Evening star., 1936-08-15
ART TELLS STORIES
Return Of Vogue for Genre Paintings Is
Observed-Notab1e Examples Are
in Original Corcoran Group.
Bv Leila Mechlin.

LQISW OpSU tIlc SlutLcfS dIlu lcG
in the light" but for at least two,
L II not three generations put an
end to the painting Of pictures which
told stories, the so-called genre" The
reason for this was obvious; the i'm
pressionists, beginning with Monet,
were chiefly concerned with the rendi-
ton Of the illusions Of light and air;
it was effects rather than facts which
interested them, and painting as an
art became an end in itself. Close
on the heels of the impressionists
came the post-impressionists, revolt
ing against tradition as academically
interpreted, and after them followed
the cubists, the futurists and, finally,
the sur-realists, each going step
farther toward the borderland Of
visual incomprehensibiHty. But the
wheel has turned, and now the pic
ture which tells a story seems to be
coming back to attention and favor.
Perhaps we have wearied of bewilder-
ment; possibly here in America the
recent emphasis on mural painting
and the American scene" may have
done the trick.
At the time that w. w. Corcoran
purchased the paintings which make
up the nucleus of the Corcoran Gal
lery of Arts permanent collection
genre painting was greatly in vogue
in fact, a majority Of the pictures
produced were story telling. Espe-
cially was this so in Europe, and it
was to Europe that Americans then
looked for guidance in taste in mat
ters esthetic and for acquisition OF
works of art. Also that was the day
Of the large salon canvases, paint
ings so big that they could only be
hung in large galleries or public halls,
and which depended in a measure
upon pre-emption of space for emf
nence in consideration. To this latter
class belong such paintings in the
Corcoran Gallery of Art as "The
Drought in Egype." by j. F. Portaels;
Caesar Dead" by Gerome; Going
to Pasture" by G. s. Truesdell, and
Washed Ashore" by Charles Stanley
Reinhart, as we'll, perhaps, as others
no less well known and Of equally
interesting type.
All of these pictures are well painted,
but they are primarily illustrative, and
in dignity, strength and emotion were
outstripped by their linear dimen-
sions. In other words, their stories
could have been told just as well and
more effectively in smaller space. But
this is q matter which does not con-
Germ the story told or condemn the
practice of telling stories pictorially.
Kenyon Cox, in an essay on Sub
ject in Art" says very truly that
that art, from its beginnings among
cavemen, has always told stories, and
its twin purposes of illustration and
decoration have always gone hand In
hand, illustration being generally, in
the mind of the artist as in that OF
his audience, the more important OF
the two. This painter-author, seeking
a cause for the scorn felt. and strongly
expressed, for storytelling pictures, in
the immediate past, hit upon three
reasons: First, that painters have
told stories that were too trivial; sec
ond, that they have told stories i'll
fitted for pictorial narration, and,
third, that they have told stories
badly. Surely these are reasons
encugh-and, now that the story
telling picture is coming back inUo
favor, they should be kept in mind.
pUT of course no fast rules can
- be laid down for art criticism,
for the art of painting is too ccm-
plex and many-sided. Obviously, it
is safe to say that any story that
can be told better in words than In
paint is not suitable for pictorial
presentation, but must it not remain
Tor the artist himself to judge and
make choice? Is it not still the way
it is done? The same story told by
two people may agree in fact and
differ widely in interest and appeal;
one may be utterly boring, the other
keenly enlivening. There is some
thing both in personality and power.
AS every one knows, some of the
worlds masterpieces of painting tell
stories-the story of the Nativity"
of the "Crucifixion," the "Entomb-
ment," the Last Supper" the Last
Judgment" Rembrandt took many
of his themes from the Bible; Velas-
quaz found his in contemporary life.
And what of the charming little
paintings of the French, German,
Dutch, English and Italian schools
Of so years ago and echoed here in
America, the best of which retain
perennial sources Of delight. In these
the Corcoran Gallery of Art is un-
commonly well endowed. For ex-
ample, here is an interior, Preparing |
for Church." by Pierre Edourard |
Frere, born in Paris, 1919; died, 1886.
1t is a small canvas, representing a
French peasants cottage; a boy and |
girl, presumably brother and sister,
are dressed and ready to attend |
church, an elderly woman is fixing |
the boys tie at which delay he ex- |
hibits impatience; the girl, book in
hand, stands by patiently. Mr.. Cox
might have called this trivial sub
ject but it is charmingiy set forth.
Primarily the picture is well COM
posed, is good in design" The eye |
takes in the theme at glance, but |
wandering to the confines of the
canvas, Is satisfied by and finds unity
in the details which are purpoSely
unemphasized. The color, rather low
in tone, is not insistent but pleas
ing-but it is the spirit of the work
which gives it universal appeal and
lasting significance. In this simple
scene, so well presented, there is a
touch of the universal; one smiles
at the impatience Of youth, but SYM
pathetically, and is pleasrably i'm
pressed by the simplicity and dignity
of these peasants. The note of hu-
manity which makes all akin is
strongly felt-here Is sentiment with
out sentimentality. This is story
which does not lose by repeated re-
telling.
A MOTHER and perhaps better
n known STORYTELLING picture in