New-York tribune., 1922-01-15

Lautrcc in this city, though examples
OF him have appeared here and there
tor years. The Metrop olitan Museum
has not neglected him He makes
more or less esoteric appeal A man
of gentle birth, he sought inspiration
IL milieu far removed from his an
costral chateau He found it in the
world Of Montmartre. The genius CT
AIs art is that of the cabaret and ths
circus. Its ambrosia is not the nectar
OF the gods, but the absinthe Of the
cafe habitue. AS type Of the half
esthetlc, pathological Paris which
! mas expressed itself more in the print
and the poster than upon canvas,
Toulouse -Lautrcc lies somewhere be-
tween the diabolsm of Felicien Reps
and the gaycty of Willette He had
rothlng like the intellectual ballast Of
foraln. That great master is locker
on and satirist, sitting his raw ma
terial with the detachment of a creative
artist. Toulouse -Lautrcc was stepped
IN his subject, and never quite escapes
from its dstorting shadows.
10 draw anything from within is to
have won half the battle at the start.
But even a. the core of the world he
is exploring q man like Forain pre-
serves certain aloofness of soul
which aids him enormously in the es-
tabllshment CT a perspective. The de-
Of I
discovered in a measure of repulsion
which is cxerted even by his truth. He
is so much at home at the Moulin
Rouge that he carries the uglncss Of
the place ard it's denizcns into his
work, forgetting to give them the
enchantment, the transmogrihcation,
which should spring from art, lifting
the very uginess to higher power
The drawings that Durer and Leonardo
sometimes made from grim ubjccts
will illustrate the point. They depict
uginess, but their style triumphs over
Vt. There is a cult for the Frenchman,
and those who follow it will toll you
that he did what those heroic predeces-
I,
find Toulouse -Lautrec's beauty ex-
tromely iitful. 1t is visible in a lltho-
graph like eau Hanneton,' in which
the spidery line has an undeniablc
dellcacy and elegance. We feel it not
infrequently in his portraits, wherein
a vague hint of grace accompanies the
lnvarlable brute power. In his work
at large, and we are thinking of much
more than goes to make this represent
ative but still incomplete exhibition, he
is veracious, decorative, prodigiously
adroit, amusing, original-and subtly
vicious.
The numerous portraits in NJ. Co.
quiots entertaining book give US half
clew. Toulouse Lautrec was a queer
little gnome of man. In one of the
portraits he poses before one of his
pictures with his model, as unlovely d
creature as himself. The observer
does not need to be in the slightest de-
gree censorious in order TO detect a
certain brutality in the episode. That
is where, paradoxca J., his weakness
resided. He had poweT, yes, and nc
charm. His paintings prove this. He
knew nothing about the sensuous
manipulation of pigment. He saw life
rudely and he painted it with rude
gesture. Only in his drawings and
Autographs does his technique take on
a suaver kind of force. Brilliant as
he was, in his way, he nevertheless
contributes not so much chapter to
the history of Partisan art as an &C.
centric, mordant footnote
The purpose of the exhibition just
opened at the Art Center is not Alto
gether clear. 1t assemblies a number
Of works. new and old, by members of
the advisory committee of the Louis
Comfort Tiffany Foundation. Perhaps
it is intended to illustrate the kind of
art that is, so to say, behind the func-
tioning of that excellent institution
The truth is that the members Of the
committee are fairly we'll known. We
re all familiar with their work. 1t is
pleasant, Of course, to sec the charm
ing landscapes by Mr.. Francis c. Jones'
9lr. Chide Hassan, Mr.. Robert Vonnoh
and Mr.. Daniel CARRIER. The sculptures
BY Mr.. French, Mr.. Aitkcn and Mr.
Manship arc always welcome. But