Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-07-09


Fair, April "a to October 90
Comprising 800 paintings gathered
from numerous sources, but pri-
marily works still in private owner
ship, this delightful exhibition
brings wildly before the visitor if
he is of old American stock, the days
of his ancestors, and marks the
extraordinary changes that have
taken place in the mode of living
even within the recollection of those
who have not yet reached the ap-
pointed span Of three score years
and TO- 1t has been arranged
Chronologically, and for the further
dedication of the visitor fully
illustrated and well annotated cata-
logue has been compiled and pub
lished.
To this catalogue Harry B. Wehle,
curator of paintings of the Metro
politan Museum of Art, has con-
tributed an illuminating introduce
ton. which gives, from the window
which art has opened, an historical
survey of American life. clarifying
understanding. The following para
graph therefrom epitomizes the
whole.
Marked by Simplicity.
paintings" Mr. Wehle says,
"often talk to us when histories are
dumb. What written account of
man can convey his quality as i'm
mediately as a portrait does, and
what description of a city can re-
veal the flavor of its streets as does
painting with its peculiar gilt OF
color and its faculty Of presenting
simultaneously all the elements OF
the scene? But it must be simple
painting. and it is this quality OF
simplicity in many American paint
tngs that gives them especial suit
ability as vehicles for historical data.
1t has often been said that all por-
traits by great artists are self
portraits, but the temperament OF
the great painter colors everything
he paints. Some American painters,
too. have had their temperamentS.
Several of Benjamin Vests pupils
Copley, Trumbull Nanderlyn, REM
brandt, Peale AllSton and Morse
wished to devote their talents to
the higher branches of the art in
stead of portraiture, but the buying
public did not encourage such noble
ambitions. It simply refrained.
Stuart. Sully, Whistler and Sargent
all lent their sitters certain CLAM
our. and the landscapes of AllSton,
Inness Except his early work..
Hunt. Fuller and Davies are loaded
with personal emotions. In history
of cultivated American taste these
are the very men whose works would
be shown. but such poets OF the
brush are the last to be depended
upon to tell what people and things
really looked like. West, Copley and
Homer in their early works, before
European soiourns had dispelled
their innocence, and with them also
Morse and Eakins, are our best re-
porters. for their candor is matched
bv their technical skill. But for
the most part we have to depend on
obscure painters whose names are
unfamiliar, if not indeed entirely
unknown"
This reference to the reportorial
side of the art Of painting is OF
especial interest in the present day
when much that is done is so vague
and incomprehensible, and the
stressing of technical proficiency as
essential to historical reliability we'll
worthy of note. We have heard
much in recent years of the i'm
portance of setting forth pictorially
the American scene, as If in itself
1t were new discovery-and behold
here in this Metropolitan Museum
exhibition we find that painters
have been doing this for 300 years,
making good choice and bringing,
unconsciouslv, to bear upon their
task good humor and genuine sin
cerity.
Portrait Quality.
The excellence of the works of the
early American portrait painters
will always be little short Of
miracle. Through them we make
the acquaintance of the men and
women who upbuilt our Nation, and
what we see in their painted faces"
and their manner and mien fills
us with respect for their character
and gentility Among the out
standing portraits in this exhibit
ton. painted during the early days
of our Republic, are the large can
vas by Savage of "the Washington
family at Mount Vernon" from the
Mellon collection, and the portrait
of Shipper by Gilbert Stuart, from
the Corcoran Gallery of Art. OF
earlier days is the quaint child por-
trait of Eleanor Darnall, the future
Mrs. Daniel Carroll, by Justus En-
gelhart Kuhn, lent by the Maryland
Historical Society; the large group
painting of Isaac Royal and his
family, by Feke, lent by Harvard
University, and Mary and Elizabeth
Royal, by Copley, from the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
Matthew Pratt's famous painting
Of The American School-West
and his pupils-is here, as well as
the unfinished sketch by West OF
the Conference of the Treaty OF
Peace With England" which in
cludes portraits of Jay, Adams,
Franklin and Laurens. There is
charming portrait OF COl. beIlJdIIilIl
Tallmadge and his little son, by
Ralph Earl: double and rather
stilted portrait of Chief Justice
Oliver Ellsworth and his wife seat
ed by an open window, the work of
the same artist; portraits of Aaron
Burr and his daughter Theodosia,
both by Vanderlyn; Alexander Ham
ilton, by Trumbull; John Jacob As
tor, by Gilbert Stuart, and many
others. But in all probability it is
with the events recorded pictori-
elly-historical and otherwise-that
the majority of visitors will be most
concerned. The birth of museums
In this new country is commemorate
ed by a painting by Charles Will
son Peale of himself, lifting a cur
tain, which permits view of the