Page images
PDF
EPUB

his possibilities as well as his actualities. The drawing of the horse and of the figure, and of all the accessories, leaves nothing unexpressed. It is as complete as it is beautiful, but the whole is informed with the portents of the hour. The catastrophe of the morrow is written upon the man and the sky behind him. It is in this subtle quality of the mind, that *1814' assumes the importance which M. Albert Wolff ascribed to it twenty years ago as the most poetical and finest of all Meissonier's works."

The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian," by Corot, has the place of honor at the entrance end of the gallery, opposite the Delaroche at the other. It is 8 ft. high by 4 wide (the largest picture in the collection), and in the catalogue is accorded over five pages of description, in which are given Corot's notes of the progress of his work and his expectations regarding it, a discussion by Alfred Robaut of its merits, and a description of several changes made in it by the artist.

Mr. Walters evidently shares in the general enthusiasm of the French critics for this painting. Durand-Gréville and others, amid much wailing and gnashing of teeth that it was not purchased for the Louvre, unhesitatingly pronounce it Corot's finest, ungratefully and wilfully oblivious of the fact that these noble works do far more for French art in this country than they could possibly do at home, as they give it the best stimulus, that of our ever-widening market and ever-advancing rewards. The excellencies which display themselves to the worshippers of Corot are almost infinite in number; scarcely a point of technique can be named in which they have not covered this painting with encomium, the language of panegyric is exhausted, and he would be a bold, opinionated, tasteless person who should presume to see any drawbacks, any flickering spot in this blaze of genius.

While unquestionably deserving much of this praise; while indeed delighting the eye and casting a spell upon the spirit, with its masterly technique, its rich coloring, its gradation of tone, yet with all deference to authority, one cannot help wishing that the vast amount of thought and labor spent upon this

work had been devoted to a composition of a different kind; or that the hackneyed theme of the early artists had not formed a part of the exquisite landscape to which it seems scarcely of any value. Not only the landscape, but the descending angels are a delight; their grace and freshness as they fly among the tree-tops almost indeed defy the exaggeration of praise, and they violate no requirements of artistic unity in their disconnected attitude; but when one comes to the old familiar arrow-bristling saint and the lackadaisical women who succor him, a doubt intrudes if there be quite the impressive power in the figures that we expect to find in one of the immortal creations of our time. As there is certainly nothing of dramatic force in the landscape strengthening the idea of the scene, as exists in Delacroix's Crucifixion; nothing of poetic sympathy heightening the expression, as in Meissonier's “1814,` the figures alone should convey strongly what they are intended to express. Is it not rather the fact that in all that he could study in the life of to-day for the picture, the genius of Corot has left its splendid stamp upon the great canvas; but in his recurrence to the atmosphere of mysticism and superstition, he has for once been unable to quite divest himself of academic and conventional methods? And thus we do not care to look long upon the central group.

Fortunately placed where it can be closely compared with the preceding, is another of Corot's paintings: "The Evening Star," 35 by 28 inches. It was purchased directly from the artist; and to the majority of cultivated visitors is a more inspiring and poetic performance than its pretentious neighbor, though it be heresy to the dictum of French critics to express it.

A rarely fortunate recurrence to religious inspiration is the “The Assumption by Diaz, a little canvas 10 by 15. The Virgin is a lovely original type of beauty, of large graceful figure, and is surrounded by flying cherubs. Her drapery is a captivating shade of blue, with soft white about her neck, and flying red streaming from the waist. This picture was painted in 1850. That it should have come from the same hand as "The Storm" is one of the marvels of versatility. The

[graphic][ocr errors][subsumed]
[graphic][merged small]
[ocr errors][merged small]
[ocr errors]

There are three other Diazes among the oil paintings: "Cupid Disarmed," "The Forest of Fontainebleau," and "Effect of Autumn," the last a charming small work giving a complete impression of the poetry of one of Nature's autumnal moods, without over-coloring or heaping up of effects.

Of Bréton we have "Close of the Day," painted in 1865. Two charming peasant-women are leaning restfully on their rakes after toil, and they and the landscape are softened and refined by the tender all-pervading glow of the setting sun. Then there is "A Sunny Day," 1857; and, best of all, the famous "Returning from the Fields," of the Morgan Collection, a picture 41 by 27, representing three exquisite daughters of toil-one of the most attractive idealizations of modern figure-painting.

There are three Duprés: "A Bright Day" from the Gavet Collection, Parisa small landscape dotted with charming

little cows and overshadowed by fleecy clouds, darkened here and there as if laden with gusts of wind; "The Old Oak," somewhat larger, a dream of color, the romance of one of the forest patriarchs; and, larger still, a marine which though hung high is little if any inferior to either of the others. It is less individual, however, and evinces the versatility of the artist-a vision of soft poetical blue, white-capped waves and clouds, the sea darkening towards the horizon, dotted here and there with boats.

Munkacsy is represented solely by the "Story of the Battle" from the Eggers Collection, Vienna, containing six figures, full of expression, and lacking the theatrical effect of some of his work; Décamps by "The Suicide" from the W. S. Blodgett Collection, a weird picture of striking originality and power; and Cabanel by his portrait of Nilsson, painted in 1873.

Of Gérômes, there are four, including the "Christian Martyrs," which the artist states was on his easel from 1863 to 1883, and was repainted three times: a group of Christians huddled together in the arena of the Circus Maximus, a prey to the fierce Numidian lions which stalk forth to devour them, while other Christians, disposed at regular intervals about the race-course, tied upon crosses

and smeared with pitch, are being set afire by attendants to serve as torches to light the spectacle for the enjoyment of the pitiless Romans.

Several pages of the catalogue are devoted to Gérôme's "Duel after the Masquerade;" but in its too-labored refinement it is difficult to gather the profound meaning the panegyrist professes to find in the fatal wounding of a man in clown's dress by another arrayed as an Indian, at an affair after a masked ball. For my self, I prefer the little "On the Desert," which is done with a free hand, without that evident over-refinement which, to me, dispels the illusion of the art.

Among the five Fortunys are "The Hindoo Snake-Charmers" from the A. T. Stewart collection and "The Rare Vase" of the Morgan sale, which, though exhibiting, in common, many points of dashing brilliancy of brush-work, with an ease, a still greater latent strength underlying it; yet, in other points of technique, and particularly also in their sentiment stand at the opposite poles of the versatility of this great genius. Power and unfettered originality are written in every stroke of the brush, yet in each is brought out an exactness in expressing the spirit of the composition only possible where color effect is wedded to the utmost refinement of drawing and a mastery of the deeper subtleties of art. To each of them may be applied Gautier's praise of "Choosing the Model," "that it combines all the freshness of a sketch with the delicacy of a finished composition." Probably, no other painter has ever placed upon canvas an effect like that in the SerpentCharmers; that sense of the presence of the occult-at least of some influence beyond the visible and the tangible which make such scenes awe-inspiring, depending, as they seem to do in many cases, upon mesmeric or hypnotic power. Another painter, at all able to suggest this element, would have made it overshadowing; here, it is not even striking at first blush. To reach it, one has to pass through an effect of color, an impression of drawing; by study and contemplation gaining access to the spirit of the composition. It is like a refined personality: first, the attractive presence, its color and form; then the action, and finally the emotional nature, the men

tality, the animating spirit are revealed. It would be difficult to say what invests these lounging Orientals and their serpents with that curious atmosphere from beyond the boundaries of the natural; but it is there, and even the sacred marabout, a grave and solemn participant, adds to it instead of becoming, as he would in ordinary hands, a vulgar theatrical "property." The "Rare Vase" apart from its attractiveness of color, expresses with similar nicety the smirking self-gratulation of the dilettante in his new treasure. What wonders of accomplishment these are, for a painter who died at 36-but how much richer in the promise of what he might have done in the fourteen years that have elapsed since his death!

[ocr errors]

Other paintings of the French and Spanish schools are Fromentin's little 8x10 canvas, At the Well," "The Halt," 25x20, and the "Encampment in the Atlas Mountains," 56x40-all fine examples of the great artist; five Van Marckes, of which the "Approach of the Storm" is an 1873 Salon picture; one excellent Zamacois. "Spain, 1812-French Occupation " (two French soldiers who have been murdered in a Spanish cabaret, being thrown down a well); three Isabeys; two Rosa Bonheurs, in the water-color room; two Ary Scheffers; one disappointing Horace Vernet, Brigands Attacked by Papal Troops"; a Vibert; four Heberts, including the "Virgin of the Deliverance," from the Morgan Collection; two Gleyres; two dainty Ricos; four Bonnat portraits, including one of Barye, the sculptor, several of whose works adorn the plaza in front of Mr. Walters' mansion; also "An Arab Sheik," by Bonnat; two Dagnan-Bouverets, "The Museum," from the Morgan Collection, and "An Accident,' a large, realistic picture of brilliant execution, from the Salon of 1880; two Coutures; a Jimenez; two Merles-one, "The Scarlet Letter," an excellent example; six little genre pieces by Frère, clever, but that is all; a Clairin; no less than a dozen of Ziems, bright color pieces. Of Detaille, "A Picket," 15x18, is the only example in the main gallery, and in the watercolor room, "Ready to March”—each excellent of its kind. At least one of the three De Neuvilles is brilliant-“The Attack at Dawn." It is dated 1877, and

[ocr errors]
[merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small]

street-corner against the gray of the morning; the flashes from the guns of the attacking and the attacked in varying intensity, according to the distance of each, in striking measure of perspective all these constitute a vivid chapter of war. There are five Schreyers, including "Embourbe-Plains of Hungary," awarded the medal of the Vienna Exposition of 1873. The Belgian painter, Clays, has two excellent works here; and his fellow-countryman, Gallait, five, including "War," his Royal Academy picture of 1872; also "The Duke of Alva contemplating the Beheaded Counts Egmont and Horn -a late addition, in position on an easel.

Of Baron Leys there are two dissimilar ones: a little Dutch interior, and the large "Edict of Charles V.," which was awarded one of the eight grand Medals of Honor at the Paris Exposition of 1867. It represents the proclaiming of the edict introducing the Inquisition into the Netherlands and pronouncing against heretics the penalties of the stake, the block and burial alive.

The "Solitary Israels" is in the watercolor room, and is one of the notable feat

and beautiful, but have strong characters of their own; the simple, homely scene being invested with a pervasive poetry suggestive of, yet very different from, Millet's best.

Three examples of the Düsseldorf school still linger: an Oswald Achenbach

hardly noticeable-and two by Andreas, exceedingly beautiful marines of this lately so highly esteemed artist.

The English school is not numerously but quite sufficiently present in six Alma-Tademas, a Millais, four Boughtons, Briton Rivière's "Night Watch," and a few others. Tadema appears to be a great favorite with Mr. Walters, and much space in the catalogue is given to explanations of his pictures and eulogies of them by English critics. Nearly all are large and important works-"Sappho," shown at the Royal Academy in 1881, and "Claudius" at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, at which the artist obtained a first-class medal. It is upon "Sappho " that the catalogue lavishes the greatest notice, quoting at length from the London Academy, Saturday Review and Athenæum; but allowing all that

« PreviousContinue »