Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-01-26
FINE TAPESTRIES ENHANCE BEAUTY OF SCULPTURE EXHIBIT
NEW ART MUSEUM
Late Judge John Barton Payne Largely Respons-
IDLE, as Old Leadership of Virginia Is Main
tanned; Art World Contributes to Exhibition.

Nothing is shown by an artist still
living, hence from first 10 last this
display gives a backward glance. an
opportunity to estimate the worth OF
what may be called the American
school of the nineteenth century.
There are. to be sure, some paintings,
chiefly portraits, produced before 1900.
when the dominant influence was
English. and there are few done
since 1900 which give indication Of
stirring of new thought and ideals.
but the bulk of the collection falls
within these hundred years.
WITH the cooperation Of the art
museums throughout the coun.
try, Thomas c. Colt. jr.. the curator.
has succeeded in assembling collec-
ton Of 108 paintings in which almost
every painter whose name is prom
inent in the history Of American art
is represented. There are few con-
spicuous omissions. such as Abbott
Thayer. Thomas Dewlng. Charles H.
Davis, De Camp. Ochtman, Gardner
Symons-an amazingly small number
and there are some who might have
been better represented, among them
Sargent, j. Alden Weir. Inness. Whis-
tier and Eakins-but perhaps the
works preferred were not available.
Certainly the gathering of such a COLI
lection represents an enormous piece
of selective work which, in this in
stance, has been done with thorough
ness and apparent purpose-that Of
preparing the way for later and
livelier shows.
There are now on view in this new
est of art museums some of the mas.
terpieces OF American painting. and il
the collection as a whole seems a bit
dead and dull, as undoubtedly it does.
partly through content and partly ar
rangemerl. the outstanding impor.
lance ard quality of certain exhibits
cannot be denied. To see these alone
it worth more than the cost of the
trip
For example. on the long wall of the
great hall purposed tor sculpture hang
THE Fox Hunt" py Winslow Homer,
lent by the Pennsylvania Academy of
Fine Arts, and George Bellows
| Dempsey and Firpo." the property of
| the Whitney Museum. At one far end
may be seer THE Penance of Flea.
nor" by E. A. Abbey. from the Carne-
gle Institation. and at the other Carl
Melcher's Last Supper" both master.
pieces.
| Near the abbey, on a side wall,
hangs Hoverden's famous painting,
Breaking Home Ties" a genre paint.
ing whicn tells its moving story mag.
niflcently and with complete artistry.
In this hall may also be seen The
Wolf Charmer," by John La Fargo,
owned o. Washington University. st.
Louis, portrait-head of a young
woman-by George Fuller; a boldly
painted heao OF a child by Robert
Henri Landscape by Homer Martin
and a dramatic transcription of the
Aurora Borealis" by F. E. Church,
besides eighteenth century portraits
of John Page of North End by WOOL
aston ana of Jane Byrd Page. his wife.
by Hesselius. both lent by the College
of William and Mary. Williamsburg.
Va.
MOT the least interesting section Of
this exhibition is that composed
OF portraits. in many instances of per.
sons of distinction prominent in the
history OF Virginia, by famous paint.
ers, lent by individuals and institu.
lions and seldom seen. From the
| ha
of Lord Spencer by Copley and one Of
Capt. joseph Anthony by Gilbert Stu
art. The Virginia Historical Society has
lent portrait Of Lafayette by Charles
Wilson Peale. From the Virginia Theo-
logical seminary has come portrait
by Maggie of the Rev William Meade.
Henry Darlington Rely of Richmond
has lent a most interesting pair of
portraits of Mr.. and Mrs. w. H. Ca
dolph of Boyce, Va, has contributed
a portrait Of William Henry Harrison
by Rembrandt Peale. The Corcoran
Gallery OF Art has lent its self por.
trait by Malone. From the GibbeS
Memorial Gallery in Charleston have
come portraits by Theus and Sully.
The Foeg Museum. Harvarwd, has
sent superb Copley and from the
National Gallery of Design have come
excellent portraits by Morse and
Charles Elliot. 1t is not possible to
enumerate ali.
Carl Melcher's portrait of Judge
Payne hangs in one of the front gall
leries, n which also are shown Healy's
portraits of Mrs. Payne. seated at her
easel painting, and of Thomas Bar
bour Bryan her father, the founder
of the Payne collection, his wife and
son.
Strangely enough, the showing of
portraits proouced in the last double
decade OF the nineteenth century is
not strong. Sargent is represented by
THE Oyster Gatherers," lent by the
Corcoran Gallery of Art-a splendid
work. but an early one before this
master of portrait painting had come
into his own. Some of the other dis
tinguished portrait painters of this
period are, happily, still living and
producing and therefore not repre-
sented. Perhaps the best portrait
shown is that ofAnna Trequar Lang by
Chase. who is also represented by his
still life. English Cod" lent by the
Corcoran Gallery of st.
! In addition to THE Fox Hunt"
there are three Winslow Homers i'll
this charlottesville Wreck" lent by
the Carnegie Institution. and High
Cliff: Coast OF Maine lent by the Ma.
tional Gallery-both superb-and an
early work The Unruly Calf" from
the Brooklyn Museum. The Pennsyl-
vania Museum has lent two Eakins-a
name now to conjure with-neither
an example likely to find favor with
the public From the Art Museum,
Cincinnati, has come Duveneck's most
famous and charming "Whistling
Boy" well known through reproduce