New-York tribune., 1922-03-19

beauty to which we ere constantly re-
Terring. The head and torso are glori-
ousIy painted, with positively grand
breadth and with refinement that
seems to go into the very grain OF the
workmanship. The drapery has the
simple dignity end the everlasting
rightness which only master can
achieve in handling so difficult = prob
lem. The low tones Sow Thayer in
his most Individual key. But the es-
scnce Of the painting ciudes descrip-
ton. One feels 1t again as an affair
Of the spirit. The serene beauty of
this painting is like the beauty of
poetry and music. of noble thought
Two points remain to be stressed In
the explication Of Thayers charm. 1t
is singular phenomenon in his work
that while it is concerned so devotedly
with the mystery Of womanhood and
childhood, with sn almost unvarylng
theme, it still possesses remarkable
diversity. These fa'Aly mystical por-
traits of his are alwsys and forever
new. The second and kindred virtue in
him to which we would direct attention
is his strength and range as n colorist,
albeit he is never glowing and is con-
tent with few restrained notes Ap-
prehend the dark green to which he
was addicted, the passages Of deep
wiae-red which occur in him now and
thea, his pure blues, his romantic pur-
pies and the white Of which he was
especially fond, and you have practically
exhausted his gsmut. The wings Of
one OF his angels have the golden
splandor Of beaten bronze. The robe
Of another is OF q grayish brown he did
net often use. He had his adventures,
his new fights, as a coloris@ On the
whole, however, he confined himself tc
q comparatively narrow scale-and
worked wonders with It, individuality
was at the bottom Of his color. By
intensity of refinement he translated it
into tcsuls of beauty. His canvases
have, in the main, striking solidity,
but there is loveliness Of tone in
them sometimes which is as fragile, aa
exquisite as that Of a rose leaf.
Genius Won him his victories, that
and passion for artistic perfection
IN room by themselves 4 quantity
Of his drawings may be seen, studies OF
heads and hands, ideas for compost
tions and so on. They reflect his ardor
and his conscience as workman, his
curiosity as to form, his command over
line. He never made fetish Of crafts
manship. In private letter that lies
before us he says, apropos Of paint
ing he had just finished: at is always
silly to think or say that ones last
work is progress So many traits are
at work maturing themselves, especial
ly in the attempts Of = man advanced
in years. He may gain, rs l seem to,
in accompl plishment, While his earlier
things remain the most valuable, sweet
est favored, perhaps" This attitude
OF his accounts for what seems un-
finished or hasty in some Of his paint
ings. Technical accomplishing was
not as important in his eyes as the
spirit of things. He followed the seem
ingly capricious path of the man OF
genius. But, being man Of genius
he took technical accomplishment as
he went along. One OF the lasting
lessons of this exhibition is that only
a powerful painter, in the strictest
meaning Of the phrase, could have pro-
duced the pictures in it. But the CHIEF
Lesson those pictures enforce is that
they sprang from creative inspiration,
and, coming from such q source, are
works Of elevation and Of beauty.