THE COURIER
3
V
L
Is another story. We have all gone
further than that In Nebraska.
"A Summer IJain." by Edward II.
Barnard, is a, satisfactory picture of
real rain, wet, soft, warm and refresh
ing. The grass is bent by the rain and
the wind and the light green tender
spring day Is full of poetry and har
mony. The diffused light of a rain
storm has Its own fascination, and Mr.
Harnard has apprehended It.
"Night and the Waning Day" recalls
the picture by Watts, "Love and
Heath." The tone is low; the great
figures are full of tenderness and pow
er. Enveloped in a half light, night
supports the fading figure of day with
assurance, and day leans upon her as
love leans upon death. It Is not the
day of the symbolic picture; but sym
bolists are always with us. and when
they chose to express themselves in
line and color instead of blank verse
or rhymed couplets we can only ad
mire especially if, as In this case, the
picture is drawn with Miltonie power.
J. Carrol Beckwith how we have let
him slip out of our consciousness! He
paints in the old style, hard and dry.
Two portraits, one of a woman with
black drapery about her face, and a
half-length portrait of a man. The
woman is softer, becoming her sex; the
man might have been cut out of paper,
painted and pasted to the background
for all the artist's recognition of a
background's rights and of its rela
tionship to the figure in the fore
ground. And yet the note in the program
sa, "What stimulating actuality! So
direct and telling in its relation to
facts and yet with a pleasant artifice
in the arrangement of background that
gives the figure pictorial support with
out detracting from its due predomi
nance. The color is dry, perhaps even
st trifle harsh, but this portrait lias dig
nity." Perhaps so; but it would make
Whistler hop. Such a portrait per
forms an admirable, a Spartan func
tion, by closing the discussion as to
whether or not the impressionists have
contributed to the historical develop
ment of picture painting.
Frank W. Benson, he of the free hand
and free mind, unburdened by tradition
and confident of his own translations
of light and the circumambient air, has
a picture "Summer." Without break
ing the laws of the actual Mr. Ben
son's young girl floats. There is no
breeze, but her light slow movement
and the capricious summer air flutter
her garments. The program says there
is a suggestion of Botticelli in the lines
of the drapery. The eye immediately
confirms Madame Grace Wickham
Currie's statement. Something of Bot
ticelli there is In this picture; but
whether it is in the draperies or in the
oval iaC".an(1 features or in the glad
someness of i.e figure and its abundant
life and movement, it is dilHcult to say.
The vibration o(- the air through which
she so gently im,v is very apparent.
The soft, warm Kreens of the fields,
and her gown, of ummer made, is
pleasingly symbolic. . -.Wt
It is hard to believe that the sai72e
man who painted the immortal
"Alice" and the "Shinnecock Hills"
painted "A Friendly Call." a picture
of two commonplace women' in a com
monplace room making a common
place call. Perhaps next to Sargent
Mr. Chase has accomplished more
noteworthy pictures than any other
man in America, but evidently he has
done some rubbishy things too.
Mr. F. A. Bridgman has sent two
pictures. One. "Souvenir of Armenon
ville." charms by the illuminated, fire
fly background and by a white feather
boa exquisitely painted, which is il
luminated tenderly and poetically, too,
by the light of a near-by, hidden
lamp. Another picture of light al
ready referred to is the work of Hugh
II. Breckenrldge. It is light triumph
ant, warm, joyous. The fine discrim
ination of the artist and the confident
handling of a subject which has
battled older painters draws a crowd
of spectators to this particular pic
ture. "The Belated Pedler," by E. It.
Couse, is a prairie schooner illumin
ated by light inside the canvas wagon.
The charming effect of a light Inside
a tent or any canvas shelter has been
frequently noted by campers. Mr.
Couse has managed to preserve this
effect anil the figure of the woman
with her baly bending over the wagon
to get out the supper from her stroll
ing pantry is suggestive of home and
the perpetual charm of the mother.
The composition is simple and unaf
fected. The picture which Mrs. Kenyon Cox
calls "Leonard" has a persistency, the
little figure in a yellowish padded coat
remains upon the retina of the mem
ory. Do I close my eyes and bring up
the gallery of paintings, that little fig
ure with the orange appears. The
charm is not all in the baby, though
it is a nice baby; it is the ivory yellow
of the baby's dress, his blue eyes, his
pink hands, one of which clasp an In
spired orange. If the orange were not
there the composition would not re
main so persistently. It is the key of
the baby; if she had not struck it
babyhood would be as sweet but as
ineffectual as the hundreds of babies
we see in a week and forget as soon
as their innocent faces are turned the
other way. It recalls the well-known
Baby Stewart by Van Dyke.
"The Golden Mirror." by Alexander
Harrison, is, of course, a marine. The
setting sun has turned the ocean Into
heavy, molten metal. Heavy crescents
of the metal which relied the gold
and olive of the sun roll in toward a
willing beach attired in the same col
ors. There is something hard in the
picture, but I am inclined to attribute
it to the subject rather than to the
artist's technique. A sea catching the
last metallic beams of the sun looks
hard, and the waters lose their cajol
ing deceitful softness. It is as though
the last day had come and the metals
of the earth had been melted by the
great lire inside the earth and had
poured themselves into the sea.
"Harvard Bridge at Twilight," by
Birge Harrison, is a picture of one of
the long bridges connecting Harvard
and Boston. It is a theme which In
spired one of Longfellow's best short
poems. It recalls the long bridge,
with the double row of lights and the
moving iridescent waters under it.
The smooth waters that relied the
lights and mysteriously the human
presence, the kind of water that is al
ways found under a bridge constantly
tramped by men's feet. How different
the reflections of the water under a
bridge in the forest, shaded by trees
and occasionally the mirror of watch
ful animal eyes. These waters of the
Charles river have received the im
pression of the multitude and they re
flect it. The oils which a stream near
a multitude carries out to the ocean
may give this impression to an ana
lytic, unpoetic soul; but whatever
subtle or material element conveys the
feeling, Mr. Harrison has understood
it and painted a better picture than
the distinguished Alexander himself.
"Onions," a still-life by Clara T.
MacChesney, is as crisp as the beau
tiful purple, grey, red vegetables
the.'"se,ves- 'e ought to keep things
sej)ar4te, and, above all things, re
member Whistler's warning in rela
tion to tlle fuuetion of painting. We
can not ricj ourselves of suggestions
from one snse while we are using
and enjoying "not her. For instance
concerning the' onions, visitors to the
gallery say. "& w". tbey :re only
onions, and no flatter hmv wt'" the'
are painted." Th)?refore these exquis
ite mother-of-pearir1'"1"'1 spheres are
ignored. Painting as nothing to do
with either the sense of sme11 or the
sense of taste, and the people who
look as if they smelled som.'tninS
when they stop in front of the beVu"
tiful onions just rolled out of the iwn
brass kettle are in an immature stated
of philosophical development.
Miss Sara Hayden has a case con
taining three miniatures. Most min
iatures (modern) look as if the artist
had simply tried to paint a miniature
for the sake of showing that he is a
master of that peculiar kind and qual
ity of painting. Miss Hayden's sub
jects are as sharply individualized, as
closely studied, as though they were
life size canvases. The landscapes are
dean In color and thoroughly artistic.
Miss Walsh, another Lincoln artist,
has three pictures hung In tills gal
lery: "Ie Petit Sou," a landscape and
a kitchen interior. Miss Walsh's work
has gained, since her pictures were
last exhibited here, in depth and
quietness of tone; yet they are no less
effective and they have not lost the
wonderful carrying quality which they
always possescd. The kitchen Inte
rior, a stone fireplace, is a small pic
ture, not much more than a foot square.
Near it is a larger picture, three or
four feet square, by Symonds. Across
the room it is a blur, but Miss Walsh's
little picture is articulate with mean
ing. The little beggar girl has the
same quiet, consistently maintained
tone. The landscape Is suffused with
atmosphere. Miss Walsh has clear
isions and reports them clearly,
though with a reserve and regard for
the science of placing a landscape on
canvas that removes her far from the
amateur class.
The large canvas unfortunately
hung all by itself at tile end of the
hall is "The Angel with the Flaming
Sword." by Mr. Edwin II. Blashtleld.
Mr. Blashtleld is a painter of large
subjects on large canvases. Cathe
dials no longer give a man a lifetime
and a fortune to fresco their walls
with pictures of the Creator, the prin
cipal scenes in the life of Christ and
the trials Bind triumphs of the Apos
tles. In the days of Michael Augelo
Mr. Blashtleld would have been lying
on his back, strapped to the top of a
scaffolding two-hundred feet high,
painting angels. His niagiiiticeut can
ases would now have the reputation
they deserve. As it is, he is not out
of joint with the times, for he paints
panel pictures of very well-grown an
gels, but his pictures are a trifle large
for the flats of New York, where the
most of the people who buy pictures
appear to reside. This Flaming Sword
angel whose function it is to keep
Adam and Eve. Peary, and every
other curiosity collector out of the
Garden of Eden, looks as though no
better man could be selected for the
place. His eyes burn with a steady
light and they are the deep blue eyes
of Cod's angels. The climax is not in
the sword but in the eyes though the
light streams from the sword on to
the splendid flanks and chest or the
great angel. He is a symbol of Cod's
justice and unchanging fixity. It is
worth while having the mind and the
heart and the comprehension to paint
such a great picture as this, even
though it is too tremendous a pres
ence for daily association.
The illustrations to Milton's "Ode to
the Nativity," by Frank V. Du Mond.
sent by the Century Company, are ex
quisitely colored and mystically con
ceived. The glimmer of gold and the
religious use of color as in Fa Angeli
ca's pictures give a sense of an old
world's and an old century's artistic
interpretation of religion.
"Embers," by Eastman Johnson, has
the fascination of a dying fire. The
flames look as though they would burn
the hands that,, tried their heat.
There are several pictures in the gal
lery for those who like their art and
literature mixed. Such are "Atala,"
by Lucius Hitchcock, "Her Tribute."
by Kline, "Hester," by Loomis, "Alone
Henceforth," and several others.
One of the most attractive pictures It
the room is that one of a boy curled up
with a boy's diregard for upholstering
in a big arm chair. His abandonment
and the long, long dreams of a boy
are subtly suggested. A touch more
and Sargent himself might have paint
ed the lad. The painter of this brown
picture is Caroline Peart and she lives
in Philadelphia..
"The Reflection," by Helen W.
Phelps, is a study of the orange light
re'ftrtetl from drapery of that color
on a woman's body. These studies of
light refTeVted frm various textures on
to various'' surfaces are interesting
enough in thenfsv,ves- People who look
at pictures are sIcV" attaining the
view of the people who Paint Pictures,
that color and form i,nd I!8ht are ex
cuses enough for paint'.' an" beauti
ful object whether It Is an onion as
the Innl made It, or the perfect form
of a woman. They are both chef d'
octtvrcs from the hand of the Ineffable
Artist. Tlle sooner we can wash the
Impurities from our minds and enjoy
color and line and light as artists do
the sooner will our world be larger and
more fascinating.
Bert Phillips two pictures of In
dians are very characteristic In ex
pression. The color Is as vivid and real
as a Navajo blanket, anil as Joyous.
Mr. Edward II. Potthast. of Winches
ter. Massachusetts. Is a man and a
poet, as well as a painter, and any wo
man on earth would be glad to have
him for a brother. He has a yoke of
oxen pulling a cart that can pull a
li. ,i ier load than he has yoked them to
The motion and the big muscles under
the loose ox hides Is enchanting. And
there is something else of life anil labor
that strikes the note of kinship, with
out dwelling or sentimentalizing about
it as some artists and poets do. that
makes the laborers who look at his
work class the hand that he has
stretched out to them not in patronage
but as one plowman halloos another.
If the worthy committee whos mem
hers select the pictures which the so
ciety shall purchase and add to their
permanent collection should chance to
s 'In l this irile example of clean fine
color and wholesome feeling, the com
munity would give a big sigh of con
tentment. "In the Sun." by Theodore Robinson,
is a picture of a country girl lying on
the grass in the blazing sun with a
ought straw hat partially shading h-r
face. It Is painted with a thoroughly
original and inborn technique. The
man must have been very obstinate
and convinced of the soundness of his
own inspiration. The catalog says he
studied in Paris. He has painted a
vital picture of sunlight and his eyes
and the inner light showed him how
to paint It. There Is not a hint of the
encyclopedia here.
"The Bath." Is by Douglas Volk. It
is the figure of a young girl languid
from a bath and leaning back against
pillows, while her nurse dries her limbs.
The next picture is a painting of a
young girl placing a rose in her hair.
She is dressed in dead white satin,
which has no vibration. Compare th
white of the cotton pillows against
which Mr. Edmund C. Tarbell's clean
young lady leans, with the white,
which should be glistening, of Mr. Irv
ing K. Wiles' yellow rose girl. Mr.
Tarbell's whites are warm and tender
and the young girl is an emblem of
early spring as all young girls are
when correctly painted. This picture
of the Bath should remove what prej
udice still exists against the nude when
painted with purity and love of beauty.
One of the most lovely pictures is
"The Singers" by Henry Oliver Walker.
wliii has been at work since the walls
were ready for him, on large mural
paintings for the Congressional Li
brary. The quiet greys and greens of
this picture suggest the fervor and th
religious Inspiration and joy of paint
ings of the Madonna and Child.
A critique is never anything mor
than the expression of one person's
opinion. There are as many points of
view as there are people standing on
them, and no one can truly say this is
good and this is bad. What is one
man's meat is another man's poison.
The collection of painted china Is re
ma! kable for the number of pieces
painted and for the great beauty of the
work. I feel as weak as a baby In the
presence of painted china because I
know nothing about the art. It is an
impertinence to publicly express an ig
norant opinion. The china painters
are: Mrs. Brock, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs.
Edmlnston, Miss Helen Tuttle. Mrs. J.
B. Wright, Mrs. Greenlee. Mrs. E. P.
Brown and Sisters of the Sacred Heart
Convent, Lincoln; Mrs. Truax, Mrs.
Bachman, Mrs. Comfort, Mrs. Harr,
Mrs. Hood, and Miss Butterfield, Oma
ha; Mrs. Fuller. Ashland: Mrs. Anna
A. Green, Chicago; Mrs. Shldler. York:
Mrs. Morey, Hastings.
3 A S
75- ?S-
He weighed sixteen hundred pounds
of coal In the scales and they registered
a full ton. He chuckled. "These I call
the 'Ambuscade" scales. They He in
wait."
