New-York tribune., 1922-11-15
Gothic Atmosphere
Predonli1lates atNew
American Galleries
Associations First Art Ex-
hibit of Season Pleasing:
Furniture and Tapestries
in Souharni Collection
By Royal Cortissoz

The new American Art Galleries are
fortunate in their first exhibition this
season. 1t is of fifteenth century and
later antiques, furniture, tapestries
and so on. These things fill the spa
eious rooms in a fairly informal ar
rangement and the resultant effect is
peculiarly happy. It has the intimacy
OF mansion rather than the air Gus
temarlly expected in a public show
room, The new system OF lighting
proves altogether successful. ~
The objects. displayed belong TO M
Henri de Souhami, of Paris, who OBJ
tanned them from several different
French collections. They range from
the Gothic period to the eighteenth
century and are especially important
IN the first category. Gothic art ap-
pears essentially romantic to our mod
ern eyes, thanks largely to the emo
But there is nothing about it more
Characteristic than its austerity. The
French sense of form was never more
firmly disciplined than in the linear
simplicity which marks the early wood
carvings Of the school There are
some magnificent Illustrations of it in
this exhibition, notably the old state
bed of oak (No. 303) and the fifteenth
century abbey stall (No. 32e). The
later Is glorious piece, allurng in its
decorative aspects and even more i'm
presslve when one considers it as 3
unit of design.
chronology. Most of it is French.
though there is a deviation into six
teenth century Spain, giving us the
picturesque walnut center table {No.
319), with its handsomely carved
supports. Following the early tables,
cupboards and fragments of paneling
come numbers of eighteenth century
French chairs, with few good Eng
lish examples. The galleries are rich
in fine needlework furniture. There
are some interesting oddities. We
note, for example, the spare dignity
of the two velvet choir chairs (No.
2o6)) of the Henri II period, and the
scuiptured oak lectern base (No. 1S4)
Of early French origin. One comes
back again and again to the earlier
objects. A regency console is fine
flamboyant bit of decoration, but it
seems little thin, little common
place, beside the simple weight and
the pure linear grace of the Gothic
craftsmen.
1t is the same with the tapestries.
The set of three Aubusson panels is
undoubtedly imposing, particularly
lAS HaG4oW piSCe mo. 1901 III WHICH
Jeanne dare is portrayed with a de-
l1ghtful seventeenth century fioridity;
but these rather redundant designs
pale beside the Gothic set dedicated
to Margaret of Austria and her mar
riage to Philippe lie Bel. Bernard van
0riey made the cartoons for the three,
They disclose the typical traits of old
Flemish art, the realistic portraiture,
the inelastic draperies, the naive com
position, with a certain monumental
atmosphere strangely enveloping the
whole. These tapestries by themselves
would make the exhibition an affair
of consequence and they have some
good companions in several a Renais-
sanee specimens.
The glass is of only mild interest,
coming after the extraordinary Law
renee collection. The sculpture in-
cludes some fine old French statues,
like the polychrome abbess (No. 84),
and there are some excellent Renais,
sance italian bronzes. The eighteenth
century French sculpture is unIm-
portant. Porcelains, worries, objects in
wrought metal and divers bibelots fill
out the ensemble, which runs the cata-
legue up to more than three hundred
The sale takes place Friday
and Saturday afternoons in the assem-
bly, hall. 1t ought to give the new
regime an auspicieus start.