New-York tribune., 1921-02-01
Exhibit Reflects
Serene Cast of
Eastern Thought
200 Items OF Orientalia
Belonging to Yarnanaka
q Co. Form Veritable Mu-
scum at Art Gallery
By Royal Cortissoz

a, remarkably swift transformation
mas been worked at the American ART
Galleries. Tho Seligmana paintings by
oegas and the many objects of the
Lawrence collection disappear and in q
swinkling the rooms are crowded with
other things, the arrangement Of some
of these being such as to suggest that
u ought to have taken weeks to install
them. The surprise in this matter re-
lafes more particularly to the Orien-
ITALIA belonging to Yamanaka & Co.
which is to be sold on the afternoons
OF February 8, A and and on the eve
ming of the Ath. Nearly roo pieces are
catalogued. They are placed as eff
festively as "A some well organized
little museum.
There is much in this collection
cn Whacn would go we'll into museums, es-
Esclsily IN the department. of sculpture.
The plastic art of China as 10 is here
represented drasys it's beauty from the
grandeur with which it, interprets The
serene cast Of Eastern thought. Beauty
of form is not neglected. but it is a
very different rhing from those ssproud
hosannas of the flesh which are char
acteristic of the West, even as the
genius of the West has manifested it
self in the lofty syntheses of the
Greeks. There is no Venus here. She
gives way to Kuan-yin, the goddess Of
mercy, figure lovely in its gracious
lines, as in the black marble example
from the Tang dynasty (No. 574), but
| with subtly ascetic restraint govern
| ing the development Of the whole conn
| position.
| Blitho Note at Times
Sometimes an almost blitheiy deco
rative note is struck in these ancient
1 Oriental conceptions. There ia a Sung
Kuan-yin in the collection (No. 637]
which is carved in wood and then
/ painted over in green and vermilion
heightened here and there by gliding
| The color rests like pollen on the deli
cate details of form and orname entation
The whole effect is positively floral in
its scharm. But at bottom it is the
grand style that prevails in all these
/ figures of stone and wood. The black
marble statue we have already cited is
perhaps the most important, but all OF
them are fine, interesting works, inter
esting above all because of their haunt.
1 ing solemnity. As Kipling has stated
1 in that famous ballad Of his, an eternal
! barrier lies between East and West
But no man with religious feeling in
/ him, no matter from what point of the
Icompass he came, could Withstand the
| majestic appeal of the Buddha SO por-
4 trayed. for example, in cne mammoth
gilded head (No. 5s1) OF Sung origin.
| The sculptures mark the highest
light in the Yamanaka collection. Just
| after them come the early Chinese
Epaintings. One Of these {No. 424). q
full length portrait of an emperor, Is a
masterpiece of linear beauty; but chief
! ly the paintings here are impressive
when they are specimens of Ming por-
traiture, such as Nos. 492, 49T and 49S
These are illustrations, again. Of the
monumental motif in Chinese art, the
faculty of the masters for building uu
a massive effect and yet, through the
witchery of color and line, bringing
the lightness Of life into their images
OF calm dignity. There are numerous
1 paintings besides theaa which are
studies of animals, birds and flowers
paintings of decorative purpose pure
and simple. We have seen finer produc
tions in the same vein, but these are
authentic and delightful pieces.
Beautiful Bird Cages
4 They are scattered at interval,
through an almost bewildering mass o.
miscellaneous stuff pottery, porcelain
jades, lacquers and SO on. The beauti
full bird cages which in recent year,
), have been brought into sales from til,
Orient are duly present once more, fas
cinating things for which we shoult
think there ought to ba the most spir
tied competition. The average in thi
miscellany is high. We note particu