New-York tribune., 1921-12-04

ings vary In charm. But tho fineat Of
them are impeccable. Forming q kind
Of interiude between them and the
paintings there is group Of seven or
eight water colors, early and late in
origin. One OF them. tho forest In
terror" possesses the indehnable I'M
aginative note, the depth and original
ity, OF his great landscapes Tho others
have the interest Of personal frag-
ments. but are In no wise momentous
Turning to the pictures we are
moved to recur to Thayer's remark on
the divine gift Of vision" II is, as
he says. God given, and In measure It
forthwith takes possession Of him.
/ The artist, rs antiquity believed, is
driven by his demon. We have never
known painter who more decisvely
than Thayer illustrated this hypoth-
esis. All his life long he seems to
have been urged on by an ideal singu-
larly clean-cut and unified. There are
no obscurities In the sequence Of his
+ activities, there are no extraneous and
0%1aOSeeka6 AnAACAEGSs IlS began i1tt
as an animal painter. 1T is true, thu
foreshadowing the remarkable work l.
was to do as naturalist in late
years. But those old beginnings IA
away when we come to measure hi
purely artistic stature That was sal
| OF piece" from the outset, and 1t wa,
we repeat, matter Of inspiration. O.
| the other hand, 1t is to be remembere
! that the great artist-the greater tn
artist the deeper the truth - alway
makes his choice. 1t was in his choic
that Thayer most emphatically repu
dated the French tradition Of hi
! pupilage and affirmed himself one
the most intensely American of ou
artists, as American as Winslo,
Homer. Looking to the angeh
sweetness of the type he loved to po,
tray one might say that he painte
Madcnnas, but nothing could be fur
ther from the truth. The word cor
notes suggestions which do not ema
nate from his canvases. He painte
woman pure and simple. His grea
picture in the Boston Museum i.
called "Caritas" A kindred compost
tion in the Freer collection Is calle,
"The Virgin" He was fond Of tn,
strictly descriptive title "Winge.
Figure" and it is affixed to several o.
his designs. Yet all of these pro
foundly imaginative conceptions of his
are nothing if not studies Of human
ity. That is where he is SO mag
nificently an American. No tradition
no convention, intervenes between u
and what we can only call his raciness
The truth Of life is in everything tha
i, he painted-the truth lifted to highe
power, enriched by the beauty whic
flowed magically into his work from hi
natural habit of thinking and feelin
There is notable example In tn
exhibition in the Figure Half Draped
1t is nominal. what might be called j
the old French phrase can academy.
study of the nude which might or
might not have been carried forward
into the expression of some symbolical
idea. One can imagine it, when fin
ished, sent out into the world to be
4 associated in our minds with the
"Caritas" or the stevenson Me-
mortal" AS it is, accompanied by no
allegorical or other accessories, it con-
centrates attention first on Thayer's
technique and then on the mysterious
beauty to which we are constantly re-
ferring. The head and torso are glori-
ously painted, with positively grand
breadth, and with the refinement that
seems to go into the very grain of the
workmanship. The drapery has the
simple dignity and the everlasting
rightness which only master can
achieve in handling so difficult prob
lem. The low tones show Thayer in
his most individual key. But the
essence of the painting eludes descrip-
tion. One feels it, again, as an affair
of the spirit. The serene beauty Of
this painting Is like the beauty Of
poetry and music, of noble thought.
There is draped three-quarter length
hung in the exhibition, the Lady in
Green Velvet" which has been seen be-
fore. Nearly all of the rest of the
paintings. new things, are smaller
studies of the heads and shoulders of
women. Leading the list is the great
MARY" then comes the Gladys" and
the group, which contains several other
pieces. is expanded to include the
"Head of q Boy" One Of these sur
vivals, the Portrait Study" is profile
Of special interest. /. would hold it's
own beside Piero della Francesca.
Some Of the portraits are more fin
ished than others. But even those
which are least advanced share with
their companions in the beauty charac-
teristic of Thayer. One unfinished can
vas, the Sunrise, San Remo," is in
too inchoate a state to do him justice
Though it contains some interesting
passages. it might better have beer
| omitted. For the exhibition as whole
we cannot be too grateful. 1t is s
worthy tribute to man of genius.
The Academy
Il M