New-York tribune., 1920-05-02
Some
Is. Whitney's Collection
For the Show i'm Venice

nr w e &oHcNSily known that
"fs' Harry Payne Whitney also has
peen effectively interesting her.e,, t.,
.i'e cause. Two or three years 400 nh :.
developed the idea Of orraniz;ns
large comprehensive exhibition 80
american art in Paris. War cond;+;o
put diisiculties in the way Of this
project, and ultimately it was re,;n-
qulshed. Mrs. Whitney was unwi,,;n,
however, to abandon the camoa,rn IN
support of American art which sbe
mas, IN fact. long generously carried an
through the exhibitions in her E,sh+h
Street galleries, and some months aro
she decided to do what she could e..
ward nsuring American participation
IN the international show at Venice. an
affair to be joyously resumed this sum
mer.
In all Europe there never arises dur
ing the season an opportunity quite
Ike this one. The present writer hos
vivid recoilections Of the inauguration
OF the great series Of exhibitions. In
1895. Place for them had been made
IN the delightful environment of the
Public Gardens, the ideal spot at which
TO pause in gondola on the wav to
the Lido. The handsome galleries were
electrlc with enthusiasm on the perfect
afternoons. At night, foregathering for
dlnners at an ancient trattoria not far
from the Piazza, with villegas, Martin
hlco and other leading spirits in the
new venture, one listened to the most
sanguine prophecies as to its success,
Other visits, in later years, brought
confirmation of these forecasts. The
artists of Europe came quickly to real
ize that at the international show in
Venice they were certain to find alto
gether charming conditions. The sur
roundings alone were uniquely attrac-
i've. Even the weather counted. Be
tore the mosquitoes come, terrible as
an army with banners, Venice is about
as close to an earthly or maritime
paradise as one could get. The moment
IS suspicious for idle contact with pic
lures, and this summer travel doubtless
will be revived there somewhat as in
the old days. 1t is of this altogether
favorable place and time that Mrs.
Whitney has had the inspiration to
take advantage.
The collection she has formed for
the purpose has a rather unusual char
acter. 1t has been subjected to no jury
1t has no relation to officialdom. Of
( course, it could not have been put to-
gether without omissions, it's scale be-
ing necessarily limited. Being, so to
say, r personal venture, the organizer
simply undertook to obtain works that
would illustrate some OF the salient
types of q period roughly extending
over tWentyodd years. Even on that
hypothesis the list as framed is OBJ
Hiously not by any means all-inclusive.
Yet neither is 1t narrow list, It be-
gins, for example, with the late Thomas
Eakins, three Of his paintings being
sent There Is also canvas by the
late A. I. Collins, portrait painter
! unt1mely lost. A. P. Ryder is repre-
sented, and Abbott Thayer's landscape
art is illustrated in one OF his winter
paintings Of .Monadnock The more
impressionistic tendency in American
art has for its eXemplars Twachtman,
! Weir, Robinson and Hassam. The
decorative wing Is maintained by the
late Howard Gushing and by Robert
| ". Chanler. Then come such workers
in the open air as Ernest Lawson, Il.
W. Redfield and Paul Dougherty, and
! following them the more conspicuous
( types are George Bellows, Arthur B.
| Davies, George Luks and w. ]. Glack-
experimentalists like Maurice Sterne
and Mr.. McFee.
| Looking over the catalogue ono sees
at glance that this so-caled "ad-
vanced" group and its kinsfolk, If we
may SO describe them, have on the
whole a predominant share in the en-
terprise. The Venetian exhibition will
| not by any means convey an academic
Impression Of American art. Neither,
! by tho same token, will it be in other
respects anything like as representa-
! tive Of our school as we would like it
| 10 De. some OF tnS OfulSSlOuS H1Etcu
at above inspire q regret which we
cannot forbear from expressing. 1t
seems q pity that there should be
! nothing from T. W. Dewing, nothing
| from Willard Metcalf, and so on with
company which could have been made
! large enough. IF Eakins, why not La
| Fargo? But such questions arc, per-
haps, beside the point. Winslow Ho
mer, for example, would have been in
cluded, we believe, If q painting by
him could have been procured. The
important matter is that Mrs. Whit
ney has made q sincere effort to send
abroad a group Of pictures shedding
| some light on the present state of
American painting. After it has been
seen in Venice she will take it to Paris
and then to London. Whatever discus
sion it may excite as regards the ques-
ton Of representative character it will