Norwich bulletin., 1918-04-09
BENEFIT LECTURE FOR
 FRENCH ORPHAN FUND
Mrs. Edith R. Abbott Appears Under Auspices of Parish House Assoei- ation.


 Through special arrangements with the Parish House association, the | April meeting of the Art Students as- sociation was held on Monday even. l ing at the Osgood Memorial
 Mrs. William Birge, the president, 1 spoke briEly of the liberty loan, and l asking each member of the Art asso- citation to give an accounting of how she stood on the three loans. The sub l ject of writing the various state sem ators and congressman to help repeal the zone system for second class pos tage was mentioned: on account oi war conditions the Decent committee will postpone their usual work with the public school children this year The progress of the Kate Morse Memo rial tablet was commented on, and the latest news from the French or phans. adopted by the association, of whorn1 there are now four, while sew eral others have been taken by in= dividuai members.
 Mrs. Birge then introduced Mrs Edith B. Abbott of the Metropolitan | Museum, who spoke in a most com presensive and entertaining way on the early Flemish painters, illustrating her lecture with copies of their mas i. terpieces, many of them taken from the original in the museum
 1 The early Flemish paintings of the 18th century are being represented by the work of the two Von Eyck broth CTS, Memling and Roger Ven der Wey- den. The thing that impresses one in studying Flemish art is, that there are so, many questions that seemed to
 be unanswered--in direct contrast to
 the continuity instinctively felt in the Italian school.
 It is quite different though, when one studies that wonderful work of art
 the Ghent altar piece, now in the Ber- lin museum; there is nothing that sees9s apparently to lead up to this.
 but study makes it clear why there appears to be this artistic vacuum.
 The pictures that originally led up to
 the Ghent altar piece are hidden away
 in manuscript: one can find but few paintings that. precede the 18th cen
 tury. The. Flemish artists went to
 Paris and worked for wealthy patrons
 there and thus their early style was
 9 mixed one; one may see traces of both northern and Italian art, and a
 cohesion of the two, which resulted in the wonderful Ghent altar piece, by
 Won Eych.
 Miss Abbott showed a series of his beautiful little miniatures done in 1380-1417 for the Due de Berry. These
 are a series of illustrations, showing . the months, most interesting in com i, position and detail, January is repre- scented by a Festival or pageant, rich in courtly qualities, naturaiism, and eceleastical T'mboIsms, with cos tunes of gnrgA1us tapestry The panel , for February showed qualities not un- like those of the 1Tth century artists and exaggerated prospective, keen feeling for landscape and intimate touches. sfngularly resembling those f one finds in an Alden Weir etching of today. April sybpolized the spirit of northern art in festival array I while the panel for June demonstrat. ed a rhythm of design and a feelins | for Gothic architecture. July ani r August gave clearly wrought evidenc-
 es of sympathy for the common peo.
 pie. as we find it in Millets work.
 The Triumph of Death" is re-
 markable artistic parable showing tht s comparative values of life and it's
 ending.
 |, The Ghent altar piece Is chief ot
 the Flemish school of the 18th cen, tury, and thoroughly characteristic This shows the hieratic conception oi the Almighty. as of great majority :, and aloofness. The altar piece i. 2 composed Of manypanels, all type: : quite characteristic of Flemish art : The panel of the Virgin is especial, marked by its lock of idealization l That of the Singing Angels is one O the love1iest; its Flemish characterize. tions are very pronounced. Int i; i north3n painter draws angels 1T ecclestical robes in direct contrast tt ,. those painted by the Italian artists , ] who makes their angels resemble dis embodied spirits. The Lost Judge ment' and the Singing Boy. the latte 's possessing more of the salien U qualities of a Della Robbia wer, . wonderful examples of Flemish art. In fact, every panel of the Chen altar piece is rich in color, yer! p sumptuous and splendid. One par
 ticular panel of the angels playing tn,
 organ looks as though it might bay,
 been painted in cold October light y everything is so sharply defined I c is one of the most magnificent thing }. in modern painting. !. Adam and Eve painted about 1i25 ii Florence, was one of the first pictures t fof modern artists in which the seem s of the nude and the symbolism of tn f body is a means of expression is sug S gested
 s Portraits of the two von Eycl : brothers. Hubert and John, wer ,. shown, demonstrating remarkably tn, \ % diMAHaat chara characters of t,-