New-York tribune., 1920-11-28

That 10 to say, the vicious life lying on
the surface in the capital is by no
means characteristic of the provinces.
On the other hand, there is a eense in
which Paris is most emphatically
France, the sense in which the artistic
genius Of nation is gathered up and
expressed in type. There is nothing
on earth more intensely French than
the art illustrated in an exhibition at
the Keppel gallery. to be held all
/ through the month Of December. 1t is
composed Of modern prints, the prints
of men like Manet and Degas, Forain
and Steinlen, Pissarro and Toulouse
Lsutrec. They sum up not only the
traits of place and an epoch, but, in
measure. the traits Of race
There is strong temptation to
traverse this collection of about 200
etchings, autographs and woodcuts
purely from the point OF view of the
connoisseur, looking to questions of
. AnAiIJ hhQ AhiPi CooiotAn. HSIC HAC
plates exhibited which have. never been
seen in this country before and prints
Of an Incompatible perfection. But all
the time in looking through them we
have felt the compelling factor to be
that which embodics states of mind.
Here one may apprefend the outlook
which O certain distinguished kind of
French artist has upon life, here one
may apprehend the very quintessence
Of the same stuff in which Balzac satu-
rated him self, passed through tempera-
ments akin to his. Truth was his guild
ing principle, truth merciiessly record
ed. Where these artists part company
from him is in the rigidlJ realistic d.
rection given TO their conceptions. In
dramatizing his truth Balzsc was not
averse from obeying a romantic I'M
pulse. The artists let romance alone
and only occasionally dip into drama.
Forain Is, perhaps, more richly en-
dowed than any OF the others in the
Imagination Characteristic Of their
great literary prototype. Last spring,
in surveying his career apropos of the
paintings and drawings shown at the
Krausfaar gallery, we mentioned mis-
I little known interest in Scriptural sub
jects. Some Of these now appear in
tho Keppel show, offering q precious
} opportunity for the study OF him in
strange mood. II Is strange because
ono has to disengaga the unquestion-
abie ap!rituai force Of the man from
that ruthless yealism which has always
belonged to his art. One can ace that
he has felt the tragic beauty Of Christ.
One sees also how powerless this emo
sion has been to shake hrs habit as the
mordsnt, almost callous craftsman.
Thia, too, is very Partisan, very French.
Forain, with his imagination, his
humanitarian poignancy, his cruel yet
somehow elevated satire, brings us face
to face with modern French graphic art
in !tS bYoadeat and most intellectual
aspect. Steinlen and Toulouse Lautrec
interpret the soul Of Montmartro. They
initiate It's particularly into world
obscured for most alien beholders by
" fac.iticus glamour. The American,
watching the decadent movement Of the
music hallss the cafes and the streets,
a sometimes captured by its hlithe
Aeos and It's color. He senses the
'eamy side without gathering It's full
import. There Is no glamour In the
Paris Of the two Frenchmen just cited,
They know what is hard and battered
in their world and reproduce 1t with
unAinching fidelity. Toulouse-Lautrec
is the more sharply sophisticated of
he two. His art bites like some deadly
acid Steirlen has more heart, Il
quicker and more searching sympathy
for the sorrows of the humble Both
men have the gift Of style, the gift
Of technique surcharged with individu
ality. Steinlen was some time visited
by vagrant impulses toward beauty.
He had an extraordinary grasp Of form
and rich flowing line that sometimes
worked miracles. Looking at one Of
his etchings in this exhibition the
"Retsour 'du Lavoir," in the rare first
state, the drawing Of one Of the women
carried US back for moment to the
figure ssated In the foreground of
LAS Hilanderss" There Is, indeed,
nothing lncongruous about bracketing
him with VeIasqusx. He occasionally
had a Aesh Of the Spaniard's largeness
and power. He shcws his breadth, by
the way, when he turns from the figure
to Landscape. The soft-ground etching,
Les Gerbes." Is magnificent drawing.
Degas is the scientist Of the group,
tho passionless observer dissecting the
Partisan spectacle in q kind of dry
light. pursuing Mother beauty nor ugli-
ness, but registering both with q kind
Of detached vtTtuosity, wxsaSing