Evening star., 1951-08-12

"A French INTERIOR" by Lou
cluding individual portraits OF
II the public gave as much at
tention to works of art as they dc
to musical compositions, art would
undoubtedly be as popular as
music. OF course, we who regularly
visit museums and galleries think
we give their exhibits our full at
tention. But the mechanisms OF
listening and looking are such that
we actually do not see as much as
we hear, generally speaking. Since
music extends in time, each note
and chord falls in succession upon
our ears, whereas when we regard
a painting, we take in the general
effect, scrutinize a few foreground
figures, then move on to the next
work Gust as If we were to walk
away in the middle of a perform
ance of music). That is why we
can lope through an art gallery
f1icking our eyes at hundreds of
| pictures. in the same length of
time that we would spend at a
concert, listening to no more than
six or eight compositions.
These reflections came to me
when I examined a book recently
published, "Children's Portraits:
The World of the Child in Euro
pean Painting" with an introduc-
ton by Bettina Hurlimann
cThames & Hudson; So. It has
80 photogravure plates and 3 in
color, reproducing works by old
and modern masters of five cen
turies Q5th through 19th).
Unfamiliar Portraits.
| A major virtue of the book is the
fact that the author has assem-
bled a large number of portraits
unfamiliar if not entirely unknown
to most people, by the usual stand
ards of reproduction. There have
been so many magazine articles
and books on portraits OF children
that one expects to find in each
new treatise on the subject, such
favoriteS as the Blue Boy" cage
OF Innocence" Raphaels cherubs
and various others reproduced
countless times. :
Some of the most unusual of
Miss Hurlimann's selections, by
earlier masters, are details from
large compositions, details at
which one often glances only
casually. 1t occurred to me that
there are probably as many telling
captures of childhood in Washing
ton galleries, still not particularly
familiar to Washingtonians. nc
matter how often they have vis-
tied them.
Paintings of Children.
With the aim of becoming bet
ter acquainted with some of these
youngsters. revisited the Ma
tional Gallery and was amazed at
the number of appealing chill
dren had previously seen, but
not looked at. not a few of them
subordinated to the interest of
groups and more important por-
traits Of adults. Such, for exam
pie. is the young groom holding
a horse in Giovanni di Paolo's
Alteration of the Magi," (gal-
lery ID. This 18th century lad in
blue, with a beautiful profile, is
standing in an easy, relaxed pose,
looking affectionately at the
horse he holds. Another such
small detail is the tousle- headed
little blond boy in the lower left
hand corner of Watteau's italian
Comedians" gallery SD industri-
ously making a wreath of flowers
for the testers bauble.
Miss Hurlimann omitted from
her "Children's Portraits" pic
lures of the Christ Child, ex-
pressed in countless images, which
call for a book devoted to them
because she was interested in
studying paintings of children in
relation to the social and educa-
tional changes that influenced
their upbringing. Secular por-
traits, she says, enable us tt
trace the changes in the conduct
and appearance of the child, ano
SO to deduce the place it occupied
within it's environment"
The National Gallery has some
outstanding portraits in this cate.
CORY. Whatever the objectives II
painting the portraits may have
been, the artists did full justice
to the appearances and personali-
ties of the children. In gallery
IA, for instance. Lucas Cranach's
portraits of a Saxon prince ano
princess are extraordinarily indi-
vidual likenesseS. The rakiSh till
of the little princes richly jew
eled chaplet emphasizes his ex-
lpression, which is independent and
fearless, If not bordering on i'm
pudent. His sister, on the other
hand, is gentle and submissive
Titian's portrait of Rannucio Far
nese gallery Cob shows q hand
some lad whose sparkling eyes
vital young face and close
cropped hair belle the mature
Ipoise with which he wears his
Isumptuous costume and sword.
The full significance Of the child
as subject for painting, Miss
Hurlimann says, was first realized
in the 17th century. I'm the work
of the LIE Mains we encounter for
the first time the clearly recog-
Inizable portraits of individual
peasant children" Whether or not
we agree with this statement, in
view Of the fact that Bruegtel was