Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-09-23

a record price has been paid in Amer
lea for an American picture by liv-
iIg artist. The market value of pict-
ures has little to do with their intrinsic
worth. The market quotations are
matter mare of scorn than interest to
the deeply enlisted student of art who
has seen his valleys exalted and his
mountain peaks brough low by the dis
of the salesroom. Never
tteless, when an American painting,
admirable in itself, is priced by a cob
lector of taste so highly that he Is
willing to pay for it more than the
average auction price brought by the
works of the famous Corot prior to
the Watson sale of last Spring, a
Unsuitable interest is created.
Of the admirable quality of Mr.. Tar
BELLS work there is no question. AT
its best it is eloquent of style, and
the Girl Crocheting" recently sold to
C. v. Wheeler of Washington for the
large sum, according to trustworthy
report, of $4,000, is an example of
it's best The artists critics and adj
mirers have found it simple to COM
pare him with Vermeer and the other
Dutch Little Masters. who painted their
subjects indoors, near a winGow, and
often, engaged in domestic tasks. The
resemblance is there, and also the
deeper likeness of mood which die
tates an intensity of stiffness in these
interiors where people do their knit
ting or sewing or crocheting or read
ing in such an atmosphere of quiet
that your mind tiptoes into the pict-
ure. But the external form expresses
the inner physiognomy of the subject.
There is no attempt at copying the
stylistic angularity of the Dutch pict-
ure in the seventeenth century. 1t Is
not Holland, but New England that
speaks in these pleasant rooms, with
their large spaces, then polished ma"
hogany, their shining silver, and their
Chinese porcelain. 1t is New England
also, that finds expression in the re-
license of the types and the definite
precision of the gestures. The young
girls who bend their extremely grace
full heads over their books of their
needs. who pour tae, of perfect
strength and temperature one Is GER
tain. who have Ion /, clever fingers,
small feet. and simple gown, are as
Icharacteristically American as Peter
de Hooch's householder is Dutch
They have been reproached, somewhat
naively. with lacking the active, alert
element Characteristic of our time, but
who that knows American girlhood
fails to recognize the equally char
acteristic langour of mind that rests
like fairy spell on the age of Adde'S
cence In one of his recent pictures,
"The Dreamer" the artist emphasizes
the note of reverie, but the lovely
dreamer, her elbows on cushion ana
her chin upon her hands, is not so
revealing as the others who withdraw
to the companionship of their thoughts
while their figures are busy.
Apart from their aesthetic merits,
which are many, these interiors by
Mr.. Tarbell should be priced by Amer
leans for their truthful Interpretation
of a singularly distinct phase of Amer
lean life and one that hardly can
survive the influences of the present
century. 1t will be interesting for the
lpeople of the future who turn back to
John Fiske's histories for light on
past temper of mind and habit or
thought, to consult Edmond Tarbell
for knowledge of the taste of a more
modern New England in her homes.
His pictures will evoke for them an
environment of extraordinary beauty
an environment of mild, clear reason
ableness uncluttered and depending
for it's charm on fine proportion ana
iudicious omissions. The houses with
one fot in Europe" acknowledge inter-
national associations and traditions
without renouncing shade of their
richly American aspect. The decor
alive character of the rooms does not
exclude considerations of functional
use in their furnishings. The ordered
arrangement tends to severity rather
than stateliness. and you do not for
get that the home is place of culture
in which plainness counts as an elem
ent elegance. The local SAVIOR ana
unchangeableness are of the essence OF
Mr.. Tarbell's art which makes no
concessions to modern influences or
personal curiosity His interest IS IN
A., 80, c,,hiootC that interested him