thnc.
which we have received from othe'
artists Of his time. and perhaps supe
rior to them in degree. He has show
us things which without his eyes W
should not have seen and impresse,
us with truths which but for him W,
should not have felt.
He has stirred US with tragic emo
ton or. in the representation OF con
o everyday incidents. has reveale'
TO us the inrhnte nobility Of the simpl
and hardy lives ~ hunters. fishers ant
seafarers. Finally he has realized 10
us as no other artist Of any time ha
done the power and the grandeur o
the elemental forces OF nature. am
has dramatized for us the conflict o
water, earth and air. His genius ha
been felt alike by artist, by critic an
by layman, and 1t has been ackno~vl
edged almost as fully by that contem
pornry %posterity, intelligent foreigl
opinion, as by the universal assent o
his co%untrymen."
Reader. Is not that hne? You wer
convinced already. but you hike th6
noble enthusia SIN and are swept alon
ny 1t. But here Is something eve
better in the way Of style:
For. surely. no greatly successfu
artist eve had less care than Home
for those decorative and estheti
qualities which Whistler proclaimed
in theory and by his practice. tn
whole Of art His picture
win not hang comfortably on a wa
or invite you discreetly to the conten
plation OF gradually unfolding beat
ties, They speak with the voice q
a trumpet, and whether they el
hilarate or annoy you you cannot mes
lect them. They have none Of tn
amenities Of the drawing room, an
you might almost ms well let the sc
itself into your house as one
HOmer's transcripts OF H."
With that last apt sentence IL
stantly the famous "Northeaster' q
sone other OF Homer's great sea piece
leap TO the mind, 1t Is a pity NJ
Cox did not attempt a lengthier d.
acription Of these "sea dramas" as }