New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-18

binary aplomb something OF the tech
meal spirit Of one artist after another
-Leibl Fortuny. Alfred Stevens, Boil
dini-and he did il with so infectious
a gusto that no one could ever dream
of charging him with plagiarism. But
he paid the penalty Of his eclectic
habit in a strange subsistence or per-
sonal;ty. Has Chase a Style The ques-
ton il hardly 20 be answered ~ the al
frmative. Look, for example, at the
drawing Of a Child wherein pure
line subjects him 70 the sevcrest test.
There is nothing iud.vidualized IN the
craftsmanship. We can readily VS.
ualize d clever pupil Of Chase's doing
exactly the same thing, and doing II, on
the whole, as we'll. As for his wide
range of subject" that again IS a
matter requiring some qualification.
There is width Of range, nomInally, IN
the art that embraces the interior with
figures. the portrait, the landscape, the
still life But IL is suggestive TO re-
mark that among these paintings there
is not one which approximate TO the
Subject picture as costume
study with a piquant title, Ike 'Ihe
Court Jester" might SAVIOR Of "lnven-
tion"-and as we recall the vast bulk
Of Chase's work, seen over long
period OF years. our search is no bet
ter rewarded. Only in very dry, lin
tied sense had he wide range OF SUB
iect From old Dunlap's old-fashlonec
hypothesis he went 20 the other eN-
IRENE. IL was his virtue that ne kept
his eye on the object and painted 1t as
he saw il. but what ne painted was only
ponderable object, peg on which TO
hang an exercise in technique. OF i'm
agination he never revealed even the
faintest trace.
Man never is, but always to be, blest:
Chase was always on the verge Of
painting a great picture and never
quite pulling II Off. Perhaps, years
from now. when time shall have en-
riched it's surfaces. we may be con-
futed by a still life like the Fish.
But 10 is not our business TO antIcl-
nate; we can only look at things as
thew are. Thus scrutinlZed, his pict-
ures give pleasure without rouslng en-
thusiasm. Il is. after all, good deal.
If Chase was not a great painter ne
was al all events a prodlTlJusly clever
one The Belgian Melon would hold
its own beside a NollOn, though the
"Stll Life and Fruit might crumple up
beside a Chardin. We may think Of
thousand conventional Salon portraits,
Of Carolus and mis- ilk. before The
Sisters or the "Clyde Fitch but we
enjoy the Wnistlerlan tonallty ~ the
Mother and Child" recognizing that
the charm Of the portrait isn't merely
Whigtlerian. either. And when we
come to the Louis Windmuller,' OBJ
serving about the head and face de-
lightfullv close research into structural
forms. We are thrown back upon the
conviction with which we startcd-that
Chase was indeed a finished craftsman,
so adroit, 90 full Of vitality, that IL
seems grudging 10 harp upon his Inn
itations How bright. how decorative,
he is, With what a cracsle OF tech
nical facility does he dash of ms por-
trait Of Mrs. Chase in Spanish Dress
and with what ardor, everywhere, does
he pursue the frou fro1l of life as he
apprehended il. He plays with the
blue-green velvet in his Meditation" as
though textures were all in the world
that az the moment interested him:
When he paints his Hide and Seek
you know that he is enchanted with the
staccato effect of his two little girls
flung against an almost opaque back
EIOuuQ. COUtLllltH Nlo lllbDA NlAeAl- So
and from the flashing, rather brittle
celebration of his most characteristic
works he will pass TO the engaging
bloom Of "An Infanta" or Of Dorothy
and Her Sister" and TO the soft blacks
of the Mother and Child" already mem
toned. Decidedly all this vim, all this
accomplishment, must leave US with
grateful sense Of Chase's enkindllng
sincerity as an artist, OF his SOLID
achievement as a craftsman.
Why could not some Of the rarer
gifts have been added unto him? One
makes the vain interrogation with a
sigh of regret, thinking wistfully OF
what he might have become If be had
had a fund Of originality, and that cenS
trail fire which inspires and controls
creative artist. unifying his work from
beginning 70 end In that case Chase
vivid hues would have been invested
with the magic of distinguished color;
the pigment which he handled so well
would have taken on a finer quality; as
imagination and style came within hls
ideal Of beauty he would have eX-
pressed himself in more interesting
terms of design. He would have been,
then, a master.