New-York tribune., 1922-03-17
IS A RT,' said Whistler, in that
~ famous "Ten O. Clock" Of mis-,

~ famous len o Clock OF MS,
which he first delivered in
London in 1885, cart is upon the town
to be chucked under the chin by the
passing gallant" Art is again upon the
town, after nearly forty years, but she
is no longer gallantly chucked under the
chin. On the contrary, she is subjected
to strong-arm methods now. Politely
| speaking, she gets it in the neck She
gets 1t there at the hands of so many
contributors to the exhibition of the
Society of Independent Artists at the
Waldorf-Astoria that this affair might
seem to rank as portent by itself. As a
matter of fact, its chief interest is that
of symptom. The modernism of
which it so rankly savors is all around
US and threatens to make increased
headway. The practitioners have their
fuglemen, mostly timid souls, trenlu-
lous with tho apprehension of band
wsgonomania-fearful of getting lef.
Collectors and dealers, here and there,
are on the JOB. Modernism, say the
fuglemen aforesaid is in the air. SO
! is the flu
There is something in this art situa-
! tlon analogous to what has been so
long going on in our racial melting
! pot We won't take proper steps to re-
strict immigration, and so we let in a
steady stream of dubious or downright
corrupting alloys. The United States
is invaded by aliens, thousands Of
whom constitute so many acute perils
to the health of the body polite Mod
ornlsm Is of precisely the same heter-
ogeneous alien origin and is imperilinr
the republic of art in the same way. j
began, as our excessive immigration
began, in an insidiously plausible man
ner. The French post-impres sionists--
Cezannc, Van Gogh. auguiu-retaine d
just enough contact with the normal
conventions Of art for their subyersive
tendencies to be overlooked to cer-
tain extent They were tolerated, and
presently they were free to play into
the hands of the half-baked enthusi-
asts who are always sure that there is
something good in anything that is
exotic and new; the newness is, for
them, talismanic. BY the time the
cubsts came along there was an ex-
tenslve body of fabby mindednes IS
ready for their reception here. and all
manner Of similarly absurd "move-
ments' have been assured of a warm
welcome, in some quarters at least,
ever since. Such movements!- crude.
crotchety, tasteless, abounding in AFRO
CANT assertion, making fetish of ugli-
ness and. above all else, rife in ignor-
ance of the technical amenities. These
movements have been promoted by
types not yet fitted for their first pa
pers in aesthetic naturalization-the
makers of true Ellis Island art.
| X !. 4:
The compromising observer feels no
alarm. "What harm can it do?" he
asks. "This is free country. Let
every man have his chance These
people are trying to express them
|
Tolerance is n good thing" "Tolerance
Is the wrong word. There should be
no tolerance for inimical influences,
Especially there should be no tolera-
tlon of offenses against the integrity
OF art. Whistler, into whom we may
here profitubly dip again, has saying
that is rertinent-"Art Is art and
mathematics is mathematics" What
makes modernism intolerable is that It
seeks to sap the loyaltes inseparable
from genuine artistic endeavor. II
would not only substitute vagrant shall
low impulse and egotism for the wis
dom of centuries, but sit would put
dogmatic vanity in the PLACE of that
reverential aspiration whicN is ut the