New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-12-28
Light at the Academy
On American SCULPTURE

I'm American Sculpture
IN traNcrsing Il fortnight ago the
french show at the Museum and the
inter Academy we cited the remark
OF NJ. Lconec Benedito about American
'hdcoiedNcss to Partisan cxamnlc
That Indebtedness has been ;ncesson+.
~ asclosed in the last thirty or forty
years. But the Academy reveals the
manner IN which our cultivation Of tho
ffencn habit OF studying technique has
nevertheless gradually left us free to
"eVe!op our own racial traits. to print
p'o'"res Wh'cn are not French, but
American. This is obvious csnecisl)v
III the field OF landscape. Our school
whica IS rich in emotion. in an ima~;-
native feeling for landscape sentiment
Is even richer in what we can only de-
scr'oc as delightful raciness. Ii
makes its most distinctive affirmation
as school by basing beauty upon ac
curatciy noted truth, truth oblitcrat
ing all traces Of definite technical
emulation. There is no hint OF Pari-
sian method in our landscapcs. save
for the broad fact Of impressionism.
LOOK at THE Little Black Bridge" bv
Mr. Gregory Smith, or Mr.. Ernest AL
bert's "Dcccmbcr Afternoon" or the
snow scenes by Mr.. Ernest Lawson.
Nr. Harry Mailman and Mr.. John f.
Carlson. or ihc sketch by Mr.. S. Qua
rno. "Tho Quarry Road" or the Aqua
Marine" h. Mr.. Cullen Yates. superb
view Of the sea observed beyond cliffs.
In these and in scores Of other fine
canvases the Winter Academy gives us
the tang Of the open air. with artistic
sS'iI and taste superadded and, over
and over again. the personal accent
which lifts honest workmanship to n
higher plane. Where painting is con-
cerncd, the friendly rivalry between
the Academy and Museum exhibitions
is maintained on high grounds by our
countrymen
1t is useless to ask how it is main
tanned in the matter of sculpture. for
the French display of plastic art is
almost negligible There are. to be
sure. few interesting pieces by Bour-
dele and one or two others. Cara
bin. that picturesque worker in wood,
also appears. and to good, effective
purpose But there is no really rep
resentatve showing of French sculp-
ture. In The circumstances there are
no comparisons to be made. Tried
cClol,- h.
can school leaves mixed impression
at the Academy. And perhaps the
most pulling figure in it is the most
conspicuous as here represented, MI
Rudolph Evans. He has an important
group in the exhibition, the "Boy and
Panther 10 which the Elizabeth Wat
rous medal for sculpture has been
awarded 1t was certain to receive an
honor of some sort. There is nothing
else displayed which is so ambitious,
nor, for that matter, is there anything
else so good. Yet. as we have indi-
Gated, it wakes diverse reflections
From an academic point Of view this
bronze has the fine quality which
previous work by sIr. Evans has led
US to expect from him. The nude
youth is modelled with knowledge Of
form and with the severely expressive
simplicity which points to careful
study of antique sculpture. Mr.. Evans
follows reverently in the pathway of
classical art adding to his Greek dig
nifty the more modern traits Of move
ment and Of a peculiarly human sent-
ment. At the same time he disap-
points us precisely where we would
have him carry his humanizing touch
to its logical conclusion. This desire
for warmer, more vitalizing quality
is not a matter of the observers whiM
1t flows direct from the nature Of the
artists subject. Parenthetically this
work is catalogucd as portrait Of
Mowgli, the hero Of Kipling's Jungle
stories The boy is supposed to be at
play not with any symbolical animal,
but with the panther that was Ba
gheera The bronze is, in short, q kind
Of illustration, done on a heroic scale.
And it disappoints because it does not
illustrate at all. Mowgl is an individ
uality in million. Baghcera, too, is
a creature whose character is known
to US all. The two together in truly