New-York tribune., 1921-11-27

sh0 uotS oi Style-A note potent
| enough to counterbalancs what Is
rather stilted in the pose of the
| figure. There are hints Of the same vir-
tue in Mr.. Max Bohm robustly painted
"Norsemen" and In the dcft portrait
by Mr. G. B. Troccoh, called THE
White Gloves" But mostly the per-
sonal attribute must be looked for
among the landscapes.
| 1t is not that the figure painters ara
negligible by any means. but that in
one way or another individuality has
been subdued to the color Of other ele-
ments In their work. 1t is so with Mr..
Will Fl. Low in his symbolical nude,
The Silent Muse, 1s2l-John Keats,
1871" The subject is poetic and ro-
mantle. The spirit of the artists ap-
proach is more that Of scholarship, Of
careful research into form, Of linear
discipline. Artistic personality is sub
merged. The progressive" would call
this picture cold 1t Is cold But the
lesson Of its polished workmanship is
welcome. There are several other SYM
bolical designs in the show. Mr.. George
barse sends in his "Sleep and Night" a
plquant bit Of decoration, somewhat
thin and dry In execution but merito-
rlous none the less Mr. Arthur Spears
Sunrise" with it's graceful nudes lift
ing the light above the waters in which
they float, almost but not quite rises
ABOVE the level Of the "pretty conceit."
Merely clever as it Is it leaves us still
thankful for an imaginative idea sym
patheticaily presented. A purely hu-
man motive is effectively handled by
Mr.. Eugene Higgins in his Spent"
One wishes that he would CLARITY his
tone, make more of pure painted sur
face and thereby increase the salience
OF MS interesting sense of form The
Taos group make some arresting holes
IN the wall without giving US more
than kind of shock in the process.
When Mr.. Walter Ufer paints his
present and Past and his "By the
Window" or Mr.. E. l.. Blumenschein
MS "faos Plasterer" and his "Super-
stitlon," they both are technically at
their ease and afford us the satisfac
tlon that is to be got out of direct real
lstlc drawing and modelling. But their
technique is as hard as steel and their
color, which is plainly of Importance
to their composition, is so crude and
raucous sa 70 set ones teeth on edpe
S1
OF the Taos hypothesis. There /. no
real reason why the sharp contrasts Of
the New Mexican scene should be trans
lated into clatter of tone. Mr.. Fran
els McComas, for example. has shown
us that colorist may go into the blaz-
ing desert and bring out delicate har-
monies.
There is more of aesthetic refresh
ment in the figure work here that nos
sesses no doubt sligbter. substance,
That is more concerned with decoration
than with life, but that has at anv
rate AESTHETIC purpose. We refer to
such gracious conceptions as Mr.. F. C..
Fricseke's Autumn" nude with
more real modelling in it than we have
hitherto known him to disclose; "The
White Vase persuasive bit of frou-
frou by Mr.. G. L. Nelson; Mr.. F. L..
Mora's vivid Amelia; Mr.. R. D.
Gauley's kindred study called "The
Spanish Shawl" and the essays in ro-
manticism blending both landscape and
the figure, by Mr.. F. B. Williams and
Mr.. G. E. Browne. High up among
these figure pieces we would place
the ltalianate Rustic Deity" of Mr..
Allyn Cox, canvas that suggests an
ldyll of Berchem in the idiom of Tie
polo, touched with something of an
earlier Venetian style. Mr.. Cox is
worthlly following in his fathers foot
steps, and when he finds himself, beat
ing out manner of his own, he ought
to do interesting work. One or two
Western scenes are presented, "The
Cattle Buyer" by Mr. w. H. Dunton,
and Let Her Buck" by MIR. D. E.
Parshall. They have the picturesoue-
ness Of their subjects, but are not
otherwise engaging. There Is much
portraiture on the walls, ranging from
the high-keyed and lightly charming
method of "The Invalid" by Mr.. Muir
ray Bewley, to the sobriety placing the
emphasis on solid construction. which
belongs to certain excellent portraits of
men, Mr.. Douglas Volk's Former Gov
ernor A. E. Smith, Mr.. E. f. Ipsen's "Mr.
John Lane of London" Mr.. w. A. Cof-
fins Portrait Of F. W. Biesecker, ESQ. :"
and Mr.. H. r. Rittenberg's Joseph
Hartley" capital portrait of the first
president Of the Salmagundi Club.
There are few other acceptable cam
vases in this category, but the por-
traits in general are not precisely in
spired. Comment on the landscapes.
sculpture and other matters is de-
ferred to another occasion. Enough has
been signalized in this first view to
indicate that the winter Academy con-
tains some good things.
ssIrf1v.,,Ro D,s-a.~,9s