New-York tribune., 1922-04-09
The Standards Developed
In Its Varied History

Inc interesting thing about art in New
io'k' IN the large sense, is tho ran;d-
l'y with which we adjusted orr..ius.
TO progressive ideas. The wears NAV
nave seemed long in which, having
00usht the anecdotes Of the Dj,,seldorf
school' we Jumped from the frv;nc r.n
INTO the fire and bought the fr;nner,o.
Oh 'he Salon. Comparatively speaking
40 such things 60 in the history Of
community, they were brief. Mor.
over even while the Salon type of r;c-
.ure was in the ascendant rev;v;fr;n.
'aNoences were at work. When tn.
change first began to declare itself i+s
prospects were in few hands. Mer-
,y 'ry recalls only small group of gal
ier1es serving as clearing houses for
the realignment Of the schools.
Ihe late Samuel P. Avery was N.
oean OF the picture dealers. He WA. Tho
iirst among them to sense the necess;+x,
1or deeper conception of art Without
breaking altogether away from tn.
salon ne nevertheless plunged where Tho
barbizon school was concerned "p;,ln
tiunt had already discovered Millet md
ms group and had done something Ia an.
iishten Boston on the subject. Avery
saw his chance when he aided the ,a+e
W. H. Vanderbilt in forming a collection
and bought pictures placing it in tho
van Another wise dealer of that period
was the late Daniel Cottier, who not
only bought the Barbizon men but sne-
clailzed in the modern Dutch school
then just coming into view, and at the
same time had the prescience to helm in
ehe introduction of some of the best of
our American painters, like Bunce.
Ryder and Weir. The late William
Schaus was a useful pioneer. Like
Avery, he trafficked in miscellaneous
modern French art, but imported the
painters Of 1880 and was one of the
first to bring over important old mas
ters. 1t was Schaus, we believe. who
bought Rembrandt's "Gilder" and sold it
into the Havemeyer collection. Still one
more eclectic was Michel Knoedler,
supplying clients with pictures of the
old anecdotic character that it took q
generation to dislodge, but recognizing
Immediately the trend toward better
things.
After Barblzon came Tmpressionism.
That was in the '8Os. Durand-Ruel
made memorable exhibition at the
American Art Galleries, followed 1t in
the next year with one at the old build
ing Of the Academy of Design, and pres
emily established himself here In quar-
ters of his own. We noted at the time
Of his death, only a short time ago, the
mixed nature Of the reception granted
his spade work. The time for Manet
and Monet was hardly ripe. The few
canvases he sold fetched very modest
prices. But the innovations Of the I'M
pressionists made, again, comparatively
rapid headway. If the figures Of the
auction room could be reduced to some
sort of statistical order they would elo-
quently tell the story. Tersely summa-
rized, they mark clean-cut develop
ment. For little while the French
school of the conventional stripe seemed
absolutely established. We forget for
how many thousands "The Communi-
cants" Of Jules Breton was sold, but we
vividly remember the sensation it made.
Meissonier was in high favor. So was
Bouguereau. Then the Barbizon paint
ers and the French romanticists forged
dramatically ahead, till it was case of
Eclipse first and the rest nowhere. All
the time the Impressionists, too. were
gaining ground, and in our own school