Evening star., 1925-11-26
THE NORTH WINDOW
By Leila Mechlin.

friendly controversy in their respec
tive departments of Scribner's Maga
zine, The Field Of Art" and LAS
Like It," on the subject Of still-life
painting. Prof. Phelps some months
ago nominated for his so-called zig
noble prize" all still-life painting, and
not being satisfied with this con
| demnation, later in his columns re
iterated the wish that every painting
Of still life might be done away with
The first offense was overlooked by
his art-critic colleague, but the second
drew fire, and the entire Field OF
Art" in the current number Of Serb
ners is devoted to an effort on the part
| Of Mr.. Cortissoz to convert his mis-
guided fellow writer and those few
who may be on the same side of the
fence to a realization Of the error OF
their ways and the folly of their posi-
ton. 1t is merry war. and one which
should induce just that sort Of discus
sion which is most helpful to art.
X *
/ cA
criticism, the kind Of criticism which
| voices, in most instances, discomfort
dissatisfaction, wholesale condemrla-
ton, sweeping derogatory comment.
not after the fashion Of Mr.. Phelps,
but in petty little way, with refer
ence to individual examples. 1t gen.
orally is voiced by those who do not
know, and is engendered by thought
less like or dislike. Reverent admira-
ton for works Of art, which. strange
| ly enough, was the rule in the Vic
| torian age when art was probably at
! as low an ebb as II has ever reached,
has now gone out OF style. Only the
| few, it seems, are thrilled by works
| of art and stand before them in mute
| admiration.
| Curiously enough, this is an objec-
| ton which Prof. Phelps himself makes
| in his own department this month
| concerning great singers. Telling how
he himself, and other writer's, have
been moved not merely to tears. but
| silence-voicelessne by beauty in
| prose and poetry, and, above all. in
| music, he comments on the TACT that
| never has he known a great singer to
| be rendered voiceless through the rem
| dition of a moving passage. and he Is
| perpleXed whether to set 1t down TO
| amazing selfcontrol or lack of emo
| ional susceptibility.
1t is not an uncommon thing to see
persons moved to tears by music, by
| the written or spoken word. occasion
ally by the great work of art. and to
an extent this is a test Of great art
| for such tears and speechlessness evi
dence to extreme Joy rather than sor'
| row; they are the tribute to great
| beauty. To those who are susceptible
| TO such emotion nothing can compare
with it in the way of Joy save that
i which comes through love and human
relationships, bordering on the divine
| 1t is @ measure of this beauty which
| Mr.. Cortissoz finds in certain still life
paintings and which Prof. Phelps de
| MES. Mr.. Cortissoz. therefore, points
| out that of all kinds of painting this
kind represents intrinsically, perhaps
| the purest sense of beauty on the
part Of the artist. No artist paints
a still life study from mere desire to
initiate the objects-that is not art
but, espying the loveliness of color. of
| light and shade, and of composition
presented in the real thing, he or she
is moved to give that beauty inter
pretation The grapes which the birds
mistook for real and pecked. the rab.
bit on the barn door which fooled the
| hunter, the flower which deceived the
| bee, are not a high type OF art; they
are mere deception: but the groups OF
common objects painted by Chardfn
| by Vollon, by our own John La Fargo
and William NJ. Chase. and in the
present day, Emil Carlsen and his son
/ are of intrinsic and superlative beauty
| Mr.. Cortissoz uses as an example OF
what Prof. Phelps dislikes and he
greatly admires, the painting of still
life by Frank w. Benson that the
painter himself selected to represent
him in the centennial exhibition o.
the National Academy of Design
which has but recently been shown II
this city. This shows precisely the
kind of subject to which Prof. Phelp!
has made objection--a bowl of frui
on a cloth-covered table; grape:
which have apparently dropped out
lying on the cloth. other objects about
1t does not sound pretty, but as Mr.
| Benson has rendered 1t it has grea
beauty-beauty in texture, in tone, IL
color, in light and shade, in compost
ton. 1t Is a lovely thing to rest one!
eyes upon.
In the Phillips Memorial Gallery 1,
J. Alden Weir. No one would mistake
them for real roses: they are not picked
out, petal by petal. but they are en-
veloped in atmosphere, they are a!
Zone might see bowl Of roses in onet
own house intimately, a lovely object
suggestive Of the beauty and perfec
ton of creation. Mr.. Phillips, who /!
an astute collector of art, has secured
other examples of still life painting
works by the great men OF the Frencf
school-fruit, and in some instance:
flowers. and they take their places II
his really great collection in perfec
harmony with the magnificent por
traits and landscapes Of the creates
masters.
| X
or 50 ago by Mr.. Arthur Edwin Bye
entitled POTS and Pans" devoted en-
tirely to this subject of still life paint
ing, and treating of it in a most inter
esting and instructive manner. Now
any subject which will provide ma
terial for an entire book, a book thor
oughly readable and enjoyable for ths
layman as well as the technician. mus
have considerable substance, consid
erable raison d'etre,
Oddly enough, still life painting /:
having a special vogue at this time
land If we are not mistaken, in this par
ticular field cotemporary artists are
making perhaps their largest contri
button. Occasionally one hears 1t safe
that cotemporary painters are. mo-
craftsmen, that they have not mas
tered the technique of their art, but II
the field of still life painting not few
but many are exhibiting remarkable
technical proficiency. Mr.. Cortissoi
ventures the opinion that the mos