The New York herald., 1920-01-25
WA. CLARK SHOWS
ART AT L0T0S CLUB
Exhibition Is a Record of
Thirty-Five Years of Col
lecting.s
WORK OF FOUR PAINTERS
Masterpieces of Monticello, Corot and
Cain Among Those
on View.

covered itself with glory, with the assist
|snce of Mr.. William A. Clark, once SEN
ators from Montana-nowadays better
known as a collector than he ever was az
a member OF the upper house Of Congress.
Those who think of him as the owner of
the familiar house in Fifth avenue and
of certain paintings that made a great
sensation in their time. will get a sur
prise when they visit the building in
West Fifty-seventh street and are con.
fronted by so many of the best examples
OF the work Of Corot. Monticello and Cain.
Even most of those who thought that,
they knew what Mr.. Clark had in his
collection could not have been prepared
for the twenty-one Monticells. II had not
been the custom of the owner to display
these, even to guests whom he delighted
to honor They were kept in room up
stairs Their existence as a group repre-
sented one of those curious habits Of mys-
Itificaton which are among the most in.
nocent weaknesses of amateurs. who,
while they are not only willing but eager
to show what they possess TO their friends.
usually have a sort of Bluebeard's cham
ber in which are hidden away certain
treasures which are forbidden TO all but
the master of the house.
Everybody is supposed to know the story
of the mad genius Adolphe Botticelli and
the journey which he took to the Mediter-
ranean paying for bed and board with
pictures which he made on the way. After
the death of the painter, that road was
travelled by many dealer from Paris. in
quest of the canvases, exchanged for bare
necessities at one inn after another
Ihere are Americans-now getting along
who can remember how in their youth
they saw in Marseilles strange paintings
which they could have bought for very rea-
sonable sums-a chance missed which they
were destined to regret years afterward
when they attended auction sales.
In the Clark show at the Lotus Club
there are no less than twenty Monticellis.
several We're bought by the owner in
IMarselles, and so arc easily identified as
belonging to the period when the painter
lived there
Many OF tho pictures are quite out of
MonGcellfs familiar manner in the matter
or subjects. The don Qu.xote at tha Nar
rage or Vavache," the Return from the
Eiuht' n with the portraits of the EMPRESS
Eugenie and her son: the Contract of
Marriage the George Sand Reading to
IActresses or the Theatre Francais in the
CoIs ue Vincennes' and the Portrait of
lCorot with His Models ali have a ver,
special interest They are unusual.
EVEN In these there is to be found how
ever the curious combination Of fairy-
ianu ana frivolity, of the real world and
the world OF imagination that marks such
PICTURES as the Reception in the Garden {"
bHndman's Buff" the "Fete All Pare"
the Birth OF Venus" the "Sortie d, RaI
a Venise" and Les Confidences"
still life. however. is as essentially Month
ceiIiesque as any other picture in the
group. ''e
There is only one painting by Theodore
Rousseau. "Apres la Pluie." but il Is suf-
ricient' seeing that it has been described
"lInout any serious contradiction, as the
artists masterpiece
Jean Baptiste Corot is represented nv
no fewer than twenty-five of the twenty
tour OF the paintings by this master in
MT. Ciarks possession. Here are the
lovely. cool Lac de Ternf": the fine
'Bacchante au Tambourin." a reclining
nude figure; figure piece. "Jeune Fnle
Ia Mandoline," La Danse." the
Souvenir de Terracine"-all showing
Corot in characteristic moods. There Is =
fascinating group of three canvases be-
longing to the painters early Italian
periodic Grand Canal a Venise." the
Environs dc Genes and the .yue du
Colisee."
French Experts Opinion.
The French expert Mr.. Seymour dc
ticci does not eXaggerate when he says
!" VIC iulonucuon 10 the catalogue -
Outside the Louvre the greatest coll
lection of Corot's work is undonbtedIy the
stately array OF twenty-five masterpieces
exhibited today by the Lotos Club. 1t
SHOWS the psinter-poet at his best and
highest throughout his career, from the
early Italian views to the vaporous visions
OF vile dAvray, not to omit tho scarce
and magnificent figure pieces"
Eighteen pictures by j. c. Cain are on
view. The only other large collection of
the works of this painter In America is the
series of fifteen presented to Minneapol
by Theodore =. Walker, who not only has
been a great benefactor of the city but
has given II a building in which TO keen
its treasures. A number of Mr.. Clark,s
Cazins figured in notable auction sales in
New York
Though Mr.. Clark began to take an in
terest in paintings and painters as far
back as 1866. he was cautious about ventur-
ing into the dread field of collecting. and
did not begin TO buy seriously until 1885
He purchased en- bloc the Prayer collec-
tion OF Vienna when IL came on the
market lie has been prominent at most
important New York sales since 1880.
The committee headed by Mr.. Clark
consisting OF James G.. shepherd. John Ell
lderkin Samuel Untermyer Burton Mans
field. Charles NJ. Schwab and David Tay-
lor, has placed the art loving part OF this
city under a deep obligation by holding
this fine show. AS for the owner OF the
pictures. he has displayed the right sort OF
public spirit.