Evening star., 1962-04-22

than the others, possibly be-
cause, as a native Philadel-
phian, she sold or gave many
of her works to people in this
country.
The show, for example, has
her magnificent, calm, do
mestic piece, "a Cup of Tea"
from the Museum Of Fine
Arts, Boston; the imposing
Lady at the Tea Table" from
the Metropolitan and the
shimmering Woman With a
Dog" from the Corcoran.
Set-Piece Works
The other three are not
represented by anything like
such famous pictures. Yet,
you don't miss the set-piece
works, for example Manet's
Bar at the Folies- -Bergeres."
The quality Of the four as
individual artists and the
qualities they had in COM
mon all come through beau
tifully and the exhibition is
completely rewarding.
Besides paintings, there are
drawings. prints and, for
Degas, sculpture. That last
strikes the only false note in
the show. The little bronze
dancer is set up on a minia-
ture stage and is Just a shade
too chic for so determinedly
anti-chic an artist as DegaS.
Miniature Salon
The other stroke of origi-'
nality in the installation
comes off well. A miniature
salon opens the show, COM
plete with red velvet and gilt
rope and half a dozen salon
pictures, the best known Of
which is Gerome'S slave
Market" The salon sets the
tone against which the four
artists-along with most of
their generation - rebelled.
The salon pictures are not
only bad art; they are hope
lessly bad life. Part Of the
use Of this device is to con-
trast the view of life given
in the salon with that given
by the four.
Dominating the little salon
is a ghastly picture of the
artists of the past assembled
in a kind Of Pantheon, COM
pletely with footnotes. Degas
also has something to say
about artists at work, espe-
cially about the ballet girls
he painted so often. Far
from being noble figures, his
ballet classes and perform
ances are all composed Of
sweat, close attention, end
less repetition and sheer
drudgery. This is his message
about art: It's hard work.
Again, Gerome'S "Slave
Market" presents the nude
back of the girl for sale al
most as it might have drawn
by Petty. The actual nudes
who throng through the
canvaSes of the show are
quite different. In one word,
they are real.
All ReaIists
In one word, all four
painters in the show were
realists. They painted what
they saw and they looked in
all directions. CaSsatt'S fig
ures are sometimes criticized
because the women obviously
know they are being painted.
But, after all, they we're being
painted, they were aware of
it and their awareness be-
comes an important part of
the world of Mary Cassatt.
All four also were always
on the look out for the un-
expected touch of humor,
human or visual, in the world
before them. Thus, Morisot's
charming picture of a girl
reading while seated in q
meadow: the spring flowers
of the grass form a pattern
which is continued in the
flowers of her dress. Thus
Cassatt's night at the opera:
the girl in the foreground
raises her glasses to stare at
the stage; halfway round the
horseshoe, a gentleman raises
his glasses to stare at the girl.
Thus, Manet's cafe, with the
waitress in the rear taking
a healthy swig while the
foreground couple waits for
service.
The show is a gorgeous,
juicy view Of the life of the
last century by four ex-
tremely talented observers. It
Is also a reminder to us, as to
the Salon, that only at its
peril does art break COM
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