New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
A MAN IN SPANISH COAT
'rom the painting by Frank Duveneck the Rason gallery

al the feet Of Rembrandt, made himself
too much Of an old master. The thing
hat Manet hated and was wont to call
the brown sauce oe the old masters"
envel loped his paintings in rather
@tltious penumbra, and this became
ore disconccrting when mis- surfaces
began TO crack. Duveneck would have
been twice the artist that he actually
was # he had allowed himself to be
touched by the mpressionistic hypothe-
Sis and had exchanged the atmosphere
q the studio for that Of the open air.
Nut 10 say all this is to exhaust only
one mode of approach to the subject.
Another remains and leads US to n
more eXhilarating conclusion, It is the
approach which dismisses, almost as
though irrelevant, the qualities lying
on the surface Of Duvenecks work and
looks altogether to the question of what
this man meant at the particular time
Of his appearance upon the scene He
meant revival of painters painting.
His was, to begin with, personality
born to excite sympathy and devotion.
Young artists coming under his inhu-
ence were bound to develop an enthu-
siasm for the kind Of painting that in
terested him. American art in the
seventies, strengthened enormously by
pioneers like lnness and La Fargo, was
nevertheless in sore need Of technical
renovation. Duvcneck found one Of
the secrets for this in Munich; he
brought it back here, and 90 stirred
up the youngsters that when he start
ed school Of his own in the Ravarian
capital he had presently a troop Of
clever Americans around him. The
Ralston exhibition sets forth as In
nutshell the burthen Of his teaching.
One painting in it, in fact, "A Man in
Spanish Coat sufflces to tell the
story. Painting this portrait, Duvenecls
showed his disciples. In the first place,
how important it was to give the torso
sohdity and depth, how important it
was literally to construct the head,
making it vitalized affair Of verta-
bic flesh and bone; and then, having
demonstrated the value OF sound mod
cling and drawing, he proceeded TO en-
kindle his class with the spectacle of
a brush flashing over the canvas as In
a kind of joyous bravura, taking care
Of all humdrun matters of definition
and superimposing upon these the en-
chantment Of pigment caressingly ap-
esting, of course. Duveneck put life
and character into q portrait But, as
is proper in work of art, the chief
element is just Duvencck-Duveneck's
brushwork, Duveneck's flesh painting
Duvenecks adorable technique.
There is an odd phenomenon to be
noted at this point. Since he set such
a wonderful example ne ought, of
course, to have reared up true nest
of singing birds. Wen, he didn't do
quite that. But that is. perhaps, be
cause no man can work miracles. His
disciples went their several ways,
which IL, after all, as it Away. should
90 John Twachtman learned a lot
from him. but went on to win distinc-
ZION through painting totally different
sort Of picture. If he learned much
from Duvencck he lenrned more from
nature and, trusting to his own genius,
ne became "A greater artist than Duve-
neck could ever have made him. John
". Alexander aiso divergcd into diff
fercnt path, though not altogether with
the happicst results. There is a little
sketch OF girls head here, with a por-
trat Of an old man, and these two
canvases disclose Alexander as = true
type Of painters painting. When he
merged from under Duvcneck's lnfu-
nee and gave himself 10 the making
Of those decorative patterns by which
he is chiefly remembered he lost some