New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-11-24

Mr.. Brush Sculptures---Flag
Pictures---The Drawings of
John Flaxman
By ROYAL Cortissoz

TWO or three winters ago Mr. Gerome
Brush left new and delightful inn
preston in one of the exhibitions with
d bust Of Joan of Arc" We have seen
nothing of his work since, but now
about n dozen examples of 1t have been
brought together at the Knoedler gal
lery and it is possible to form a fuller
judgment on his talent The talent is
there, beyond a doubt, and the first
thing we observe about it is it's orig
mai grain. This artist is the son of
Mr.. George De Forest Brush. the
painter. AS these things go he might
easily have been expected to reproduce
some elements, at all events, of his
fathers art, and perhaps there is in the
linear severity of his sculptures an
echo of the careful craftsmanship
we have always known in the produc-
tions of the older man. But the rest
is new, fresh, indivdualized.
1T is the freshness of attack in Mr.
Brush's work that interests US. One
sees SO much in contemporary sculpt-
ure of motives that are Fictitious and
shopworn, the strain after decorative"
effects, or after the sensuous nuances
of Rodin, or after the archaic manner
which Mr.. Manship has exploited so
cleverly. Mr.. Brush is evidently en-
amoured of none of these popular ex-
pedlents. He seems concerned only to
i c..t1 H..
as he can, and if as yet he fails to
exercise much power he discloses in
It's place good deal of charm 1t is
the charm Of purity, of delicate grace
and feeling, Of a plastic ideal so light
ana evanescent as to seem almost
naive. There is no lack of reality in
what Mr.. Brush does, as witness his
several portraits, and especially those
OF children, but if he goes on as he has
begun the contribution to American
sculpture for which he is most likely
to be honored will be one of spiritual
import, fine and imaginative type of
beauty Depth and solidity in matters
of construction he has still to achieve.
The lovely little Diana" is beguiling
more as silhouette than as a work
in the round. But the loneliness re-
mains. 1t is characteristic of this
sterling young artist. Technically he
must prove capable of almost anything
because it is plain that he is launched
with a genuine gift. With so much to
convey of refined emotion, he is bound
to acquire the secrets of modelling
which will help him to give masterful
expression to his ideas.
Mr.. Childe Hassam has opened at the
Durand- Ruel gallery an exhibition of
series of paintings dedicated to our re-
Gently resplendent Avenue of the
Allies; That is to say, he has put forth
collection of flag pictures, playing
with the banners Of all the nations as
with so many aluring keys of color.
Such an enterprise partakes neces-
sarily of the dubious nature of the
tour de force. The scene in Fifth
Avenue was not, to tell the truth, rich
in pictorial inspiration. It was too
crowded, too amorphous, and, from the
point of view of the designer, too
monotonous. Kaleidoscope in its fut-
tering colors, it defed the artist to
select any particularly felicitous and
eloquent episode. 1t was the mass that
counted This impression, received
from the thing itself, is rather sadly
ratified in Mr.. Hassam's exhibition.
He has painted score of somewhat
overwrought ''notes" and occasionally
these develop a certain aesthetic
beauty The single flag exposed in
quiet street off the avenue the figure
at a window gazing upon a flag in the
dlstance-such studies "come off" and
affirm tolerably convincing reason
for being. The others are too wanting
in composition to give pleasure. 1t is
curious, also, to remark that while Mr.
Hassam has always enriched his land
orb 81, A.
pictures are so duly illuminated that
they might have been painted at the
bottom of we'll. Instead of the sun
shine which on some days at least
made the flags glorious. he. has en-
veloped his forests of bunting in cold
grey studio light. The show is dis
appointing and depressing where, CON
slderihg its subject, it ought to have
cheered us as with the blast of a
trumpet. Neither as propaganda" nor
as art is it successful. We would give
the whole show for one of those sylvan
scenes into which Mr.. Hassam has so
often poured his true inspiration.
Two exhibitions occupy the Whitney
studio just now. Mr. Ernest Lawson,
who has the entrance gallery, slenderly
fills it with casual impressions and a
few important pictures. The latter in
clude some of his most characteristic
and engaging pieces. The early Sum
ner" is a really enchanting thing. the
scene we'll composed but preserving
the intimate atmosphere of nature
spontaneously surprised, the lighting
veracious and subtle,
the color exquisite. This is nothing
less than a triumph and the iridescent
study of "The Hudson at Inwood" runs
it close. In most of these canvases,