Evening star., 1926-12-02
THE NORTH WINDOW
By Leila Mechiin.

portraits painted by A British artist
IL. Harris Brown. set forth in the spe
! cial exhibition gallery at the Corcoran n
! Gallery of Art. under the patronage
of the British embassy: an admlra nte
portrait of Senator Borah painted III
| the boardroom OF the Corcoran Gal
| lerv Of Art by young America II
/ artist. Margaret Fitzhugh bfowne
| and A small but extremely notap'e
group of portrait etchinSs OF lndla MS
! by Cadwallader Washburn at Gordon
Dunthornes.
Turning. the pages OF very beauti'
| full book on Famous Prints just fs
/ sued bv the Scribners. containing
| facsimile reproductions of the greatest
etchings. engravings and Autographs
| that have been produced, with text bf
Frank Weitenkampf. head OF the Di
vision OF Graphic Arts OF the New
York Public Library, the writer
CHANGED upon this illuminating quota
ton from HamertOn. the great British
authority on etchings. In comment on
Rembrandt as a portrait etcher, Inc
| difference" said Hamertou. "hetween
these portraits TOT Rembrandts' and
too many modern ones is that these
have dignity without pretense
whereas the other have pretense with
out dignity" How splendidly this is
put. How better could one define the
difference between the portrait which
does not signify and the one which
does.
All OF Rembrandt's portraits.
whether painted or etched, have es-
sentially this Quality-dignity without
pretense. So have those wonderfully
painted portraits of Raeburn's; we
find this distinction even in the fash
ionable portraits by Gainsborough'
Romney, Sir Thomas Lawrence and
in later days. those Of our own Sar-
gent. Of Cecilia Beaux. and frequently,
il not always those Of Leopold Seyf-
fert. The etched portraits of Cadwal-
lader Washburn have it in large
measure so also has the freshly
painted portrait Of Senator BOrah by
Miss Browne.
Perhaps 1t is this very qua lttX which
gives to the paintings of the English
school such value today in the eyes
Of collectors. Only last week, 1t Will
be recalled. a portrait Of young girl.
"Pinkie.' by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
brought at auction in London no less
than 1870. 900. and for Gainsborough's q
Blue Boy Henry Huntington of Cali
fornia paid, it will be remembered, an
even more sensational price.
In this same book Of Famous
Prints" Ia to be found another quota
ton. likewise with reference to Rem
brandt. which is illuminating for
those who are endeavoring to define
art, to hold to tradition and yet meet
the innovations of modern times.
"Rembra ndt,'' SAYS Howard Mans
field. who is trustee Of the Metropol
itan Museum OF Art. by the way, did
not always seek the beautiful. but art
ia not necessarily the expression OF
the beautiful. but it Is essentially
beautiful expression" Mr.. Mansfield
Is right. eminently right. and when
art is not beautiful expression 1t does
not fulfill the ideal.
Let us find example in the field Of
the drama. There are many plays put
on the stage today which are amaz-
ingly clever-works Of art, but which
the most lenient critic could scarcely
declare to be beautiful expression" +"
There Is one play. ut least. in New
York at the present time which full
fills this requirement.. 1t Ia "Capon-
ga cchi" an adaptation Of Browning's 8
THE Ring and the Book" made
originally by a Washington woman
Miss Rose Palmer. an employe Of the
Smithsonian Institution, in cola bora
ton with Arthur Goodrich. and
splendidly presented by Walter Hamp-
den supported by an excellent COM
pany From first to last this play,
while not necessarily the expression
Of the beautiful. is essentially beauti-
full expression, and, like all great art,
it lifts the beholder into finer. purer
atmosphere than that in which the
majority hourly live.
X x*
1t is interesting to know that
authors and actors have had the CO.
operation in this instance OF Claude
Bragdon. an architect who has of
recent years given practically his
whole attention to stage setting and
scenery. 1t is he who has designed
and arranged the scenery and the cos
tunes which give pictorial setting to
the art Of the dramatists and the
actors in the presentation of this play.
Claude Bragdon is essentially an in
dividualist, but he is at the same time
a scholar. He has brought to bear
upon his work in the theater the best
scientific knowledge of the day, unit
ing with this knowledge an instructive
and possibly inherent love Of color
and appreciation of artistic values.
Again in this expression we find, as in
great portraiture, dignity without pre-
tense. From first to last in line, in
presentation, in pictorial effect the
play OF "Caponsacchi" seems simple
natural. obvious, and the mind Of the
! beholder is at no point distracted by
consciousness Of technique.
~ *
1t has been said that the hest way
to make art popular would be to as
sure it's introduction as a topic at
ia ashionable dinner tables. Perhaps it
| will serve the same ends to have 1t
introduced as a matter of course in
popular novels. If so, not only Locke
but GalswOrthy are rendering real
service.
About a year ago Galsworthy was
/ in Washington and the result of his
visit Is set forth in a short story en-.
titled Passing By" published in the
current number Of Scribner's Maya.
zine, in which, in the quiet little in.
| closure Of the Adams lot at Rock
Creek Cemetery, the reader meets
| Soames FOrsyte, hero of THE FOrsyte
| Saga" and a prominent figure in 1.-The
White Monkey" and THE Silver
| Spoon" gazing in reverent wonder at
| Saint -Gaudens superb figure repre-.
senting 1.-The Peace Of God" and
learns that his temperamental daugh
| ter F'leur and her husba nd. Michael
ere at that very moment viewing In
| the Corcoran Gallery Of Art the cen
| tennial exhibition of the National
| Academy of Design. To those to
whom the Forsytes are real people
! such meeting Is a genuine surprise
| Galsworthy. in the character ol
F0rsyte, has this to say of the Adams
| Memorial: "It was undoubtedly a
work Of art and produced very
| marked effect. He did not remem
Der statue that made him feel sc
thoroughly at homo. That great
| greenish bronze figure Of a seated
| woman within the hoOding folds oil