New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-09

teacher NJ he proved himself 20 be-
he nevertheless arrested Belgian art
rather than gave u impetus. Alfred
Stevens was more serviceabie for the
simple reason that he was more or an
artist i'm tho strict sense, not an ar
chRologist at all, like Legs, but an OBJ
server Of contemporary life and q man
with q passion for technique In the
most modern sense of the term. II is
the fashion among some commenta-
tors 10 dcplore his transition 10 Pans
where he devoted himself to the trOa
iron Of the Second Empire. The skirls
and ruffles of his fashionable NODES
had nothing whatever 20 do with inc
genius of his art, fact emphasized
sharply enough by the vitality OF ms
pictures. The latter do not date
though the figures in them do. lhey
are beautiful because they are bcaut-
fully painted. lie, too, recalls the past.
but in the right way. If you think OF
Nermeer of Delft in the presence OF
one of his masterpieces IL ls not 10
question his originality, but 10 admire
the personal force with which ne mas
emulated that painters method. ParlS
never transmogrified Stevens as u did
Van Beers The latter was completely
subdued 20 the stuff in which he chose
10 work. the flashy stuff OF the Salon
az its worst, and was only saved from
disaster bv on instructive adroitness
and some persistence Of such flemish
vicor as he put into his admiraDle
portrait Of Rochcfort. To Van Beers
CLic was IN end in itself. IL won MN
Il certain popularity, but leaves MN
negligible type. Stevens cared ABOUT
chic only IN passing, rs an amusing
clement in his work At bottom ms
devotion was all for the two great
virtues Of art, truth and beauty.
The school as it now hourishes gets
beauty into its work in so far rs IL gets
truth. The scnsuous charm Of eX-
Guisitc surface. as Stevens exploited
II. requires. pcrhaDs. another stevens
for its revival. Meanwhile the painters
arc keeping 90 the right track. gong
10 nature for their inspiration IN sim
pie. straightforward fashion. Il IS
through their vcracious realism that
thew are re-inviporating Belgian art
making il truly an expression OF ma
tional life. Ideas developed away from
I the familiar currents of that life nave
swayed more than one Of the men con
spicuOus in the newer school Inc
mysticism Of Fernand Khnopf makes
him seem almost exotic. The decalent
qualities in the satirist. the late Fell
cion Rops. give his etchings and draw
4 inre an atmosphere far removed from
that Of Belgian art in its length ana
breadth. These types, however, are
hardly representative. The -ignihcant
personalities Of the school are 20 be
identified elsewhere.
They are such painters Of local man
ners and customs a. Baes, such stu
dents Of animals az Ncrwce and STOP
baorts. such interpreters Of ordinary
Belgian life as Emile Claus, Eugene
Laermans. J. de Bruycker, AleNandre
Struvs. Albert Baertsoen and Leon
Frederic. They all have their special
interests and sentiments. The realism
Of Iaermans is interpenetrated win
morbid pathos. making him I'm 10
Macterlinck. Frederic in painting Ike
Meunier in sculpture, is the spokesman
of labor. Struys is always concerned
with the life Of the humble; he pants
IL with a poignant feeling. giving MN
a place apart But certain simple
human emotion is characteristic OF
them all. A painter like Maurice Me-
kerk may play-and play most bril-
hantly-with impressionistc problems
F Of color. and a man like Casslers may
seem to be enamOured of picturesque
ness for its own sake when he portrays
the peasant in his or her striking
costume The portraits Of Theo van
Rysselberghe NAV be touched by an
elegance distinctly cosmopolitan. But
they remain faithful to the central
principle OF school which has
founded itself on the facts Of a visible
world. which is sleeping itself once
more in the honest realism Of the an
cient founders.
L. is so with the painters and It is so
with the scrlptors. The light decora-
tive grace Of jeff Lambeaux, the suaye
modelling Of Victor Rousseau, the rude
breadth Of Mcunier, the more academic
traits Of j. Diliens, Paul Devigne and
Jules Lagae, the vigor Of Count
Jacques de Lalaing. the Salon-lke
olcverness which belongs TO Charles
Samuel or 20 Charles van der Stappen,