New-York tribune., 1917-11-14
6 ,rlv Italian Art on View in a
Brilliant Exhibition for
American War Relief
Bv Royal Cortissoz

which the loan exhibition oi
l. Italian Primitives opened at
..v Kleinberger galleries in ard
,usrican War Relief may be re-
SrJ with profit. There is, in TIE
,lace. the point Of view of the
,j.r and the student, the ardent
,~.ros the game Of "attribution,' for
= Dr. Oswald Siron and Mr.
',.r,,ee ". Brockweil have compiled
So admirable catalogue. The collec-
~. ~ lOe PAINTINGS contains numer-
.,oblems. works which stir both
=, ;,og;ratiou and the memory, im-
.r.,c the observer TO interesting
',..,lstion on those mysteries OF au-
.so-.bip which even tho most oracular
..o,opncemcrts of criticism leave
...l;,ingly vcile6 on still debatable
,ornd Il is a fascinating diversion
~. Search after personalities lost in
-. n;sts Of tradition. and sometimes
in game Of solitaire or in a
.o,,l by 3lr. Jsncs-the puzzle works
.solinolv out, patience is lavishiy
.,,siS But il Is a diversion chiefly
a, the professional commentator on
.;.,yres. for whom virtue must be
CRY much its own reward, the delight
= the chase contsntinG him for its
,x, sake. He is lucky when Gas does
a. BY any means always happen he
-.v share also the second point of
row which we have in mind. the point
n view Of the disinterested lover OF
..suty. l. is from that second point
,iv,ew that We would urge the reader
"a examine the present exhibition.
Early Italian art might be compared
Ia some glorious towering plant. At
;se top of the bush there are perfect
Eossons, in which nature-or inspi-
a.iOr-would seem TO have reached
,onummate perfection. All about.
h!oE, and even peeping forth amongst
ae finished g:owths, there are buds
hK opened, or family blighted as
with 8 pathetic weakness before they
could unfold more than a single petal
These, obviously, arc almost neGli.
gbls-slmost, but not quite. Every
bud On the bush gives forth sometime
Of the sweetness. the fragrance, Of the
Parent plant; every one is touched by
the central sap. The figure which we
apply to the school as whole applies
also in peculiar exactitude 70 this ex-
Hbi.ion. Il is not, like either Of the
.Eo shows which were held at the
Grafton galleries in London some six
u seven years ago IN aid Of the Ma
ional Art Collections Fund, an exhi-
r;ion Of pictures almost uniformly Of
museum rank" Around the master
l!eces il embraces there are grouped
paintings which in nowise deserve that
t7ithe.. But there il scarce thing
IN the walls which fails TO give pleas
IRE. which does not exhale that cS-
euisiie perfume Of beauty which was
the particular gifr Of the Italian school
10 the world. And the very naivete
Of some Of these obscure souvenirs Of
cbseure painters helps up toward a
letter understanding Of the entire
zoyement which they herald.
Il vas a movement, as we know from
he perfect blossoms aforesaid, toward
moral and an aesthetic grandeur
aiab.ished in extraordinary equlllb-
nm. Feeling and art, inspiration and
craftsmanship, travelled hand in hand
nth common goal in view. That
grll, IN 60 FAR as 10 may be concisely
Ipressed, was a monumental illustra-
asn Of the divine story, the commem-
ESiion o. the Madonna, of the lives Of
sr Son and the saints, in terms that
slsfged from one austere Tradition,
e Byzantine. and we're developed
1der another that would have been
slie a. august. quite as immobile, If IL
so not been for the play OF an in
idtlsble trait OF the Italian, his emo
s'n. Thanks both 20 the hanging Of
as paintings in this exhibition and to
ut arrangement Of the catalogue, one
-ay trace very clearly here the steady
etEion Of the school, It's swift escape
'Na the r.gidity Of the ancient mo-
sti' wnich exist, az 10 were, ia a world
tssir own, 20 the greater freedom
e The deeper tenderness Of a world
<engiug % humanity. Take, :or ex-
Sp.e. the FlOTentine group. The
Ngnsntly dramatic note in one Of the
ATTEST pictures in 1.-THE "Cruc..ix-
"a ty NardO di Clone, which is al
s9H modern in the distribution Of its
sai and shade, its subtle evocatIOn %
tSyt gloon viii not divert attention
~ The distract nature Of those
sHungs By Oreagna, Jacopo di Clone,
4aolo Gaddi, dargaritOne, Stamina.
~fenzo Monaco. which seem 70 lay az
! = ieet Of the Virgin the tribute Of the
re Aer. gold, frankincense and
prn, gifts symbolical and mystic, the
40 o. a kind Of ritual The Ma
.la4' egfu when she IL not enthroned,
LOptia1 in her magsy simplicity,
9stte and aloof. The folds Of her
- have the gtateliness which char
s';srzs 4 great statue. They make
.osed az ne look 10 the pyramidal
S1pe,iiiOn typical Of the school, q
.te o. base. From that base the arts,
,aits 70 what the eighteenth century
.ss.le' Rlchardson, used quantity 20 call
~ ar. " the head" expressing with
- i1s eeyoutRess and skill of which he
~ espable an ideal Of sacred mater
~ the devoutness and all the skill