New-York tribune., 1922-06-04
In the Realms Of Music and Art

the whole hog he never became
whole -heartedly native. Ne vas from
beginning 10 end a Partisan type, seek
ing 10 live sl frsseo what time he
drew an income from picture selling Al
home. His tragedy consisted simply In
the fact that the income was unspeak-
ably hard 70 get The letters 10 Non
freid make one long plant over the
difficulties OF practical existence and
the necessity for rsmittances from pur.
chasers. Dip into the eorrespondsnce
AZ random, and you came upon nothing
20 frequently A. upon the discussion Of
ways and means Marooned (of his
own yolition) in far-sway Tahiti, Gau-
guin Is forever keeping an eye upon
his status AZ home. ~ seems that ny
success Is growing in the North my
Tahitisn work has had a moral success
among The artists. but the result. 50
far A. the vulgar public vent, uas
not one centime" IN one Of the long
est Of his letters he frames scheme
for the creation Of an income 81 2,40o
francs a year Ne Is % send over an
nually a collection ~ hfteen pictures
and as many subscribers are 70 put in
lso francs each, drawing lots for the
painting that in each case is 10 be The
reward. II is pathetic, obviously. But
the primitive" goes by the board.
Lightly 70 disparage Gauguin's efforts
h acquire decent return for his labor
would be not only cruel bu, stupid. II
would be 70 hout the instinct Of SELF
preservation. But the passages ps have
cited are legitimate touehstones where
By 10 test the grain Of this painter,
mind. One may deplore his sufsrings
and still decline 70 regard them a.
those Of an inspired artist, retiring %
the wilderness from exalted motives
and for the sake of his art, holding
the world well lost. For the life OF
US ve csnno. discover that kind Of
primitive in the le2ers 70 Monfreid.
w behold. rather, a painter Of modest
talent. who from egotism and vhim
strsyod into strange land, got into
A pickle there and paid a grieyous
penalty. He was a Montmsrtrois out
Of place. He took no spark Of esoteric
genius with him 70 Tahiti and he found
there nothing OF the sort. TO be hard
az a stone" he says. means 70 be as
strong az stone" II did not mean
this for Gauguin. He painted a num-
bcr OF pictures from inherently pie
tgresqus subjects. painted some Of
them middling we'll and few with
az approach % felicity The rest, as
We have hinted. is pure legend.
Monfreid told him 50 when near the
end Gauguin proposed 70 come back 70
France. This best Of friends then
eardidly wrote him:
1T is 70 be feared that your re.
turn would only derange the grow
irc and slowly conceived ideas with
which public opinion has surrounded
YOU. Now YOU are that legendary
artist. who, from out Of the depths
of POLYNESIA. sends forth his diseon-
certing and inmitable work-the
defnitiye work Of man .vho has
disappeared from the world. Your
enemies (and you have many, as
have all who trouble IN. mediocre
arc now silent, do not dare 10 COM
bat YOU. DO not even think o. IL:
for YOU are so far away, You must
not return. Now you are as are the
great dead. You nave passed into
the history Of art
His friend WAS right. II is doubtful
II Gauguin's celebrity would have sur
yiyed his temperance upon the Paris
ian scene. We take leave % doubt II
IL will ultimately survive in any seri-
Gus measure, leaving him more than an
Interesting minor type. Sooner ~
later. when the present vogue Of mod
ernistic tendencies has passed. il will be
recognized that an artist who has dis
appeared from the world is no more
lowered by that fact with exceptional
gifts than an artist. who is good 70 his
wife and mother, is made a master in
the process. In the long run the vol
ume before US will be useful in bring
ing about a proper appraisal Of "ths
muster OF Tahiti" in that IL will help
to develop a clearer conception Of jus;
what his sojourn in the Pacific meant.
II is compiled, OF course. to advance
tae mans repute. Among readers un-
bitten by the Gauguin mania it will
not altogether DO this. To be hard as
a stone is not to be really admirable.
The letters expose only too yiyidly a
gross and selfish nature. Yet here and
there likable trait peeps out IL
want 70 ask something Of YOU he
writes to Monfreid. III you have a
bit Of good luck with the sales, wish
you would send me a few bulbs and
seeds Of flowers. Simple dahiias, mas
tur,iums Gnd sunhowers OF various
sorts. flowers that can stand the hot
climate whatever you can think Of ]
want to decorate my little plsntstioni
and. as you know, adore flowers What
they have here arc mostly shrubs, very
few annua's-a few roses, but they DO
-, do verv veil There was a love
Of beauty struggling somewhere in his
complex makeup. An artless sincerity
peeps forth from behind a brutaliy
cynical ard sclf-eentcrcd temperament,
There are a few suggestive passages
.l. A.. L. nnralv arHstic id