New-York tribune., 1921-03-13
Conservatism
How II Is Justified as a Force
in Art

b what way has the academy risen
% It's opportunity? By remaining, cn
tho whole, true to its immemorial prin-
cples. This, we may be told, is only
saother way Of saying that it has stuck
to conservative policy, rebufing the
progressive hammering at the gate;
bat It behooves the disinterested OBJ
server to keep his head. No doubt it is
true that the contributors to this ex-
aibition do not by any means form
ministry Of all the talents" But that
some Of the younger men who are miss
ing would have lifted the ensemble
psrceptibly is at least an open ques-
ion. That certain of the older men
who sre to be reckoned among the
absentees would have strengthened the
show might just as confidently be as
serted. This business Of wailing over
omissions may easily be overdone. The
public interest-and we have always
maintained that the public had large
stake in the matter-bears chiefly upon
the character of the exhibition as it
stands. Looking simply TO that, re-
sardless of whether this or that revo-
lutionary genius has been cruelty
nipped in the bud, one cannot help feel
ing that 8 conservative policy has
something TO say for itself.
II stands, at any rate, for certain
artistic self-respect, which happens to
rrA., ~ 4b;o ooprac+;op q rac0ac+ Gov
standards impossible to peoh-pooh out
Of existence The disheveled amateur
grows, after all, little wear;some-
sometimes. The public has been bored
half to death by the painter" who
loftily declines to learn how to paint
The point to this years academy is its
Affirmation of the desirability of sound
workmanship. We are spared the fun
olings Of the so-called pioneer Of a
new heaven and new earth. Space is !
given to artists, young and old, who are
content to play the game. good |
many Of them have reduced it to rou-
tine. They have very little to say, and /
they say it in a commonplace way. But 1,
that Is their misfortune. Do not let |
rs make the mistake of attributing |
their mediocrity to the conservative |
principle. That principle never yet
killed an artist who had the creative
spark in him. When ali is said it Is |
to the individual, not to the academy,
that We are bound to return when we |
embark upon survey of lot of new |
American pictures. The influence of |
the academy, as an institution, is not
intmical to the production of q great
work Of art. On the contrary, it is on |
The side Of the angels, when, as in the |
present instance, it enforces the claims |
OF discipline Discipline, we repeat,
never hurt anybody. The brighter spots |
IN this show are all due to painters |
Who have accepted it.
Here is where We begin to lcok for
'as individual. 1t is interesting to OBJ
serve how beneficial he has found it to
master his craft. Take, for example,
ms. Walter Griffin, the painter OF the
Grand Canal, Venice" which quickly
cetaches itself from its surroundings
IN the first gallery. The sumptuous
color and the thick impasto are very
PERSONAL to him, ingredients in dis
HneIive style. Also it is to be noted |
mat they rest upon technical mastery.
ihe landscape painters over and over
confirm the point. Mr.. c. H. Davis, we
imagine, would have nothing whatever
70 90 with modernism. He, too, plays
'ae game. But since he has a sense Of
0eanty, with what genuine independ-
ence and with what rich results does
nc play it! Look at "The Wind |
oriven," or "The Sunny Hillside"
mere is fine emotion in them And
As. Davis, like Mr.. Griffin, has touch
style, touch Of the quality which |
WIZ 90 more to carry picture than
~ the violent self-assertion in the
world. Originality. character, these
pfscious elements are certainly not
4'ss'ng here. They are disclosed espe
s.s''y in the landscapes, in pictures like
@s, John Mobiles moonlight, Brit
any in the forest scenes by F. Nj.
s.sne' Charles Chapman and Robert
Woodward, and in a considerable COM
S'ay OF paintings which, if not as Wig
''0us rs these, are. in a gracious way,
.Sesily beguiling. Graciousness is a
s's't very characteristic of American !
''aoscape painting. Our studies of
aspre have SO often the charm of |
.a'n deiicately, even tenderly, inter
+rs.ec' ~ Consider the fine serenity of Mr..
'esser Nettleton's winter Landscape"
: .a0 the kindred temper of the snow
ssaes painted by Ernest Albert and |