New-York tribune., 1919-01-26
By Royal Cortissoz


everything for that element with
out which everything is as naught, the
element of taste. And taste is as per-
sonal q matter as the gift for actually
producing work of art. Collectors,
like artists. in fact, are born, not made
Consider. in illustration, certain evil
dence that is supplied by the Metro
uolitsn Museum. 1t is long while
since the late Henry Marquand gave to
that institution the pictures from which
we need cite only one or two master
pieces, like the Van Dyck and the Yer
Meer Since then the Metropolitan has
received all manner of treasure from
other benefactors. But in the whole
long record is there anything quite like
the Marquand gift. anything which on
being mentioned Immediately brings to
the hearers mind so definite a sense of
so striking group? The collector sur
wives in this instance with his collec-
ton, even though, as it happens, the
latter is broken up and scattered
through several rooms. We are re-
minded of this phenomenon by the body
Of pictures hanging just now in the
American Art Galleries. They come
from three sources. Some of them
were left by the late Frank r. Law
renee, for many years president of the
Lotos Club. Others were brought to-
gether by the late Alexander Morton
Still others were collected by the late
James s. Inglis, and are now offered
for sale by his daughter. 1t is among
the Inglis pictures most of all, though
to some extent among those from the
Morten estate also, that we recall old
times and standards.
1t was the recognition of standards
that especially strengthened the hand
Of Jim" Ingis. He had come to learn
their Importance in his long years of
associating with Daniel Cottier, q sue
cessful dealer, who owed his success
to the resolution with which he kept
commercialism in its place. He may
have acquired a bad picture now and
then. but we do not remember ever
encountering one in the galleries over
which he, and, later, Inglis used to
quite naturally and spontaneously, a
fair for rich, low toned canvases, an
appreciation for the BarbiZon paint
ers, for the modern Dutchmen--es-
pecially the Marises-and for men like
Monticello. He knew the SAVIOR of good
painting He had blessed weakness
for tradition. Hence the significance
Of his personality in the present exhi-
bition. There is nothing more char
acteristic of him than the slender
handful of drawings. There is beau
tfu charcoal by Puvis, and with it a
couple Of drawings by Millet, one Of
them, the Knitting" a pastoral in
his finest vein. Years ago, when In
glis bought them, souvenirs of the
sort were practically unknown in Amer
lean collections. 1t was like him to
be thus in the van, judging of things
not by their importance" but by
their charm.
There is no test which will so GER
tiniy bring out the truth about a
buyer OF pictures. Your collector,
armed primarily with a checkbook, is
all for "importance' and the wcrld
well lost The true collector asks only
that the work Of art he is after should
be beautiful. Witness one of the Weirs
in the lnglis collection, the water color
called "On the Beach" Tho descrip-
ton in the catalogue suggests good
deal-"a wide stretch of gray, sandy
teach, with a pavilion al left and a
cart by the shore; glimpse of the
sea at right and sky of gray clouds. -
AS matter OF fact, all this is OK
pressed in q few swift touches on a
tiny surface; the picture is no more
than casual note But beauty is
there, and the quality OF style, the
spme quality which makes diatin-
guished the Roses" Of the same artist
the study of flowers Sc, against a
bronze relief. The second painting is.
IN the jargon Of the salesroom, more
important" than the first. Inglis knew
that both were delightful expressions
Of the individuality of Alden Weir
There you have the key to his col
lection as q whole. The things in it
are often trifiing, but they are always
bits OF good painting and rich in PER
sonal interest. Monticello, Jakob
Mars, the animolie,- Barye-repre-
'eatcd on this occasion by charm
ing forest landscape Melting, Bunce
and Cnase, they are all present in ex-
amples which have a certain intimate
and beguiiing accent 1t seems he
most natural thing that of the two
MEETINGS one should be the clever
frencnmans copy, the Bath" OF Rem
brandt's "Bathsheba" in the Louvre
1t Is mastery exercise in technique,
Precisely the kind Of thing that Ingls
you'd hit upon SO .he single un-
known artist in his collection, c. f.
hill, is the painter of g. Landscape
NO. COZ, which artists Of thrice his
reputation might envy. That, too, was
Ike Ingis.
Dir Lawrence, as u collector, was
hardly n the same category No spe-
eiai Character belongs TO the group OF
pictures contributed to this ensemble