New-York tribune., 1921-04-22
Old Spanish Art
Assembled i'm a
Brilliant Show
The Famous Almoneda Col
lection of Furniture and
Other Museum Treasures
Are Brought From Madrid
Austerity and Beauty
The Taste of Spain as 1t Has
Affected Arts and Crafts:
American Gallery Display
BY Royal Cortissoz

Travellers in Spain who enter the
country from the south and receive
their first impre ssions in places like
Granada and Seville are quick to be-
lieve in the old legend of "sunny
SPAIN" a land of gayety and laughter.
AS they go north, however. and extend
their acquaintance not only with the
landscape but with the national char
acter they are bound to perceive an
other element in the Spanish world. 1t
is the element of austerity, passing
often into positive grimness. 1t is not
for nothing that the Inquisition looms
so large in the past history of Spain.
1t is not for nothing that the popular
enthusiasm for sport is divided be-
tween pelota. the Spanish ball game,
and the bullring-with the greater
tendency toward the latter amusement.
There is stern, masculine strain in
the Spanish nature. 1t comes out
everywhere, and notably III Spanish art.
The American student has long had
a rich source of information on the
subject in our Hispanic Museum, but
he must be glad, nevertheless, of the
special opportunity afforded in the ex-
hibition just opened at the American
Art Galleries. This brings forward
the Almoneda collection from Madrid.
the property Of Mr.. Herbert P. Weiss
berger, Of that city. 1t is composed Of
nearly a thousand pieces, so beauti-
fully arranged that they create the
atmosphere of some private museum.
The details ratify this idea. They IL
lustrate wide sweep of historical de-
velopment, and the individual pieces
have an intrinsically fine, representa-
tive character. We have had Italian
shows in abundance of this kind.
Ro~ hoy nd
a display of Spanish decorative art.
Another Side to Medal
There is another side to the medal
to which we have alluded in speaking of
Spanish austerity. Perhaps for the
very reason that ne has had to reckon
so much with the authority of Church
enced irresistible impulses toward color
and luxury. Despite the establishment
of sumptuary laws he has occasionally
given free rein to his taste for hand
some dress. If he had to put on the
bleak "gollla" in place of the dandified
ruff, and to wear plain black instead
of cleaning satin in many hues, he
could at any rate feast his eyes upon
the vestments of his priests. If he
and his wife could not wear all the
jewels they wanted to, they could at
least live behind wrought iron grilles
that were themselves gems of crafts
manship. And furniture could be made
beautiful for the Spanish home.
!. In one of the upper galleries here
there is displayed the woodwork of a
seventeenth century church choir. a
set of richly carved stalls with a monu-
mental lectern of earlier origin to DOM
mate the scene. 1t is of Italian work
manship, but it is redolent of the at
mosphere of Spain, for the approach
to it's ancient dignity is through mag
nifcent wrought iron "reja," one of
those vast grilles which are among the
chief glories of Spanish cathedrals.
This is a fourteenth century example
and the more eloquent of the race be-
cause of its date. We are spared the
often too fiorid style of later period
We have instead the absolute simplicity
of the best Spanish tradition, sim.
plicity that is almost harsh. Straight
lines, with only a hint of decoration in
terrupting their rise to spear-lik'
points, speak to us of the very essenc'
of the Spanish genius. A polychro
matte bust of Christ by Montanes, thu
friend of Velasquez, has judiciousl.
been placed within this choir. l
strikes the right note, sorrowful, in
tensely human. Spanish art is seldom
rapt, like Italian, into celestial ecstasy
When it is devout it knows pain rathe
than joy. This poignant image is i
exactly the vein of the craftsman i