New-York tribune., 1920-01-19
Woman Offers
Art Collection
Rich in Beauty
Sale of Pictures Gathered
nv Mrs. Roland C.Lincolr
Expected to Rival the One
Just Closed in Interest
9 Canvases by Thaulow
Best Work of Norwegian,
Admired for His Work on
Water. Gains Attention
By ROYAL Cortissoz

TIE sensational IA conducted BY the
American Art Association last week. in
which the paintings Of Monet and
Renoir brought such exceptional prices.
presently is to be 10 lowed by another.
which. if not in exactly the same class
!. st all events likely to prove of
Kindred interest. It will taAe place in
.he ballroom OF the Plaza Thursday
evening. The exhibition. open mean
while at the American Art Galleries.
brings forward chiefly the pictures col
lected by Mrs Roland c. Lincoln, OF
Forest Hills. Mass She is called
cornoisseur on the title page of the
csta 'cgue. and the word is well de-
served.
The "clou" of the collection recentlv
dispersed resided in the group Of
Frerch Impres ssionists. This time it is
the Norwegian painter. the late Frits
Thaulow. who provides q similar cen
ira, attraction in brilliant company
Of nine canvases Observers of the
1soe wnen ne -rst came to PARIS. His
success was inmed ate, and it was the
more popular because of the friendly
nature Of his personality. Some one
we think it was J E. painted
his portrait, showing him in shirt
sleeves before his easel, his family
gathered around him. He was a SYM
pathetic, human creature. burly and
lkable. He painted the rivers of his
native land and moving waters wher-
ever he happened 10 find them. One of
the pictures in this group is a View
on ale AllegN any + yer" dcne when he
came to America to serve on the jury
Of awards at Carnegie exhibition in
Pittsburgh.
Demanded Swift Currents
Thaulow's streams, to make him
happy. had TO have one unmistakable
Characteristic. They had to be swift,
with swrllng surfaces that caught the
light and wove it into lacelike pat
terms At home. in Norway, there was
usually red mill or some cottage in
the middle distance. The banks were
thick with LEAKAGE, save in winter. when
he made great play with masses of
snow. But the ripping water was
above all else his compelling motive.
Collectors jumped at it. Sometimes il
would seem as -hough there could not be
Ihsuiows enough to so round, and, in
deed there have been occasions when
II was plain that some craftsmen he
never saw were saving him the trouble
VA GiAAiS OF VI tuS IcuL ucudNu.
His style, in other words, proved
easy to fake, and TIE temptation was
dsubly strong for the forger, inasmuch
as that style was always so winning, so
sure OF market That it was easy to
initiate him suggests that he was not
one OF the great landscape painters.
aud this is true. He had little i'm
agnation. He was not creative tvpe
But he was original in his way; he had
color and atmospheric quality. and he
was a wonderfully ACCOMPLISHED man
ot his hands. In his best works he
added delightful realistic note of his
own TO European art.
1t Is entirely of his best work that
the collection now on view is COM
posed; Mrs. Lincoln appears to have
had that truest kind of enthusa for
. painter, the kind that implies dis
eriminatio. She he. been Interested
obviously, in Thaulow's rippled, dap
pied streams, but when she has sought
Illustrations Of them she has chosen
shose which do not at all hint az the
ssefeotyped pattern. She has collected.
instead. pictures like the superb "Win-
tes landscape" or the beautiful Bend
IN the River pictures in which the
srsist's well known trick If it was a
tricks brought off with perfect
.rsshness and spontaneity. In her col
lection we think of Thaulow's style, not
OF Thaulow's mannerism No amateur
was ever luckier than Mrs Lincoln in
speciaiized excursion like this one
IN her "Fenice" the duly expected
a!ekering of light upon the water is
mere, but in this instance it is not in
cengruous. Thaulow is too much in
'se mood, he paints TOO we'll, for his
prevailing habit 70 spoil the picture
30, again, in la Seine en- Decembre,"
With its bridge piers dominating a fine
composition. he reaches the top of his
po~ers, and as though to give US the
pest possible idea OF his talent Mrs
Lincoln adds in THE Halt, Evening""
sooniit picture which reminds US that
ne able Norwegian could, after all,
tomee'mes step outside his accustomed
spaese and make the transition to good
purpose. We do not expect these
paintings to make anything like the
.seord just made by the Monets and
sne Kenoirs OF last week. But we shall
oe surprised if they do not excite some
SPIRITED competition.
mrs Llncoln's connoisseurship crops
0as noticeably in her Barbizon exam
~ lhe two Nillets are lovely
sainss. One is the "Bergere7 draw-
ak IN pastel the sort of lightly
"scnea souvenir Of his genius which
=. pesnaps more personal in quality
-s.n some OF his full dress paintings.
s rne oeaer IS landscape also in pastel,
N bouleau Mort" Broken and close
oenned ground forms fiji he fore
Gound. with d gnarled old wreck Of
forest commanding the compost