New-York tribune., 1922-12-10
from Daumier and Renoir
To Benson and PennelI

It's simplicity. hugely multiplied in
scale. ought TO prove impressive. But
we arc not sure that Il would be helped
by the symbols in the uplifted hands Of
the figure.
NJ. Durand-Ruel has brought over
from Paris gro6p Of seven paintings
which has not yet been placed on ex-
hibition, but upon which we cannot
forbear making some comment. Il Is
the group Of seven Renoirs whieh will
be remembered BY all those Americans
who have visited his late fnther's
apartment In the Rue dc Rome. Renoir
was the Gautier Of the Impressions;
company. They were all men for whom
the visible world existed, but he, above
the rest, responded to It's sensuous
beauty Manet in that famous "Dejcu-
ner sur rHerbe' Of his was nominally
follower Of Giorgione, but there was
something almost hard and cold in his
fetc champetre. Renoir, especially in his
earlier work, glowed like n Venetian.
These seven pictures are all Of fairly
early dates. la Loge" and the ex-
quisite "Danseuse" were painted in
1874. The Pecheuses" belongs 10
1879. The Femme au Chat" and eau
Concert" date from 1880, and "Sur la
qerrssso" and "Les Dejeuner des Cano.
tiers" date from the following year.
lime enough has passed for them to
have taken on a heavenly patina.
LA Loge' is an incompatible piece Of
painting. as rich az Reubens and with
a dolioacy about II that the Flemish
giant never knew. Such blaeksl Such
melting flesh tints! Such rayishing
transpnrencies Of tone! In the Dan
seuse" the flmy skirt OF the young fig
urante rs brushed IN with touch as
light rs that Of a butterfly. and the
accents Of blue about the waist and
shoulders arc as magically bestowed.
Withal, the painting is as firm. as solid.
as though Renoir never dreamed OF
pausing upon the nuance, but was driv-
ing all the time az the broadest kind
Of reality. The next canvas in the
chronological procession, the "Peeheu-
ses," lacks what the first two possess
in such exciting measure-charm. But
that precious element is revived IN all
the others, pre-eminently in "Sur Ia
Terrasse." with its enchanting back
ground Of LEAKAGE and bloom and its
radiance Of color We hope thes.
Renoirs may be publicly exhibited thi,
winter. His later works have not H..
variably left a perfect impression. The
glorious seven do so. They ought TO be
brought forth as memorial to tho
painters genius.
The French pictures at the Howarf
Young Gallery dip into Barbizon and
Impressionism, into the Salon and Mod
ernism. On the threshold hangs one
Of Isabey's finest sea subjects, "The
Storm" and not far away one may com
pare the Gauguin Of Pont Aven with
the Gauguin of Tahiti. This latter
episode is edifying, by the way. Ono
Of the oldest things about the modern
lists is the way in which some Of them
have gone back upon their first sound
impulses. Witness the departure Of
Matisse from the honest Craftsmanship
he once practiced. Gauguin at Pont
Avcn was merely the straightforward
painter. In the South Seas he became
hammered and uneouth. Besides Isabey
this exhibition embraces men of the
older tradition like Fantin-Latour, Mil
let, Troyon and Corot. Then come
Monet and PissarTo-the latter being
particularly interesting-and through
the art Of men like Degas and Forain
we pass TO such types as Cain, Raf-
faelli and the painter Of to-day, Henri
Lebasque.