Evening star., 1925-12-13
NOTES OF ART AND ARTISTS
Loan Exhibition Of Early American Portraits Miniatures
Silver Is Attracting Much Attention de Laszlo
Portraits-Excellent Prints on View
BY LEILA MECHLIN.

week, among others, Gar!
Melchers and Edward w. Red
field, eminent American painters, both
of whom visited the loan exhibition of
early American portraits. miniatures
and silver now on view under the aus
pices of the National Gallery of Art in
the National Museum, and they eX-
pressed great interest and admiration
for the showing.
:" Mr.. Melchers characterized the col
lection Of portraits as Of exceptional
merit and a remarkable display,
coming almost entirely from Wash
ington collections, private and public.
How did they do IT." he said. over
and over again, carefully examining
the works Of the several painters rep
resented. If the achievements Of these
early American painters are remark
able to their present-day confreres,
how much more wonderful they must
seem to those who have perhaps less
knowledge of art, /
Mr.. Redfeld singled out as OF special
interest the portrait by John Neagle
of Col. Richard NJ. Johnson. lent by
the Corcoran Gallery Of Art. which
hangs to the left OF a Washington
portrait by Gilbert Stuart and to the
right of superb Copley. This Mr.
Redteld declared to be one of the
finest portraits 1t had ever been his
pleasure to see, a work which, &C
cording to his conviction. surpass ssed
in quality the works Of the great Eng
lish masters. John Neagle was
Phila delphian, and the little tnStruc-
tion he had came from Bass Otis and
from watching Gilbert Stuart paint.
He began as a coach painter. yet his
brush work is free and assured, his
color strong and good. He Is
painter among painters. A superb
portrait by this same artist, 1t VII! be
remembered, was given prominent
place in the Centennial exhibition Of
the National Academy OF Design snow
last month in the Corcoran Gallery
of Art. This was a portrait of a Do.
Devices, and il was lent by the Uni
versity Of Pennsylvania.
There is much to be said in praise
OF the hanging and arrangement OF
this exhibition. The portraits have
been placed with the utmost care with
regard to subject, color, composition.
size and style, and because Of their
excellent placing are particularly I'M
pressive. The picture hanging vas
done by the director of the gallery,
assisted by Mrs. Porter Cha ndler. vice
chairman of the subcommittee on
painting. and Mrs. McCook Knox. The
miniatures were arranged by Miss
Ernst, chairman of the committee on
miniatures. and the silver by Mrs.
Gibbons, Mrs. Long and Mrs. White,
members of the committee on silver,
of which Mai. Gist Blair is chairman.
Some OF the earliest portraits are, II
is true, quaint and perhaps bit curl
Gus but they have a naive manner
which is engaging. Take. for instance,
the oprtrait Of Hannah Gould, lent by
the Misses Eaton. This was painted
by Joseph Badger. who flourished in
New England between 110S and 1868.
1t is a portrait OF a little girl in a
gray-blue frock with tiny bunch OF
flowers on the top of her head. Strik
ingly similar in character is a portrait
of Elizabeth Byrd, the painter OF
which is unknown lent by Miss Anne
Carter Green. The style of the paint
ing is much the same. and again the
little bouquet as a top-knot appears.
How beautiful the Copleys are.
What a marvellous technique this
young American painter achieved be-
contact with really accomplished
painters, What an array there is of
Stuarts-14 in all, including the splen-
did Shippen portrait owned by the
Corcoran Gallery Of Art--and that
most lovely boy portrait Of John Ran
dolph, lent by Mr.. c. w. Coleman, the
latter a portrait worthy of placement
among the great portraits of the
world
The Peales were an interesting fam
lily, and they are splendidly represent
I'd in this exhibition. Charles Wilson
Peale, it will be remembered. came
from Queen Anne County. Md, and
began life as a saddler. He consulted
Copley in his early studies of art and
worked for a time with John Hes
seiius. who is himself twice represent
ed in this collection. In 1853 Peale
went to London and spent two years
In Benjamin Vests home. When he
returned he established himself In Phil.
adelphia. His portrait Of his brother.
James Peale. in this exhibit. lent
by Herbert Pratt of New York and
the portrait of Mrs. James Peale in
the same collection are notable eX-
amples.
James Peale was best known for his
miniature painting, and there are no
less than o5 of his miniatures now to
be seen here. There are two interest
ing pictures, almost Identical, of Mrs
John Brice and child, one by Charles
Wilson Peale, the other copy by
| his son, Rembrandt Peale.
In the miniature section there are
examples of the work of Anna Clay
| poole Peale. the daughter OF James
Peale. of Margaret and Sarah Peale,
| daughter Of Rembrandt Peale
| One of the most interesting portraits
in the entire exhibition is that Of Mrs.
| Elisha King. lent by Mrs. Nicholas
| Luquer, the work of Samuel T.. B.
Morse, the inventor Of the telegraph,
who, it will be remembered. spent sew
eral years painting in Washington be-
| fore his invention turned his attention
along other lines.
On the same wall on which this por-
| triat is displayed is a beautiful self
portrait of Malbone, the miniature
painter, and farther along is a portrait
of Mrs. Peter de Lancey by Matthew
Pratt, lent by Herbert Pratt-an ex-
| tremely fine work done with great sim
| plicity and evident skill, today as fresh
in color as when painted. Matthew
Pratt's father was friend of DR.
Franklin, and his mothers brother
was James Claypoole, the artist In
! 1854 Pratt went to London, accom-
panying Benjamin Vests bride, and
for two and q half years after the
wedding he lived in Vests home
| During that time he painted the pic
ture OF THE American School," includ
ing the portrait Of West and some of
his illustrious students, which is now
in the Metropolitan Museum, New
| York
| An exhibition such as this of por-
traits has a two-fold interest, that de.
rived from the artistic merit Of the
| work, and the interest Of the personal
tiles represented.