New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-07
An American Painter at His Best

peat But that motive is. on the pres
cnt occasion. at all events, conspicu-
Gus by its absence. The two or three
nudes he shows are in no wise stereo-
typed designs. No; the broad testi-
mony of his exhibition is all IN sup
pCr Of the hypothesis that he could
not paint a museum picture If he
tried; that he is not "A manufacturer
hut simply an artist, a painter. NOV
ing spontaneously up and down the
world for TO admire and for TO see.
On this whole question Of picture
making he is sinGuiarly innocent OF
bias, OF malice aforethought. lie gets
his composition as he gets his control
Of a medium. as a matter Of course.
The subject, as a subject, seems to hap
pen rather TO have been forced into
any balance of design. One fascinat-
ing result of this is curious atmos-
phere Of scenic portraiture in the show.
Removed by more than a generation of
artistic growth from the Typographical
hdelitics Of the Hudson River school.
he actually beats that school on its
own ground in the exact expression Of
the facts and sentiment Of an American
locality. These pictures are divided
Desert group, the Hudson River SGT.
the Cos Cob set, and so on. The d.
visioual headings in the catalogue are
scarcely needed. One would supply
them for himself. anyway. recognizing
without the aid Of the catalogue the
racy elements exploited in each sub
jcct Now and then IL is conceivable
that Mr. Hassam has been urged to
make his rotations for the sake Of
some piquant effect. Witness the
Mount Vernon Street" IN the Boston
set II is IN some sort a tour dc force,
a study Of a red brick wall in which
the reds are raised TO the nth power
and somehow "come Off" Mostly the
note is quietcr, simpler more artiessiy
disclosing just the air and sentiment
Of the given scene. The Cos Cob plct-
ures are little marvels in this respect.
If ever the character of q New Eng
land town was set on paper with a
brush this is the perfect instance.
Here. for a moment. We arc inclined
20 bring in the catalogue, with its nom
inally prosaic titles, Back of the Old
House" "The Kitchen Door," THE
Dock at Noon" and The Red Store"
They have, as matter OF fact. some
thing Of the eloquence Of old family
names. In these casual water coiors
Mr. Hassam has given US so many
pages of American life, the familiar
Physiognomy Of a Connecticut town
with the charm Of light and color or
his own style, superadded. IL IS all
intensely American. This scenic por-
traiture OF his Is lnsplrltingly natural,
homelike, sincere.
The simple genuineness Of his work
goes a long way. Consider, for exam
pie. the unsophisticated realism Of the
desert Clouds" in which the heavy
cloud forms are modelled with an eX-
traordinarily rich, pictorial effect. But
there is no hint here OF the dramatic
sky which came in with the French Ro-
manticists of 1880. Nature retains all
her rights. 1t is her power and beauty
that tell in the picture, not any shrewd
manipulation of light and shade. And
by diut Of leaving the picture, in a
measure, to take care of itself Mr..
Hassam obtains in the long run any
number Of very solid, handsome de-
signs. The Usage Brush and willows,
in the desert group, offers a good case
in point. There is a trace, just trace,
Of what might be called ingenuity In
the bird introduced. II flashes acros 8
the scene. Ike the poets sea blue bird
of March, a CLEAN of decorative inten-
ton. Even as you note this, however.
you forget it in the lovelincss Of the
picture as whole, the exquisite modu-
iations Of tone il carries, it's charm as
Of a desert memory rather than Of O.
desert record. Mr.. Hassam varies 10
the fulness and frmness with which
he embodies this charm in his work.
There never was a more uneven paint
er. one more moody That is one more
evidence Of the interesting personal
quality in his pictures. His brilliauce.
like his subject, happens. And when
II happens with complete felicity, when
all the conditions are favorable, when