New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-04

paint. write or talk. shed no light upon
the magic which they attribute 10 him.
Cezanne himself II is 20 be gathered
talked a little now and then, but re-
search into his biography Is more pro-
ductive of personal anecdOte than OF
cracular disclosures. We do not blame
him for this. Too many artists re-
verse the process OF that immortal
genius who wrote ike an angel and
talked ike poor Poll. Il is bad sign
when q painter is 20 be judged by what
he says rather than by what he pants.
Cezanne. 90 do him justice, was content
10 stand or fall by what he said-on
canvas And it Is there sat we must
look for justification Of all the pother
that has been made about him.
We have pillaged Vollard and Duret
for anecdotes before and need not trav-
serse that side Of the subject again, Dut
here and there is a fragment which may
not unhelpfully be repeated. ne mot
Of Whistler. uttered IN the presence OF
a portrait by Cezanne. is significant
"If a child of ten were 20 draw IKE
that upon his slate he said, mis-
mother. If she we're good motner'
would spank him for it, Cezanne went
on drawing like that when he was long
mast the sDankable age. This ls where
we are grateful for the Arden show. II
illustrates Cezanne al his best; there
can be no question about that. The
picturcs are of different periods and OF
different degrees OF technical atrolt-
ness. but some Of them are top notch
ers." for him. and taken together the
fourteen canvases reveal MN 10 hli es-
sence. Well are they admirably drawn
Let the observer ask that question as
he goes from canvas 90 canvas, ASKING
il frankly. open mindedly, Ignoring the
zealots. fearlessiy disregarding the ter
rible Denalty Of being out OF Iasnion.
The nearest he will get 20 being COM
forted will be when he detects M the
Nudes Of the Figures in Landscape "a
faint trace of the swelling, swinging
line 10 which Cezanue was stirred by
his feeling for Rubens and DelacroiX. or
when he recognizes an echo OF Cour-
hot robust manner in the Landscape
depicting a yellow road winding around
hills under "a blue sky. Among the
studies of still life wherein fruit and
flowers. the pottery associated with
them. the draperies superadded and
some casual bit of furniture are set
forth with a distinctly realistic aim
our supposititious inquirer viii be en-
barrassed by manifest crudity on
Cezanne's part. and presently by some
thing more regrettable.
II Is the favorite argument Of the
latter day "rev0lutionaries," cublstic
and the like. that 10 is time for art 70
get away from a merely representa-
tive" function. Drawing on their hy-
pothesis. need not too faithfully repro
duce the appearance Of q given object.
But what about drawing. as drawing
What about the personal, autographs
touch. the employment by a painter Of
what il. after all, one Of the funda-
mental idioms Of art? An apple drawn
by Cezanne looks sufficiently ike an
apple. when 10 comes 20 that. but the
point is that the drawing through
which It's character Is expressed n
gauche. clumsy drawing, without quail
Itv. without distinction or charm of any
Kind. As We have said before. but must
fain say again, he was OF "A bourgeois
origin and remained Of n bourgeois
temperament, an artist with q positive
passion for his work. but, paradoxical-
iy. as insensitive as stonemason to
the genius Of the craft 20 which he was
devoted This insensltivcness reacted
upon that factor in his art which was