The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 26

2 THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, NEW YORK, SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 11)23. NEWS AND VIEWS ON CURRENT ART MRS. JOSEPH WIDENER PORTRAIT OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES Sculptures by Cecil Howard Make Notable Display i '-4 T' 4 The Story of British A rt Is Not Fully Told at Grand Central Galleries 1 Sargent Portraits Help Bring Up Average of the Retro spcctive British Exhibition Many Important Art Offerings Make Notable 0. By HELEN APPLETON READ draw together in tho bonds HA peoples of the earth," is the quotation used as Introduction to the catalog of the Iletrospeetlve Exhibition of British Art, under the auspices uf tho English Spruklng Union, now being held at the Grand Central Galllvries. There Is nil Imagination stirring quality to the phrase that rouses us in several ways.

Practically and socially It stirs us, we ieel a sort of Nordic pride. But what is more Important and more immediate for the purpose tC the exhibition it arouses in us the hope that at lust wo are to see really representative exhibition of British art. The fuct that our own Sargent is Hiipposed to have selected" the pictures from the British Empire Exhibition at Wcmhly has made It sound especially good. It Is also a nio; piece of linKlish speaking diplomacy, un American painter select a British exhibition all very Nordic. But despite the fact of a really splendid Intention, it is a pretty dull affair.

It dots not represent British arf past or present, and In almost every instance the pictures brought over are second Shown at Retrospective Exhibition of British Art at Grand Central Galleries. From the Painting by John Singer Sargent On View 12th Annual Exhibition of National Society of Portrait Painters at DuveerGallcries. Ross Brought Holds. First One-Man Show Ros Fraught Is a young painter whoso work has attracted attention the various academies where he has exhibited, to say nothing of the Independents, whoro his work first came to the notice ot Mr. Duden-slng.

The present Collection at the Dudensing Callerles Is his first one man show. Mr. Draught brings to h's version of the Amorican scene a fresh, unstudlod point of view. He Is largely concerned with the decorative aspects of a given scene and rimpliflei it down to Its essential design. It Is the unexpected view of a much painted -locnllty that delights him nnd we find him mnktnfr street scenes and villages in winter into designs that are distinctive and personal.

As Is the case with many yjung painters, onoj he has gotten the feel of the place and arranged It Into I a telling composition, he less large places in his canvases which ore merely fillud in with paint. Ife should not forget that picture may no Highly decorative but may have the finest, most sensitive color value which In no way Interims with the strength of the whole. Mr. iiraught is undoubtedly a painter whose art Is developing. Me hns botli Ideas and the power to put them Into paint.

NUDE FIGURE FROM THE BRONZE It la nut often that profee-Hlonal giillery frequenter registers a real thrill at current exhibition. The sculptures and drawing by Ce-MI Howard now on view -ut tho Whitney Studio Club furnished the present writer with one, tho impressive yet simple way In which tho gallerle-i have been arranged as background for this work all tending to heighten the Impression. Yellow toned mar-liles, grcn patlncd bronzes, the gray black ot Belgian granite and the warm browns of terra cottu against a deep blue linen background In Itself Is a esthetic ensemble without considering the value of the sculptures, which is arresting. It Is foitunate to have one's work well shown, provided the work i worth while, for nothing so shows UP empty fnrni or -holes In u. cotivao un dignified, hurmonlous back grounds.

Cecil Howard's sculptures aie well ublo to stand the test. This, to my knowledge. Is his first American exhibition, although In Paris he is one of tho younger sculptors who Is most considered. He has, to use the critical phrase, a real eense of sculptural form, plus a distinctive style. Ho has a sense of his material as having certain limitations; ho has a feeling for Its innate quality, un attribute which distinguishes the present generation of sculptors from the who were primarily modelers clay, whose thoughts were later translated into bronze, marble or plaster ns the case Pnr that rr.i-on Mr.

How ard Is in the. best senso a inoflern.j Hn is nothing of an abstractionists but a generallzer of forms. This may be a good portrait of an Individual woman, but In simplifying forms down to essentials he also t-uggests a psychological sameness, as If ho were giving us an eternal tvpe. the essence of lemtnlnlty. Mr.

Howard's simplifications come as result of knowledge. There can be no doubt that, for all that he loaves out smalt planes and details of form. It Is becauso he choosca to do so; there Is never that sense of cmpty-ness that comes with so much of our modern ainipllflcatinn. Mr. Howard has another rare gift his sculpture hns a peculiar quality of life und vibration.

This Is rarely found In the work of a man wno Is so largely concerned with the plastic qualities of his subjects. When It conies to portrait bustH he can model a living portrait if he so chooses tnd yet mt lose his sense of rhvthm and form as such. His portraits of Bob Chanlcf and Raymond Thiollerre attest to this. In the latter there Is something of the stern generalization which marked tho portraits of tho Romans. The drawings are not mere sculptor Jottings, but are eacn nnisnea ex- pressions -form as expressea in iin.

The sweeo of line, tha rhythm of the designs in these are the sa'fne as wo find in tho sculptures. whistler Etchings on View. A collection of etchings by Whistler belonging to the DeWitt collection aro on view at the Kennedy Galleries. This Is a ramatkable collection both for its size and the rarities of Its impressions. Some of the etchings shown ure ones that have not before appeared on public view in this country, but heve remained to be enjoyed in private collections.

Howard Work at Whitney Gallery. A LANDSCAPES BY J. STEWART BARNEY, tandflcnpes of Newport, Mount Dmert, Scotland and tfcmo mls collunemis vlcwa o( the American roiintrysldfi, pulnted by J. Htewart Ttarney, are on vlow nt the' Klnsore Callerlng, Mr. Harney nan a flare for pIcklnB out those aspr-ctg of nature which ure niORt likely to rati forth ex- tuiio omvii tin, vvtutL'lt IVWiy view!" the obviously picturesque, in other words.

Ho 'does, however, lirlns to them a freah and eenulno feullnpfj both in respect to their beauties and In his manner of expression. One has the fcelin? that each picture registers a srenulne experience. Mr. Barney, added to thin, lias sufllclcnt technical mastery to adequately convey his experiences to hi audience. The1 present exhibition shows Mr.

Barney as having Tniide a dlsti.ict udvanre over last year. He handles his diHtancos and skies with preater sensibility; a certain qutillly of paintlness has given war to it sensation of light and air. He has been especially successful In his pictures of Scotland and Mount Desert. The cool blue tones of distant hillside and the pattern of trees aialnst that distance Is a motive that he repeats, but each time, with spirit und fresh I'ppreelatlon for the pictorial and the rnm.mtic aarjects of his subject. yALT KUHN New Paintings MONTROSS GALLERY 650 I'iftirAve, above 451li Ht.i S.

T. EXHIBITION OF THE NEW SAFETY 1 OF ARTIaTS iANUARY S-j ANDERSON GALLERIES PARK AVENUE AT S9TH STREET KKCKNT PAWTINItS WALTER -GRIFFIN FRANK K. M. REHN 6f3 FIFTH Bet. 54th SStk Sti.

C. W. KRAUSHAAR ART GALLERIES 680 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK EXHIBITION Paintings, Water Colors and Drawings by Reynolds Beal Ctosrs January S'-'d PORTRAITS 1 LANDSCAPES OTHER PAINTINGS DeUa Shull January 16th to 30th Open Sunday afternoons AINSLIE GALLERIES 677 FIFTH AVENUE if' Week in Art World. of comradeship the Kugllsh speaking. tise difficulties and barriers arose, it wasn't just a ease of selection.

Museums and great private collections had been drawn upon to make the collection at Wenibly representative. The spellbinding slogan "to draw together the English-speaking people'1 became so much rhetoric when it came to risking priceless art treasures to a trans-Atlantic exhibition. Tho assembling of a representative collection of pictures is no light or easy matter. And unless such a col lection Is well selected, ana It may be well selected If only one phase of the nation's art Is done Jua'ice to, it is money and time wasted. Ameri cans arc no longer In that state ot artistic Innocence when they are panting for the art of tho old world unless It is the very best the old world has to offer.

Witness last year's Russian fiasco at the Grand Centra! All that money wasted, all those hopes of big Ameri can sales blighted, because some one thought the American picture buying public was In a slate of pristine un- sophistlcation and that anything with a European label might paBS muster as art. We have many of the finest Eighteenth Century portraits right note, so a few tired Kaeburns and Reynolds aren't going to give us a thrill. Far better examples of the portrait painters have been shown In the Fifth Avenue galleries from lime to time than are included In the present group. Of the Pre-Raph aelite group there Is almost nothing, and of the modem, excepting JicHey, and he la hardly a modern, nothing. Sargent Comes to the Itesrue.

Sargent has however fome gallantly to the rescue of the exhibition by contributing 10 canvases of his own as well as some from bis private collection. He loans an unfinished picture by Ford Madox Brown, "Take Your Son, Sir," which is the only example of this distinguished painter's art that 1 remember seeing in this country. The Sargent group alone is worth the entrance fee, that is; for thoso to whom Sargent is the non plus ultra. And in this caso his portrait of Lady Bassoon show him at his best. This is the type of portrait that made him famous.

Here is all that mnrvelo" facility in giving us a delicate high bred tyve of face the delineation of which Sargent made peculiarly own. Here, also, he displays to his fiest advantage his power to paint the clothes of a period and so invest them with the flavor of style, that long after that particular fashion has past into the realms of fashion atrocities In the light of our present day viewpoint, they still suggest their former nlr of smartness and chle. Other portraits are one belonging to the famous Wcrtheimor group, but mot one of those placed in The National Gallery, a group of landscapes nnd sketches of pic turesque types. Bedouins and Italian boatmen. Contemporary Portraits Dull.

Tho. contemporary portrait painters are all here, but they made no effort to oo-operate and smt the dullest of the dull. The huge Lavery equestrian portrait is a devastating affair. And why did Augustus John. from whom the American public has come to expect combination of JOHN LEVY GALLERIES Paintings of Mediterranean Views by L.

Bonamici 559 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK I PLAZA Art Auction Rooms, Inc 5-7-9 Kast Kiflv-ninth St. THephono HH.C.KNT SU4-7J0I AT PUBLIC AUCTION The Hon. Lady Davorgilla M. Stewart MacKenzie Collection of Paintings and Engravings European and American Schools Finely Represented Also Pictures Property of Others. Names of Artists too Numerous to Mention.

Salei Day: Friday and Saturday January 23d and 24th Each Day at 3 P. M. Exhibition Monday and daily until Time of Sale F. II A ft P. t'rrderlrk II.

Wnndell, Auctioneer rate. Granted that tiie catalog rcadsf well enough, examples of every period from Keynolds and Komney through the pre-Ilaphaellles to John and Mclley. it has not been well selected or thought out. The idea of an exhibition devoted to British art should intrigue us. "Ve know so little about British art, have had the French school so drilled Into us.

that outside of the eighteenth century portrait painters, our childish recollections of the animals of I.andseer and our budding adolescent enthusiasms for the sentimental symbolism of Watts "Love and Life" and Burne Jones' pallid poetic maidens, we know nothing of what goes on in the British art world. There is a real reason for this ignorance. Since the French art tradition is stronger, and has had many more great inters who contributed to its strength than has bad the British, it Is easier to know about it; so our students went to Prance to learn about art. They brought back the enthusiasm for everything French, English art didn't exist for them. And so another tradition grew up alongside this, a cor-loilary to the omnipotence of French art; namely, that there wasn't any contemporary British art worth mentioning.

Also It must not be forgotten that it has always been the policy of France to disseminate its ii rt. If other countries confined their propaganda to diplomacy, colonies or armament, France used the rt3 as its strongest representative. Now this ignorance, for such it is, was to have been, we hoped dissipated by Hho present, exhibition. Those of us who shw tho huge pot-pourrtof paintings In the Fine Arts -'avilion at Weniuly last summer. Knew that there was enough material there to tell the story of British 11 rt in representative terms.

Had it been so told, the yeunger generation would not so easily dismiss the I'rc-ltaphaclites with a snort when they snv, Itos-setl's flaming passionate color poems in nil their (laming reality or Ford JIadox Brown's elaborate and detailed, figure compositions with their wealth of imagination. They would also have made the acqualtance of a group of contemporary painters who are doing modern stufC quito ns Interesting as some of their mora heralded fellow French artists. JMIlUully in Bringing Over Kcrrlgn Art. Despite the fineness of the idea, when it came lo putting it Into prac- Recent Paintings ZULOAGA REINHARDT GALLERIES Fifth S. Y.

Until January Slst Open Sundays 2 to 5t8A Important Exhibition WHISTLER ETCHINGS Principally from th Collection of Theo. DeWitt Kennedy Galleries 693 Fifth Avenue Batweaa Mlk na SSlk Strstts F. Kleinberger Galleries, inc. 723 FIFTH AVENUE Now on Exhibition ITALIAN and FLEMISH PRIMITIVE MASTERPIECES Rembrandt Frans Hals Hobbema Pieter de Hooghe, etc. Painted by Alfred Munnings Kenneth Hayes Miller Shows Two Points of View The Konneth Hayes Miller exhibition at the Montrose Galleries shows that artist in two frames of mind his well known symbollcal-ronmntlc one and the other a newer one which concerns itself with certain aspects of contemporary life, but which carries with It a strong flavor of romanticism none the less.

Miller Is one ot our painter-poets who combines i real poetlo literary concern with subject matter, with a subtle nnj personal technique. It Is a new departure for him to paint he nude in boudoir settings, although the beauty of hl opabiscent color and sense of design are just as great as when he painted them as eternal symbolic figures in the woods or beside the sea. Two nudes of this older type are shown and I must admit a predilection for them; the soft Miller grays and blues harmonize so perfectly with the opalescent colors of the flesh. In those pictures painted from the realistic standpoint humor creeps Into both his subject matter and their titles. Here Uono nude coupling her hairpins, which are nice bits of still life on a red rug, and here is a portrait of a girl in modern dress with a street scene for background, of which tho title reads.

"The Background Is a Bank." Miller has had as much fun painting the simplified shapes of modern dress aa has the satirist of contemporary manner and morals. He la, entirely without Rcidlty. Beauty us he fels It has been and is his only concern. If he chaoses contemporary themes it is merely for the enjoyment he gets out cf making lovely color patterns from banks and cloche hats and sunshades. In the pictures which are of modern life wu find a growing use of fresh, bright color, as opposed to the nebulous Iridescence of bis classical and symbolic figures.

Flower Pictures Past and Present Mr. Eouchc, who arranges the exhibitions at the Belmalson Galleries, has a way of making them appeal to the layman as well as to the most sophisticated of gallery frequenters. He humanizes them by maklns them divisible by some attractive, human, quite undcrstandablo common de nominator. This time It is flower paintings past and present, a short while ago It was ships and the sea as depicted by our American primitives. Also he is alwnys keenly aware of the ultra popular thing.

Sometimes one feels that he Is trying to pee. how much the public will swallow if they believe they ure being modern, that he Is teasing them, and again we feel that he Is genulna-ly in earnest and again that he is a trifle presclous. But whatever his motives, they result In making his exhibitions different from the rest. They are unprofessional in -the best sense of tho have nothing of commercialism In them albeit they tajke pluce in a department store. ONyJously he has a lino time assembling his exhibits and there goes with eaeh something of this spirit.

The gallery man in the serious gams of selling art may also have the comic spirit, be a playboy if he sees fit. Flowers have always been the con cern of artlstrt and amateurs. They are obviously lovely and pure; therefore the amateur argues that a picture of them is lovely and lees difficult thun the humancpuntenancc. Hence their popularity with young ladles of tho young ladles' seminary days. Those were tho days before Freudian symbols, when a calla lily was a calla Illy, symbol of purity and not significant of all sorts ot suppressed desires.

When a cunna or a tulip was an ordinary red flower, not pretty or fragrant enough to com-memorato on paper and certainly not symbolical of any human passion. Between theso two extremes there have been interpretations 6f flowers in many mediums and Mr. Boucho has been able to arrange a spirited. varied group, representing many of them. Here are the wax nowers of our Victorian ancestors and here arc modern painters who emulate In their painting the qualntncns of this bygone fashion.

Here are the care fully drawn and painted botanical flower studies, with Latin names affixed to them, some of them dateJ as far back as 1857. These are, many of them, lovely, not as botany lessons but us technically expert and lifelike flower stlll-llfes, and have a peculiar resemblance to some of the most modern material on view. The formula of bare white paper background la one that Is popular with our present-day water color painters. Artists who paint flowers merely for the Joy of setting down something of their color, their mass and perfume, and who with this human appreciation of them also combine enthetic nualllications, are Nan Watson, Isobel Whitney, Charles Sheeler and Henry Hhnackenberg. Home of the moderns about whose flowers one uxks the conundrum.

"When Is a flower not flower?" are Stellas and Florlne Stetthelmer. The old-time makers of wax flowers, flowers on Kllk und velvet, embroidered flowers, nhell flowers, bead flowers are nameless. something out of the ordinary, send a quiet little portrait of h'u son? Munnings doesn't disappoint. The sporting artist, who has revived the sporting picture In England, was never sportier than In Ms portrait of the Prince of Wales on his favorite mount, "Forest Witch." which picture Incidentally Is loaned by the t'rince of Wales himself. This is not the same picture which was shown In Pittsburg last season, al- inougn almost Identical.

The Prc-Rnphaellto tradition at its best Is evidenced as stated before in the Ford Madox Brown and It If not its worst then its most virulent form, in the picture by Edwin Sandys. Here is a picture which could only have been painted In Eng land. It Is a curiosity and an exam ple of how an Idea could be carried to. ad ahsurdum lengths. The Pre-Raphaelite tradition was a combina tion of truth, absolute fidelity to nature, microscopic exactness of detail, with profundity of ideas philosophic or poetic in substance.

Those with a real artistic sensibility abandoned this slavish copying of detail, but there were others who believed by adhering to the letter the formula of the school, they might produce good pictures. The Sandys picture belongs to the latter group, a miracle of detail, every blade of grass, every hair painted separately. The Hogarths are not as exciting an event as might bo expected, since they are merely sketches for tho finished pictures which are at Mil-bank. It must again be emphasized that the Idea which inspired the exhibition is splendid and It Is to be hoped that it will have tho germinating effect of inspiring some energetic group to gather together a collection which will more adequately tell the story of British art. CASH PRIZES ARE OFFERED TO ARTISTS An opportunity for American painters to win substantial money prizes and at the same time do their bit In raising the standnrd of com mercial art has been offered by the Arm of Brown Blgelnw of 8t.

Paul, the largest makers of calendars in this country. The announcement comes through the Anderson Galleries, where the pictures submitted for the competition will be shown from Feb. 23 to March 7. The an nouncement of the competition states that "the immediate purpose Ih to raise the. standard of art in these calendars, which go into millions of homes." Tho competition will bo called "The Brown Elgelow JCntlonal Art Competition." Four major prizes are offered: A prize of $3,600 for the best picture' submitted, without any restriction as to subject; a prize of $1,500 for the best story-telling picture; two prizes of Jl.000 each for the best head of a young woman, and the best mother and child subject; gold arid silver medals will also be awarded for pic tures that receive honorable mention.

Pictures need not be specially painted for this competition, but it Is not expected that artists will submit pictures which have been shown in public galleries, other than one-man exhibitions of their own work. The Judges will he Garl Melchers, Joseph Pennell, Robert Macbeth, William Edwin P.udge and James E. Helden. All inquiries should be addressed to Walter Grunt, Anderson Galleries. EXHIBITION Paintings by Braught DUDENSING GALLERIES 45 West 44th Street, New York The NEW GALLERY 600 Midiioo Avmm, Neu 57th Si.

FIRST EXHIBITION IN AMERICA RENO-HASSENBERG of Pari January 17 to January 31 UI KING PAINTINGS BY ALBERT P. RYDER THE SHERMAN STUDIO EAST I5TH STREET MILCH Galleries Exhibition of Paintings of North Africa and Brittany Types by Martha Walter Water Colors and Bronzes by Mahonri Young January l-flt 108 West 57th N. Y. ART CALENDAR BROOKLYN. BllOOKLY.V MUBUUM-Pcrnwnent eviction of water colon and darwlngs by contemporary American artlau.

MANHATTAN. AINSMtt OAU.RHIEH Palntlnga )y Frederick Detwlller snil Delia Shull; water color, compositions by Claire Kanioux; paintings by C. A. Fries. AXDUIIMON (iALLERIKS New Society.

AItT CKXTKK Photographs ot St. John th Divine, sculpture by Moaello. BABCOCK OALLliKIES Paintings ot (lowers, by Carlo Blenner. BRUMMI5II GALLERIES Paintings by Knrfiol. BUTLER GALLERIES Old shipping and naval prints.

CIVIC CLUB Exhibition of art work by Hull ltousd Children. DANIELS GALLERIES Palntlnga by Ku- nloshi. DURAND-KUEL Palntlnga of marine subjects by French artists. DUVEEV GALLERIES National Association of Portrait iPnlntors. EHRIi'H OALLEItlES-rulntlnga by Jane Peterson.

FEXRIN GALLERIES French masters of the -Nineteenth Century. i'ERAROIL GALLERIES Portraits, by Rosamund Tudor. FINE ARTS B15JI.D1NU American Water Color 8oclMr nnd Water Color Club. GRAND CENTRAL GALLERIES British Hetrospectlvo Exhibition. HOLT GALLERY Etchings, small paintings and monotip.s by Amer- lean artists, KIN'GORE GALLERIES Pointings by Stewart Barney, until Jan.

ii. KRAL'SHAAR GALLERIES Paintings by Reynolds Peal. KEPPI0LS Etchings by Jnnepn Tennell. KNOEDLBR GALLERIES Water colors by Ktewart Walker, early engravings from Italy, Germany and Netherlands. LEVY GALLERIES Paintings by B.

Namuel. MACBUTH OALLERJES Palntlnsa by OhIMe H.iMiam. METROPOLITAN Mi'SKL'M New American dvawtnga given and lent by Albert Haiti tin. MILCH CALLER' Ub-Palntlnga by Murtha Walter, writer colors and bronzes by Mahourl. Young.

MONTROS.S IALLERIKS Pointings by Keneth Haves Miller, tellings and drawings by Piggy Hucon. NATIONAL ARTS CLUB Er.utbltlon 0( work of 'painter and sculptor NEWMAN PRINT ROOMS Paintings by Burlluk. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Books and pluturoa relating to work or European Prints by Americans of European scenes. NEW GALLEP.V Paintings by Madame Reno-Hapsenberg. REHN GALLERIES Paintings by Walter (IrllMn.

REINHARDT UALLEP.IES Paintings by lgnaxto ssuloaga. SCOTT AND FOWLES WateVcolors by Rowlandsan. SHERMAN STUDIO Paintings by Albert Ryder. WHITNEY FTUDIO CLUB Paintings by Henri Matson. WHITNEY CLL'B-Sculptiire by Cecil Howard.

WEHY'S Drawings by Adulph Dehn. HOWARD TOUNll GALLBH1ES Portraits by Arthur Ratzka. Exhibition of Portraits in Pastel by the Hungarian Painter A. L. Ratzka January 17 to 31 HOWARD YOUNG GAtLERIES 634 Fifth Avenue, N.

Y. afyurito Ht. ratrlrki Cathedral Landscapes and Modern Tapestries by Alice Lolita Muth Spanish Characters and Historical Paintings by Pablo Uranga Jumiury IDlh to Kebrunry 4th Ralston Galleries 4 East 46lh N. Y. T.

pap Vri iff lliilf Xmmm if. -I By Cecil i Shown in Exhibition of His.