| Show BE HE centennial ART exhibition PAINTING ono hundred years years ago the masters of painting in their theory and in their practice adopted rules and executed works all too metaphysical too abstruse aba truce for the present generation drapery as represented by them does not represent anything but drapery drape ry it is not silk nor cloth nor linen it does not represent a material of any texture the figures in their battle pictures are not greeks bauls nor saxons they are warriors men A visit to the great exposition in philadelphia convinces us that this style of art would not be tolerated now in regard to painting we live in a realistic age if figures are represented they must be frenchmen or saxons italians or indians drapery is clothing and must resemble a tangible either silk cloth or linen the modern painter works for a texture and makes a surface as perfect in its resemblance as his power and paint will allow him this to us seems the true method great artists take nature for their model says saya charles blanc and the same rule should guide the critic when pronouncing upon the merits or demerits of works of art tb the tho 0 only question with him being as to how far the exact forms should be represented one landscape painter for instance paints trees rocks and banks I 1 in n a vague almost indefinite manner mauner giving his attention to masses only another will reproduce the objects with a microscopic accuracy painful to the eye iud bud nud ind in both methods we find ovll evia aviu tice nce lice of a painstaking truth beeking beell seeLi tig sig student with arguments for and ana lA against oither cither style causing an unsettled controversy and numerous opinions th q iu in the end leave the sad sed d critic to rely on his own judgment lit iii to measure the stab standard dard of a picture by comparing it to ir scenes he has observed in nature i nd of which he has but an imper imperfect reet recollection that a fair representation of the various schools oburt might he be seen in juxtaposition ion ioa at the centennial exhibition admirable rule rules s were adopted or at least proposed for the guidance of committees of selection 1 1 ane ph foreign nations nation were invited to appoint or select committees coth composed posed of competent judges to select those works of merit best representing pr benting their na national Vional position in art american artists were requested to forward these proposed exhibits to philadelphia on or before a specific date when a com of professionals appo appointed by the centennial managing board would select and hang works sufficiently ien jen ly and indicative ofal nati nation ouli art growth during the past century that this pro gramme nas lias not been carried gut put by foreign lla lia nations tjong tiong we have abundant evi evidence with one or two exceptions european art schools are not properly represented in the french department we miss the names of leading men such as de la roche noche Meis mels Gero meDore and others and look in vain in the gordian german gallery for a kaulbach or zi Aa Lessing leasing italy with her statuary and great britain with her painting paintings alone seem to have entered into the enterprise with a right 1 spirit and as a consequence their display li play ia is not only representative f but excels all others in quality ant ani andea vet yet even here we would like to have seen better samples selected efrom from the works of maclise land landseer rand seer or pr hunt that thew the merican american department is is patent to all the best beat works of our best living painters are not on exhibition the the committee of selection have proved themselves incompetent and bi assed instead of selecting for exhibition the best pictures coming from and representing the different states and Terri territories tories whereby a fair approximation could bo be formed i of the art standing of our local lecal communities muni ties they have put on their prejudiced goggles au and ruled out nil all works but their own hanging them on the walls by the dozen and filling out vacant spaces with samples from tho easels eadels of local favorites bound in the same cliques be it remembered the majority of the selecting committee were all from ono one city the result we find in many instances ia Is halad dozen pictures by the same hand and still worse ore the majority of them the g wail W wall kle ile flowers of a dozen exhibitions past america Is a great country and all her enterprises are correspondingly great wo we realize this while crowding through th centennial art galleries and w must confess to have also that bigness la is not always greatness and that too little w see where too much is to be seen memorial hall is divided twenty six galleries seven of which are arc occupied by great britain five by italy four by the united states two by france france two by germany two by belgium one by austria one by norway and ong one by sweden and spain the annex to the hall Is divided into forty five galleries gailer galler ies iea occupied by pictures from italy france netherlands belgium sweden denmark norway norway spain portugal brazil brazils argentine republic chill mexico canada and the unita united states the two buildings contain nearly specimens of art to attempt to examine and criticise critic ise lse each exhibit would be preposterous and endless and time wasted as the majority of the pictures I 1 am surry sorry to confess are far below mediocrity neither can we justly classify the rank or position that the various nations here represented hold in art from r 0 m the fact as I 1 before mentioned tio e d ef of the absence of works by some of the most famous painters of france and germany and doubtless of many of the other foreign el n nations so that art as exhibited hibi hibl ted at the centennial exhibition is not as it should be the best of the worlds products but an indiscriminate gathering of what the world produces after a careful examination of the works that in our estimation appear the most meritorious J judging by the realistic rule we have formed the following conclusions in figure painting historical and genre great britain excels among the many fine pictures in this dopart department part ment those most moat worthy of examination are no 6 jurian julian the apostate etc by E armitage B R A classic in composition correct in drawing and free from that chalkiness in color so prevalent ore valent in the english school no 8 god sneed speedy by G H boughton no 17 the sick child mild by J clark dark nos 21 and 22 misty morning aud and ryoon by cole A B R A these thebe tw two landscapes capes bythe by the great english painter do not compare favorably with many of the american pictures in the same line the same may basald bo baid said when comparing E IV W cookes marines no ivo 24 rhe the lightship light ship and no 25 the rescue with the pictures pic pie tures turea by de do haas in the american section nos 34 35 36 are good pictures by VV C T dobson B R A and near by hangs no 43 baith I aither and wither by T fade R A one of the finest pictures in the exhibition B S fildes no 45 applicants at acahal a acamal casual wardia a magnificent picture so also is 14 no 48 ne the railway hallway station by W V P frith B R A quite a crowd ladies principally ci continually hover around the picture no 5 57 7 marriage of me the prince of wales by the same p painter uter uler no 53 battle of aaseby naseby by sir john gilbert and 62 dis toll by H hardy are good nos 70 and 71 are by F holl and are very line in drawing and color bur but but mournfully melancholy in subject no 77 holman hunts portie ailt of himself shows us the extreme of realism yve vye we vve regret that this is the only picture by the great pre in the exhibition B R A considered by many at the head of the english schools sends one indifferent picture only no early days zhe the sick monkey yno no is very fine but why could we not have had one of sir edwins larger and better pictures Leigh tona sum mer moon 96 and eastern sti slinger ingert 98 are very fine in color and drawing the rne banquet scene macbeth no by Ma maclise clise ellse IL A ia Js very grand in composition and drawing lawing uhe the 0 varied express expression lon ion in the faces of t the e f figures ag ures is capitally rendered butt but the h p picture iskold is cold coid and leaden in color no find wind on 01 the molds wolds ive ine we by geo mason wason Is a sweat liam little gem john petties touchstone stone and audrey no wa ISA fine line carefully executed charles jr i leaving westminster no is an excel excellent lent cletu picture ra by IG rott tott rs ra jig jis airl prin sepa data death of 4 cleopatra are fine samples of art the same can be bo said wd of war time by riviere young whittington gion by OY sant by miss misa starr and omy ony a z Ra boit boft by storey nos are ly LAl bal bai ii talma lu tadema cold and chalky in but deeply to the antiquarian qu arian the uhe english department exhibits nifty fifty four watercolor water color paintings all of t them h em without exception of the highest ig b est merit no 3 blake goiny on n B board doard the resolution by 0 W efner Efler brierly ly jp p a magnificent specimen of marine pain painting ling and no 13 tie coming doming storm by byad A D fripp is one of the most perfect pictures in the exhibition E in fact it is universally conceded that t he the english water color acho acbo school 0 I 1 B stands preeminent and the exhibits in thia line of art fully sustain the naf national lonal honor not the least interesting to art students H M the queen and the royal academy have graciously and kindly loaned several examples ples by deceased pain painter painten terp famous as tho founders of the british school such as reynolds west gainsborough constable barry fuseli hilton lawrence turner anfield stanfield Bt wilkie and others the united states exhibit nearly fifteen hundred art productions many of them works of the highest order of merit in landscape and portraitures portrait ures she stands unrivalled while the historical pictures of P P F rothermel rot Bot hermel take no secondary I 1 place probably there is no picture in the exhibition that has been more lauded or severely criticized than his large picture no battle batile of gettysburg a truly great work wherein the beholder realizes the he excitement excite meni and horrors of the battle field other works of this artist nos 1010 1048 and 2 sig 16 place him deservedly at the head of the american historical school the portraits exhibited by page healey hicks anna ba M lee furness are unrivalled but it is in landscape and marine subjects where the american artists take their high position and where there are so many that are excellent that it ia Is impossible to justly make a distinction morans mountain of the hoty holy cross Her Herz sentinel nock kock and waterfall 1024 hills hillis yosemite 1019 and donner lalie Lake 1184 Bier Bler great trees 4 73 do haas moonrise and end sunset 25 and brig nove move to for a pilot with works by giffard bellows van elten cropsey brown mcentee richards williams and a host of others we might mention form a galaxy well worthy of the nations praise TS eastman astman J johnsons ohn sons old ken Zen kentucky tucky kome some and perrys young Franklin Fran dlin hlin 46 are well weli worthy of examination as pictures of great merit the water colors colon exhibited bear evidence of a rapid and successful advance ce in the last few years many ot of them comparing favorably with the english ea exhibit in the lone I 1 collection of deceased american I 1 painters allston copeli copely stuart Vander lyng morse sully sally elliott alid and others are represented the french department does not justice to the great art loving nation three Thre large elarge pictures no 48 portrait of mile by duran no 63 death of by i clement and no 76 cispak protecting the bodies of 0 f her sons song by becker command the most post alten alien tion more pro pre probably bably babiy from their size than their merit the last named being sufficiently horrible to satisfy the most morbid taste in landscape we have an admirable exhibition of mediocrity not more than one or two distinguished names are found in the catalogue A style of landscape pernicious to allgood taste by the followers of corot de serves condemnation who ever can discover merit in the unnatural daubs A canal by breton or 1353 landscape by daubigny possesses more lina llna imagination ginat 1 ion lon than is common to mortals germany german y is even worse vorse W 0 r e thau than france tn in the long lines of tame conventionality wo we find nind no nothing thing striking or original the only merit a technical academic skill in effects of light and shade and the painting of rocks Sand and the gossips by meyer von bremen and A storm G by achen bach are passable pictures capitulation of Sedan by harach and samo same subject by Braun show in both pictures a catering forro for royal yaI favor we ve see little ol 01 the locality and a great deal of bf prince fritz and his hij royal father rather belgium and tim the netherlands ads sent on the tha average better pictures than france and aud germany sweden sends senda also aiso a few examples austria occupies the east cast end of memorial mall she fihe makes a better show of merit than her european neigh neighbors bom some of her landscapes are ara good but do not compare with irith the english or american the most attractive cuve euve picture IsMa karts catarina cornaro EL boyno no ai 1 aeiry a very s small ma 11 subject on a large larga canvass c conventional and grouping with a sickly yellow tone of colon spain and italy send a serles series 0 ol 01 gloomy pictures sombre in tone and sad in subject the best of which are no 40 insanity of queen juana by valles and no 51 landing of the puritans by gisbert rhe the rho italian pictures most attractive are those representing scenes from every day life denmark and norway send spend a small exhibit containing nothing by their best painter painters all the pictures exhibited by brazil mexico aud and the south american republics are ambitious efforts with more or less merit where the artists have not been controlled by the conventional rules oj of european schools here by the by we may say our own artists are at fault church is evidently the most original in his style fayle and execution moran is a follower of ot turner hill is inclined towards the french school while bierstadt is decidedly tinctured with german methods and effects taking the exhibition as a whole the english in figure subjects and the americans in landscape lands cripe surpass all the other nations and the secret of their success lies iles in ja their painstaking study of nature and an honest endeavor to rep reproduce e her beautie bs s unshorn and ramIlle ed that the exhibition will prove a great benefit to the american people we have not the least doubt we mean in an artistic sense despite pite eithe the meagre exhibits by germany france and other european nations our countrymen may learn that she possesses abundant talent at home that only needs the fostering hand of patronage to place her on an equality with her compeers com peers that the crowd daily thronging the art galleries are learning this lesson let lot us hope and the result will prove in time that the centennial art exhibit although apparently a failure is in reality a great success 0 AL 0 |
