New-York tribune., 1920-03-02
Belgian Painter
Uses Flour Bags
AS His Canvases
Sacks, OH Which Are De-
signs of M. Jamar, Were
Originally Sent to His
Country Filled by u. S.
By Royal Cortissoz

"A dual interest attaches to the little
exhibition of paintings by the Belgian
artist Armand lamar which has been
arranged in the Parish House of St.
Mark Sim -Bouwerie. Besides the
appeal which he makes as painter of
Dutch and Flemish interiors, there is
the question of sentiment. M. lamar
has executed his designs on canvases
made from flour bags which were orig
inally sent to his country we'll filled
by the Commission for Relief in Bel
gium.
There is voluminous collection at
the Knoedler gallery of works by Mr..
Everett Shinn, collection of paintings
and pastels. He Is curious type. We
cannot say of him that ne is directly
initiative, yet one is bound to feel be-
fore almost any Of his productions
that they could not have existed if this
or that manifestation of French art
had not previously occurred. We look
at his ballet and theatrical scenes and
think of Degas. We look at pastels
like "Le Coucher" and recall Boucher's
sketching Of Mile. Murphy. Other ex-
amples bring back vaguely the fat,
unctuous painting habit of Daumier
pastel like the Central Park" seems,
again vaguely, to echo Ra.faelli, and
there are numerous pictures, especially
the pictures of grinly, snowy Streets
which send US back to the broad at
mosphere of the whole school of Mont
martre. Mr.. Shinn strikes us, indeed
as very much the kind of clever artist
whom one would meet on the slopes
Of Montmartre. On the other hand,
having made all these qualifications
which are so obvious that they neces-
sarily come at once into the fore
ground, we are left free to enjoy what
is nquestionably enjoyable in Mr..
Shinn's work. He is prodgiously
clever, knowing his craft and exercis-
ing it with such genuinely painterlike
zest and ease that one ends in mood
Of almost fervid appreciation. There
are one or two of his paintings, such
as the London Music Hall" or the two
little nudes (Nos. IA and 15), which
persuade us that he could do almost
anything he chosc-if he chose. Only
we wish that he would choose to de-
velop an art utterly his own both in
substance and in form.
There is shown at the Knocdler gal
lery a huge painting by Mr.. julius
Rolshoven called "To the Land Of Sip
O-Phe" 1t is work of the Taos
school, an illustration Of an Indian leg
hcrsemen hurrying into the Shadow
World. As an illustration it has high
value and technically it is produced
with all the skill of an accomplished
craftsman. AS a picture, especially a
picture on such a monumental scale, it
is overcrowded and wants unity.
A Belgian artist, who has become a
naturalized American, Francois Yer
hcyden, is making an exhibition at the
Kingore gallery. He is landscape
painter who has gathered his impress
sions in Italy and in Southern France
in New Hampshire and on Cape Cod
Wherever he has gone he has looked
| for sunlit color and has flung it upon
his canvases with an unrescrved Joy
that communicates itself to the be-
holder His French and Italian sub
jects are perfect riots of vivid hues
and overwhelming luminosity. They
are lovely riots. Seldom does painter
striking such high notes maintain such
engaging harmopies. Mr.. Verheyden' S
pinks and blues, yellows and whites
ought to land him in crudity, but he
escapes that peril with all the ease
in the world. Partly this is due to
sheer dexterity, but even more it is
due to his sound pictorial judgment
The "Cypress Trees" painted at Men
tone, exemplifies conspicuously his
instinct for design, but everywhere he
shows that he knows how to pull his
ebullient compositions together. At
the same gallery there are sixteen
recent paintings by Mr.. Leon Kroll
He appears to oscillate between two
modes. His landscapes suggest the in
1uence of Cezanne, and though they
contain some agreeable color they are
too eccentric in form to be successful
Only one Of the open air studies, the
large urban scene, "Mulberry Bend,
is really admirable. In this Mr.. Kroll
evidently eschews theory and paints
his buildings with the we'll trained abil-
ity that is natural to him. More en-
phatically illustrative Of the alterna-
tive mode which he follows are the two
handsomely painted nudes. These have
a positively academic soundness in the
handling of form and at the same time
they get the full benefit of that in
dividual impulse which in the land
scapes is smothered and frustrated.