The sun., 1919-02-23

ment their knowledge by the revela-
ton OF his art, for in his pictures he
has said things that he could not have
said otherwise. 1t is his reason for
painting, and the whole wisdom of
those who understand art consists in
getting beneath the surface of the
work, it's means or its symbols, and
coming to know the mind that resides
in 1t.
"Of no artist is this truer than il
is OF Odilon Redon. He is one of the
great colorists OF the Nineteenth Cen
fury, he is one OF its greatest design
ers; he handles his medium whether
paint or charcoal, etching plate or
photographic stone in such fashion
that the full beauty OF the material
appears One thinks OF the ethereal
overtones Of his pastels-we have be-
fore US the sudden whites, the deli
cately modulated grays and the rich
depth, the prodigious mystery Of the
blacks of his engraved work. He Is
a French artist: creative in idea, clas-
steal in his instinct for the aesthetic
effect And above the means is the
MANN control till the last, and like
ways deeper into the treasure OF his
ineXhaustible spirit to bring to light,
for our wonder, an ever clearer and
more living art"
Since last the work Of Odilon Redon
was shown in New York he has passed
through the door which the old Chi
nese artist speaks OF. and though he
was past rs in the year OF his death,
1916. and though he was of a serenity
that few attain. one cannot but think
that to the last moment his face
turned back to this world which he
had so loved. When I look for an
image Of youth think OF Redon.' said
a French lady who knew him In his
later years. 1t was one more witness
ing of his clostness TO his world and to
his time-this man whose production
seems as timeless as it is unworldly.
And how the youth OF France-the
best OF it-gathered around him!
What II got from him would be toe
much to tell here, but we may note
that his own enduring youth was rich
in that generative faculty which per-
mits the artist to pass on something
Of his life to others and sa.S'hrougr
the influence OF the form he evolved
and still more through his original an6
profound idea. he reaches out to u,
and seems alive.
Those who knew him at his home
In the quiet studio that had seer
about him the great poets. the must
clans and painters who were hi
friends and visitors, will not fail t.
cherish the memory. The simplest
blithest, kindliest OF men at first sigh
and at last a man as natural In hi
enjoyment Of good food and good wine
the fragrance of his cigarette and th'
gayety OF flowers as he was in hi
admiration for the beauty OF Mallarme
the magnlficence OF Brahms (whom h,
was one of the first in Paris to de
fendD, Redon. In all his unaSsumin,
geniality. had about him, uncon
sciously. something of the symbolic
He symbolized the culture of Franc,
and one felt its centuries behind him.
THE charity and grace OF the oil
French writer's were in his speech. an,
while his deepest thought wen
through the channel OF his art Their
was not lacking about the man SOM
hint OF his power over expressly,
form, heritage from his ancestors O
the Gothic time.
"Delscroix. among his own country
men. was perhaps the artist he spok
OF most often. while among his su
promo preferences Rembrandt, Leo
nardo and Durer were first. I have sal
nothing he once wrote, of whic
there is not the grand presentiment il
| the engraving of Melancholia by Al
, breeht Durer. Some would think il in