The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-16
*Work of the Painter
Gravers of America.

FOR 1t is a rather fresh, breezy, pleas
ant collection OF prints and has nothing
disturbingly great in 1t. At this time
OF the year. when every one Is in
such a relaxed state, due to not having
had any winter at all, a really great
work Of art might do more harm than
good. To come face to face with the
burning aspiration of a Savonarola or
the demoniac mockery of a Helne
when one Is prepared for no greater
mental flight than is necessary in an
embarkatlon with Mr.. Pennell or Mr..
Bellows might unfit one absolutely
and permanently for flying. As the
time is rapidly approaching when our
very lives will depend upon the way
We fly 1t would be the height Of i'm
practically to become two fiighty all
Of a sudden. But DO treasured We
do not cross the Alps upon this trip.
The present exhibition contains no
Goyas, but only Pencils and Bellowses
and things Hike that. Easy first lessons
that even commercial travellers could
swallow with IMMUNITY II they only
knew 1t.
Speaking OF commercial travellers
and Pencils reminds me Of something
l never had the pleasure of number
Ing any commercial travellers among
my acquaintance, but I did once know
q steel manufacturer. He was a clever
and successful steel manufacturer,
who spoke, thought. dreamed, and
would. II he could, have breathed moth.
Ing but steel. He confided in me that
crest of little hill overlooking the
works, where he could sit upon the
veranda of a summer evening and
feast his eyes ad libitum upon the
faring lights from the molten steel.
But his wife didn't share in this toNe
enthusiasm, SO he motored Ii in and
out to the plant many miles each day,
once when he was building a row
OF half a dozen blast furnaces and
had just painted them pale but
livid vermilion. he happened to ask
my opinion Of the color scheme-from
an art point of view. II was a bright
day, with big white clouds in the
heavens and much blue in the air. and
the red stacks did form a harmony
with the brown acres of SCRAP iron
S''t Dio~n oiilOhS lIOII kIlf Mills. so i
told him so. Ever after that he re-
garded my opinions on art as infallible
and l In return greatly respected his
knowledge of steel. I would have
taken his word against a thousand on
any question concerning the manu-
facture OF steel.
The last time went to see him he
told me he had gone in for art, and
there sure enough on the wall over
the fireplace was an excessively large
Autograph by Joseph Pennell. The sub
)ect was a group of flourishing blast
furnaces. My friend, shyly and with
a suspicion OF. a blush. confessed tina,
he liked the picture. I fastened to as
sure him that he did quite right to
like 1t. and ever since then have had
higher opinion OF Joseph Pencil
than l used to have.
The Painter Gravers have also be-
gun to use stars, and they indicate in
the catalogue the prints that were in
vited from outsiders. This influx from
the outside accounts, in a measure, for
the freshness and breeziness OF the ex-
hibition. 1t is true that none OF these
new people outshine the members. but
just as little inlet and outlet to a lake
are necessary II the water would be
kept from stagnation, so must art
societies Keep fresh by constant &C
| cessions Of live forces. A dreadful ex-
ample among the New York art So
cieties will, Of course. spring to every
Dody's MIND.
Among the new people there Is one
Tod Lindenmuth, whose wood blocks
are simple and decorative; another
Charles j. Martin, whose French
scenes are in the modern manner, and
Mr.. Pennell, whose Independence
Square" is quite pretty. OF the
bona fide members, Boardman Rob
/ inson sends head Of Lincoln; John
Held, Jr., a delightful wood cut OF
i storm. with the legend May God
Have Mercy" Rudolph Ruzicka, some
color cuts of aspects of Newark that
are so beautiful that no one will be.
lieve they are of Newark: Albert Ster-
ner, some facile but theatrical compo-
sitions of tragic themes; Henry Ra-
leigh. striking print of an old card
board press. and Ernest Haskell. a
group of painfully elaborate land
scapes.