Evening star., 1937-08-28
By Leila Mechlin.

y
ing asked to define beauty,
Il cannot define 1t, but 1
can show it to you" This Is great
truth and demonstratable. Who can
define the beauty in sunset, but
where is one who does not recognize
It? Obviously there are those who see
more beauty than others, but we are
all capable of being shown Therein
lies the difference between man and
beast.
1t Is safe to say that no one visits
the Tai Mahal without being over
whelmed by sense of its beauty.
Likewise every visitor entering Saint
Chapelle In Paris instantly catches his
breath In admiration because of the
glorious beauty of its colored glass
Examples could we'll be multiplied.
These are, of course. extreme in
stances. Beauty created by the hands
Of man abides in his creations in vary
ing degrees. In supreme measure it
Is universally recognized and gives
immortality; in lesser degree it must
sometimes be hunted out, in which
pursuit artists have always-until the
present-been most ardent. 1t is they
who, making discovery. have opened
our eyes. According to tradition, it is
their high calling to make beauty
manifest.
One room in the Freer Gallery OF
Art admirably illustrates this thesis
It is that in which are shown paint
1ngs by American artists. There are
only is pictures in all, by seven
painters, but each Of the canvases has
loveliness all its own, and collectively
they make most beautiful showing
No one can enter this room without
an uprising of the emotion stirred by
beauty. and none, after tarrying, can
leave it without sense Of spiritual, or
If you prefer, esthetic refreshment, re-
establishment.
The effect comes not only from the
merit of the works themselves but
through their excellent arrangement
Abbott Thayer's superb painting of
THE Virgin one OF the masterpieces
of American art, dominates one wall
and Is outstanding, but gains in effect
by being f1anked by two very splendid
landscapes by the same painter-a
Capri, both when the sun was low In
the heavens.
On the opposite wall a double figure
painting-"The Sailor and His Sweet
heart" by Carl Melchers-hangs be-
tween landscapes by Willard Metcalf
the one full OF the high-keyed color
Of Spring, the other showing tapestry
Of Autumn, according well with Mel
chers' strong palette. In the Thayer
group, blue predominates, and the
effect is cold; here, across the room,
reds and yellous give keynote and the
harmony is enriched. And in like
manner the paintings on the side walls
At into the general scheme; to the
right is group consisting of two
works each by Tryon and Dewing
very subtle and illusive-apd to the
left. single heads. In deep resonant
tones, by Brush and Thayer, together
with two very remarkable subject
paintings by Sargent.
u
NV gamut Of American art or teach
as Its variousness? Each one Of these
painters was an individualist. No two
saw alike or painted In like manner.
Thayer used full brush and painted
broadly. building up with a rich i'm
pasto. but with great freedom, an ap-
pearance Of strength and vitality.
1 o1al 81
there would seem to have been a care
less disregard of amenities, but in
reality every touch, each dab and
streak OF color is precisely where it
should be,
George de Forest Brush, on the
other hand, is found to have obviated
in his portrait of Mrs. Brush every
trace of the way it was painted; there
are no brush strokes visible, and no
heaviness of paint. The fine grain
OF the canvas gives visible texture
when closely examined, but the effect
Is virile and perfectly sustained. Or
again, what diversity of theme and
style is observable between the stat
uesque figures Of ThaVer and the deli
cate little figures of Dewing, seen in
all their exquisite perfection as though
the wrong end Of an opera glass, near
but As distant Or for that matter
between the landscapes of Tryon, which
ere transcriptions of mood and OF
moment, to those of Metcalf, seen In
full sunlight, in utmost reality Sure
" one Is no more true than the other;
each opens to us vistas and of great
beauty. Art is of all time, but in truth,
Of many kinds, and all for our enjoy
hnent and our learning.
Abbott H. Thayer was undoubtedly
one of the giants in American art.
Born in Boston in l849, he lived most
of his life in New England Like all
the young art students of his day, he
had period of study in Paris, work.
ing in the atelier of Cerome, but no
foreign influence is mirrored in his
work, and the majority of his can
vases were produced in a studio ad-
Joining his house, at Dublin, N. H.,
where he lived the greater part Of
his life without art contacts and with
members of his family serving as
models.
The Virgin" in this collection rep
fesents his three children, his elder
daughter, flguratively, leading her
younger, and motherless, brother and
sister out into the world, clouds in
the background taking on the shape
and semblance of wings-a beautiful
conception, tenderly but strongly in
terpreted with more than touch of
the statuesque and an uncommon
sense of motion. Here, too, are portrait
studies Of the elder daughter, Mary,
and the little son, Gerald. painted, as
Is the large canvas, in such wise that
the particular gives way to the uni
versal-the external to the spirit with
IN.
A ND with what rightness this Il
done! Turning back to The Vir-
gm.- note how the sprig Of leaves at
the top Of the canvas. against the blue
gky, completes the composition, and