New-York tribune., 1922-12-24

with an individuality that lost nothing
through the artists subtle alliance
with some Of his historic predecessors.
The famous Bourgeois de Calais"
offers striking enforcement Of the
point. There Is something Of the
cumbrous majesty Of old Claus Schlu-
ters in the massing Of that great com
position. There is a hint Of the Flor
entine Renaissance in the details Of
the design. But Rodin was never more
triumphantly Rodin that when he did
the Bourgeois"
Look, for confirmation Of this, at the
single terra Gotta here, the bust Of one
Of the gaunt figures in the group. II
has the realistic directness Of Dona-
tello, the largeness, the heroic force.
But fundamentally there is nothing
Itaiianized about it. The bust has
5tyle, the accent Of an essentially origi-
nal study from life. If there is de-
clension from the beauty we associate
with Donatello it il traeeable TO a rather
fine distinction between what is naive
and what IS sophisticated. The Floren-
tines pieturesqueness is always inner
ent in his subject With ROdin II has
the air Of something superaddcd; If II
Is a matter of life it is also matter
Of the sculptor's taste; he 80 heightens
the effect Of his realism, he is so rhet-
orical about & that nature appears al
most histrionic. Nevertheless nature
is there. The Bourgeois monument is
represented in this show by three
pieces. the bust aforesaid and reduc-
tions Of two Of the figures. They are
all fascinating souvenirs, tinged By a
kind or rude nobility, worth a wider
ness Of those melting nudes to 0-iieh
I he devoted so much Of his time
20 the great waxing of mis- popularity
and the diminution Of his true fame.
The nudes, despite their prodigious
vogue, remain on debatable ground To
have developed diabolical skill in
modelling and then 50 have
wreaked it on the exquisite deliuea-
tion of feminine softncss and grace
might seem 70 have won the day. But
the connoisseur in sculpture will al
ways have his reservations where the
technical exploitation Of form deviates
from a certain key Of depth and dig
nifty. The veriest layman does not
oscillate long between the Venus dc
lfedici and the Venus dc Milo; the
superiority Of the latter is too obvi-
Gus. One can no more resist it than one
can resist the imperial grandeur Of
the Victory of Samothrhce. II was the
grand manner that Rodin could not
quite compass in the nude. lie drew
as far away from the light elegance
Of Clodion and the other eighteenth
century masters Of the figurine as he
drew from the insipidity Of Canoya'
yet he stays a little nearer TO them
than he gets TO the sublimity OF the
antique. "Le Penseur" is hne statue
but Il is not sublime; an odd eircuin-
stance, too, for the sculptor indubitaoiy
pitched his aim high when he modelled
the seated philosopher on the steps OF
the Pantheon. There is a reduction OF
IL in this exhibition. One fingers near
It, held by the powerful realism Of the
thing. But We reflect, as at last we
leave II, Just a. we have reflected over
and over again on leaving other works
BY Rodin, on the failure Of the statue
really 70 haunt the imagination. It is
a brilliant realists tour de force. not
an unprecedented invention by erea-
tive master. Beside the "Adam" which
Michael Angelo painted on the ceiling
Of the Sistine Chapel, this kindred at
tempt 70 realize the primeyal type al
most crumples up.
So il Is with the Eve" shown here
in 3 lovely marble. II Is all voluptu-
Gus grace, a bewitching study. II ever
there was one. As an Interpretation
~ an idea il seems sweet and eloying,
not half 80 persuasive as the thin aus
terity Of a Flemish primitive. Look at
the little despair" in its beautiful
patina. II has no tragic meaning. lts
virtue lies altogether in its sensuous
charm. Wien we turn 70 the three
heads Of Balzac. on the other hand, We
ore hack in the atmosphere Of the
L -.