New-York tribune., 1922-03-12
Noble Painting
The Steadfast ldealism OF an
American Master

The SteadfaSt ideaHsnD Oh aH
American Master
There is an exhibition at the Cen
tury Club of about twenty-five paint
ings by George De Forest Brush. Added
to these there is handful of draw
ings. The collection is more than wei
come. 1t brings together from various
public and private galleries things
which have been seen before and things
which are new. Important pieces are
absent, but nothing indispensable is
missing. Brushs artistic character is
here displayed at full length. 1t is an
original and distinguished character.
one of the finest in the history of
American art. From the beginning he
has cared for beauty. From the begin
ming he has pursued high ideal in
both the substance and the form of
his work The polished technique he
developed long ago has been placed at
the service of elevated thought. Wher-
ever painting OF his has appeared it
has given lift to its surroundings.
Now that he has a great room to him.
power.
Outside the circle of his friends very
little is known about Brush. The scant
records tell US that he was born at
Shelbyville, Tenn. in 1855. He went to
Paris in the '7os and studied under
Gerome. He was elected an Academi
elan here in New York in 1908. Beyond
these details almost the only souvenir
of him that we have been able to run
down is contained in a reminiscence of
his printed in the preface to the Thaycr
exhibition at Pittsburgh in 1919. The
two men were close friends. Brush
says: I'VE all went to Paris about the
same time. Everybody was going. And
| can say that, coming into that strange
life of the Paris Latin Quarter, l know
many of the young Americans, along
with myself, were stunned by it, 1t
seemed at first a great shock. AS it
Was, finding ourselves in a universe
that would be bad anywhere-in New
York to day-most of the young stu
cents easily gave in TO the rather low
roint Of view of the community Of stu
dents of all nations that formed the
Quarter And Abbott was the influence
hat | know must have held many
1t was his stand as against the drift of
the Quarter that endeared him TO many
Of US. It is what attracted me TO him."
We quote the passage for the sake of
the point OF view it disclcses. That
has steadily been characteristic Of
brush. This winter, in lecture at
n EPhiladelphia, he denounced the com
bfnercialism OF the day and adverted
upon what he considers the degenerate
elements in the art of Rodin. Art is
for him divine adventure or it is
nothing. With this spirituality Of his
there has gone a profound devotion to
constructive discipline.
In the lecture aforesaid he made
these observations; "A student learns
nothing until he comes under a master.
In this democracy. with its ignorance
OF the wisdom of the ages and its craze
for trying things now, painters would
rather experiment than read would
advise them to read-read Cennino
Cennini. In him they have a library
that will last two or three years. Here
IS some one who can tell them how.
We must not run after new things. We
must find out what the masters knew
Brush has practiced what he breaches.
He has found out. That is what makes
tho present exhibition of the deepest
interest. At the Fcole des Beaux-
Arts. for example, under Gerqme. he
found out the Importance of good draw
Ing. There never was anything Of the
superman about him. 1t is not appar-
ent that he ever took any short cuts.
He drew, rather, as he was taught, in
the years during which he was form
ing himself. Great personal drafts
m manship was to come TO him later. At
the outset he was faithful disciple of
academic principles and his earlier
works emphasize the fact lie came
back to America with what we can
only call d Partisan sense OF form, the !
method which spells care and scholar |
ship. You see it in those Indian sub
ects which he painted in the sos, sew
'ral Of which are at the Century Club
t was Saint Gaudens, we believe, who !
characterized the Indian
ubject as the youthful sin of every
american artist. Brush raised it to
igher power. There must have been
rich feeling for nature in him when
e tackled those bronze models of his
I their sylvan habitat, an instructive
ssponse to the "ailenzio verde" of the
vet. The padding hunter with gaze
plifted at the flying wild goose in
The Silence RFoken" is an immobile,
estlesque fg6ke, but the still water i