Evening star., 1917-10-21
NOTES OF ART AND ARTISTS

In the NasSonal Gallery Of AT at the
National Nussum are now bsing shown
three portraits ~ OssiJ Psrslns, ths
Russian artist WHO cams to tbs city ASe
season and 10 stin painting hsss. eeeupy-
ing an tnproxissd studio on ths toD osos
Of The Star building. These poshsits az
Of he nsv Russian axpeassa0sf. AE.
Bakhmsts6; De SECRETARY q the smssh-
| sonian Institution. ~. Waioott. and MP.
Frank NoysA. NaAh 10 di@sesos In as.
Iranesnsnt. each vsFy d1stincsfvs.
The portrait Of the Russaan ameassa~
dor pictures him seated In . chair square
| ly facing the observer. with . large book
open In his lap. II 10 an excsflent uks-
ness. straightforward. frank and sincere
For Mr.. WaIcott the artist has chosen
= characteristics standing poss. head
thrown back. arms folded. II y painted
in . somswhat hisAar key and under
strong indoor lighting. and - also an ad-
mirabis lksnsss-A Vigorous piece OF
brushwoek.
A larger canvas has bSsn used for the
portrait OF Mr.. Noyss. Who u seen ~
full isnsth sestsd IL wicass eSs'f s,s t,ssa o1.
The sunlSht 10 dassiiug and thsrs y
marked contrast OF light and SHADE. y
IL daring adventure Ia poftr&Sfure ana
one which but few except The sp1Msn
painter sorolla have had ths hardihood
altogether successful. but that II II
skilifui and vital All viii agrss
Mr. Perelmas painting Is d,sse, sssen"ang amy
Snr,nFrl un hae t,pHoubtAdly gift ana
he 10 well trained. He paints as one might
expect q Russian 70 paint, with the
rugged strength Of the northern people;
and that he retained hts !aeial chasac-
during formative years gives indication 20 Of
the force Of his own personality. His
pictures are modern. Of our own time ano
day, but they are In no sense suggestive
e., ?. th. , ieaysne' Of the 'o-es'''d moo'F"-
During the summer quite collection Of
Nj PeFelma's psintings-pcrtraats. meure
studies and eompositons-was s1hpatso
In the National Museum.
-
The National Gallery has recently
como Into the possession Of portrait
of BENJAMIN West. painted by himself.
which 10 Of extraordinary interest and
value. 1t is = delightful painting, beat
tifuIly executed and fine in tone. Tho
PAINTER. then an elderly man. has pic
tured himself In red coat and high SILK
hat Of black, pencil in hand, seated.
one OF the queer headsear still worn by
the guards In the Scotch National Cal
lsry At Edinburgh and luckily loses ies
outlines In shadow. The face ts hrml5
modelled and kindly and there 10 , back
10 subtle and accomplished. much on the
order Of that Of Reynolds and the Eng
lish school Of his day. but for this rsa-
son none the lees charming.
...s %a'n .s. .:. sssa thai
with no traditions and no environment
the Quaker boy. born In this raw, new
country in l7ii. could have achieved
such results. BENJAMIN West. 1t viii
his frst painting lessons from the In
dians. At the age Of twenty-five he
was sent to Rome by . patron who
thought his portraits showed talent.
From Rome he went to England, whore
cesdsd Sir Joshua Reynolds ~ presi-
dent Of the Royal Academy.
Never did West forget his own strug-
giles. and his home in London was ever
open open, to aspiring ssuasa;s who o., made
Many are the interesting stories told Of
his generosity and hospitality. It Is In
teresttng. indeed. therefore, to meet the
great paintsr-for West was great In
many respscts-and to be able, a. one
10 In this portrait. to look into his face
and hnd it noble and beniguant- One
wonders. too. hsw 1t was that with 20
many less advantage 20 much better
painters then than now. Was the tai
ent greater or the time more ripe for
such accom- mplishment? 1t IL hard TO
say. The Coreorau Gallery Of Art has
painting by West. but not 30 interest
The rotunda Of the National Museum
has become sculpture court for the
time being. In the center has been
placed the full size model Of the figure
OF a nude youth playing . Tyre. mod
eled by Charles H. Niehaus for tha
Franeia Scott Key monument In Bal
itself. with considerable wing and 60. o.
but utterly Inappropriate for the pur-
poss. To ono side stands full sised
model In plaster OF Paul Bartlett'l
equestrian statue Of LAFAYETTE. erected
one Of the really notable and hns
equestrian statues Of the world, And
on the opposite side II Jerome Con-
nor's Irish patriot. Emmett and other
n.
Here 10 the nucleus Of a national
sculpture collection, one which In time
might become feature of Washington
and a nationai possession of great
value.
To be sure, sculpture Ia, as 4 rule,
made for particular place. but there
10 no reason why replicas could not
prohtablY be assembled in ono place as
they have been in great exhibitions,
such as those held in the armory In
Baltimore and the Albright Gallery,
Buffalo. and be Of permanent interest.
Some of the museums have In recent
years been acquiring small bronses by
American artists in considerable num-
Der. but no one has ~ yet attempted a
permanent collection Of works on .
tionai Gallery In this matter take the
lead? In many instances casts such as
those Of tha Bartlett Lafayette" and
the Niehaua figure are to be had for
the asking and the cost of setting up.
In the Corcoran Gallery of Art a por-
trait Of Gen. Hugh L. Scott by Ed
mund C. Tarbell has been placed on
exhibition as loan from the War De-
partment. This portrait was painted
here within the last month. 1t Is a
vigorous and impressive piece Of work
and has been declared an excellent
likeness. The coloring ID fresh and
pleasing, the modelling nrm and ac-
curate, the expression distinctly SOL
dferly but for some reason 1t leaves
the Observer cold and uninterested. 1t
| in