New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-04
Exhibition in Which His
Work Best Pleads
His Cause.
ORIENTALIA AND
OLD MASTERS
Ferguson. Blanchard and Ander-
SON Collections Are Now
on View.
By ROYAL CORTISSOZ.

opened yesterday at the Reinhardt gal
lery for the benefit Of Ralph Blakelock
should be clearly understood. 1t is
closely allied. OF course. with the move
ment now sfoot 10 do all that may
humanity be done 10 restore the
broken mind OF an artist having
no material resources. and every
visitor paying his dollar for adj
mission to the show is surely vel
come TO indulgence in the sentiment OF
compassion But let him not ignore
the true significance OF the rich re.
ward which he Immediately receives.
We have the fullest appreciation Of the
kindness actuating the organizers OF
this affair and the collectors who have
lent their pictures. yet VIC are confident
that they would be among the first to
admit that the occasion marks, above
all things. the belated fuliilment of a
duty. While we are grateful for their
efforts. we like somehow to fit the eX-
hibtion into another frame: to imagine
it as simply an affirmation of the paint
er's genius. II is as though he had
gathered his forces together and ad-
dressed US proudly. saying:
Here am /. This is what ] have
done. Can you grudge me your good
will? Must it be mine as gift? Is
II not. rather. my right"
II was neglect as much AZ anything
else that brought about his present
condition. and incomprehensiblc as
that injustice always was. il seems
ugler than ever IN the presence OF
these beautiful pictures. They are
very beautiful. Blakelock's strength
resided always in his imaginative con
ception of landscape, his instinct for
the pOetizing Of his themes. In the
recent revival Of interest in him some
of his admirers have been more feryId
than discreet. They would have II that
he was a great artist. one Of the great
est OF MS time. HyperboIe does him
no honor. But if there is any excuse
for speaking Of him IN superlailVe
terms il lies in his gift for beauty
for the glamour which an artist does
not 80 much and IN nature rs impose
upon j;
Toward nature. indeed. Blakelock had
an attitude not unlike that OF Whistler.
Il gave him inspiration, but he used
il in his own way. Moreover. ne had
subjected himself 20 even less DIS
cjpline in the matter than was accepted
bv his VIGOROUSLY Independent coun-
tryman. Whistler arrived al the paint
ing Of his Nocturnes BY way OF a
training that included the naturallsm
Of Courbct. From Mr. Daingerhel Id =
admirable little monograph OF Blskeloc"
we gather that tho latter had no tram,
ing At all. and while he IS credited
with an early love Of the old masters
the critic hints that this must have
been nourished on photographs instead
of the real thing. This last Is q
reasonable hypothesis. Inc absence OF
light and air from Blakelock's pictures
confirms the idea that he got at the
visible world through many velis bu,
what wells they were, as he hiteIeu
through them the light that never was
on sea OF land!
For the essential clew 70 his art we
would direct the reader not TO the sluu-
ies Of sunset or moonlight, ~hlcn are
nominallv most characteristic or MN
hut TO a picture like the spring RoeS
Cove" which is almost monotone; ana
N y subdued key at that. lie discIoses
tbere what ne made Of nature even
when ne was most scrupulous IN onser-
walton Of her tangible aspects. Inc
Ground forms and the trees are drawn
with what was for him extraordinary
care. lie Cives US u tolerabIy ialthll'
statement of fact. But TINS - only the
beginning Of the transaction. Having
4 accounted for the basis OF his picture
he proceeds 90 develop the thInS INA.
really interests him, rlch surface OF
tome. a subtle harmony OF grays and
/ greens turning the landscape INTO
unit OF romantically sensuous color.
There is an element OF surprise IN
/ this exhibition. so large number OF
his works has never been gathered to'
pether before, and we discover that ne
had wider scope than had ni'hel'o
seemed possible. 1t appears. Tor exam
/ pie. from the early June" that ne
could paint in light, delicate tones as
we'll a. in the heavy scale by when ne
I il chiefly known. But on the question
/ o. his method we find here nothing
{ new. All the pictures bring US back
20 the same judgment-that he belong
10 the race Of arbitrary harmon,sts' OF
PAINTERS like Monticello. Whistler and
Buncc. There happens TO be IN me
Anderson collection, which we Wlll
presently traverse, Mountain ne
file" bv Blakelock, which shows tnA'
he could handle a massy theme IN
larg. manner. There is a hint OF the
| same faculty in the Reinhardt eXhlbl-
ton. given by the handsome Califor-
Man coast scene which !. lent By the
National Museum. These episodes
however are only episodes. The true
Blakelock Is that artist VINO saw nature
IN silhouette. just as Monticelli saw
II in the dim perspective OF shado"N
sylvan glade.
A tree was for him a kind OF screen
whose Doughs etched curious patterf
across the sky. Local color left hin
cold or moved him TO brush II out Of
his way. There he differs from Dial
whose traits he otherwise often re
calls. The Frenchman loved 70 recorC
the very texture Of tree IN the tore
ground. Blakelock left IL 20 take care
Of itself. while he rcyelled in the ma
inhalation of contrasts. These wer'
mostly Of a very decisive nature. H'
could produce delicate, almos
frarile nuance Of tone. but he did 50
onlv IN passing. HIS effects, on th'
whole. are full, plsngent, the unmis
taxable effects which spring from th'
silhouette rather than from the de
sign having many planes.
Diaz. and Rousseau, TOO, would nav
sympathized with Blakelock, recogniz
ING in him a painter OF their own TO
mantle strain, but Rousseau especial !.
would have been embarrassed by hi
Indifference 20 the structural element
lin landscape art, wondering why he d.,
not pay more attention 20 the model
ling OF forms, particularly when he wa
dealing with clouds. And we coul
understand how many artists woul
question certain aspects Of Blakelock'
technique. deprecating the thick i'm
pasto which he often used.
The palette knife rather than tn
brush is suggested by some OF his sur