New-York tribune., 1920-02-15

AAo EANoS uo LILO 4dCIS Oh war, raw ana
bleeding. There is no beauty In his
work. There is, in Its place. unmis-
taxable truth.
Tho Artist
In the Open Air
There arc some interesting American
impressionists to the fore just now,
men who are not specifically followers
Of Claude Monet but whose work is
plainly tinctured with the impressionist
hypothesis of light and air. They are
inspiriting. Mr.. Max Kuehne, at the
Kingore gallery, is said by Mr.. Gala
tin, whose sympathetic words are
quoted in the catalogue, to have been
touched by such diverse influences as
those Of Kenneth Hayes Miller, Will
lam M. Chase, Robert Henri and Ernest
Lawson. He has studied. too, in the
European museums. But the first evi-
dence Of his ability lies in the fact
that his pictures suggest mono Of these
external sources. On the contrary, they
reveal vigorous personal force. They
have been painted on the Maine coast,
now studies Of old towns and now
studies Of heavy seas washing colorful
rocks. Whatever his theme, Mr..
Kuehne Is full Of energy and his frank
ly stated truths are bathed in beaut-
full luminosity. Besides light and air
hc has pure and strong color. His ex-
hibition is cordially welcome.
An equally fresh and interesting sit
uation is provided by Mr.. John Noble,
an American long resident abroad, who
has lately returned to this country and
now shows at the Daniel gallery, along
with French scenes, few things done
at Provincetown. An uncompromising,
direct touch Is his essential distinction.
His color Is rich In plangent passages,
In sharp contrasts. Best of all, 1t Is
flung on the canvas With a gesture that,
If seemingly little rough at times, Is
really skillful, and, into the bargain,
very personal. Mr.. Noble is evidently
too fortnight In his characteristic
mood to care at all whether he Is be-
quilting the spectator or not. His &C
cent is frankly assertive. He is hardly
evsr in tho mood to try to charm. Yet
occasionally he succeeds in this with
out trying. Witness the fascinating
"Children on the Beach" and the
"Berck PLACE" The staccato habit
which is obviously indurated in him
does not wholly leave him in these
canvases, but 1t loses its harshness
beside the almost subtle harmonies of
color and atmosphere which distin-
guish them. He is dashing, audacious
painter, as a picture like "The White
Horse" makes manifest. And he is q
painter who has moments Of q deeper
richer significance. We are glad he
has come back from Europe.
The paintings by Mr.. William L.
Caxrigan, at the Ferargil gallery, open
air paintings like those of Mr.. Mobiles,
exploit principle to which the
latter pays next to no attention. 1t Is
the principle Of refining upon painted
surface and giving character to a can
vas through sensuous unity Of tone.
His artistic forebears, so to say, we
would take to be Alden Weir and Emil
Carlson, men whose studies of nature
have also been studies Of pigment.
He, too, Is an impressionist In tho
sense that his analyses Of landscape
are largely atmospheric. But preoc-
cupation with an effect Of tone would
appear to be always persistent with
Mr.. Carrigan. It is relaxed only when
he turns to the lighter medium, water
color. "The Alps at LIE Lauteret" for
example, is an almost startling illus
tration Of what this painter can do
when he chooses, changing not only his
medium but his vision. This Is as
crisply direct an impression as a water
color Of Mr.. Sargent's-and, by the
same token, It is in Its brilliance not
unworthy Of that magician. There Is
tho same ease and breadth, too. there
is tho same freedom from anything
like o Axed idea, in The water color
COPIES after Guard. Canaletto and
other old masters, water colors which
sre ns4 - much oopies'a "nstss."