Evening star., 1924-05-11
NOTABLE addition has been
made to the National Gallery
collections in group of

A NOTABLE addition has been
| ~ made to the National Gallery
| ~ collections in group Of
paintings by old masters,
lately deposited in the gallery's keep
ing by Mrs. Ralph Cross johnson Of
this city. The collection consists Of
| works acquired by the late Ralph
Cross johnson, through whose mu-
nificence the National Gallery has al
ready been greatly enriched. 1t is
made up chiefly of works by painters
| of the primitive schools Of Italy and
Flanders, but comprises also a few
later works. likewise Of conspicuous
| merit Mr.. Holmes, director of the
National Gallery. has arranged these
paintings in the first Of the series of
| galleries in tho National Museum,
| now devoted to the national collec-
| tions, and has so hung them that they
may be studied with the utmost ease
| and appear to the best advantage
| Like the room devoted to the Ralph
Cross johnson collection and that
| given over to the paintings lent by
Mr.. Perkins, this rood, gives the Wis
| itor foretaste of the delights which
await one in the great galleries OF
Europe Here is painting of a superb
| sort-color which ravishes the eye
and delights the senses, grace and ex-
rendering of subjects and such con-
summate art that even the uninitiat-
ed is moved with amazement and
| wonder.
| Beginning on the left there is a
painting of an old man, supposedly
Judas. by Ribera, dark. but resonant
| in tone, showing in the robe a splen-
| did red, and in the lights a flesh tint
of warmth and brilliance. Next, in
quite a different manner, is the Head
doubtedly Of an Italian artist and
probably by follower or pupil of da
Vinci's-high-keyed in color scheme,
slight in modelling, yet full of.grace
| Gothic design, set as the center panel
of triptych, but with the doors un-
painted; an entombment attributed
to Van der Weyden, and certainly in
| this masters Style-a complicated
composition, showing in the back
| ranging with great deftnesS and
clever use of prospective, a large
number of figures; a painting which
might well have been originally pro-
duced for an oratory or as the study
4 for great mural.
Turning the corner, one comes upon
a Study Of an Old Man" quite diff
| ferent from the Ribera, undoubtedly a
fragment the work of an Italian
painter. attributed by some to do
Vinci himself and sufficiently know
ing to have been from the masters
] brush. Then, there is a lovely little
Madonna Of an earlier period. painted
against a gold-decorated background.
reminiscent of the day in which the
| Della Robbias produced their lovely
Madonnas in high relief, garlanded
with flowers and fruit in color. AS
a confer on this wall hangs q figure
/ n n hlaSS-
ing, by Bonifazzio Of Venice, a piece
cut evidently. from a larger canvas,
| for the attendant figures are not all
complete, and the composition is OBJ.
Christ is that rich Venitian red which
it is impossible to initiate today, and
| it is painted in manner which defieS
repetition Apparently the pigment
glazed and overglazed, with the re-
suit that a beautiful surface is Gre
ated and that lights seems to glow
from beneath The figure OF Christ
is stepping forward and there is a
certan animation in 1t which is un-
usual even in paintings of this
period
Beyond, to the right, is another
figure of Christ ascribed to Giorgione,
who boasted. it will be remembered
craftsmanship Of Michael Angelo and
| tho coloring OF Titan The painter of
this picture might be excused for
boasting, for it is a powerful, a su-
perb work, possessing unQueStionably
the coloring and craftsmanship Of a
great master.
There is quaint picture. THE
Visit of the Wise Men" by Van Orley,
a primitive work, showing one OF the
three offering to Christ a csket
filled with gold coin, which the baby
in his mothers lap reaches out for
in childish curiosity, while Joseph.
standing at the back, looks on with
apparent disapproval, the other wise
men holding aloof. awaiting the op-
portunity of presenting their gifts
Centerng this third wall is an ex-
Quisite Virgin, Christ and St John,
attributed to Albertinelli; and to the
one of The Baptism of Christ" and
| the other of Christ in the Temple"
by Tiepolo. On the third side, to
right and left of the doorway hang
magnificent portrait of Sir Thomas
Lawrence, by himself, the other a
beautiful portrait of Prince Charles,
by Janssens Van Ceulen. This last
shows a man with a. long, narrow
face and an abundance of dark hair,
| wearing a black velvet coat belted in
| with a red sash, and a deep, exquis-
itely designed and wrought lace col
lar. So perfectly is the collar painted
that. it could be well initiated today
painting which should stand as an
example of portraiture for all time.
There is no suggestion of pigment;
| the delineation is extremely definite,
but the outlines fade eff into shadow
shadow which is full of colcr-atmoS-
pheric darkness.
The privilege of seeing these pic
lures and their educational value are
so great that it is difficult to esti-
| mate.
!
DOWNSTAIRS in the National Mu-
scum, under the joint auspices of
the National Gallery of Art and the
American Federation of Arts, is now
being shown an exhibition Of work
by Viennese school children. which is
of extraordinary quality and interest
These children, who are chiefly Of the
Click. who is an innovator in educa-
tional methods The children, from
the ages of seven to fifteen, go to
him for three hours on Saturday and
two on Sunday, but the class is not
compulsory. There is no charge
made; it is free to rich and poor. He
and that of others is that he does not
teach too much; that he gives the
children opportunity for self-expr es-
sion. He places materials at their
disposal and skillfully directs their
thought and effort. For instance, he
will take Autumn" as a subject He
will tell them to draw a figure Illus