New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-02
Art Exhibitions
The Late A. w. Drake and
His Services to the ANA
teur Collector
Ev ROYAL CORTIsSOZ

W AFNFffA Il Al4lUEE OF hUAar " a.
are dispersed in the auction room one
figures that room az necessarily occu-
pied by the riders OF hobbies. Every
man there is q collector, which is 20
say that he has tinge Of profession
alism. He speciaiizes in one direction
or another. He buys an object IN
order to associate il with others Of its
kind Only when sales of rugs, furnl-
ture and the like are in question 90 We
assume the presence Of the !syman IN
any force. Only on such occasions,
and when some of the possessions Of
the late Alexander W. Drake are
brought forward. We say some" ac-
visedly. The American Art Galleries
have been unanimously adorned with
mis- treasures before. and now they are
so adorned again, the catalogue Of the
pieces recently ordered by Mrs Drake
10 be sold running to more than eleven
t., hundred numbers. Il is a prodigious
array, inspiring wonder as 20 now even
this interchangeable collector could &C
cumulate so much, and find room for
+: in his house. And now, as before,
we realize what the amateur owes 70
MIN.
This sale, which begins on Monday
and continues through four successive
afternoons, no doubt will appeal 10 the
man with the hobby. The collector OF
early American glass, for example, has
here his chance, as has the lover Of old
samplers, old bsndboXes, Stafordshlre,
and so on. But the person in luck IS
the owner of the dining room, sitting
room or studio who is looking Tor some
bit Of picturesqueness that will fit ca
suslly but chsrmingly into his environ
ment, the curio which will look well
anywhere" The complete amateur. in
short, the more human being who does
not collect anything but has sense
Of beauty-he is the bargain hunter Tor
whom Mr.. Drake was always piling up
opportunities. This last one-for we
assume it TO be the Lasts perhaps
the best opportunity Of all. or course
we ought to explain in detail Why, bat
+ that is impossible How is such
chaos Of little objects 20 be described ?
I How IS one TO pause in an endless col
/ lection Of Russian samOvsrs. Dutcn
coffee urrs. French incense burners.
/ Spanish nortars and pestles, Colonial
door knockers, Italian church plaques,
Sheffield csndlestIcks, Chinese ginger
lars and old American Windsor chairs
, II is with certain feeling O. relief
/ that we come upon q small group OF
/ bronzes including two reliefs oy SAINT
/ Gaudens, his portraits Of Basuen-
Lepage and Frank Mllet, and Nolk's
! famous life mask of Lincoln, along
I With his casts Of the LiberAtor's bands.
/ These personal souvenirs supply mo-
ment Of repose in the swirl OF tric-a-
brsc.
/ But it is the bric-a-brac that makes
the affair and that yields most OF the
pleasure. II is very good. and-look-
ing to those interiors 70 winch we
have alluded-very useful. nc OBJ
iects IN metal are particularly numer-
Gus and fine, the utensils or vessels or
platters in brass, copper or silver
which once served utilitarlan purposes,
but nov, IN our modern, cclecuc
houses. fulfil their mission in being
merely decorative. We envy the anna
-eur who drifts into the sale. But let
MN UPWdT6 trbb nc lO'c AAo o~csNo -
An amateur. In the face of such temp
tations as Will confront him he is in
peril Of throwing discretion 70 the
winds and Of being transmogrited into
a collector.
There arc paintings. TOO, on view at
the American Art Galleries just now,
about $50 of them from various es-
tates and private sources. The sale IS
set for next Thursday and Friday even
ings. The modern continental schools
are represented and there is 2 gener-
Gus sprinkling OF American pictures,
the latter chiefly Landscapes by Ernest
lawson. the late Arthur Hoeber. Jo-
seph II. Boston and others. A clever
figure subject b. Charles ". Hsw-
thorne is also shown, and there IS
handsome "Still Life BY Emil Carlson.
The foreign contingent, II not exactly
brilliant, at ali events embraces some
good things. Msuye, Jscque. Martin
Rico, Detaille. NillegaS and others ere
we'll represented. A charming little
canvas by Vollon. QUA de Berry,
should be noted, and the Gathering
Flowers" by Michetti, an Italian, whose
light but accomplished art has too sell
dom been seen here. In fact, this eN-
tremely miscellaneous collection. with
its traces Of the American pioneers
/ like Inness and Homer Martin, its
characteristic specimens Of later men.
its rather dull examples of European
story telling in paint and its occasional
refreshing glimpses Of European tech
nioue is. like the Drake collection.
worth the serious attention OF the not
100 ambitious buyer.
Of much the same significance is the
Frederick B. Moore collection Of old
Chinese court robes at the Anderson
Galleries. These flashing fabrics, 800
Ill al v-hsr1 u-fl1 ho coId