New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-03-02
By Royal Cortissoz

in France" To which familiar
tag. never more freely applied
than In questions Of art, we may make
reply Sometimes, but not always"
The fine record Of the French, so quick
TO support the claims of art. contains
no more cdifying episode than that
which has deposited in the Metroroi-
tan Museum tho noble statue of
"Memdfy," by Daniel Chester French.
lately described In The Tribune. For
ten years tho sculptor devoted himsclf
20 thia work, labor of love If he
ever pat one TO HIS credit. The marble
completed. he placed 1t on exhibition
ut the knoedler gallery, and before
the show WAS over Mr.. Henry Walters
had purchased it and presented 1t to
the principal museum in the United
States. Surely this testifes to progress
both as to the production of works of
art in this country and to effective
appreciation of them. If the thing had
happened in Paris it would be cited as
an example of what Sterne had in
mind. Let us not fail to recognize
what 1t should mean to us.
1t means, for one thing, that "the
rectitude of art" to use the happy
phrase of Ingres, does not pass unre-
warded. Mr. French's masterpiece Is
notable specimen of it. Skilful
craftsmanship among our sculptors is
not uncommon. But ever since the
cult for Rodn arose it has been tinct-
ured only too often by a regrettable
exhaling, so to speak, in subtle modu-
lations from the rough-hewn block,
which he at his best so consummately
illustrated, has been emulated by
the surface effect without conveying
an impression of structural validity.
Mr.. French's statue is the very mega
ton Of al those easy plausibilities. 1t
possesses beauty resting upon organic
construction. The figure is not
modelled from the outside; it is built
up from within. 1t thus takes it's place
in the Metropolitan as the best kind
sterling workmanship. And it further
ratiiies its position there through the
thoughtful nature of its beauty, through
its quality as a product of imaginative
idealism in plastic art. To this second
great element in its success it would
be impossible to attach too much i'm
portance. 1t is indispensable that
American sculptors should know the
rules Of the game; that they should be
accomplished men of their hands. 1t is
equally indispensable that their work
should have not only form but sub
stance; that it should be rich in ideas,
in truly significant emotion, and here
in this "Memory".s at once an admoni-
ton and an encouragement. The gener-
osity and public spirit shown by Mr.
Walters are Of value not to Mr.. French
alone or to the museum as an institu-
ton but to the American school of
sculpture as we'll.
The "Memory" is already at the
Metropolitan and will shortly be pre-
against the west wall of the larger
gallery on the main floor devoted to a
permanent exposition Of American
sculpture. 1t will be visited there for
its own sake and, incidentally, it
should strengthen public interest in
the exposition aforesaid. When that
was inaugurated, year ago, it brought
an uncommonly representative collec-
ton to the front. Saint Gaudens dom
mated. through the glorious adams
Monument" shown in plaster from the
bronze IN Washington. Other pieces
which had borne the test Of time were
exhibited. The Polytechnic lent the
original model of Wards "Good Samar-
itan," statue dating from the SOS.
Palmcr's white Captive" was also
there to speak for the older trsdi-
ton, and from that period, in which
Saint Guadens was renovating the
school, we had the lamented DIN War
ner, his bust Of Alden Weir bringing
DacH poignant memories Of a genius
untimely lost. From among it's plas-
ters the museum reintroduced the su
perb young Sophocles" Of the late
John Donoghue, the bronze Of which
is at Chicago The earlier men were
fitted perfectly into the perspective,
and with them came trooping our con-
temporaries. seniors like French, Du-
yeneck and Karl Bitter being surround
ed by any number Of younger men and
women of exceptional gifts, MacMon-
MES, O'Connor, Fraser, Evans, Man
ship. Keck, Malvina Hoffman. Janet
scudder. Evelyn Longman, Frances
Grimes. and so on through an inspiring
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