The New York herald., 1922-03-26
his makeup not a little of the fecund
creative exuberance of the Renaissance
Benjamin VESTS Art
At Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum announces the
simultaneous opening on Wednesday.
March 20, of three special exhibitions.
to be preceded by private view and
reception to members OF the press. MEM
bers Of the museum and invited guests
on Tuesday. March rs. The exhibitions
to be opened are one OF an educational
character devoted to European textiles.
embroideries, and moro especially cos
tunes, mainly Of the European peasant
ork and mainly from central and
southeastern Europe, including the Bal
kan countries.
Another exhibition. although made by
the Natural History department or the
museum. has a special interest for art
lists as representing the remarkable WORK
of Abbott II. Thayer and Gerald IL.
Thayer in the illustration of camouflage
and protective coloration. The cata-
logue Of this exhibition Is OF speciai In
terest. both to artists and natural his.
torians. as bearing on the theory oi
protective or concealed coloration IN the
animal kingdom, which was one or the
main starting points Of applied camou-
flage. Several of the exhibits are origi-
nails Of colored plates In the Thayer
book on the subject, published In 1Sos.
The preface to the catalogue Is prlef
but highly suggestive, and the cata-
logue explanation of the exhibits has
unusual interest.
Tho third and most important OF the
three exhibitions Is memorial exni-
bition of the work OF Benjamin west.
This includes most OF the works SHOWN
by the Art Alliance of Philadelphia IN
Rittenhouse Square from November %.
1921, to January 2, 1922. but 1t also
includes very important additions from
loaners in Greater New York.
1t is the general and almost uni
versal tendency of later modern criti-
cism to consider Benjamin West as a
"back number" in art and OF an over
rated Importance due to his official posi-
ton as president of the Royal Academy
in Lond on He has been regarded as
kindly entertainer and encourager OF
the numerous Americans who visited
Tondon IN his day. including Copley.
Gilbert Stuart, Trumbull, Sully and
other important men, but as having
been distinctly inferior in his own art
to these younger guests and protegees.
The modern prevailing prejudice against
1 BENJAMIN West has been accented py
the existence Of several large allegorical
paintings of a somewhat overwrought
and out of date sentimentality, and Tor
the recent modern standpoint OF &C.
/ centricity.
The aim of the present exhibition Is
to retrieve and vindicate the reputation
OF Benjamin West and to show MIN as
the equal or worthy rival of the greatest
early American artists in portraiture. II
ia accordingly the portraits of this ex-
hibitlon which are to be especially en-
phaslzed. but very great interest Is also
attached to the large collection OF orig
inal drawings and engravings or MS
work and to other paintings OF varied
subject matter and remarkable quallty
as well as great historic interest
Among the loaners Of the paintings,
drawings and engravings are Albert Ro-
senthal, who prepared the very appre-
ciative preface Of the Philadelphia exni-
bition; Enrich Brothers. Kennedy q Co,
Robert Freidenberg and John Lane.
Among the works not shown in Phila-
deIphia will be portraits loaned by Her
bert L. Pratt, Thomas B. Clarke and
others.
George H.. Storey's portrait of Oliver
| Goldsmith, shown in Philadelphia. is an
| exhibit characteristic of the remarkable
| talent OF the artist, which has been so
long underrated. The facts that Benja-
| min West, who was born in small
Quaker community near Philadelphia,
was one Of the founders OF the Royal
Academy and its second president. sue
ceeding Reynolds, and that he was
buried in st. Paul's Cathedral will ap-
pear In the light OF the present exhibi-
ton not to have been due. as is gener-
ally supposed, to an exaggerated esti-
mate of his Importance, inspired by the
inferior taste of his contemporaries. but
10 have been characteristic of his real
greatness and worthy tributes to his de-
served reputation.
The oil paintings in the exhibition are
over thirty In number. and about one
third Of these were not seen in Philadel-
phia. The exhibition will continue
through the month of April.