New-York tribune., 1920-02-01
A Picture Maker
TUNED Decorator

A Picture Maker
Turned Decorator
Some years ago when this ACCOM-
plished Frenchman hrst appeared IN
New York-it was before the war--he
seemed what we might call An envoy
from the Salon, type essentially Pa
risian, whose portraits and pictures full
/ filed themselves as illustrations of
was French rectitude in him cons i'd
cred as workman. There was
/ thoroughly mundane taste In him con-
sidered rs an artist He received the
warm welcome due to him as the
worthy representative OF historic
modern school. His progress as an
artistic individuality has not been SO
rapid, for he has had to reckons with
the defects Of his qualities. His por-
traits have been admirably but not
always beautifully drawn; that Is to
say, they have had the authority which
is the despair Of the amateur, but they
hav. not revealed in the nuances Of
craftsmanship and painting that sub
tie personal touch which Is worth
all the formula taught In the schools.
AS q painter OF the nude, as a maker
Of pictures, NJ. Caro- Delvaille hiss car
ried tho same handicap. He has been
little too accomplished. His work
has smecked more Of method than Of
tpy MN n oh,
the conventions of the Salon had got
into his blood and could not be shaken
off but were bound TO leave his art O
little hard and cold. This despite the
presence among his gifts Of robust
feeling for color. A change cams
year or two ago, when a number of
new canvases showed him dealing on
large scale with certain Oriental mo-
tives the pictUresqueness Of which
was touched by philosophical and even
mystical emotion. It was g change
signifying a transition without defn-
ing goal. To-day he would appear to
have got the goal in sight
It is the goal OF picture maker
turned decorator. of an artist who, re-
gardless Of his scale, paints not Gs
though ne we're confronting an aeasel
but as though he were dealing with
q wall The distinction is drastic. II
means more than tho abandonment OF
type Of competition. 1t means the
fundamental expansion Of painters
horizon, his adoption Of another point
Of view, another mood. And this
mood Of NJ Caro- Delvaille's Is one more
humanity delightful than any he has
hitherto expressed He has always
been sensuous, glowing, man Of hand
some images set forth with zest. But
now the Joy of living dances into his
work with a new vitality. It IS this
which has led US TO describe him as
a painter with something 20 say. It Is
sheer earthly happiness that he has to
interpret--the delight Of men and
women IN innocent diversions, our e1-
hilaration In movement, our enjoyment
Of mere things 4 subtitle In the
catalog designates some Of these com
positions as decorative ensembles for
the modern home" and there is some
furniture shown, designed by the artist
himself. which is intended to fill out
his harmonies. They are harmonies OK
lightness and grace, harmonies Of an
enchanting gayety, and the best thlng
about this gayety Is ITS modern note.
In ono series Of eleven panels, TO be
sure, Lies Dlvertissements Plastiques,"
designed for q ballroom or the lobby
Of theater, the accent Is classical, as
though NJ. ro-Delvaille had taken his
cue from the vase paintings OF the
Greeks. But even through these PAN
els there flows tho gusto Of our own
realistic day, and throughout his e1-
hibition the artist depicts not academic
themes, but sympathetic actuallties.
Nothing could be more contcmpo-
rsneous In spirit than the set Of eight
dressing room or boudoir panels which
he calls Lies Tentations Frivoles.'
The Jolly faun figuring in each one OF