Evening star., 1939-01-29

dUOut 1oSA anu CIle laCteT III IHU4-O.
These, which are hung side by side
in the current exhibition, may be
regarded as the keynote to the COL
lection, possessing and making man
ifest the unique characteristics Of
Vuillard's work as well as his pro-
nounced individuality. Whether to
describe these as still life or genres
is difficult to decide-they are both
peopled interiors, as are almost all
his pictures, but the human interest
is incidental. 1t would seem, to the
environment, like loose pages from q
note book of life-not complete in
themselves, but part of something
much more profound, which has ex-
listed long since and will go on
and on.
In spirit and feeling they are very
French: subtle, sensitive, self-con-
tained and assured; not French ac-
cording to the days Of extravaganza
and splendor-not of the aristocracy,
but of the bourgeoise-the people Of
France who to great extent have
made the country what it is. No
one who knows France even slightly
can fail to find this nationalistic
quality in these works cropping out
inevitably. probably without even
the knowledge of the painter. Also
one finds in them a respect on the
part of the painter for art-an in
tense love of color-and an under
standing of the value of texture.
How he must have chuckled when,
dropping a touch of red in an other
wise somber composition, the whole
was suddenly brought to life. Surely
this must have been the case CT the
hair ribbon on the Little Girl at a
Window" lent by the Dumbarton
Oaks Collection.
There are in the collection two
interiors used ss settings for pic
lures Of the artists mother, one
showing her in q black gown, the
other in q figured wrapper, both
unf1attered but tender. The one
first mentioned includes the artists
sister also and is a strange COM
position, catching her in the act Of
coming from beneath q curtain, but
q famous canvas now owned and
lent by the Museum of Modern Art.
Other canvases come from Smith
College, the Worcester Art Museum,
the Art Institute OF Chicago (where
two at least were shown few years
ago in the Century of Progress Ex-
position), from such private collec-
tions as those Of Chester Dale, Mrs.
John D. Rockefeller, jr.: Mr.. and
Mrs. Charles H. Worcester, Mr.. Alan
Denzer and Miss Emily Milliken
Lambert. as well as from some we'll
known New York dealers.
1t is true that some of these paint
inss are bit vague and few make
one wonder how in the matter Of
draperies and furnishings French
taste could have been so tolerant or,
to our American eyes, gone so far
astray-but without exception these
canvases evidence to the art lover
the meaning Of that expression, "the
sheer beauty of paint" rightly and
knowingly applied. 1t is this which
gives delight and assures unending
enjoyment.
Bonnard's paintings, which hang
nearby, are supposed to belong to
the same genre and, as it were, to
reflect the excellence of their
achievement upon those of the lesser
painter; but Bonnard is much more
the cosmopolitan, swayed by the
fashion of the day, and with all the
greater egotist pressing forward his
own personality, rather than as
WILLARD losing himself in his work.
However, each has his place.
Less understandable or explicable
are the Autographs of these two fell
low artists. Being in color, they
might well be expected to prepare
the way for a better appreciation
of the artists point of view. But
they do not. In them vagueness
reaches the borders of incompre-
hensibinty, and the more one looks
the more puzzling they become. In
two WILLARD manifests again his
love of red, especially as woven into
a pattern, and in another he fills
in a space with fabric which must
have been printed in small and
attractive pattern, but what or why
is not clear. Bonnard's, while less
subtle, are much of the same type.
Why were they done-what is their
significance? Perhaps as passing
thoughts or memoranda.
Works of Paris Painters
OF Today to be SholDn In
Washington Gallery OF the
Museum OF Modern Art.
The Washington Gallery Of the
Museum of Modern Art has issued
invitations to a preview of an exhi-
bition of Paris Painters of Today"
this afternoon from 4:30 to $50
o'clock. On Tuesday, and for al
most a month, this exhibition will
be open to the public under the
usual conditions from 1880 am. to
$50 pm. on week days and from
2 to pm. on Sundays.
A good many of the paintings to
be shown have been sent over from
Paris through the cooperation of
L'Societe de L'Art" and have not
been previously exhibited in this
country. Among these will be works
by Roger Chastel, Coutaud, Jacques
Despierre, Jean Janin, Henry jan
not, Andre Marchand, Renee Morere,
A. Pellan, Georges Rhoner, Martin
Rocque, Paul Strecker, Rene Tai
Coat and Claude Venard.
Included in this showing will be
three paintings shown in the French
section Of the recent international
Exhibition at the Carnegie Insti-
tute, Pittsburgh, one Of which the