Evening star., 1934-04-01

Ouoly III O1lc VI lllc OF
great building will be seen the MASTER
piece, Arrangement in Gray and
Black" a portrait of his mother by
James Mcneil Whistler. It is the sole
painting by an American ever to pass
the portals of that pinnacle of artistic
distinction, Frances premier art GAL
1ery.
The story behind the story of the
Whistler painting will bear repeating.
Early in 1924 Whistler had been dead
20 years. Thirteen years before the
American passed on, the French gov
ernment on the advice of George
. Clemenceau and Leon Bourgeois spent
1000 francs for the Arrangement in
Gray and Black" and it was hung in
the Luxembourg, destined for the
Louvre, according to established Gus
tom, a decade after the death of the
artist. Whistler received the Legion
Honor. but most important of all was
the assurance that the great gray
building on the banks of the Seine
would one day house for posterity his
most noble work.
In Smaller Gallery.
It was a fruitful little tempest that
followed the discovery that Whistler's
painting was not only absent from the
Louvre two decades after his death
but not even had the honor of re-
manning in the Luxembourg Gallery.
1t was discovered to have been de-
NOTED to still smaller and less noble
milieu, the Jeu de Paume, a museum
in the Tuileries Gardens Here it was
surrounded by the works of other
American artists, all then living
Mary Cassatt, Walter Gay, Cecilia
Beaux and Alexander Harrison. This
discovery followed a cable to me in
Paris from Royal Cortissoz, that fine
critic Of art who knew Whistler well.
1t was his idea that I ascertain why
the portrait was not in the Louvre.
The French government had a
ready answer for the situation. It
was simply that the French govern
ment respected the opinion of its con-
noisseurs who had handed down a
purely artistic opinion that Whistlers
painting was not ready for the Louvre.
Reasons Explained.
Why should a single American can
vas 60 to the Louvre and hang there
IN isolation without any advantages
OF exhibit, the authorities inquired.
Is 1t not better off, they persisted,
surrounded by contemporary Ameri-
can art and the work of the modern
schools of all nations?
At the ministry of beaux arts the
failure to elevate Whistler to the
Louvre was said to cast no reflection
on the American painters MASTER
piece. The point was made that he
despised most Of the Anglo-American
art OF hls' day and his satisfaction
was expressed frankly when the
French government purchased the
portrait Of his mother, as he believed
1t some day destined for the Louvre.
I sought out M. Leonce Benedite,
curator of the National Museum, WHO
had more ingenious eXplana ton of
why Whissler's painting should have
been taken from the Luxembourg and
placed in the comparatively ineffec-
tive niche, the nowly Jeu de Paume
in the Tuileries. He said:
Il was perhaps Whistler's greatest
friend in France, and I have for him
not only affection but a great ad-
miration. 1t Is for that reason I
can well understand the desire of
America to see my friends work of
art transported to the Louvre.
But the eye does not share this
desire. The portrait of Whistler's
mother, where it is today, surrounded
by the work of his fellow countrymen.
as well as the contemporaries OF other
nationalities, is in a more fitting posi-
t1on than If it were isolated in one
OF the salons of the Louvre.
A Paintings Surroundings.
ITO surround the painting with
works of the same kind and of the
same epoch at once enhances and ex-
plains given picture. In this regard
the collection of the Jeu de Paume
possesses unique composition since
1t offers resume of the modern for
elgn painters. Certainly the Whistler
will some day be taken to the Louvre
but 1t will be taken along with the
other pictures which will escort it in
order to prevent It's isolation and loss
OF intrinsic value.
AT this moment no one is happier
than I to see this change in process
taking place, but now is not the
moment for placing the picture in the
Louvre, and know it is the opinion
of considerable number of American
artists
1t was after a talk with M. Benedite
that cabled to New York the whole
story of Whistler's demotion; the
broken promise of 80 years gone when
Georges Clemenceau was a somewhat
youngish member of the French gov
ernment establishment. It was then
also that Leon Bourgeois, later to be-
come Frances father of the League
of Nations-a League with teeth-was
on his way up to heights of civic
fame. A promise by these men had
become by 1924 promise worthy of
Frances attention and 1t was in this
spirit that I cabled the New York
Tribune story which the following
day stirred Americas leading artists.
Reputation Grew.
In the opinion of his countrymen
Whistler overnight became the great
est painter that ever lived. According
to Childe Hassam, a leading figure in
American art, M Benedite was walk
ing around a post" and "bowing to
the public" when he tried to justify
Whistler's Arrangement in Gray and
Black" in the Jeu de Paume. Mr..
Hassam went so far as to say that If
Whistler were Frenchman he would
have been in the Louvre long before
and lacking room for his work they
t-.x,lA rta1
house it, He rated Whistler's
Mother" the greatest painting in the
world and whistler "the greatest
artist that ever lived and greater
etcher than Rembrandt"
The tempest went on. Mr.. Crotissol
delivered himself Of long editoria
in the Tribune which stirred JOSEPH
Pennell, whistler's biographer, to ads