New-York tribune., 1917-12-02

(From the portr
destroyed; but it gave me every oppor--
tunity Of studying Manet's method OF
painting. Strictly speaking, he had no
method; painting with him was pure
instinct. Painting was one Of the ways
his nature manifested itself. That
frank fearless, prompt nature mani
tested itself in everything that con-
cerned HMM his large, plain studio,
full of light as conservatory; IN ms
simple, scrupulous clothe-, and yet with
a touch of the dandy about them; IN
decisive speech, quick, hearty and IN
formed with a manly and sincere un-
derstandng of life. Never was an
artists inner nature in more direct
conformity with his work. There were
no circumlocutions in Manet5 nature,
there were none in his art.
The color Of my hair never gave me
a thought until Manet began 10 paint
il. Then the blond gold that came. up
under his brush filled me with admlra-
tion. and | was astonished when, rev
davs after. | saw him scraDe oil the
rough paint and prepare to start
afresh.
"Are you going TO get a new canvas =
NO; this will do very we'll"
But YOU can't paint yellow ochre on
yellow ochre without getting 1T dirty
YES, [ think | can. You 90 ana SII
down" Ill.
Half an hour after he had entirely
repainted the hair. and without losing
anything of its brightness. He painted
il again and again; every time II came
out brighter and fresher, and the
painting never seemed to lose anything
=" Never did this mysterious power
which produces what artists know as
equality" exist in greater abundance IN
any fingers than it did IN the SLOW,
thick fingers of Edouard Manet, never
since the world began-not ~ Nelas.
quez, not in Halls, not in Rubens' hVI
in Titan. As an artist Manet coulu
not compare with the least among tnese
illustrious painters, but as manlpu
lator of oil color he never was anu
never will be eXcelled. Manet was porn
= painter as absolutely as any man
tnat ever lived, so absolutely that
very high and lucid intelligence never
for a moment came between MN Gnu
the desire TO put anything INTO HIS
picture except good painting
That is what we miss-apart from tne
head-in the Sargent portrait, good
paintinq. OF course, it is good" so
far as it goes. But it isn't good enough
for Sargent, II isn't good enough Tor
the painter of the "Ian Hamilton or
the lord Russell of Killowen," or OF
dozen other splendid things which
might be named. It is as though he
were truly tired of portraiture and
could only practise the art in a per-
functory way. If the zest remained he
would have enchanted US with his tech
n;oue in this instance, even though nc
had failed to get his picture" The
little Hanet encourages US TO make this
observation. 1t is a trife, yet the
beauty Of quality" is there. SO it is'
bv the way, in the portrait Of George
Moore. He speaks of the one, whose
execution he describes, as having ulti-
mately been destroyed. But there Is
another of him, in a private collection
in New York. II is not one of Manets
finest things. Again the portrait did
not come right" But as a piece OF
"good painting" il makes an irresistible
appeal.
Il was as a portrait painter that
Chase was chiefly occupied during the
wears of his prime, and it is in that role
that We are strongly tempted to con-
slider him as we turn from Sargent and
Manet to-day. Yet the book which
wakes the temptation, The Life and
Art of William Merritt Chase" (Charles
scribner's Soss), by Katharine Metcalf
Roof, also draws US very quickly away
from purely critical issues. 1t is itself
q portrait, and a good one, the portrait
Of a man rather than the analysis OF an !
artist. Here are gathered together all
those traits which made Chase so i'm |
portant a figure in the artistic life or
New York, the source Of so wide and 80
s.imulating an influence. "No man ever !
lived more completely in the atmos-
phere and idea of art" his biographer /
Justly says. He was wellspring Of
enthusiasm, which is perhaps but an
other way Of saying that he was we'll
spring Of inspiration for the multitude ,
of pupils ne trained. Often, we are ,
told, in praising the sketch OF student /
in which the impression had been /
freshly caught, he would say: Il envy !
you the good time you had doing that
Tie remark is of the very essence OF
Chase. These pages commemorate a
prolonged good time" the adventures
OF an unquenchably ardent soul.
Working like a navy under Piloty In
Munich, rollicking at home with his
comrades Of the Tile Club, foregather-
ing with Blum in Spain or with Whist
Ter in Holland, organizing his classes,
or making q fiesta in his famous Tenth