The New York herald., 1922-02-26

u seems to have been the peoples
favor Of artists. The fame that Sir
Joseph Duveen knew so well how to
capitalize came to it after the death
of Gainsborough. The earliest men
ton of it in print seems to be that
in Jackson's essay written in 1898.
len years after.
But the great contemporary Sir
Joshua Reynolds, with an appearance
of faint praise" could only defend
Gainsborough from the outcries of the
Philistines as follows: "It is certain -
said he, that all those odd scratches
and marks which, on a close examina-
lion, are so observable in Gainsbor-
ough's pictures, and which, even to
experienced painters, appear rather
the effect of accident than design
this chaos, this uncouth and shapeless
sppearance-by kind of magic, at a
certain distance, assumes form, and
all the parts seem to drop into their
proper places, so that we can hardly
'forbear acknowledging the full effect
of diligence under the appearance of
chance and hasty negligence" 1t is
the fashion of to-day to say that the
Blue Boy" although an ironmonger' s
son, has been metamorphosed into a
'veritable prince" but Horace Wal
pole, who was extant i'll Gainsbor-
ough's day and had special flaire for
the princely, seems to have been un-
a ware of the artists special exploit;
and good Alan Cunningham, who was
in full possession of all the profess
sonal opinions of a generation or so
later, could only say, in 1929: This
picture is not quite conclusive, though
it must be owned that Gainsborough
has done wonders with the cool tones
ct his command"
Expert opinion, in fact, ran far be-
hind the feeling of the populace, and
although for years past the Blue
Boy has been unanimously allotted
q great place in English art by every
ody. yet again we behold the eX-
perts bowling low in the direction of
The populace. There is nothing else
for them to do. That SS50,000 COM
lnands at least one genufiection from
every one connected with the arts.
Restored in Safety.
As far as may now be judged, the
removal of the heavy coat of varnish
that made the "Blue Boy" green for
so many years has been accomplished
in safety. The restoration of an es-
sentially modern picture like this-for
Gainsborough was an impressionist in
advance of his time--is not without its
dangers, but happily the thin painting
Of the hand and the face has been un-
injured. The picture appears as fresh
and new as when it first left the easel.
The blue is cold and brilliant, but
there is no indication in the work
itself that it was painted to prove
theory. The blue warns in the shad-
ows, as IL necessarily would in a por-
trait painted indoors. and there is
mere warmth in the landscape at the
back than any modern would feel
obliged to introduce, but that is merely
because the question of blue as a pre-
dominant note is obsolete. Insistent
as Gainsborough was for the tones of
nature, he could not shake off all the
browns Of his days at once.
The modern critic is apt to be
amused by the low skyline of the pic
fure. Young Master Buttall stood
upon model stand in the studio.
which brought the eye of the painter
slightly higher than his knees. The
landscape lis very charming and freely
dashed in. but the accommodation of
Tho low skyline 10 the level of the sup
posed path upon which the boy stood
has been approximatcd naively.
matter of fact realist might have
placed him upon n ledge OF rock and
aiken the earth at a lower level-but,
thank heaven. Gainsborough was not
matter Of fact.
lie evidently worked impetuously.
AS Sir Joshua said. and the modern is
again apt 10 say thank heaven for
hat" but the only passage as paint
ing that seems TO be unresolved is that
that shows the arm crooked to rest
tpon the hip. The feeling for the
form Of II Is plainly seen in the blurred
outline. but to impressonists OF to-
LAY this blurring is an attraction
rather than otherwise. The arm is
certainly less clearly felt beneath the
cloak than Il would have been In the
" ork of Velasquez or Rubens, but the
slight confusion is noticeable only to
busybodics who insist upon seeing
everything. There is no real excep-
lion 10 be taken with the painting.
which is IN the first category OF works
80 art a~1 70 "N fn more % be re-