Evening star., 1925-01-11

French impressionist school which
opened to all the world the windows
of vision, letting in light and trans
forming atmosphere. To degree he
is a realist; he paints what he sees.
He is not, as was Whistler, an in
terpreter of mood. On the other
hand, his works have a certain lyrical
quality not to be found in those of
the plein air painters such as Red
field, Schofield and Symonds, to name
just few. No one has ever painted
lovelier snow pictures than he,
among which '"The Snow Bearers"
owned and lent to this exhibition by
Mr.. Glover, is unsurpassed. AS In
ness is said to have interpreted in his
picture of Niagara the little lowell
ness" of these majestic falls, so Met
calf shows us the winsOme side of
Winter, not the frosty air, the biting
cold, but the caressing touch of gold
en- sunlight; the soft mantle of the
snow resting ever so lightly on the
shoulders of the world.
In the matter of subject Mr.. Met
calf chooses well, but it is not just
what he paints, but the way he paints
It, the time he chooses, the effect OF
light. of atmosphere. And how diff
ferently he goes about it, according
TO his theme! Sometimes the canvas
is scarcely covered; now and then the
paint is piled on, but not often. Mr..
Metcalf knows the value of fine sur
face. and though to an extent he fol-
lows the lead of the French impress
sionists III the use of broken color
and short brush strokes, he is not
bound by it, and the majority of his
paintings one can see with pleasure
close to as well as far away. How
beautifully he has painted the green
Midsummer picture, a glimpse of
woodland, "The Green Canopy" than
which nothing is lovelier, nothing
more difficult to interpret.
And what of his nocturneS-"May
Night" and "Benediction"? Was ever
moonlight more exquisitely portray
ed? The "Benediction" represents the
old colonial church at Lyme, as the
May Night shows the facade of one
OF the famous old homes in that tran
quill little town beloved of the artists.
Looking al this picture, one looks up
into the heavens at the stars and
feeds the hush and peace, the sensa-
tion that here one stands on holy
ground-a sense of things sacred
Gods in His heaven, all's well with
the world"
It is. indeed, a lovely world that
willard Metcalf sets before us; not
lovelier than it should be, not just
pretty, but full of inspiration, that
beauty of the outdoors which leads
one to eXclaim with Stevenson The
world is so full Of a number of things
I'm sure we should all be as happy as
kings
Willard Metcalf was born July l,
1853, in Lowell. Mass, famous for its
cotton mills and manufa ctures, the
birthplace of Whistler, but city
which can boast little beauty. He
studied with George L. Brown as an
apprentice and at the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, and later in Paris at the
Julien Academy under Boulanger and
LefebYre. He is a member of the
Ten American Painters, the American
Water Color Society, though he Is
not a frequent contributor to their
exhibitions; of the Architectural
League of New York and of the
American Academy of Arts and Let
ters. His prize winning began in
Paris in 1883. when he won the hon
orable mention at the salon, and COM
prehHlds almost all of the honors
which could be conferred upon him
by his confreres. He is represented
in the permanent collections of al
most all of the leading art museums,
which goes to show that even mu-
seums like pictures which have in
herent beauty provided they are
well painted, and, furthermore, that
they do not hesitate to patronize liv
ang painters of our own land.
An attractive little catalogue show
ing a photograph of Mr.. Metcalf and
containing an appreciative foreword
by Walter Jack Duncan has been is
sued by the Corcoran Gallery afor