New-York tribune., 1920-01-11
Kramer. Lawson
And Some Others


Mr.. Edward Adam Kramer. an ex-
hibition Of whose work has been ar
ranged At the Anderson Galleries
through the intervention of a proun
OF friends, we'll deserves the tribute
thus paid to him. He reminds US of
the singers who persist in the anthol-
ogies through the magic of single
song. His range, as few of his
pictures suggest, Is not necessarilv
limited, but so far RS choice goes he
would appear to be the devotee of a
single erect 1t is an effect based uuon
grove OF slender saplings and then
built up out Of the artists inner vision
! into the semblance of that SOFTLY SHIN
mering fusion of tints which we find
In milky opal So enamored is he
of this tenderly refined motive. this
dlaphanous fabric Of color. this faint.
exquisite key, that he very nearly de-
cl1nes upon anti-climax. The friends
who have done so much for him have
done, perhaps, little too much. A
whole repast of rose leaves is a trife
wanting in refreshment. 1t grows
monotonous. One would like to recoe-
nlze in Mr.. Kramer the master of a
style. Instead of that he seems almost
the victim Of q manner. And yet, as
we have indicated, there are signs that
he does not need to be anything of
the sort
There is landscape in low tones.
the Requiem" which gets out Of wind
blown trees something of the dramatic
quality which Homer Martin achieved
IN his famous picture Of "The Sun
worshippers." In the small painting,
called for no very obvious reason AS
plratIon," a study of tree trunks
against rocks, there is solidity of
color and there iA, a touch of power
which makes US think of Courbet From
this strong piece of work we infer that
Mr.. Kramer has some remarkable
potentlalities. Consciously or uncon-
sclously he holds them in reserve when
ne paints his more characteristic
pieces. His tree forms are slightly.
even feebly, defined; his scenes are put
together seemingly at haphazard, rather
than with feeling for design; his can
vases are dappled with color instead of
being composed, where we are certain.
all the time, that he could nut forth a
more constructive energy if it suited
him to do so. We sigh for a little
more form in his art. But that is pos
sibly to ask him to be another type of
artist, and he is indubitably beruilinp
first as himself. There is a delicate
loneliness in his frail, concentrate d
sweetness. picture of his should be
pleasant to live with This show should
advance his repute, and perhaps an
other one would clinch the matter. This
further exhibition which we venture to
suggest would be one of not more than
twenty or thirty paintings. Without
the present overcrowding his art would
be seen IN better perspective
At the Daniel Gallery there is a
group of four painters belonging in the
more progressive ranks. Mr.. Ernest
Lawson takes the lead by virtue of his
Birch Woods" study fairly brim-
mining over with sylvan beauty. His
impressionism is not obtruded, as a
method. 1t seems but the servant of
pictorial ideal. the means to an end.
One admires his skill, but one is
touched wholly by the fine landscape
sentiment with which the canvas is
charged. Mr.. Robert Henri is all for
technical virtuosity and the world we'll
lost. The shoulders and arms Of the
dark-haired model in his Hawaii and
Navajo" are masterfully painted
Every once in so often Mr.. Henri I'M
presses US as an artist born to exhibit
in the Salon, to distinguish himself in
purely technical exercises. His four
canvsses in this exhibition are por-
traits Of exotic types, and, as such. pos
ssss a certain interest, but their value
is that of kind Of scholastic brilliance
in execution. MIR. Maurice Prender-
CAST, with his decorative schemes of
figures in the open air that somehow
give the effect Of samplers, and Mr. ".
j. Glackens, working more than ever
in the vein Of Renor, complete the
group. 1t is a lively, agreeable show