New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-28
A Successor to the Armory Show

en- Argonne," scarcely an interior now;
the village itself, "Aubreville," Amer
lean Ambulance at Ippecourt," a num-
Der of machines drawn impassively;
ruins of the Church at Naubecourt,'
"A Shell Hole i'm Aubreville," Effect
of Two Shells, Aubreville," no fairy
tale this, for il is convincing as
photograph; ruins, Chateau d'Esnes,"
and interior Ste Paterne, Vannes."
And all the time he wandered among
these wrecks he saw never a soldier
/. nor a puff of smoke nor clouded sky,
and. not seeing them, would justice
condone him a sly, lmpetuous, signif-
cant introduction of them? We used
/ to wink at the poetic Liberties taken by
old military painters; was this war
or wasn't it?-perhaps It was. But
these wounded and broken buildings
they are not even new sores. rather
they are opportunities for the hide and
seek of children.
The peace of other drawings here is
at the end of more logical sequence OF
ideas. Those done among the canals Of
Florence. in the sepia and ink OF the
old masters, remind one of the grace Of
Guard and Of the light-for they are
extraordinarily light-of the Impress
sionists. In France, with but one ex-
ception Moulin de Delft'-the medi-
um was crayon and water color. Here,
as in "Le Pont, Limoges" with its mas
sive pontoons, and as in the rich con-
trasts of street in "Quimper," the
quality Of color attains greater depth.
Mr.. Webster is Of our architectural
race of etchers, given to employ mere
man. upon the rare occasions that he is
at all employed, merely as to the clew
to the height of a building, or of a
statue, or of a doorway, or OF the
width of a street. j His "Josselin,' one
Of the better things eXpressively,
with its group of substantial peas
ants in the immediate foreground, IS
delightful exception to the rule.
We hailed it with pleasure. The others
! did not repeat the impression through
/ the streets of cities walked perfunctory
puppets who somehow built these
/ beautiful buildings and lived in them
and walked over bridges worthy the
microscopic attention Of methodlcal
pencil.
Paintings by Warren Davis are
shown at the Warwick House, where
| they are to remain until February II.
| They suggested our writing Mr.. Davis
1 down a poet Mr.. Davis may descend
/ from Mr. Arthur b. Davies, or he may
have stepped up providentially into A
! place vacated by Mr.. Davies. We do not
want to bubble. The association Of men
and of ideas here is inevitable; there Is
even an associative notion TO be got out
/ of particular pictures. And yet there
| is A difference. Mr.. Davies, try as he
might. could never throw off the moon
| light that runs through his veins; IL
/ has always cropped up, and perhaps
even mathematics may not remove ~;
mathematics. If they are not, as de
/ Banville suggested in a matter or fact
moment. the foundation of poetry. Mr..
! Davies is an emotional rather than a
/ literal realist. Mr.. Davis is a straight
/ from the shoulder realist. He flches
poetry from the obvious He gives US
! literal moonlights. He presents them
verbatim. And, of course, we recog-
nize them. and recognize them as poems
+ because that is a name that tradition
/ has written over moonlight. But we
need not so docilely accept il.
Mr.. Davis's poetry is derived from q
prescription which demands the weak
ening Of the local truth, Of the photo
graphic truth. and never a denial OF
even an adaptation of it. His bonds
are too strong. We notice that he de-
sires to spring free of them, and we
see that the feat is beyond his under
standing or his inventive faculties OF
his power. Poetry is a dogma which
suggests dancing nudes OF the ro-
mantle to him, silver lights on water
that ripples over stones, tall still
trees and pale air; which presents q
certain restricted set OF props and
titles for the settings, like Grey
I Shores" spool of Jade" Whispering
! Pines" and Singing Brook
Twenty-Five csnvases and seventeen
panels by Albert Gihon are shown A
u the Braun Gallery. They are more o.