Evening star., 1937-08-07

|
tury there was in France, it will
be remembered, a vogue for dramatic
themes in painting-art was employed
to laud valor, to glorify conquest, t
record great events in history. ir
short to increase patriotism and exal1
achievement. to make the great
greater still. In order to be more
imposing and better seen, huge
canvasses were painted. later to be
known AS salon pictures" art be-
came very impressive, but oompous
and dull. The Clark collection skips
over this debacle and presents next
in order the paintings OF the Bar
bizOn School-landscapit who. moved
by the beauty of nature, essayed to
interpret it on canvas with utmost
truth and unfailing charm.
OF the works of Corot there are
no less than % in the Clark COL
lection. CLARK must have had a
positive cult" says Royal Cortissoz,
for the great lyric genius of French
landscape and he had good fortune
IN acquiring one major canvas after
another" Especially notable are
'Ronde des Nymphs.' La Danse
sous les Arbres au Bord du Lac" and
The Glade; Gossips." Also among
the writer's favorites are lie Colisee
Vudes Jardins Fabrese" and "Cueillette
a lAriccia' Corot's indebtedness to
the Italian school is we'll represented
here as we'll as the individuality of
the style of his own which he de-
veloped. How poetic was his vision
how willing he was to sing the same
song again and again.
There is no painter who has been
more forged and initiated than Corot,
and aspersions have been made con-
corning some of the paintings given
to him in this collection But if thev
are so deceptively good, and no longer
on the market, should not they be
accepted by the visitor at their face
value? It would seem so.
Other Barbizon men are represented
here and well: Millet, most admirably
by series OF six drawings; Diaz by
three canvases, Dupre by one, Rous-
seau by three, Troyon by four, Dau-
bigny by two. All of these painters
are also represented, and in most
instances the writer thinks better. in
the foreign section of the Corcoran
Gallerys collection the nucleus of
which was given by Mr.. Corcoran.
Here is the splendid Corot The
Wood Gatherers," always a great IA
vorite, a bold piece of painting and
inimitable. Thus in the study of
French art the Corcoran collection
admirably supplements and renforces
the Clark collection.
A MOTHER French landscape
painter of the later-day school is
also most generously represented in
the Clark collection. This Is Cain.
Apparently Senator Clark literally fell
in love with his work and could not
resist it. And here the collectors
Judgment would seem to have tripped,
for surely Cain was no great artist.
His paintings have, as Corot's, lyrical
charm, but they have not the indi-
viduality or distinction with which
Corot endowed his works. They are
apt to be trifle too pretty, sweet.
But occasionally he attained very
lovely effects. as. for example. "Ecouen
on the Cliffs; Low Tide" Starlight
Hayricks" and The Windmill" But
Cain cannot be said to have made
any real contribution to French art
beyond the moment-and the Barbi-
zon painters one and all did
Finally We turn to two paintings,
both of Paris street scenes. by Raj
faelli, an impressionist-and of the
first water; and to a series of six illus
trative panels by Boutet de Monvel
which seem to embody the whole
spirit of French art, and are con-
sldered by some critics as the bright
est spot" in the entire collection
Cain was said added nothing to the
length or breadth of French art, but
Raftaelli did. His works, of which
Clark Collection. have an individually
all their own. They are vital, alive,
they convey to the eye of the observer
true Interpretation of Paris-as
lively and veracious as lie Gallienne's
word pictures, From a Paris Garret." ="
They are in a manner essentially
French, but all his own.
The Boutet de Monvel panels are
dedicated to the story of Joan of Arc,
beginning with the Vision and ending
with the Trial, picturlng her appeal
to the Dauphin, showing her, as France
loves to think of her. on horseback
valiant unafraid, then in the midst
Of turmoil and at the croWning of the
Dauphin at Rheims. A touching story
graphically told, but not without a
| certain amount Of gliding by splendor
OF costume and martial pomp. De
Monvel was first of all an illustrator
| then decorator He understood better
! than many. the uses OF simplif1cation
| the advantages to be got from fat
| masses Of color, how and when to en-
| rich design. These paintings would
! enlarged, make magnificent murals--
/ 80 $efSI tiiSJ ottiil ~ VI y loi SlJdCt
| They delight the eye-but as compared
| to the st. Genevieve panels Of Puvis
! de Chavanne in the Pantheon in Paris
! they are spiritless and taudry. How
much more magnifcently has the
| Maid Of Orleans been memorialized
in equestrian statues by three sculptors
two French, one American, Fremiet
| Dubois and Anna Hyatt Huntington
all three Of whose works seem TO have
| been rendered with deep emotion This
is the quality which Monvel's paint
ings apparently lack. But he was a
great illustrator and these are de-
clared 10 be his "ched d'oeuvre" Ger
tainly they show us another facet OF
the art Of France and open to its un-
| derstanding still another vista.
! The art Of the modern French
School has no representation in this
| collection. for the knowledge and
better understanding Of which we can
| however, happily turn to the Phillips
| Memorial Gallery. Possibly Senator
! Clark was not attracted by it. perhaps