New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-24
Art
Some Miracles of Graft
from the Forge Of
Vulcan

ancient arms and armor. Egyptian
scarabs. Greek and Roman jcwelry, ORR
entail lacquers or eighteenth century
French and English watches. All these
things have been placed on view at the
American Art Galleries, where the sale.
beginning this afternoon. will continue
throughout the week. II is the kind
Of sale that excites decidedly mixed
emotions. One rejoces when such good
things come into the market. And one
regrets the breaking up Of so well bal
anced a collection.
Amid this diversified body of objects
the group that especially attracts at
tention is the one Of ancient weapons
and accoutrements, interesting from
its novelty in the salesroom and doubly
remarkable for its high artistic char
acter. On modest scale it revives
the glamour of that extraordinary show
which was made at the Metropolitan
Museum about two years ago. The
lesson then enforced. that the works
of Nulcan's smithy are nothing II not
beautiful. is illustrated over and over
again by Mr.. Austin's rarities. Beauty
and romance belong to these bruised
arms hung up Tor monuments" Grim
ness, Of course, is equally inslienable
from them. One cannot look without
a shudder upon the German execution
er's sword (No. 384), which perfectly
represents seventeenth century fright
fulness, and there are pieces here. ike
the pesr-shaped gag (No. 55S), or like
any of the East Indian curved knives,
which give US a horribly oppressive
sense Of the ingenuity OF the human
mind in the matter of hurting human
beings. And yet it il doubtful II the
great armories Of the world-those at
Madrid and Turin. for example-ever
gave anybody half as much mental pain
as they have given Of aesthetic pleas
ure. The present writer once fingered
with Walter Herries Pollock. the for
mer editor Of "The Saturday Review"
over the collection OF forbid1ing
weapons he had brought together in
his Hampshire cottage. IL contained
instruments Of sheer horror. among
them the jagged knife of the old New
Orleans roustabout. very nightmare
of knife, but the charm Of the collec-
ton somehow remained in harmony
with that Of the lovely English scene
in which it was set.
Is it that steel, 1.-The white arm" has
from time immemorial had its asso-
Citations with the most personal kind
Of courage, with true chivalry? De-
spite the historic assassinations
launched from behind the arras," one
thinks of the gunshot rather than of
the sword stroke when one thinks OF
ambuscades. Among Mr.. Austin's su-
perb rapiers and exquisite daggers i'm
agination ranges only TO the nobler
fields Of battle in the past. 20 such
scenes as Shakespeare paints:
And from the tents
The armourers. accomplishing the
knights.
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
Give dreadful note Of preparation.
You cannot muse over Renaissance
arms without turning to Renaissance
poetrv. to the artistic spirit Of a great
period. Those deadly craftsmen ham
mered out upon their anvils inventions
touched by the same glow that in
formed the verse and the paintings Of
their contemporaries They loved the
GRACE Of line that went with their long
swords. They fashioned hilt as Gel
lini fashioned golden vase. mex
haustible in decoration. they neverthe-
less remembered the dignity of steel.
Their weapons may be prodigiously en-
riched with ornament, but they are
never trivial. The reader will observe
that we make no pretence Of enumer-
ating the scores upon scores of fas-
cinating things in this exhibition. To
do so would be to indulge in mere
pedantry. The important point is the
gallant spendor Of the whole. Let no
one miss it who loves beauty in metal
The second annual exhibition Of the
Eclectics, held this time at the Airing
ton gallery. includes contributions by
twelve painters and four sculptors. In
the matter Of color and in the general
quality Of the work it may be a more
consistent show than the one which
preceded it, Among newcomers 10 the
group are Sidney 4. Dickinson, Con-
slant K. Furyk, Anne Goldthwaite. Eu-
gene Higgins and Maurice Prendergast.
The two canvases contributed by Mr..
Prendergast are on the same wall with
four beach scenes by Martha Walter.
They provide a comparison which
favors Mr.. Prendergast, although in
Miss Walters little notes the quality
Of ioyousness retains its full. possibly
not oversignifcant, force. Mr. Prem
dergast's is more sincere gayety, or a
sounder one. There is fippancy in
Miss Walters attitude. Her language
may be gayer than her heart. She is
talking lightly about things that are