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Show I v? A JVotable Art Collection. l Hany Culmer is an artist who never plays B with ait. His work is serious, it is sincere, it Is H ideal in beauty and poetry. And working in the 1 thought that unless he has incorporated or aroused i an emotion, the picture is a failure, most of his W pictures are brilliant successes. H Just in the same way that the composer or V the poet is inspired, the impulse comes to the real H artist, and his pictures are poems in treatment W and in color. The latest of Culmer's work de- Hj mands special attention. It is far in, advance of M anything he has ever done, and no one who loves M true art can afford to miss seeing his last pictures, M which have never been shown to the public.' 1 Mr. Culmer took no part in the rece art 1 exhibit, and Derge & Co., have invitee m put H his pictures on view in their new arv 411 H Auerbach building, in charge of Mr. Ucurgo C. 1 Christonsen. The pictures are now in place, and M will be on exhibition on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week from 10 to 5 o'clock daily. Hj A number of these pictures are soon to be sent 1 away, partly for purchasers in eastern cities, and m artly for exhibition in New York and Chicago, H and one in particular will be offered for exhibit at H the Saint Louis Exposition. H It is called "A Forest Stream," and is tne most Bt perfect picture the artist has ever painted. The 1 work is the realization of a beautiful dream, and M the height of the subjective idea in art. The great-M great-M est artists in America have attempted just such H subjects, with moderate success, but this is a real 1 triumph, and it is doubtful if the maker will ever B part with it. The creative genius of the man was B never more clearly apparent than in this glorious m work, the idea rather than the thing, the picture H subjective as against the objective. - Pictures of things are not poetical, but there H is a dopth of feeling in the pictures of imagination. Hi! "The Forest Trail" is another fascinating gem, Kj replete wtlh lights and colors, and absolute origins origi-ns nality of thought and expression. '1 Willard Weihe looked upon these pictures he came, ho saw he was conquered, and he asked tho artist if he might return with his violin. When he did, the glory was complete, inspired by the beauty ot tho artist's work, he improvised magic music that stirred the very soul. One of tho largest and most important pieces of work in the collection is "The Grand Canyon of the Colorado in Arizona." This is a companion picture of that sold to Edwin A. Cade of London, the Ashanti Gold Fields magnate. The picture is grand, Inspiring, overwhelming, fascinating in Its world of tremendous mystery. The accompanying illustration is a photograpn of one of Mr. Culmer's effects on the Wild California Cali-fornia Coast. This was exhibited two years ago, at the Utah Art Institute. It was painted near the light house at Monterey, and is glorious in the action of sky and water. "Black Rock By Moonlight" took the first state prizo. It is vivid in its story, in greys and blacks, and the dramatic expression of the cloud forms is almost depressing. The artist regards the wonderful Mukun-tu-weap Valley in Southern Utah as one of the most splendid scenic features in America, and his work in that phenomenal region is very striking. Particularly Partic-ularly the "Temples of the Rio Virgen," great monuments rising defiantly thousands of feet above fruitful valleys almost tropical in their luxuriant lux-uriant verdure. The marvelous beauty of Lake Tahoe has been the craze of many an artistic temperament, and in his painting of Mt. Tallac, Mr. Culmer has produced pro-duced the wonderful combinations in tone and color, peculiar to that region. There, too, the pines grow as nowhere else, and the depth and mass expressed ex-pressed in the counterpart of tho forest, is seldom seen in such work. With Mt. Tallac towering in the distance, the little lake of Fallen Leaf lying placidly below, surrounded by the majestic trees, the picture is a masterpiece. Many artists have tried to paint the San Car-mel Car-mel Mission at Monterey, and many have failed, - ... but to those who have seen it, Mr. Culmer's production pro-duction appeals very strongly. Morris, the California Cali-fornia connoisseur, expressed the opinion that it was the best picture of the Mission ho had seen, ' and it is truly very beautiful. ' It was painted before the restoration, and is exquisite, dreamy and resttul in its peace and tranquility. Most of the work is in water color, but a few of the paintings are in oil, and all are beautiful. The artist's first love i& for his native mountains, and the way that he has glorified them, proves this beyond a doubt. He delights, too, in the pageantry pag-eantry of the clouds, but next to the mountains, his favor lies with the wild coast of California, which has always appealed to him. In the pictures pic-tures on view, there is one, "On Jordan's Banks," and it is the only one that does not please, the only one that does not appear to be the work of Mr. Culmer. The reason is plain. It is a picture j of "Things," and there is nothing in it to appeal to f the eye spoiled with the sight of better pictures of the ideal in art. For instance, "Black Rock Looking South" In the hands of the artist would become Desolation, and Desert Forms in Wayne County, Utah, would become "A grassless, fruitless, inhospitable land." In addition to Culmer's work, there are examples ex-amples of some of the best paintings of other local painters, including a gem by J. T. Harwood, now in Paris; "A Scone In Liberty Park," of especial es-pecial interest because painted by C. E. Dallin, the sculptor, several years ago; and several pieces ot the best and latest work of George M. Ottinger. In particular a picture of Shoshone Falls, charming in its light effects. The collection is a valuable one, and something of which the city can be very proud. T. G. |