The sun., 1919-02-23
NEWS AND COMMENT IN THE WORLD OF ART

whilst the sun burst through I'M
earthly clouds at the back, youths
stood on tiptoes and grasped after pos
sibly the wind: and 1t was generally
felt that the artist had the correct FOR
muia for picture poems. Some old Ia
dies there were who declared that the
paintings were more than formulas,
they were the poems themselves. Nice
old ladies they were, too. But the
sceptics waited.
Mr.. Miller's temperance upon the
stage will not, 1t is to be feared, hush
his critics. II IL clear that the years
are making an impress upon his man
ner, for 1t has become simpler, or at
least It can be seen that he aims more
for simplicity than he used to; but 1t
II not sure that the message is OF
mystic Importance, or that the painter
believes in his message himself
Most of the figures in these ale
gories are very badly drawn indeed. II
one uses drawing in the old FASH
toned sense as implying construction;
and they are still badly drawn X one
uses the word in the new tangled way
to suggest that the lines are pregnant
with meaning. Here and there there
Ia q sky that has the ethereal quality
proper to poetry, but just when the
eye begins to soar into the blue one is
brought UP against a nasty, unmistak-
able muss. The picture called Youth
has patches of such a sky and also the
muss. All around the two standing
figures there is an unpleasant bricky
halo that means that the unfortunate
artist changed his figures about and
could not afterward, like Lady Mao
beth, get rid OF the guilty evidence. As
the figures cover most OF the canvas
and are rather vapid. the patch OF nice
sky win scarcely be considered enough
to carry the picture Off. In Play
there Is a reclining mother with two
stiff and solemn infants. The mother
is merely contorted. There are az
many kinds Of bad drawing as there
are in this picture, but the most de-
pressing feature Of 1t is not that there
Is no play in the picture-even Mr.
Miller was miserable while doing 1T
but that clearly he arranged his mode
In an eccentric attitude, hoping al
original idea would pop out to hin
somewhere by accident.
Now a poet-painter wastes his time
and ours too, when he finishes tot
much of his picture before he finds hi
"iden"
The Odilon Redon exhibition nov
open will attract the attention OF thu
same group who will study Mr.. Miller
and II will probably lead the amateurs
into troubled thinking over the advan
tages that Gallo minds enjoy wher
they attempt graphic poetry. The es'
sence of all French thinking is its d.
rectness; but in poetry even fumbline
in expression is excusable il the feel
| ing back OF it be genuine, and the
great thing in Redon's work is the un
mistakable and clear conviction tina
impelled to his task in the first place
We Americans are too apt when w
start out to write poetry to try for th'
poetry manner" and to do too little Il
put ourselves into the mood or to A
ourselves to have moods. II we hav'
| something to express that is OF burn
ing importance, the manner will conn
by itself. This axiom is 80 trite tina
I wonder at myself for being compelled
to utter IL, but II Mr.. Miller insists OF
poetizing I advise him to read up thu
means De Quincy and Coleridge EN-
ployed to csjole their muses..
1t should be added as cheering
postscript that Mr.. Miller's exhibition
includes some dry point etchings tina
DO not attempt to be particular!
poetic. but are very good etchings. TIL
drawing in them is clear and natura
and there is no confused thinking IL
them. They deserve the attention o
| collectors.