Evening star., 1940-01-07

preclatlOn OF his ART. therefore II
would seem that to the Phillips Gal
lery Daumier stands somewhat in
the position of a patron saint, and
certainly to know him at his best
1t is necessary to come here and
see his dramatic painting, THE Up
rising" ana the roomful of little
canvases that represent him so
inimitably and so well.
Daumier produced during his life
time about 1000 Autographs made
for various French publications
such as La Caricature, Charivari,
L'Beaux Arts, Les Modes Pari-
siennes, LIE Boulevard and others,
the issues of which, being chiefly of
timely interest, perished long before
the true value and lasting worth of
their pictorial content was realized.
Through the bequest of a Mr.. Law
renee, the New York Public Library
has about 700 of these astounding
Daumier Autographs, a collection
which in number Of detached ex-
amples is scarcely surpassed by that
of the Biblioteque Rationale, Paris.
There are only 40 examples in the
Phillips Gallery exhibition, but they
embrace two of the most famous
the tragic Rue Transnonain, which
John Taylor Arms has declared, in
his Print Making and Print Max
ers," to be lone of the great works of
art of the world" and Timer Work.
ingS of the Legislative Assembly
Aspect of Ministerial Benches of the
Chamber in 1884; also, covering
quite wide range, they evidence
Daumier's versatility and breadth of
outlook. Obviously he was a carl
caturist of the first water; satirical,
at times cynical; pouncing uner-
ringly upon the failings and foibles
of those around him, Of both high
and low degree, and exposing them
to the world at large.
He was himself intensely human
and he had an extraordinary sense
of humor but imbedded in his con-
sciousness was a deep hatred for
sham and Observation-Disclosures
toward those who used their powers
to oppreSs-and some of his draw
ings hit hard at greed and selfish
ness. Nevertheless. how black the
scoWl, the chuckle was near at hand,
and-save for the law courts and
their denizens and the legislators
and their dupeS-he as a rule had
mercy. 1t is true that none with
whom he came in contact escaped
his keen observation and clever
pencil. He made fun of his painter
colleagues. of those of the theater,
of the little milliner. of those who
travelled on the railway, of the
pompous plutocrat, of the shoe
black plying his trade, of the women
of society and the women who
worked; but not in cruel fashion;
In fact, just because he really found
them amusing in their trivialities.
All this the Autographs now on view
in the Phillips Memorial Gallery
show.
Called Great Artist.
OF course, the caricaturist, car
toonist, illustrator, must always be
primarily subjective, but to have
attained to the rank now universally
given to Daumier, one must have
been more than this-a great artist
The public of his day regarded him
as a most clever and delightful
caricaturist, to be enjoyed but also
sometimes feared, but his friends
among the artists-Corot, Daubigny,
Delacroix-recognized in him a
great talent and were in full agree
ment with Balzac when he said,
There is something of the Michael
angelo in this man." Baudeclaire,
the distinguished French critic,
wrote of his art as follows: "Dau-
mier's distinguishing note as an
artist is his certainty His drawing
is fluent and easy: it is continuous
Improvisation. His powers of OBJ
servation are such that in his work
we never find single head that
is out of character with the figure
beneath it"
Nevertheless" he adds, zone must
not look at too many of these
caricatures. For the numerical
restraint of the current exhibition
there is perhaps reason for graft
tude.
Much as one may admire and be
carried away by the brilliance of
Daumiers Autographs, one must
admit, as did Mr.. Phillips when
writing of this master in 1922, that
1t was in his paintings his genius
fowered. And yet when, in 1860,
after having served as caricaturist
for over 30 years, and produced not
only prodigiously but with almost
unvariable merit, he gave up his
lucrative profession to devote him
self to painting, he was unable to
make living-his canvases simply
did not sell. In 1864 he resumed
his drawing with photographic crayon
on stone, and had no difficulty in
securing unemployment. And yet
that which made his Autographs
what they were, his mastery draw
ing, was the backbone of his paint
ings. To quote our foremost Amer
lean art critic, Royal Cortissoz:
"Daumier drew with a certain
largeness and sweep. a certain noble
force. 1 say noble advisedly, be-
cause, while the end of the artist
was ridicule, and he would exagger-
ate the physiognomy sometimes to
an almost repulsive degree, there is
something which you can only
designate as grandeur about the
linear simplicity and power through
which he gains his effect. You see
this magic of his working supremely
in his caricatures, some of which
rejoice my soul, but, thinking of the
satirist as artist, I care for him
especially as painter"
In this it would seem all must
concur. and the opportunity which
the Phillips Memorial Gallery af-
fords for comparison is exceptional
indeed. Hung in the library here
at present are not only THE Up
rising"-a dominant canvas-but