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Cornell University Library ND 35.P32 1906 The world's painters since Leonardo; bein
3 1924 008 623 690
Cornell University Library
The original of tiiis book is in the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924008623690
The World's Painters
Van Dyck — Charles I.
The
World's Painters Since Leonardo
BEING A HISTORY OF PAINTING
FROM THE RENAISSANCE
TO THE PRESENT DAY
By
James William Pattison
NEW YORK
Duffield &' Company 1906
COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY HERBERT S. STONE & CO.
This Edition Published September, jgo6
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction I
CHAPTER
I. The Dawn of Modern Art ..... i
Leonardo — The Van Eycks — Durer — Michael Angelo. — Bellini — Messina — Giorgione — Titian — Sodoma — Vecchio — Lotto.
n. The Authority of Italy -23
Raphael — Correggio — Holbein — Cousin — Tintoretto^ Veronese.
III. The School of Raphael and its Competitors . . 42
Guido — Masaccio — The Caracci Academy — Caravaggio — Reni — Domenichino — Rubens — Hals — Ribera.
IV. Beyond the Alps . ..... 57
Claude — Poussin — Velasquez — Van Dyck — Rembrandt — Teniers — Hobbema — Douw.
V. The Lesser Great Men 75
Rosa — Dolci — Murillo — Lebrun — Potter — Steen— Wat- teau — Nattier.
VI. The Conflict Between Classicism and Realism . . 87 Hogarth — Vernet — Reynolds — Gainsborough — Copley — Kauffman — David — Goya — Stuart— Lawrence.
VII. The Revolt in England .... . . 109
Turner — Constable — Allston — Ingres — Sully.
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
VIII. The Ascendency of the Barbizon School. . . .123 The Hudson River School — Durand — Gericault— Hard- ing—Corot — Delacroix— Cole — Landseer — Diaz — Troyon— Millet — Cazin.
IX. The Quiet Middle of the iqth Century . . . 143 Meissonier — Menzel — Leutze — Courbet — Daubigny — Kensett — Watts — The Harts — Bonheur.
X. New Developments in France and America . . . 180 Gifford — Cabanel — Gerome — Boulanger — Puvis de Cha- vannes — Hunt — Israels — Bouguereau — Inness.
X'l. The Preraphaelites and THE Beginnings of Impressionism 176 Church — Piloty — Boecklin — Bierstadt — McEntee — Rossetti — Millais — Leighton — Dore — Burne-Jones — The Impressionists — Manet.
XII. The Growth of the Personal in Art .... 199 Degas — Whistler — Morris — Orchardson — DeNeuville Alma-Tadema — Homer — Carolus-Duran — Holman Hunt — Fortuny— Hermans — Max.
XIII. Impressionism,— its Followers and its Opponents . . 219
Monet— Raffaelli—Vibert— Walker— Madrazo—Verest- chagin — Boldini — Benjamin-Constant — Vierge — Detaille — Bastien-Lepage — Besnard — Thayer.
XIV. The Americans and Some Others 240
Chase — Dagnan-Bouveret — Abbey — Sargent — Zorn — Stuck.
XV. The Present Situation 258
Menard — Aman-Jean — Carriere — Shaw — Beaux — Melchers — Pyle — MacEwen.
XVI. Final Review 268
XVII. Schools of Art 271
List of Illustrations
Alexander, John W.,
Portrait of a Woman ... . 256
Alma-Tadema, Laurens,
Pleading - - - 210
Aman-Jean, Edmond,
Portrait of a Young Woman 260
Bastien-Lepage, Jules,
The Haymakers ... . 230
Beaux, Cecilia,
Mother and Son • ... . 262
Beckwith, Carroll,
"1776" .... 264
Paul du Chaillu ... . 266
Besnard, Paul Albert,
Decoration .... .... 234
Bonheur, Rosa,
The Horse Fair ........ j^g
Bonnat, Leon Joseph Florentine,
Martyrdom of St. Denis - - • . . ig2
Botticelli, Sandro,
Madonna ........ g
Bouguereau, William Adolphe,
Songs of Spring ........ 172
Breton, Jules,
The Communicants .... - 176
Brush, George De Forest,
Mother and Child . . ...... 250
Burne-Jones, Sir Edward,
The Mirror of Venus - .... ... ig^
The Golden Stair 196
Carriere, Eugene,
Maternity ■ - - 258
Cazin, Jean Charles,
The Windmill ■ ■ " '4°
Chase, William M.,
Alice - - 240
Corot, Jean Baptiste Camilla,
Dance of the Nymphs .... 1 28
Landscape with Figures . - 126
Dagnan-Bouveret, Pascal Adolphe Jean,
Bretons at the Pardon - - - 244
Consecrated Bread - 246
Madonna - ... 242
Daubigny, Charles Francois,
Pond at Corbigny ' - ■ 15°
David, Jacques Louis,
Portrait of Mme. Recamier 9^
del Sarto, Andrea,
Madonna and Child - - 26
John the Baptist 28
The Madonna 24
de Neuville, Alphonse Marie,
The Departure - - 208
Diaz, Narcisse Virgilio de la Pena,
Landscape ■ ■ 134
Dupre, Jules,
Cows Going Home - ■ ■ '42
Morning - ... 144
Gainsborough, Thomas,
Mrs. Kinlock - ... 96
Harrison, Alexander,
Twilight - - - ■ - 248
Holbein, Hans,
LadyVaux ... . . 30
Homer, Winslow,
The Breakers - - 212
PAGE
Israels, Josef,
The Little Seamstress - - 170
Knaus, Ludwig,
The Holy Family 188
Landseer, Sir Edwin,
Bringing Home the Deer - - 132
LeBrun, Marie Louise Elizabeth Vigee,
Mme. LeBrun and Daughter - - 104
MacEwen, Walter,
The Judgment of Paris - - - 270
Mauve, Anton,
Sheep - - - 214
Melchers, Gari,
The Sermon - 268
Menzel, Adolph,
The Broken Pitcher 152
Mesdag, Hendrik Willem,
The Beach at Scheveningen igS
Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest,
The Brawl 146
Michael Angelo,
The Fates 10
The Delphic Sibyl 12
The Creation of Eve 14
Mignard, Pierre,
Child of Mignard 72
Millais, John Everett,
Efifie Deans - - igo
Millet, Jean Francois,
The Gleaners - - - - 130
The Sower - 124
The Angelus ■ - - - - 122
Murillo, Bartolome Estaban,
The Beggar Boy - - 74
Madonna - 76
The Immaculate Conception - - "- yg
Palma, Jacopo,
Santa Barbara - ' ^°
Potter, Paul,
The Bull - ■ 80
Raphael,
Madonna della Sedia - - - - 22
The Transfiguration 3^
Madonna del Granduca ■ 34-
Madonna della Tenda 3^
Portrait o£ Himself - 3^
Rembrandt,
The Night Watch 5^
The Burgomasters 68
Portrait of Himself 7°
Reni, Guido,
Beatrice Cenci - 48
Reynolds, Sir Joshua,
The Strawberry Girl 90
Miss Bowles Q2
Penelope Boothby 88
Richter, Gustav,
Portrait of Queen Louise - • - 148
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel,
The Blessed Damosel 182
Beata Beatrix - - 184
Dante's Dream - - 186
Rousseau, Theodore,
Landscape - 138
Romney, George,
Mrs. M. Robinson ■ .... g^
Rubens, Peter Paul,
Holy Family - 50
Madonna and Child .... - 52
Infant Christ, St. John, and the Angels - - . . 54
Portrait of His Wife ...... 56
Sargent, John Singer,
Head of Hosea - - 254
Portrait of Homer St. Gaudens 252
Thayer, Abbott H.,
Brother and Sister - 236
Titian,
Sacred and Profane Love ... 16
Troyon, Constant,
The Shepherd's Dog 1 36
Tryon, Dwight William,
Early Spring in New England 238
Van Dyck, Antony,
Charles I. - Frontispiece
Children of Charles I. 64
Portrait of Himself 66
Velasquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y,
Philip IV. 62
The Infanta Margarita - 216
Don Balthazar Carlos 60
Vinci, Leonardo da.
The Last Supper - - 2
Watts, George Frederick,
Sir Galahad - 156
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill,
Portrait of the Artist's Mother 202
Traumerei - - - 204
INTRODUCTION
THE RENAISSANCE
Europe did not awaken from twelve hundred years of Dark Ages in the twinkling of an eye. The dawn stole upon it without any demonstration. Those who have watched the dawning, when weary with watching, know the strange surprise of it — things reveal them- selves a little, though still mysterious. When it is half light, the birds suddenly burst into song, and still there is no sunshine. The sunrise is a spectacular performance, wonderfully affecting men and things.
Historians have been in the habit of commencing the story of the Renaissance with the Italian painter, Cimabue, in the thirteenth cen- tury. Possibly he is the dawn. He did observe nature closely, escaping from Byzantine formalities somewhat. If this be a correct division, then it was the Italian Masaccio (1402) who made the birds wake up. Leonardo da Vinci was the first streak of real sunshine flung athwart the earth. The full glory of the fresh morning came with the advent of Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian and their con- temporaries.
Twelve years older than Masaccio was Jan van Eyck, in Flanders. He traveled somewhat, going as far as Spain but never to Italy. He and his brother did wonderful things, but still in the Gothic manner. Formalism cannot altogether kill great talent.
The source of the Italian Renaissance is easy to find. Apollo posed for the angels and Venus put on her clothes to aid the artist in painting a madonna. The breast-plate of Augustus rearranged itself to make the armor of the French king, Henry II. (sixteenth century). The Graeco-Roman group, the "Laocoon," inspired Michael Angelo to execute the picture of "Bathing Soldiers."
All through the Dark Ages churches were decorated in a stiff, formal fashion, priest-ridden styles showing almost no study of nature,
X INTRODUCTION
and owl-eyed monks coilld see in the dark to execute many quaint and some beautiful missals, holy ivories and shrines. This was the art of the Van Eycks, of Quentin Matsys, of Masaccio, of his pupil, Filippo Lippi, and his pupil in turn, Botticelli. Botticelli was the last of the Goths — almost at the sunrise.
There were two places which we may call "art schools." No mas- ters managed them, except as each talented man was the master of his less-informed fellow student. One of these was the monastery in Florence where the dead Masaccio's living paintings gave forth their influence. Every one of the celebrated men of the Florentine group studied there. The other was the palace and gardens of the great Medici family, where numberless art objects, dug up all over Italy and in the Greek colonies, had been collected. The habit of collect- ing artistic objects had long prevailed, though for many generations no one thought much of studying them.
Masaccio gave a lesson in sincerity; these relics gave a lesson in well-regulated grace and elegance of form. It is to the study of these "antiques" that the Italians owe their sunrise; a light which shone all over Europe.
The Renaissance marks the change from Gothic formalisms to those of Greek and Graeco- Roman origin: the one stiff but, latterly, sincere, the other studiedly elegant — often less sincere — and we call it "classi- cal." This classicism often followed the ancient forms so closely that many an expert has come to grief in attempting to differentiate the two styles.
There is another use of the word "classical," meaning simply any architecture, sculpture or picture arranged in a formal manner some- what based on the principles of formalism learned from this study of the antique.
The landscapes of Claude Lorraine and Corot are classical in this sense, also innumerable pictures of domestic scenes, that is, most of the genre art. Certain artists in all modern periods have insisted upon following nature exactly and admitted no artificial arrange- ments—these are not classicists. ^-
INTRODUCTION xi
The history of the word "genre" is very obscure. This we know: After the establishment of academies of art (following the Renaissance) those who failed to follow the laws of classical composition in figure pictures (preferring to paint nature as they saw it) were little encour- aged, and the term "genre" was applied, in contempt, to their pic- tures. Naturalistic figures were not considered worthy the name of "art." Art had to be artificial. Naturalism was vulgar. Domestic subjects were vulgar and only suited to the taste of the common people. This was true in Japan, just as it was in Europe. The battle goes on all the time, and will never cease, between classicism and the presentation of nature as nature is; the presentation of a subject in an entertaining and easily understood manner, or in stilted and elegant formality. It is the war between the taste of the majority fairly culti- vated and that of the aristocrats who worship their Greek — of romance in the clothes of everyday life or romance in draperies (or no clothes at all) as the ancients knew how to make them beautiful. So the war between classicism and genre is the contest between extreme renais- sance (Greek or Graeco-Roman) elegance and the art of the people, whether it be formal or naturalistic.
The World's Painters
CHAPTER I
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART
If "all roads lead to Rome,'' it follows that all roads radiate from the Italian center. It is not strictly true that "Italy is the mother of art," but the fact remains that she was its nurse; that cisalpine civili- zation favored its development and cisalpine love of the beautiful was a potent factor in shaping its character for many centuries. The contest, during centuries, between the rugged directness of the trans- alpines and the tendency to over-sweetness and finished technique of the cisalpines will never be lost sight of in this writing. Civilization emanated from Italy, in the earlier periods considered here, following the roads which led from Rome to the uttermost ends of Christendom. The manner in which the various transalpine nations made use of the influence furnishes material for much art history.
The Alps walled the races apart, but art traveled — somewhat. Though race characteristics shape so much the art of every nation, each people influenced the other whenever the art went a-journeying. As, in the earlier periods, artists grow up together, though many miles separated, it interests us to note the character of each one as he thus produced his own sort while another was producing his at the same moment in other conditions and amid other influences. They influenced each other although so far apart.
2 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Leonardo da Vinci
{14J2-1S19)
Leonardo is the first cisalpine painter whom we consider, because his place, at the beginning of modern art, is disputed by no one.
Sailors and policemen are not startled by the pyrotechnics of a sunrise, because they are accustomed to the phenomenon. But to most people it is an exciting event. If we saw it but once in a life- time, the glory of it would be worth living for. Leonardo da Vinci did to the world what the sunrise does. We do not understand the phenomenon of his advent as well as we do a physical phenomenon, therefore it startles us more.
Leonardo was the child of love: his father being a gentleman of refinement and wealth, his mother a lady of no mean rank. But the encumbrances of social life could not interfere with his industry, or the luxury of wealth dull the edge cf his ambition. Had he been less wealthy, it is possible that we should have seen more pictures from his able hands. He had the privilege of cioing anything which fancy dictated. He loved study; experiments in science absorbed many of his hours; music was his servant; as a silversmith he has left wonder- ful things; of course he wrote poetry. Almost everyone of the great men of this great period also did these things, but Leonardo stands alone at the top, as the one who has left writings on engineering, road building, fortification, clever inventions and contrivances. Astronomy, chehiistry and philosophy were advanced by him. It is even claimed that he invented the humble wheelbarrow. If this last is true, man- kind should acclaim him. The simple canal-lock, as now used all over the world, is the invention of this great scientist. He even painted, and such painting it was!
The man who could paint the "Mona Lisa" (Louvre) in the condi- tions in which he lived proved himself a genius, had he done nothing else. This portrait of a lady of noble bearing, only the head and bust placed against a simple background of gray, suggesting mountains, is so lovable, so dignified, so tenderly executed, so atmospheric, so strong, so beautifully constructed, and, above all, so modern, that
03
H
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 3
almost nothing better has been done by any painter since. It stands to-day the model for all portrait painters, and we wonder the more when we think that nothing but the rigidity of the Gothic influence came before him. In these days painters have masters, men of expe- rience in their own line; Leonardo had only the somewhat improved Gothic to study, and from it he developed the art which to-day is our art.
I am not saying that Masaccio, his pupil Filippo Lippi, and Bot- ticelli could not paint a superbly constructed head, because they were wonderful draughtsmen. But the sentiment of Leonardo's heads is utterly different and entirely original, like nothing before, and entirely in accord with the artistic sentiment from that day until this. Bot- ticelli was still artificial in line, still following the types of the fifteenth century. He was the last of that line, and a good while before his death the better-developed art of Leonardo and the other painters of the Renaissance turned the tide against that really great artist so that he was left in neglect and obscurity.
No doubt the "Last Supper" of Leonardo (at Milan) was a noble picture, and also an epoch maker. But we have little knowledge of what it was actually like, since decay and repeated restoration have ruined the work. Judging by the engravings by contemporary artists, it must have been entirely in accord with the Renaissance movement.
Leonardo abandoned the hard outlines of the Gothic painters, studied light and shade in a way they never thought of and painted the tender texture of blood-nourished flesh instead of the parchment textures of his predecessor.
Leonardo was born near Florence in 1452, spending his youth and early manhood in that city. He went to Milan, where the design for a colossal equestrian statue occupied the time not given to the con- struction of a long aqueduct for bringing fresh water to the city. To this magnificent genius art was a pastime, his real business being experiments in hydrostatics. But for his amusement he outdid most men's serious undertakings.
Returning to Florence, the great prince Caesar Borgia sent him over the land to superintend his engineering schemes and the fortifications.
4 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
In the Palazzo Vecchio he and Michael Angelo met in friendly competition while decorating the council chamber. Raphael owes much more to his example than to the instructions of his reputed master, Perugino.
In his old age, the French king, Fran9ois I., used him as a court ornament which, as the pay was good, seems very appropriate. There in F"rance his bones were committed to mother earth in 1519.
Important Works: Adoration of Magi, unfinished (Uffizi, Florence); Cartoon for a Madonna with St. Ann (Diploma Gallery, Burlington House, London) ; Last Supper, fresco (S. Maria della Grazie, Milan); Annunciation (E. Paris); Madonna, Child and St. Anna, in part (Paris); "La Vierge aux Rochers" (Louvre, Paris); "La Gioconda" (Paris); St. Jerome, unfinished (Vatican, Rome); Profile of Girl (Donna Laura Minghetti, Rome); Portrait of Mona Lisa (in Louvre), 1504; "La Belle Ferronniere" (Nat. Gal., London); "St. John the Baptist" (Louvre, Paris); "St. Anne" (Louvre, Paris); Portrait of Himself (in R. Lib., Turin).
As it is the purpose, in this history, to present painters in strictly chronological order, without regard to nationality, schools or charac- ter of work, we cross the Alps and consider Diirer in his transalpine home. The reader will have constantly before him the painters who lived side by side, as it were, and he will be able to take note of the art movements which crept from land to land, and the progress that they made at any given moment. In order to understand Diirer, we are obliged to say a word about the brothers Van Eyck, though, chronologically, they do not come within the scope of the book.
Hubert van Eyck Jan van Eyck
{Died 1426) {Died 1440)
With no other art influence than that of the missal decorations, which were in a measure art, and the church decorations, hardly admissible as art, these men painted pictures which— dare it be said? — have never innheir own line been surpassed. No artist looks upon these works with I'ess than intense admiration. More modern men had greater knowledge, command of better materials, but perhaps the Goddess of Art holds knowledge and utensils in contempt.
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 5
There is a legend that they invented oil painting. It is worth what it may please you to attach to it. Many pictures of these early periods were so peculiarly painted that experts quarrel as to which are in distemper and which in oils. Dry pigment had been made into a paste or unctuous mass fit to lay as a paint by the use of white of egg, gums, or something similar. Occasionally some painter added oil. The difficulty was to find an oil that would not rot before it dried, if it dried at all. Pigments were worked up with varnish also, which served the purpose better. There is no doubt that the Van Eycks found out a better way than anyone had before, and also that the amount of oil in the mixture was less than the varnish. Also, no one can tell certainly which of their pictures was done in distemper and which in "oils," so-called. However, it is also true that the use of oil in preparing pigments was carried from Flanders to Italy, where- upon the Italians materially improved upon the hint given them.
Principal Works of Hubert van Eyck: Part of "Adoration of the Lamb" (Ghent Cathedral), and perhaps "St. Jerome and the Lion" (Naples).
Principal Works of Jan van Eyck: With Hubert van Eyck, "Adoration of the Lamb" (Ghent Cathedral); "Fount of Salvation" or "Triumph of Christianity" (Madrid); "Turbaned Portrait" and "Jean Arnoljini and Wife, with Joined Hands" (National Gallery, London); "Coronation of the Virgin" or "The Virgin and Donor" (Louvre, Paris); "Madonna and Child" (Dresden); "Annunciation" (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg); "Head of Christ" (Berlin); Six Doubtful Triptychs (Munich).
What is commonly called "the Gothic" stiffness of line clings to these pictures as far as draperies are concerned, but the color is excellent, the flesh tones superexcellent, the correctness of face and hand-drawing wonderful, the perspective leaves little to desire, and there is a nobleness of sentiment and expression which makes lesser men despair.
It is probable that Albrecht Diirer had an opportunity to study some of these pictures when a young man and making his "appren- tice's circuit." However, though he commenced b)^ somewhat imi- tating their manner, his final style was entirely original.
6 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Albrecht Diirer
{1471-1328)
Diirer was a comet. Where it was dark he gleamed out, and then it was dark again. Michael Angelo, Titian and Raphael circled in their orbits like normal planets. Even planets have their lifetime and die, but the systems to which they belong go on circling. There was no Diirer system to go on. Holbein owed something to Diirer, but does not group with him. The art previous to Diirer was Gothic; all around him rude Gothic (except with a few Flemings) or, it is more correct to say, Byzantine. It was an art almost entirely controlled by the ecclesiastics, forced into specific shapes (as were the doctrines), given no liberty, admitted to no uses except to teach dogmas fettered like itself. The Romanesque was only a northern form of Byzantine, and Gothic, as far as painted or sculptured figures were concerned, was the continuation of the same. There was no study of nature. In the midst of this darkness, the "dark ages," the dawn somewhat revealed the truths of nature to certain men, — to Jan van Eyck (1390), who did very wonderful things, up in the chilly north (Flanders), and to Memling (1425), and to Quentin Matsys (1460), both in the same Flemish neighborhood.
The Reformation had nothing to do with this awakening of art, as Luther had not yet come. There was movement amid the dry bones of religion, as the world had set itself a-thinking, and art felt the new life in a few places. Why should Diirer have been so altogether exceptional? Quite possibly the Hungarian blood in his veins had to do with it. When the Reformation finally changed the conditions, they were bad for art, because the church-decorating business was ruined, and Diirer suffered accordingly in his finances.
No Popes nor Medicis made summer for artists in frosty Germany. No swarms of cardinals and priests clamored for magnificent ecclesias- tical art. The German rulers sometimes attached artists to their court, " just for respectability's sake, but parsimony lived with the duke as well as with the shopkeeper. Diirer was pretty poor all his life. But he loved his art and his country: the latter so much that he would
Botticelli — Madonna.
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 7
not stay in Italy, where his art might have found sunshine, though often urged to do so and flattered by offers of financial rewards quite sufficient to have made him rich.
Charles V. made him promises, but Charles loved Titian better, and paid him better. Probably the great emperor was right, because Titian really was a greater painter. It is all very well for us to admire the quaintness and sincerity, the intense Germanism, the individuality, of Diirer. But it is a question whether we should not also have bought the magnificent Titians in preference, when it came to living with the art every day. Just now we have a revival of the love of quaintness, we admire Diirer and Botticelli (and it is well so), but this is not the case all the time. People like superb color as a rule. It was not in the German's studio, but in the Italian's that Charles said, as he picked up the dropped brush, "Titian is fit to be served by Caesar," a sly compliment to himself by the way. A learned professor once brought to me a volume of the engravings by Diirer of "The Little Passion," saying, "Will these awful things be of any use to you? I am tired of seeing them about." Only the art- educated admire Diirer, because there is nothing suave or pretty about his work. All Germans love the grotesque, the severe, sometimes the shocking. Many of Diirer' s works are all these. I do not say this of the major part, because he could be severe with great dignity and even grandeur. The beauty of Diirer is the impressiveness of powerful pose and mighty sweep of line. Holbein was astonishingly clever; Diirer was majestic, designing complicated compositions, the result of profound thought. He was deeper than his neighbor in Basle, but never approached him in skill in painting.
As Diirer's father was a goldsmith, he taught his boy all he knew about drawing and designing, to make a metal-worker of him, if pos- sible. Fortunately it was not possible. Every artist learned some- thing about the manipulation of precious metals and practiced designing, but Diirer had better stuff in him. The several little men who taught him all they knew, including the best at hand, Wolgemuth (a Goth who made lean fingers and awful expressions which he mis-
8 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
took for sublimity), may be called his teachers. Masters he never had, except the mastery of his own abilities and original genius. In common with all workmen, he took his "wander year" and visited Flanders, where there was something really worth studying.
His early work resembles that of the Flemings which he saw in his travels, but soon, being alone, the resemblance grew less and the power increased. Strange to say, his first exhibited work, at twenty- three years of age, was classical in subject, and little account have we of religious pictures until his visit to Italy, where he met Giovanni Bellini, the master of Titian, and came in direct contact with all the then living masters of the Venetian school.
Now a strange thing happened. This son of the unsympathetic north found out how good an artist he was. The Italians, accustomed to magnificent colorists, who neglected detail for color's sake, were excited to enthusiasm by this opposite genius who could unite gran- deur and infinite minuteness, correct drawing and appreciation of character. He had a good time in Italy, but always looking forward sadly to his return to the forbidding indifference of his "own country. Holbein, on the contrary, took advantage of his opportunities, and accepted the offers of English gold. Diirer turned his back upon Italian skies and Italian flattery, substantiated by offers of gold. He returned to his unappreciative fellow countrymen and, unfortu- nately, to his scolding wife, never to leave the one or shake off the other. Holbein left his wife when he went to England.
It is strange, as we look at it from this period of excellent art instruction, to think that Diirer had never rightfully considered the relative proportions of the male and the female figures, and to read about his delight when Bellini, at the time of the German's visit to Italy, first opened his eyes to these simple truths. With all his faithfulness in observing nature, he had never discovered so simple a thing. How this reveals the darkness of the Gothic sur- roundings in which he grew up! However, he made of himself, though all alone, a painter who excelled Raphael in the rendering of tender color and "fatness" of tone. There is something about
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART g
the painting of this half-Goth which commands the most unqualified admiration.
As it was easy to sell engravings, while paintings went begging, our artist took advantage of the skill with the burin which he had acquired in his wander-year, so that it is as an engraver that the world best knows him. In cleanness of line few have equalled him at any period. The stiffness of the early work gave place to a certain sense of greatness of line. It is hard to find anyone who understood better just how many strokes should be used to render a given form, and this is one of the great elements of success in engraving. Copper-plate or wood-block were equally under his command. He invented many new methods and on his visit to Italy taught the engravers there, in the home of art, many new things, inciting them to do better work. Having once learned that there was something interesting about human anatomy, he became the author of works on the subject, also on per- spective and many other matters which every student now learns while a youth but then were either subjects of speculation or utterly unknown.
Fame did not entirely neglect this truly great man, as the emperor finally granted him a pension and some honors. His was a prophet's honor, however, greater away from home.
Diirer worked in oil painting, tempera, and drawings on various papers, with ink and pen, brush in lines or wash, sometimes set off with touches of white, and perhaps tinted with water colors.
In 1490 he journeyed to several cities of Germany and Flanders; 1505, for a considerable period in Venice; 1512, he did some work for Emperor Maximillian; 1520, he attended the coronation of Charles v., at Aix la Chapelle, and received some recognition; he then returned to Nuremberg.
Important Works: Made 200 wood-cuts: Apocalypse (16 subjects), Greater Passion (12 subjects), Lesser Passion (57 subjects). Copper plates, number 100: "Melancholia," "Death and the Devil," etc. Painted "Adoration of the Trinity" (at Vienna); "Adam and Eve" (at Florence); "Four Apostles" (at Nuremberg), etc.
10 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Michael Angelo Buonarotti
(Born, Caprisa, Tuscany, March 6, 1474. Died in Rome, 1564.)
Our chronology demands that we recross the mountains to con- sider another cisalpine painter.
Michael Angelo was of noble birth, his father being governor of two Tuscan cities, his mother also coming from an aristocratic family. Like most of the others, he was painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. As one whose conceptions were magnificently majestic he has no equal in the history of art. Grandeur, thy name is Michael Angelo!
As has been said, there were no art schools, except that best of all schools, the association of artists together for study of good models, as all these men did in the Medici gardens and in the Florentine church decorated by Masaccio. Angelo' s extraordinary precocity attracted the attention of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who made him an intimate friend in his palace.
The contrast between this artist, bred to the classics (Graeco- Roman), and Albrecht Diirer, living at the same moment in Gothic Germany, is well set forth by the authenticated incident of the statue, which Angelo made, so like the ancient work that it was sold to a con- noisseur as a genuine antique.
All of Angelo's paintings and statues resemble the antique so closely that only the stamp of his vigorous personality and freshness of con- ception differentiates them. Of course his architecture is also renais- sance; that is, a revival of the architecture of the best Roman period. The Pantheon of the Romans, now standing where built, is a hemi- spherical dome, its drum resting on the earth. Michael Angelo declared that he would "hang the Pantheon in air," which he did; that is, he mounted it on the edifice of the church of St. Peter's. He did more, making his monster dome the largest that the world has •known — an example of the stupendousness of his conceptions. His giant thoughts created a Jehovah in the act of reaching out his finger to discharge the spark of life into the body of the parent of mankind:
Michael Angelo — The Fates.
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART ii
grander in idea and in composition than any other picture the world had then seen, or has ever been able to imitate. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, at Rome, where this work (ordered by Pope Julius II.) forms one of many mural panels filled with dignified sibyls and prophets, has been for centuries the wonder of all nations, because of originality in thought and vigor in drawing. The paintings are in fresco, that is, colors struck upon the plaster swiftly when it is first laid and still wet, requiring boldness and knowledge, occupying the artist only the remarkably short period of twenty months. Raphael worked in this chapel at the same time, a generous rival. The immense painting, "The Last Judgment" (fifty-four by eighty-three feet), filling the entire end of the same chapel, occupied him eight years, being completed in 1541. Its individual figures are fine exam- ples of drawing, but as a composition and as subject-matter it is tire- some and unimpressive. The Almighty appears as if trying very hard to look godlike and barely escaping ordinary bad temper. Made, not from his heart, but for his patron's sake, this proves that genius is not docile but imperious, admitting of no trifling. It was Pope Paul III. who ordered it, and the colossal Moses was executed about the same time. In 1546 Angelo was made architect of St. Peter's, by the same Pope; the great church having been commenced some years earlier by Julius II. Angelo at once changed the plan of the center.
Angelo's principal patrons were Lorenzo the Magnificent, Piero Medici the Bad, Popes Julius II., Leo X., who accomplished little, Clement VII., for whom the artist erected fortifications, and Paul III. Angelo erected many celebrated buildings, besides St. Peter's, for Paul III.
In 1488 he became the pupil of Domenico Ghirlandajo, who was an advanced painter of the earlier period, and could teach many things to a youth. "The Battle of Hercules with the Centaurs," abas-relief, was an early work. The "Pieta" was made in 1497, a marble group of the Virgin holding the dead Christ on her knees. It is in St. Peter's, at Rome. In 1504 came the colossal statue of David, now at the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, for which he received 400 ducats
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(eighteen months' work). In 1504 his only oil painting, "The Holy Family," was made. Work on the paintings of the interior of the Sistine Chapel was commenced in 1506. The flat center of the ceiling he divided into nine panels, representing the Creation of the Sun, the Moon, the Creation of Adam, the Fall, and the Deluge; also, smaller, the Gathering of the Waters, the Almighty Separating Light from Darkness, the Creation of Eve, the Sacrifice of Noah, and the Drunk- enness of Noah. As the ceiling was nearly plain, he divided it into parts with a painted representation of vigorous architectural forms and mouldings. Parts were curved, and here appeared the genealogy of Christ and figures of sibyls and prophets, as well as the Deliver- ance of Israel.
His paintings formed by no means the largest part of his life-work. Oil painting he despised, considering it lacking in power. In the rapid striking of large masses of color into wet plaster (fresco) his grandeur of expression found a better medium. Indeed, it is a nobler method, though not so capable of variety of statement as oils.
Loaded with honors, but often tormented by the whims of power- ful patrons, this austere, virtuous, wifeless and often unhappy man was buried in Rome, in 1564, the pomp of his obsequies coming too late to heal many heart sores. His masterpiece in painting was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at Rome; in sculpture, the "David," at Florence. The figures in his paintings are sculpturesque rather than pictorial.
Important Works: Holy Family (Uffizi, Florence); Deposition, unfinished (London); Frescoes (Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome); Frescoes (Capella Paolina, Rome).
In order to know what painters were living in Angelo's time, and to maintain our chronological order, a word about Giovanni Bellini (died 1 5 16) is necessary to our understanding of the great Venetian painters. He belongs not in our history but with the Gothic period, but in his color is to be found the true source from which flowed the stream bearing the great colorists of Venice.
Michael Angelo — The Delphic Sibyl.
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 13
Important Works: Madonna (Lochis, Bergamo) ; Madonna (Morelli, Ber- gamo); Pieta, Dead Christ (Berlin); Allegory of Tree of Life (UfBzi, Florence); Portrait of Loredano, Madonna, Agony in Garden, Blood of Redeemer (London) ; Dead Christ (Mr. Ludwig Mond, London); Pieta, Two Madonnas (Brera, Milan); M'adonna (Dr. Gust, Frizzoni, Milan); Madonna with SS. Mark and Augustin and Doge Barbarigo (S. Pietro, Murano); Transfiguration (Sala Granda, Naples); Madonna (Mr. T. H. Davis, Newport, U. S. A.) ; Crucifixion, God the Father, Altar-piece in many parts (S. Francesco, Pesaro) ; Dead Christ (Rimini) ; Madonna (Turin) ; Madonna, Madonna, Five Small Allegories, Madonna with St. Catharine and Magdalen, Madonna with SS. Paul and George, Madonna, Madonna with Six Saints (Academy, Venice); Transfiguration, Dead Christ, Crucifixion (Museo Correr, Venice) ; Dead Christ Supported by Three Angels (Venice) ; Pieta (Sala di Tre, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Triptych, Madonna and Saints (Frari, Venice); Madonna and Four Saints (S. Francesco Delia Vigna, Venice); SS. Jerome, Augustin, and Christopher (S. Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice); Madonna (S. Maria Dell' Orto, Venice); Madonna and Four Saints (S. Zaccaria, Venice); Madonna (Verona); Baptism (S. Corona, Vicenza).
The Van Eycks invented a sort of oil painting which had been introduced in Italy by traveling Flemings and improved upon by Antonello da Messina (died 1493) and by him taught to Bellini. There can be no doubt that this was a process of mixing varnish with oil (possibly more of the former) and that it resembles our oil paint- ing only as an experiment resembles a complete development. How- ever, no painter of this day uses his pigments exactly like another, art being one grand experiment with materials. The fresco then in use was somewhat dry in tone and capable of only a limited variety of effects. Oil painting permits of greater richness, glow and yarietyr though too much technique and too great attention to "fine paintin' has betrayed many an art-trust.
Important Works of Antonello da Messina: Crucifixion (Antwerp) ; St Sebastian (Lochis, Bergamo); Portrait of Young Man, Portrait of Young Man, Portrait of Young Man in Red Coat (Berlin) ; St, Sebastian (Dresden) ; The Saviour, Portrait of Man, Crucifixion, St. Jerome in His Study (London); Madonna with SS. Gregory and Benedict (Messina) ; Portrait of Man Wearing Wreath (Museo Civico, Milan); Portrait of Man (Prince Trivulzio, Milan); Portrait of Man (Sala Grande, Naples) ; Condottier (Paris) ; Portrait of Man (Villa Borghese, Rome) ; Ecce Homo (Academy, Venice); Portrait of Man (Giovanelli, Venice); Christ at Column (Sala IV., Vicenza).
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Giorgione and Titian
Giorgio Barbarelli (1477-1511), called Giorgione, a companion of the great Titian, lived just long enough to radiate an influence upon the longer-lived fellow pupil whom we know so well. Had his thirty- four years been ninety, the story of art might have been changed.
He it was who caught the color of Bellini and added to its beauty an original conception of the capabilities of picture-making which Titian did not perceive until these two worked together on the same decorations, and never did the more celebrated man reveal certain great qualities which mark Giorgione's pictures.
Passing his decorations, which may or may not express his pecu- liar worth, it is in landscape and portraiture that we see his wonderful capacity for observing the truths of nature and using them for art's sake. Claude Lorraine has the credit for the invention of modern landscape, but no man invents an art wholly. Giorgione's landscapes, formal as they were, have many qualities of tenderness and atmos- phere far in advance of his time
If portraiture may be considered the greatest expression of art, then this man's renderings of the people about him just as they were, but artistically treated, are very high art. There is evidence that da Vinci's portraits gave him the impulse; if so, he is a strong second.
Important Works of Giorgione: Portrait of Man (Berlin) ; Portrait of Antonio Brocardo (Budapest); Madonna with SS. Francis and Liberate (Duomo, Castel- franco); Sleeping Venus (Dresden); Trial of Moses, Knight of Malta, Judgment of Solomon (Uffizi, Florence); Shepherd with Pipe (Hampton Court); Madonna with SS. Roch and Antony of Padua (Madrid); Fete Champgtre (Paris); Portrait of a Lady (Villa Borghese, Rome) ; Storm Calmed by St. Mark, linished in small part by Paris Bordone (Academy, Venice); Apollo and Daphne (Seminario, Venice); Gipsy and Soldier (Giovanelli, Venice); Christ Bearing Cross (Casa Loschi, Vicenza); Evander Showing Aeneas the Site of Rome (Vienna).
TizianoVecelli (1477-1 576), is famous as Titian. There is no reason why readers of art history should be continually told that the Vene- tian painters were great colorists and no effort made to state the nature of the color or what is to be understood by the term
(Michael Angelo — The Creation of Eve.)
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 15
"good color." Titian indulged little in gay coloring. He did not neglect the use of blue, red and yellow, but probably it would aston- ish us could we compare his tones with pure pigments. He declared once that any painter could make an excellent picture with no other pigments than white, black and red. He made great use of these. The little green used is relatively green only. In those days the only blues were Prussian, always hard to manage and liable to force itself into prominence with the lapse of time, and ultramarine. If a very cold black be mixed with white and spread on canvas so as to sur- round a spot of light red, the presence of the warm red will cause the cold black-and-white to appear blue, as a pale sky is blue. We used to amuse ourselves when students with this experiment.
Purple is absolutely a non-essential on the palette. Cold greens are only blues modified and are non-essential.
Mixing any rich red with black, any yellowish red with black, white with black, and white with red, every tone in a very rich picture could be secured. Vermilion adds brilliancy, but it must be modified if the work is to be harmonious and rich.
The secret of Titian's magnificent color is to be found in his won- derful color sense and not in the abundance of his pigments or their use as pure pigments. It is an understanding of the influence of one color upon another which makes a fine colorist. Velasquez was counted a fine colorist, but he used the most subdued* tints. His pictures are gray, but a marvelous tone of gray. Raphael was not wonderful in this matter of color. Clear flesh tones he has, but not rich grays. Holbein was a finer colorist than Raphael.
"Bad drawing" is the reiterated accusation laid up against Titian, as it is against almost every rich colorist in the history of art. The cause is easy to discover. Color once laid must be left untouched or it will become tarnished with too much manipulation. Couture, the Frenchman, used to say to his pupils, "One touch with the brush insures fresh color, two touches upon the same spot are dangerous and three touches mean death." All colorists know that color once laid on the canvas must be left alone. To attempt to correct a fault acci-
i6 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
dentally made in the fever of earnest effort would mean the destruc- tion of the clearness of the pigment. Very few colorists are willing to risk a correction. Even if Titian had drawn his forms perfectly, in outline, it would be very easy for him to lose some of this in swiftly laying his rich tones. If this should happen, he could scarcely afford to make a correction.
But there was another, and a curious circumstance. Many of the painters of this period prided themselves upon their accuracy in fol- lowing the drawing of the antique statues. "Good drawing" meant classical drawing. It has already been said that Angelo's figures were based on the severe Graeco-Roman statues ; Raphael' s were based on the elegant Greek. Angelo said of Titian, that he would have been a fine painter had he studied more carefully his antiques. Remember that Titian did not study the great collection of antique remains in the Medici gardens. Thus early do we find the battle between the paint- ers of hard classicism and healthy spontaneity in full activity.
By descent noble, and called "II Divino," Titian was born at the Castle of Cadore, a word which was often attached to his name. Rossi, of his native place, and Zucatti, of Trevigi, gave him lessons, out it was when he went to Venice and studied with Giovanni Bellini that his art career really commenced. His fellow pupil, Giorgione (died 1511), with whom he undertook exterior decorations, is gener- ally supposed to have been the first to break away from the Gothic character of their master's style and communicate these fresh impres- sions to Titian. It is certain that Giorgione influenced him more than anyone else. If any absolute facts can be extracted from the con- fusions of his early history, it may be stated that Titian's first inde- pendent works were" Raphael Conducting Tobias" and a "Presentation in the Temple," in Giorgione' s manner. Diirer came to visit Venice and in competition with his seriously finished work, Titian painted the "Tribute Money," he being at the time these three pictures were made not far from thirty years old. These little incidents indicate that the great artist was imitative in his youth and not remarkably original until quite mature. The "Bacchus and Ariadne," painted for
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THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 17
the Duke of Ferrara, is still a following of Giorgione. The decora- tion of the council chamber and the "Peter Martyr" (church of Saints Giovanni and Paolo), about 1523, show us the true Titian. The Emperor of Germany, Charles V., came to Bologna, and Titian went there to paint his portrait. The Duke of Mantua called for a portrait and the series of decorations in the palace known as the "Twelve Caesars," and about this time he painted the portrait of Pope Paul III. and was invited to Rome, but could not go on account of many engagements. He did, however, go to Rome some years later and again painted the Pope's portrait and the well-known "Danae," the latter work being the one which offended Michael Angelo's sense of good drawing, as already mentioned.
The empire of Charles V. extending to Spain, the sub-imperial capital being Madrid, Titian was invited (1550) to that country and was received with extraordinary honors and compensations (among the latter valuable rents in Italian cities) and such social attentions as a pleased emperor can bestow upon a favorite. This reminds us of the complaint which Diirer made to this same sovereign anent the neglect which fell to his share, — which suggests that serious and dignified art sometimes pays no profits. Here it was that Charles made the famous pretty speech, when the Venetian dropped his brush and His Majesty picked it up, saying, "Titian is fit to be served by Caesar." At the end of a three-years' stay, he returned to Italy, was called to Inspruck to paint the family portrait for King Ferdinand, and, returning, resided in Venice until his death, in 1576. It is said that Titian painted from nine years of age until ninety-nine. It stag- gers us to think how much longer he might have revealed his irrepress- ible enthusiasm, had not the cholera taken him off in his ninety-ninth year.
It is amusing to read the supercilious criticism of the German painter Raphael Mengs (who had learned to draw an antique statue with sublime exactness but had no genius) when he declares that Titian was not wonderful because he could not draw an antique cor- rectly.
i8 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Had Michael Angelo been endowed with the color sense of Titian, he would have failed to rival the Venetian colorist so long as he insisted upon absolute perfection in drawing, feeling the necessity of struggling with his pigment until the drawing should be perfect. During centuries, that fetish of classical drawing stood in the way of all healthy abandon in painting, so much so that it was a species of religion to draw like the antique sculptors. Broken commandments could be forgiven, but for breach of formal drawing there was no absolution.
Important Works: Crucifixion (Ancona); Madonna with SS. Francis, Blaise and Donor (S. Domenico, Ancona); Alexander VI. Presenting Baffo to St. Peter (Antwerp) ; St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata (Ascoli) ; Infant Daughter of Roberto Strozzi (Berlin); Portrait of Himself, His Own Daughter Lavinia (Berlin); Rape of Europa (Mrs. J. L. Gardner, Boston); Altar-piece (S. Nazaro e Celso, Brescia); Portrait of Ariosto (Lord Darnley, Cobham Hall); Madonna with Four Saints, Tribute Money, Lavinia as Bride, Lavinia as Matron, Portrait of Man, A Lady with a Vase, Madonna with a Family as Donors (in part only). Lady in Red Dress (Dresden); "La Belle" Eleanor Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino (Pitti, Florence); Pietro Aretino, Magdalen, Portrait of Young Man, The Concert, Philip II., Ippolito de' Medici, Full-length Portrait of Man, Head of Christ, "Tommaso Mosti" (Florence) ; Eleanor Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino (Uffizi, Florence) ; Fr. Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino (Florence); Flora, Madonna with St. Anthony Abbot, Venus, the head of a portrait of Lavinia, Portrait of Beccadelli, Venus, the head a portrait of Eleanor Gonzaga (Florence) ; Madonna with SS. Catherine, Domenic and a Donor (Genoa) ; Portrait of Man, Portrait of Man (Hampton Court) ; Holy Family and Shepherd, Bacchus and Ariadne, "Noli me Tangere," Madonna with SS. John and Catherine (London); Holy Family, "The Three Ages," Venus Rising from the Sea, Diana and Actseon, Calisto (Bridgewater House, London); Madonna (Mr. Mond, London); Madonna with SS. Ulfus and Bridget, Bacchanal, Venus Worship, Alfonso of Ferrara, Charles V. and his Dog, Phihp II. in Armor, The Forbid- den Fruit, Charles V. on Horseback, Danae, Venus and Youth Playing Organ, Salome (Portrait of Lavinia), Trinity, Knight of Malta, Entombment, Sisyphus, Prometheus, St. Margaret, Philip II. Offering Infant Don Fernando to Victory, Allocution of Alfonso d'Avalos, Religion Succored by Spain, Portrait of Him- self, Portrait of Man, The Empress Isabel (Madrid); Portraits of Irene and of Emilia di Spilimbergo (Casa Maniago, Maniago) ; Christ Appearing to His Mother (Duomo, Medole, near Brescia); St. Jerome, Antonio Porcia (Brera, Milan); "Vanitas," Portrait of Man, Portrait of Charles V., Madonna, Christ Crowned with
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART I9
Thorns (Munich); Philip II., Paul III., Ottaviano, and Cardinal Farnese (Scuola Veneta, Naples) ; Frescoes (Scuola del Santo, Padua) ; Madonna with SS. Stephen, Ambrose, and Maurice, "La Vierge au Papin," Madonna with St. Agnes, Christ at Emaus, Crowning with Thorns, Entombment, St. Jerome, "Venus del Prado," Portrait of Francis I., Allegory, "Alfonso of Ferrara and Laura Dianti," Portrait of Man with Hand in Belt, "The Man with the Glove," Portrait of Man with Black Beard (Paris); Sacred and Profane Love (Borghese, Rome); St. Dominic, Educa- tion of Cupid (Rome); Baptism, with Zuane Ram as Donor (Capitol, Rome); Daughter of Herodias (Doria, Rome); Madonna in Glory with Six Saints (Vatican, Rome); Portrait of Aretino (Prince Chigi, Rome); Madonna in Glory, with SS. Peter and Andrew (Duomo, Serravalle); Annunciation (Duomo, Treviso); The Resurrection, Last Supper (Urbino) ; Presentation of Virgin in Temple, St. John in the Desert, Assunta, Pieta (Academy, Venice) ; Staircase to Doge's Private Apart- ments (fresco), St. Christopher (Palazzo Ducale, Venice) ; Doge Grimani before Faith (Sala di Quattro Porte, Venice); Wisdom, on ceiling of ante-room to Libreria (Palazzo Reale, Venice); Portrait of Man (Giovanelli, Venice); Pesaro Madonna (Frari, Venice) ; Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (Gesuiti, Venice) ; St. John the Alms- giver (S. Giovanni Elemosinario, Venice); St. James of Compostella (S. Lio, Venice) ; The Child Christ between SS. Catherine and Andrew (S. Marcuolo, Venice) ; Tobias and the Angel (S. Marziale, Venice); Annunciation, Dead Christ (Scuola di S. Rocco) ; Descent of Holy Spirit, ceiling of choir. Eight Medallions, one a portrait of Titian himself, the rest heads of Saints (Salute, Venice); St. Mark between SS. Roch, Sebastian, Cosmos and Damian, Ceiling, David and Goliath, Sacrifice of Isaac, Cain Slaying Abel (Sacristy, Venice) ; Annunciation, Transfiguration (S. Salvatore, Venice); St. Nicholas of Bari, in part (S. Sebastiano, Venice) ; Portrait of Ferdinand, King of the Romans (Verona) ; Assumption of Virgin (Duomo, Verona); "Gipsy Madonna," Madonna with the Cherries, The Large Ecce Homo, The Little Tambourine Player, Isabella d'Este, Das Madchen im pelz (Eleanor Gonzaga), Benedetto Varchi, The Physician Parma, John Frederick of Saxony, Jacopo di Strada, Shepherd and Nymph (Vienna); Portrait of Doge Gritti (Czernin, Vienna).
The Following of Leonardo da Vinci
We may step aside, for a moment, from our strict chronological sequence, to mention several lesser men of small importance in the development of art.
Bernardino Luini, a Milanese whose birth and death dates are very uncertain, painted so much like his master, da Vinci, that experts attribute his works wrongly to that master. He was second to the
20 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
greater man as all imitators are diminutives, but has left excellent fres- coes and easel pictures.
Principal Works: Crucifixion (Franciscan Church, Lugano) ; Fresco at Brera Gallery, Milan, and in the church at Saronno; Crowning with Thorns (Ambrosian Library, Milan); "Vanity," "Modesty," and "Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist" (Uffizi, Florence).
A little group which followed da Vinci, formed in Sienna also, a half-dozen names being memorable. The leader was Giovanni Antonio Razzi, called il Sodoma, like the other little men, of uncertain datei (1479 perhaps). Julius II. called him to Rome as aid in the Vatican decorations, which work appears to have been wiped out, with the exception of certain good parts, of a grotesque character, to make room for Raphael. It was, no doubt, a great honor to have been in Raphael's way and be extinguished by so great a painter. At his proper place. Sienna, his work ranks high and has attracted the atten- tion of writers on art. Doubtless his good fortune in being a pupil of da Vinci is his misfortune, in that it stamps him an imitator.
Principal Works: Christ Bound to a Pillar (Vienna) ; Frescoes on the Life of the Virgin (St. Bernard, Vienna) ; Frescoes on the Life of St. Catherine of Vienna] (St. Catherine's Chapel, San Domenico) ; Frescoes and Altar-pieces (Academy); "Nuptials of Alexander and Roxana" and Alexander in the Tent of Darius (Villa Fornesina, Rome); Madonna (Borghese Palace, Rome); St. Sebastian (Ufi5zi,.j Florence). ''
Jacopo Palma (1480- 1528), called il Vecchio belonged to the Vene- tian School. There is great dispute regarding the date of birth of Palma il Vecchio, and many pictures ascribed to him in England and in the continental galleries doubtless were painted by others or are imita- . tions. The "Adoration of the Shepherds" (Louvre) shows well his excellencies: dignity, reverence, Venetian color and the qualities' which might be expected in a follower of the greater Venetians. The>i Dresden gallery has his "Reclining Venus," a notable picture. In the| church of Santa Maria Formosa (Venice) his "St. Barbara" indicatesj the stateliness of style which marks all his attitudes, especially of female figures.
PAiiMA Vbcchio — Santa Bahbara.
THE DAWN OF MODERN ART 21
Important Works: Portrait of a Lady (Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick), Landscape by Cariani, Madonna and Two Saints (Lochis, Bergamo) ; Head of Young Woman, Bust of Woman, Portrait of Man (Berlin) ; Adam and Eve (Bruns- wi(j)c); Madonna with St. Francis, finished by Cariani (Buda-Pesth) ; Venus (Fitz William Museum, Cambridge); Madonna with John the Baptist and St. Catherine, Three Sisters, Venus, Holy Family with St. Catherine, Meeting of Jacob and Rebecca (Dresden); Judith (UfBzi, Florence); Madonna with Magdalen and John (Brignole-Sale, Genoa); Holy Family, finished by Cariani (Glasgow); Annunciation (Consul Weber, Hamburg); Santa Conversazione, Head of Woman (Hampton Court); Portrait of Man (London); Santa Conversazione and Donor, finished by Cariani (Mr. Benson, London) ; Santa Conversazione, finished by Cariani (Mr. Wick- ham Flower, London); Bust of Woman (Mr. Mond, London); SS. Helen, Constan- tine, Roch and Sebastian, Adoration of Magi, finished by Cariani (Brera, Milan); Madonna and Saints (Marchese Lotario Rangoni, Modena); SS. Roch and Mary Magdalen (Munich); Santa Conversazione, with Male and Female Donors (Sala Grande, Naples); Adoration of Shepherds and Female Donors (Paris); Polyptych (Church, Peghera); Lucrece, Madonna, Francis, Jerome and Donor (Borghese, Rome); Christ and Adulteress (Capitol, Rome); Madonna, St. Peter and Donor (Colonna, Rome); Polyptych (Church, Serina) ; Christ and Adulteress, St. Peter Enthroned and Six Other Saints, Assumption of Virgin (Academy, Venice); Unfin- ished Portrait of Young Woman (Sala IV., Quiriui-Stampalia, Venice); Portrait of Man (Sala XVIL, Venice); Sposalizio (Giovanelli, Venice); St. Barbara, Altar-piece (S. Maria Formosa, Venice) ; Knight and Lady, a fragment (Lady Layard, Venice) ; Madonna and Saints (S. Stefano, Vicenza); John the Baptist, The Visitation, fin- ished by Cariani, Santa Conversazione, Portrait of Lady, Violante, Busts of Women, Portrait of Old Man, Lucretia (Vienna) ; Santa Conversazione, Holy Family and Two Female Saints (Lichtenstein, Vienna).
Lorenzo Lotto (1480- 15 56 probable), was a friend of Palma Vecchio and a follower of the same masters, seeming to have that imitative ability which enables some men to produce remarkable pictures while still making no mark in art history. Again, da Vinci's influence produced a portrait painter who could render character as few portrait painters can. He was a man of refinement and perceptive faculty.
Important Works: Assassination of St. Peter Martyr (Duomo, Alzano Maggiore, near Bergamo) ; Assumption of Virgin, Madonna with Four Saints (Ancona) ; Madonna in Glory with Two Saints ( Asolo) ; Three Predelle belonging to S. Bar- tolommeo Altar-piece, Marriage of S. Catherine, with portrait of N. Bonghi, Portrait of a Lady (Carrara, Bergamo)-; Sketches for Predelle, containing the story of St. Stephen, Holy ti'amily and St. Catherine (Lochis, Bergamo) ; Pieta (S. Alessandro in
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Colonna, Bergamo); Trinity (S. Alessandro in Croce, Bergamo); Altar-piece (S. Bartolommeo, Bergamo); Intarsias (S. Maria Maggiore, Bergamo); Frescoes in Chapel L. of Choir (S. Michele, Bergamo); Altar-piece (S. Spirito, Bergamo); Madonna with SS. Sebastian and Roch (Signor Piccinelli, Bergamo); Portrait of an Architect, Portraits of Young Men, Sebastian and Christopher, Christ Taking Leave of His Mother (Berlin); Nativity (Tosio, Sala XIII., Brescia); Angel with Globe and Scepter, originally top of S. Bartolommeo Altar-piece at Bergamo, (Buda-Pesth) ; Assumption of Virgin (Church, Celana, near Bergamo) ; Madonna with Six Saints, and (ifteen small scenes from the Lives of Christ and the Virgin (S. Domenico, Cingoli) ; Marriage of St. Catherine (Costa di Mezzate) ; Madonna (Dresden) ; Holy Family with St. Jerome (Uffizi, Florence); St. Jerome (Consul Weber, Hamburg); Portrait of Young Man, Portrait of Andrea Odoni (Hampton Court); St. Jerome (Hermannstadt) ; Three Predelle containing Story of St. Lucy (Municipio, Jesi); Pieta (Library, Jesi); Annunciation, St. Lucy before the Judge, Madonna and Saints, Francis Receiving Stigmata, Visitation, Annunciation, Portraits of Agostino.'J and Niccolo della Torre, Family Group, Portrait of ProthOnotary Giuliano (Lon- ' don); Madonna and Saints (Bridgewafer House, London); Portrait of a Lady (Dorchester House, London); Madonna with SS. Jerome and Antony of Padua (Mrs. Martin Colnaghi, London) ; Danae (Sir W. M. Conway, London) ; SS. Christopher, Sebastian and Roch, Christ and Adulteress, Nativity, Lucy and Thecla, Two Prophets, Michael Driving Lucifer from Heaven, Presentation in Temple, Baptism, Adoration of Magi; Sacrifice of Melchisedec (Palazzo Apostolico, Loreto); Bridal Couple, St. Jerome (Madrid) ; Pieta, Portrait of Lady, Portrait of Old Man, Portrait of Man (Brera, Milan) ; Assumption of Virgin, Portrait of Man (Gal. Oggioni, Milan); Holy Family (Poldi-Pezzoli, Pinacotaca, Milan); Portrait of Young Man (Museo Civico, Milan); Christ on Cross with Symbols of the Passion (Borromeo, Milan) ; St. Catherine (Dr. Frizzoni, Milan); Cruciiixion (Church, Monte S. Giusto); Marriage of St. Catherine (Munich); Head of a Man (Nancy); Madonna with St. Peter Martyr, Bust of Man in White Cap and Coat (?) (Sala Veneta, Naples); Madonna and Angels (Municipio, Osimo); Christ and Adulteress, St. Jerome, Nativity (Paris) ; Altar-piece in six panels (Ponternaica, near Bergamo) ; Altar-piece in six parts, Transfiguraticsn (Municipio, Recanati) ; Fresco (S. Domenico, Recanati) ; Annunciation (S. Maria Sopra Mercanti, Recanati) ; Madonna with S. Onifrio and a Bishop, Portrait of Man (Borghese, Rome) ; Portrait of Man (Capitol, Rome) ; St. Jerome (Diria, Rome) ; Allegory (Rospigliosi, Rome) ; Portrait of Man (Prince Doria, Rome) ; Madonna in Glory and Four Saints (Church, Sedrina, near Bergamo) ; St, Catherine (Leuchtenberg Collection, St. Petersburg); Frescoes (Suardi Chapel, Trescorre); Portrait of Monk (Sala Sernagiotto, Treviso); Altar-piece, Dead Christ (S. Cristina, Treviso); S. Nicholas in Glory (Carmine, Venice); Madonna and Saints (S. Giacomo dall' Orio, Venice); S. Antonino Bestowing Alms (S. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice); Santa Conversazione, Portrait of Man, Three Views of a Man (Vienna).
Raphael — Madonna della Sedia.
CHAPTER II
THE AUTHORITY QF ITALY
With the beginning of the latter half of the fifteenth century the Italian influence began to assert itself throughout all Europe. In Italy itself two styles of artistic expression opened the contest between formality and freedom of expression. All painters of this period were mural decorators. Their easel pictures were not numerous and their works were scarcely pictures at all, but rather decorations of flat sur- faces— perhaps the doors of a shrine, perhaps panels in some great scheme of architecture. The Gothic painters, as may be supposed, maintained their rigid formality and clung tenaciously to what may be called flat designs. The Italians, seeking for greater pictorial quality, innocently ignored this flatness and introduced throughout the Euro- pean world the fashion for panels with fully-rounded figures and atmospheric depths.
Man for man, Angelo was a stronger character than Raphael and the works of the two men reflect their individuality. Angelo despised tenderness in art; for the sensuousness of oil painting he had great contempt, preferring distemper and fresco. Never allowing himself any sweetness in his life, he scorned it in pictures. Unlike Raphael, it is almost impossible to trace any influence of another artist in his work. His way was his own way and he insisted upon following it. His friends were few and he was not above the national fault — jealousy — though too great a man to be carried away in a display of it. Raphael, on the other hand, the embodiment of all amiable and lovable qualities, was liked by his friends as the world has always liked his pictures. His own person was the counterpart of his temperament and his art. His wonderful character saved him, for, unlike Angelo, he was influenced by other great men, whose painting passed before
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his eyes. At first he painted like his early master, Perugino, then like Leonardo, and finally Angelo himself caused a change in style. Raphael's compositions are more pictorial than Angelo's, but at last the younger man's productions became in turn sculpturesque under Angelo's influence and thereby gained in power, though they lost in popularity.
Can one man, standing at the apex of glory with another, be said to be greater than his fellow? There have been but one Raphael and only one Angelo. One is great in lovableness, the other great in force.
Raphael Sanzio
l^r 4.83-1320)
Raphael was born in Urbino, March 28, 1483. His father, Giovanni Santi (called Sanzio), was an artist, a man of rare refinement and gen- tleness of character, and as a painter quite good enough to command the respect of his period. As a boy, taught by his father, he was already something more than a beginner when Perugino's studio was opened to him, 1495. When Perugino was not restrained by over- attention to money getting, he had flights of something akin to inspira- tion, and in all cases he was a reasonably good technician.
The earliest works of Raphael resemble those of this master, like the "Marriage of the Virgin" at Milan, which shows much of the Gothic;i formalism, not showing the wonderful grace and expressiveness of the Madonnas of his next period.
Going to Florence in 1504, he met Era Bartolommeo, who was a fine painter when not over-controlled by his too-tender conscience, which seems to have restrained a certain genuine exuberance he was capable of displaying. Under this influence the stiffness disappears, and we begin to see the Raphael of the Madonna period. Bartolommeo taught him how to draw flowing draperies. Many of his fine Madonnas (Uffizi Gal.) are of this period.
At Rome (1508), whither he went at the invitation of Julius II., that he might aid in the decoration of the Vatican, he met Michael Angelo and fell under his influence, becoming far more majestic in his
Andrea del Saeto — Madonna.
THE AUTHORITY OF ITALY 25
conceptions and producing his extended compositions, such as the "Disputa del Sacramento, " "School of Athens," "Parnassus," "Attila Repelled from Rome," all painted in fresco. The "Madonna del Foligno' ' (in oils) is also of this period, and his portrait of Pope Julius n. In 1515 he was appointed architect of St. Peter's, but his designs were not carried out, the honor falling finally to Michael Angelo. Also, in the same year, he commenced the cartoons for the celebrated tapestries for the Pope's chapel (seven of these cartoons now at Sout^ Kensington Museum, London).
The tapestries from these cartoons were made in Brussels, during the good period of that art in Flanders. Raphael received one-twen- tieth the price of the costly gold-threaded fabrics as compensation. This is about what an architect receives in these days for designing a building. Later oil paintings: "St. Cecelia" (at Bologna), "Madonna del Pesce" (at Escurial), "San Sisto" (Dresden), "Transfigu'ration" (Vatican), possibly his masterpiece, though rivalled by the San Sisto.
The Pandolfini palace, at Florence, is an example of pure renais- sance architecture from his designs.
As Raphael's style developed we see more and more the influence of the antique statues upon him, though never slavish imitation, as it appeared in the works of the "school," so called, which grew up with his name attached, and the name was its principal glory.
Raphael died in Rome, April 6, 1520.
Principal Works: Bust of St. Sebastian (Lochis, Bergamo); Madonna, Madonna and Saints, "Terranuova Madonna," "Colonna Madonna" (Berlin); St. Cecelia and Other Saints (Bologna); Salvator Mundi (Gal. Tosio, Sala XIII., Brescia); "Esterhazy Madonna," Portrait of Young Man ( Buda-Pesth) ; Three Graces, Madonna d' Orleans (MuseeConde, Chantilly); Sistine Madonna (Dresden); Leo X. with Cardinals Giulio dei Medici and L. dei Rossi, Maddalena Doni, Angelo Doni, Portrait of Pope Julius II., "Madonna della Sedia, " "Madonna del Baldac- chino," Vision of Ezechiel, execution by Giulio Romano, "Granduca Madonna," "La Donna Gravida," "La Donna Velata" (Pitti, Florence); Portrait of Himself, Madonna del Cardellino (Uffizi, Florence); St. Catherine, The Knight's Vision, "Madonna Ansidei" (London); Cartoons for Tapestries, execution not Raphael's, but chiefly by G. F. Penni (South Kensington, London) ; Cruciiixion (Mr. L. Mond, London); Madonna dell' Agnello, Madonna del Pesce, execution chiefly by Giulio
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Romano, Portrait of Young Cardinal (Madrid); Sposalizio (Brera, Milan); Madonna Cangiani, Madonni Tempi (Munich); Madonna, Madonna (Lord Cowper, Pans- hanger); La Belle Jardiniere, St. Michael, St. George, Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, Sainte Pamille de Franjois I., execution by Giulio Romano, St. Michael Crushing Satan, execution by Giulio Romano (Paris). Fresco: Christ and Saints (S. Severo, Perugia); Entombment, Portrait of Perugino (Borghese, Rome); Portraits . of Navagero and Beazzano (Doria, Rome). Fresco; Pluto with Garland (Academy of St. Luca, Rome) ; Coronation and Predelle, Adoration of Magi, Presentation, The Nine Virtues, Madonna di Foligno, with Sigismondo Conti as Donor, Transfiguration (Vatican Gallery, Rome). Frescoes: Ceiling — Allegorical figures of Theology, Philosophy, Poetry and Jurisprudence — Pall of Man, Judgment of Solomon, Apollo and Marsyas, An Angel Surveying the Earth. Walls: The "Disputa" — Discussion concerning the Sacrament — The School of Athens, Parnassus, Justice, Julius II. and His Cardinals, Justinian Publishing the Pandects (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). Frescoes: Heliodorus Driven out of Temple, Pope Julius and his Hearers, executed by Raphael himself, the rest largely by assistants ; Miracle of Bolsena, Atilla Turned Away from Rome, the heads of Leo X. and his cardinals, in part from Raphael's own hand, the rest by pupils; Liberation of St. Peter, the entire execution by pupils, chiefly Giulio Romano (Stanza dell' Eliodoro, Rome). Frescoes: Fire in the Environs of St. Peters, executed almost wholly by Giulio Romano; Battle of Ostia, execution not Raphael's, chiefly Giulio Romano's (Stanza dell' Incendio di Borgo, Rome). Fresco and stucco decorations: Illustrations to the Old Testament, whose present condition is such that little can be said of the execution, save that it could not have been Raphael's; some of the best seem to have been painted by P. del Vaga (Loggie, Rome). Frescoes: Galatea, Story of Cupid and Psyche, execution not by Raphael; figures by Giulio Romano (Farnesina, Rome). Fresco: The Prophet Isaiah (S. Agostino, Rome). Frescoes: Sibyls and Angels (S. M. Della Pace, Rome); "Madonna im Grunen" (Vienna); Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami (Palazzo Inghirami, Volterra).
One of the lesser luminaries of this period was Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530), and it is as a remarkable manipulator of paint and lines, an astonishingly talented painter, rather than as an artistic genius, that we must regard him. Had he not lived between Michael Angelo and Raphael, who could do a great deal more than simply paint well, he would have occupied a higher place in the world of art.
The son of a Florentine tailor, Del Sarto was apprenticed at the age of seven years to a goldsmith, where he showed such talent for drawing that he attracted attention.
Andrea del Sabto — Madonna.
THE AUTHORITY OF ITALY 27
Subsequently Fran9ois I. of France became one of his most enthusiastic patrons. His education was like that of the others, influ- enced by Masaccio, by the coloring of Titian, and by the mighty works of the two great Florentines. He learned it all, but could not make as lofty use of his knowledge. Nearly all his faces follow a fixed type, and his figures become tiresomely mechanical.
Principal Works: Bus*- of His Wife, Madonna and Saints (Berlin); Marriage of St. Catherine, Sacrifice of Isaac (Dresden); Two Angels, Dead Christ, Four Saints, Predelle to Above (Academy, Florence) ; Deposition, Portrait of Himself, Holy Family, Life of Joseph, Annuciation, Dispute over the Trinity, Portrait of Himself, Assumption, Assumption, The Baptist (Pitti, Florence); "Noli Me Tangere," Portrait of His Wife, Portrait of Himself, Madonna dell' Arpie, Portrait of Himself, Portrait of Lady, St. James (Uffizi, Florence); Frescoes from the Life of the Baptist and four Allegorical Figures (Chiostro dell a Scalzo, Florence); Fres- coes with the story of S. Filippo Benizzi, Adoration of the Magi, Birth of Virgin (SS. Annunziata, Entrance Court, Florence); Head of Christ (SS. Annunziata, Chapel to Left of Entrance, Florence) ; Madonna del Sacco (SS. Annunziata, Inner Cloister, Florence) ; Last Supper (S. Salvi, Florence) ; Portrait of a Sculptor (Lon- don); Sacrifice of Isaac (Madrid); Holy Family (Munich); Charity, Holy Family (Paris); St. Catherine, St. Margaret, St. Agnes (Duomo, Pisa); Caesar Receiving Tribute (Poggio a Caiano) ; Pieta (Vienna).
The followers of Raphael have continued the mannerisms of their great master, even until this day. Among the most important of his assistants was Giulio Romano (1492-1546), though it is difficult to understand why his name occupies so large a place in history. He was a sufficiently able assistant as long as Raphael supplied the essen- tial genius, but after the death of the inventor of this noble art this follower caricatured it, and there is no good color, no able composi- tion, no grandeur of conception to be found in Romano's productions when he was left to himself. His training as a painter enabled him to execute very good architecture, because he took pains to follow the established formulas. We shall presently consider the "school of Raphael" as it developed under the Caracci family's influence, but it is a painful fact that nothing came from the immediate following of the great Florentine but abject imitation, often distinguished badness.
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Principal Works: Copy of Raphael's "Madonna with the Pink" (Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick) ; Diana and Endymion (Buda-Pesth) ; "Madonna della Catina," Pan and Olympus (Dresden); Stoning of Stephen (S. Stefano. Genoa); "Garvagh Madonna" (London); "Lo Spasimo," in some part by Penni, "La Perla" (Madrid); Decorative Frescoes, executed chiefly by assistants (Palazzo Gonzaga, Mantua). Frescoes; Story of Cupid and Psyche, Fall of Giants and other frescoes (Palasso del Te, Mantua) ; Bust of an Ecclesiastic (Munich); Madonna della Gatta, Madonna col Divin' Anore (Sala Granda, Naples) ; Madonna in Glory and Saints (Parma) ; Nativity, Triumph of Venus and Vespasian, Venus and Vulcan, Portrait of Man, Circumcision, "Vierge au Voile," "Sainte Famille de Frangois I.," St. Michael Crushing Satan, Portrait of Giovanna d' Aragona, Portraits of Two Men (Paris); "La Fornarina" (Barberini, Rome); Madonna and Infant John (Borghese, Rome); Judith (Capitol, Rome); Lower part of Raphael's Transfiguration, Upper part of a Coronation, lower by Penni (Gallery, Vatican). Frescoes: Battle of Ponte Monte, Constantine Addressing his Troops (Sala del Constantino, Rome) ; Madonna (Miss H. Hertz, Rome); Altar-piece, Madonna and Saints (S. M. Dell' Anima, Rome) ; Flagellation (Sacristy, S. Prassede, Rome) ; St. Margaret (Vienna).
Antonio Allegri da Correggio
{H94--IS34)
One of Correggio's pictures in the Louvre, a Satyr stealthily regarding Antiope and Cupid asleep, is so clear in its natural flesh tones (shades somewhat darkened only) that it is difficult to imagine how the work could have been executed four hundred years ago. All his art is different from anything else made at the period; the drawing indicating extraordinary command of form and foreshortening. What instruction aided his genius to accomplish these wonders cannot be determined. During a long and industrious career, he does not appear to have traveled far from his native city of Correggio; neither Venice nor Rome aided him, except as their pictures wandered within his reach. Francesco Bianchi, of Modena, seems to have been his master, and his uncle, Lorenzo Allegri, probably gave instruction.
Most celebrated is the decoration of the dome of the Cathedral of Parma (1530) with "The Assumption of the Virgin." In the curve of the dome's interior the angels and cherubs are flung about in the most violent action, rejoicing and gesticulating about the Virgin, the
Andrea del Sahto — John the Baptist.
THE AUTHORITY OF ITALY 29
foreshortened legs wonderfully drawn but so confused as to give rise to the expression that the group was no more than a "fricassee of frogs." Below are the dignified ones, looking up to admire the rejoicing company. In the Benedictine Church is a similar work, a representation of the Ascension. Three of his important pictures were taken to Paris by the French during the wars, but restored to their place by the allies at the overthrow of Napoleon. They were "The St. Jerome," "The Descent from the Cross" and "The Martyr- dom of St. Placide." At the gallery in Dresden maj' be seen "The Night of the Nativity, " in which the light, instead of being thrown upon the figures from without, emanates from the body of the infant Christ and glows brilliantly upward upon all the figures. It is the pretty mother and attendants, with expressions of gaiety, attitudes somewhat over active and extravagant, angels a little too sprawl- ing, which indicate the temperament of Correggio. The composi- tion is a disturbed suggestion that the hovering angels might be scratching matches on the sk}'. However, originality is a rare and noble thing. That beautiful small panel, "The Reading Magdalen," is at the same place, and nothing so reveals the advance made in beauty, grace and fine painting since the Renaissance opened. It is less noble in expression than Raphael's works, but tenderer in touch and better in color. The "Nativity," the "Marriage of St. Cather- ine," at the Louvre, and- one resembling it at the Museum of Naples, illustrate drawing by means of masses of light and shade, rather than by distinct outline. The "Nativity" most of all illustrates the arti- ficial use of light and shade as a decorative element, without any regard for the facts of nature. This was Correggio's individuality. It is what has come to be known as "chiaroscuro" (clair-obscure). Raphael never uses it in this way; seems to have known little about it. In the work of Holbein (and almost universally in Germany at this time) there is no suggestion of it.
Correggio spent a period in Mantua.
The popular story about his death from fever contracted because of faiigue caused by packing a bagful of copper coins, received in
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payment for his last picture, is probably apocryphal, as he came of a family of respectable tradespeople and had much success in life, including a little fortune from his uncle and a wife of some position.
Principal Works: Marriage of St. Catherine (Louvre, Paris) ; Marriage of St. Catherine (Naples); Madonna of St. Francis (Dresden); Holy Family (Pavia); Two Pictures (Uffizi, Florence), one of these "Madonna Adoring the Child"; Fres- coes (Convent of San Paola, Parma); Ascension of Christ (San Giovanni, Parma); Assumption of the Virgin (Duomo, Parma) ; Education of Cupid (London) ; Jupiter and Antiope (Louvre, Paris) ; lo (Vienna) ; Leda with the Swan (Berlin) ; Danae (Borghese Palace, Rome); Madonna della Scala, Madonna della Scodella, St. Jerome Presenting His Translation of the Scriptures to the Virgin, called "II Giorno" of the "Day" (Parma); "Santa Notte" or "The Holy Night," Madonna of St. Sebastian, Madonna of St. George (Dresden); Virgin of the Basket, Ecce Homo, Christ on the Mount of Olives, Studies of Angels' Heads (London); Marriage of St. Catherine, Hagar in the Desert, Repose in Egypt (Naples); Noli Me Tangere (Madrid).
The chief figure in transalpine art was Hans Holbein (1497-1543). The French sometimes call him "Jean," because his real name was Johannes. With his father, his uncle and his brother, young Hans did much hard work in the paternal studio. Everything indicates that he was well instructed in all the art which these somewhat Gothic worthies knew. As many pictures by the father and the other relatives have been attributed to the greater Hans, we may conclude that in the early days they all painted pretty much alike as far as mannerisms go. It is always convenient to attach the greatest name that you, with or without conscience, can to any doubtful picture.
Augsburg, a Suabian city in the mountainous country, has been, after much dispute, decided upon as the place and 1497 as the date of his birth, though these things have to be guessed at.
All thinking men, who objected to going to jail or the stake, gathered at the free Swiss city of Basle, because there also the print- ers, whom the too particular ecclesiastics were disposed to dislike pretty seriously, found opportunity to send out matter to all the world. Basle was an important city, attracting all sorts of workers, among others the artists who expected to find employment at the hands of the publishers in illustrating books. In those days, as in
.■ '*u ' t
Hams Holbbin — Ladt Vaux.
THE AUTHORITY OF ITALY 31
these, illustrative designing demanded the best efforts of the trained men. Young Holbein went with the crowd, and was soon employed to illustrate "The Praise of Folly," that celebrated satire by Erasmus, who was himself in Basle.
In all the works of Diirer, his contemporary, we see nothing to speak of as "clever." Diirer was inventive, imaginative, dignified and sometimes powerful, but never clever. Holbein manifested cleverness, ingenuity and often mirthfulness. His ideas abounded, he knew his classics and could supplement the text with originalities which doubled its force. Of course he was never without work or good pay, considering the economical conditions governing all living.
"The Dance of Death," a series of popular illustrations which the young artist made,- is peculiarly Teutonic in sentiment. All through the Gothic period this doleful array of horrible suggestions, associated with our taking off, decorated the German churches. We see the same taste for the substantialities of the serious side of religion at this day in the character of the crucifixes erected by the wayside. The crucified Christ must be made horrible or the figure leaves no taste in the mouth. One of the reasons why Protestantism so quickly found favor with the Teutons is discoverable in this desire to dwell upon the severe realities of religion. Catholicism was not severe enough, not genuine (at that time), and genuineness meant a strong dose of the horrible. Holbein's "Dance of Death" was presented in a series of illustrations for which he made the designs, little pictures, two by two and one-half inches. Skillfully engraved by another hand, as Holbein does not appear to have been an engraver, these give us his inventive- ness, his witty appreciation of the subject-matter and the way he could express himself with few lines. Some are grotesque, others entirely charming — all tell the story bluntly. Death misses nobody, but the artist delights most in letting him have his own remorseless way with the corrupt priest, the potentate, the hypocritical preacher, the soldier, the rich merchant, and is lenient only when the self-sacrificing priest is called upon while soothing the troubles of the afflicted. The mother, whose babe Death is snatching from the cradle, has an expres-
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sion of horror either touching or ridiculous according to your taste in such matters. Laboring faithfully in his field, the ploughman discovers Death lashing the horses (a tender pastoral), while the lady of fashion receives no consideration for her imposing decorativeness. Even the lover is brutally driven from his enamorata; Death taking his place, going at his love-making in a way to shock the most unimpression- able. Little initial letters, one inch square, each a gem of a picture, continue the dreadful scenes. Diirer would have made things like these equally impressive, equally literal; but he designed majestically, not popularly.
It was the fashion, here and in Italy (where it originated), to embellish the flat house fronts with architectural elaborations, paneled with either religious or secular pictures, or scenes from domestic life. Paul Veronese displayed wonderful genius in this way, and so did Holbein. The fashion continues until this day.
Religious art was by no means relegated to oblivion, as the diet at Worms did not occur until 1521. The leaven required time to raise the heavy dough. In Holbein's religious art, Italian influence shapes the composition and treatment; much more so than with Diirer's work. It is like the school of Raphael, but a dignified use of the influence. The young man never was in Italy, but on the road where Italian prod- ucts passed along. Diirer went to Italy, but escaped contamination.
Holbein had an eye for the main chance, not refusing offers of money for country's sake, as Diirer did. Taking letters from Erasmus to Sir Thomas More, then Lord Chancellor of England, he made the journey to that far country. On the way, in Flanders, Quentin Mat- sys (then well along in years) received his attentions.
Sir Thomas More's house and hand, influence and general support soon placed Holbein in a position to wear velvet coats.
Our story grows dull with accounts of portrait painting, designs for dagger-hilts and jewelled cups, visits to the continent, to Basle, and more portraits when back in England, until the moment when King Henry VIII., having fallen in love with Anne Boleyn anj[ then grown sufficiently tired of her to want another wife, cut off her head
Raphael — The Transfiguration.
THE AUTHORITY OF ITALY 33
in favor of her successor. Then it seems that the king desired some one to originate decorations for the marriage festival, and to paint Jane Seymour's portrait as she in turn became queen.
Holbein's true genius shows in these portraits, which are not sur- passed by any in the world from the point of view of exquisite finish, clean drawing and decorative effect. Titian made richer color and greater dignity; Velasquez stamped his portraits with the seal of aris- tocratic elegance and a "something else" which I cannot describe; but Holbein excites our wonder when we think of his limited early oppor- tunities and what he made of himself. These heads are wonderfully well "constructed" and wonderfully touched. With all the stately grandeur in many of Diirer's pictures, they never show such ease and simple naturalness as these. It is not enough to say that he could paint every detail with marvelous truth and minuteness, because other men have done this and all the German painters of the time excelled in it. There is something in Holbein's painting beyond ordinary ability. The portrait of Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife, which he loved more than the original, is quite unique in that it shows us the face and all else full front equal on either side, two sides alike in everything. It has become a classic for all who seek dignity and repose. Coquetry wearies us after a time; grace and sweet cham- pagne sharpen the appetite for homeliness and old cheese. That out- landish headdress, winged out equally on either side, the rigid corsage equally bejewelled on either side, the hands crossed placidly, sustained by the equal ponderous sleeves, all these are as dignified as the domed capitol building at Washington with its peristyled wings. The artist saves the situation by half-concealed variations, as the two hands vary, though counterparts. This and the Jane Seymour portrait stand supreme in the artist's product. In common with all the painters of this period, Holbein worked more in oils than in distemper. Fresco painting did not appeal to these men, as there were few extensive wall spaces in the churches upon which to spread wet plaster to strike the fresh color into. Drawings on toned paper, done in chalk or ink and often tinted with water-color or colored chalks, sometimes show
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us the man better than his paintings. Diirer's drawings were strong but never so exquisite, perhaps not so correct.
After the fall from power of Sir Thomas More, Holbein found his best supporters and protectors among the powerful German merchants (in London) of the celebrated Hanseatic League.
Even great men are forgotten. It is not plainly written, but things indicate that Holbein went with the forgotten dead during the con- fusion attending the panic-spreading plague at London in 1543. Some claim that it was another date, 1554 — London so frequently luxuriated in plagues.
Principal Works: The Passion, Dead Christ, Portraits of His Wife and Chil- dren (Basle) ; Portrait of Anne of Cleves, Erasmus ( Louvre, Paris) ; Meyer Madonna (Dresden); Portrait of Charles V. (Berlin); Portrait of Henry VIII. (Augsburg);. Ambassadors (London).
French art assumes no national characteristics until the time of Louis XIV., and even then much of it was so influenced by the Italian as to be but little original. But there are several men who made excellent paintings in France about the time of Francis I. (sixteenth century). Francis, desiring to be in the fashion, and being also a real lover of art, imported Leonardo da Vinci from Italy, making him court painter. But the artist was at that time an old man and did but little work.
In the Louvre are portraits of the king, and of men and women of his court, which recall remarkably the style of the Van Eycks, having the same careful finish and much of the clearness of color and firm drawing of the Flemings. Many of these probably are by Jean and Franfois Clouet.
Other sixteenth century painters in France are not sufficiently original to merit attention. It was a period of superior sculpture, however, and architecture flourished.
Jean Cousin (1501-1590) received his art impulse from Italy. He is better known as a painter on glass. His "Last Judgment," in the Louvre, is sufficiently celebrated because the work of an early French- man of pure nationality. It is said that he painted in oils.
Raphael — Madonna del' Granbuca.
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Chief among the successors of Titian in Venice was Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto (1518-1594). These Venetian painters insisted upon growing as nature intended they should develop, and the soil was fertile. These were no artificially, fostered hothouse plants. Be it briar rose of cold Scotland or tropical orchid, we can but love the unaffected honesty of the flowers. The cognomen "il Furioso" tells us a great deal about Tintoretto, most of all that he worked when his talent glowed at white heat. It is then that an artist has liberty, and who dares say that it would have been better had Tintoretto never painted less well than his best, or that he should have been an "even" worker. All the criticism heaped upon him falls fiat when we think that his failures are but proofs of his unconfined genius. Did he not do a sufficient number of masterpieces to prove his might? Titian (forty-one years his senior), who was his master for a short period, sent him away, saying that he "would never be any better than a dauber." II Furioso at once determined to found a school of art all by himself. But for the presence of his somewhat greater master, and of Veronese, he would have carried out his purpose. As it was, he became one of the coterie which the world has counted splendid colorists, patterns for generations of artists to follow. As there were no great collections of dug-up antique statues in Venice, this young artist had to content himself with the reproductions of great statues originating with Michael Angelo (forty-three years older) and turn to nature more sincerely. The anecdotes related of his methods of study sound very much like similar experiences in the studios of Paris to-day. Drawing from these reproductions, creating little models in wax or clay, arranging his manikins in miniature apartments which simulated the compositions which he had in mind, hanging these up in various positions, creating artificial light and shade around them, performing multitudinous tricks long since grown familiar: these were his ways, and this history is the first authentic account which we have of these things, though doubtless used previously, in a degree.
The cognomen "Tintoretto" came to him because of his father's
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trade of dyer. Poverty was less hard to endure in Venice than it is in New York, but nevertheless it required pluck in the young artist to borrow his father's dyestuffs in order to paint decorations on the exterior of houses (as the fashion was, and is, in Italy), and it showed the ruling passion, to make pictures in color rather than drawings. While still young, he undertook many commissions to paint exteriors, doing the work without profit, content if the materials alone were paid for by the patron. Fame found him, finally, so that he spread his beloved color over some arches of house fronts, to much better financial advantage.
A legend, "the drawing of Michael Angelo and the color of Titian," which his boyish enthusiasm set up over his studio door, was written furiously over the palace fronts of Venice in very large char- acters of sacred and profane pictorial history, and this he did in addi- tion to numerous large interior decorations and easel pictures.
Principal Works: Christ in the House of Martha (Aiigsburg) ; A Lady Dressed as a Queen (Carrara, Bergamo) ; Portrait of Procurator, The same, Madonna with SS. Mark and Luke, Luna and the Hours, Procurator before St. Mark (Berlin); Bust of Old Man (Herr Kaufmann, Berlin); Visitation, Portrait of Man (Bologna); Portrait of Senator (Mrs. J. L. Gardner, Boston, U. S. A.); An Old Man (Tosio, SalaXni., Brescia); Transfiguration (S. Afra, Brescia); Head of Old Man (Buda- Pesth); Deposition (Caen) ; Head of Old Man, Portrait of Senator of Eighty-three (Prof. C. E. Norton, Cambridge, U. S. A.); Portrait of Senator (Mr. Arch. Stirling, Carder House, near Glasgow); Ovid and Corinna (Cologne); Lady Dressed in Mourning, The Rescue, Two Gentlemen (Dresden) ; Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples (Escurial); Two Portraits of Men, Portrait of Luigi Cornaro, Portrait of Vincenzo Zeno (Florence) ; Portrait of Himself, Bust of Young Man, Admiral Venier, Portrait of Old Man, Portrait of Jacopo Sansovino, Portrait of Man (Uffizi, Florence); Warrior (Consul Weber, Hamburg) ; Esther before Ahasuerus, Nine Muses, Portrait of Dominican, Knight of Malta, Portrait of a Senator (Hampton Court); Resurrec- tion (Leipzig) ; Portrait of a Senator (Lille) ; St. George and Dragon, Christ Wash- ing Feet of Disciples, Origin of the Milky Way (London); Portrait of Man (Bridgewater House, London); Busts of Two Old Men (Lord Brownlow, London); Adam and Eve (Mr. R. Crawshay, London); Moses Striking Rock, Portrait of Sen- ator (Mr. Butler, London); Portrait of Man, Portrait of Man by Window (Dorchester House, London) ; The Resurrection (Sir Wm. Farrer, London) ; Portrait of Andrae Barbadigo, Portrait of Man (Sir Arthur James, London); Galleys at Sea, Portrait of
Raphael — Madonna dblla Tenda.
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Giovanni Gritti (Mr. Mond, London) ; Portrait of Admiral Venier (Lord Rosebery, London); Portrait of Ottavio di Stra (Mr. Salting, London); Raising of Lazarus (Lubeck); Portrait of Man (Sala L, Lucca); Danae, in part (Lyons); Battle on Land and Sea, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Susanna and the Elders, Finding of Moses, Esther before Ahasuerus, Judith and Holofernes (Madrid) ; Pieta, St. Helen, Three Other Saints and two Donors, Finding the Body of St. Mark (Brera, Milan) ; Bust of Procurator (Museo Civico, Milan) Bust of man (Mr. T. H. Davis, Newport, U. S. A.); Portrait of Man (Lord Cowper, Panshanger); Susanna and the Elders, Paradise, Portrait of Old Man (Paris) ; St. John the Baptist, Portrait of Senator (Sir F. Cook, Richmond); The Baptism, Ecce Homo, The Flagellation (Capitol, Rome); Three Women and a Man Adoring the Holy Spirit, Old Man Playing Spinnet, Two Portraits of Men (Colonna, Rome); Portrait of Man (Doria, Rome) ; The Trinity (Turin) ; S. Giustina and Three Donors, Madonna, Three Saints and Three Donors, Portrait of Carlo Morosini, Portrait of a Senator, Deposi- tion, Senator in Prayer, Portrait of Jacopo Soranzo, Andrae Capello (Academy Venice). Ceiling: Prodigal Son, Four Virtues, Death of Abel, Two Senators, Miracle of St. Mark, Adam and Eve, Two Senators, Resurrected Christ Blessing Three Senators, Madonna, and Three Portraits, Crucifixion, Resurrection (Sala IV., Venice); Doge Mocenigo Recommended to Christ by St. Mark, Figures in grisaille around the Clock, Dige Daponte before the Virgin, Marriage of St. Catherine and Doge Dona, Doge Gritti before the Virgin (Collegio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Mer- cury and Three Graces, Vulcans Forge, Bacchus and Ariadne, Minerva Expelling Mars (Anti Collegio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); SS. Margaret, George and Louis, SS. Andrew and Jerome (Ante-Room of Chapel, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); St. Mark Presenting Doge Loredan to the Virgin in Presence of Two Other Saints (Senato, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Ceiling in part (Sala Quattro Porte, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Alessandro Bono, Vincenzo, Morosini, Nicole Priuli, Ceiling, Lorenzo Amelio (Ingresso, Venice); Andrae Delphino (Passage to Council of Ten, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Federigo Cintarini, Nobles Illumined by the Holy Spirit (Passage to Council of Ten, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Paradise (Sala del Gran Consiglio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice) ; Battle of Zara (Sala dello Scrutino, Palazzo Ducale, Venice) ; Transportation of Body of St. Mark, St. Mark Rescues a Shipwrecked Saracen, Diogenes, Archimedes and Two Other Philosophers on separate canvases. Another Room, St. Roch (Palazzo Reale Libreria, Venice) ; Battle Piece, Portrait of Senator, Portrait of General, Portrait of Warrior (Prince Giovanelli, Venice) ; Crucifixion, Christ in Limbo, Resurrection (S. Cassiano, Venice) ; Assump- tion of Virgin, Circumcision (Gesuiti, Venice); Last Supper, Gathering of Mannal Entombment (S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice); Michael Overcoming Lucifer (S. Giuseppe di Castello, Venice); Finding of True Cross (S. Maria Mater Domini, Venice); Last Judgment, Martyrdom of Paul, The Tablets of the Law and the Golden Calf, Martyrdom of St. Agnes, Presentation of Virgin (Maria dell' Orto,
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Venice) ; Glory of S. Marziale (S. Marziale, Venice) ; Last Supper, Assumption of Virgin (S. Paolo, Venice) ; Annunciation, Pool of Bethesda, St. Roch and the Beasts of the Field, St. Roch Healing the Sick, St.^och in Campo d'Armata, St. Roch Consoled by an Angel, St. Roch before the Pope (S. Rocco, Venice) ; Nearly All the Paintings on Walls (Ground Floor, Scuola di S. Rocco, Venice) ; Visitation (Staircase, S. Rocco, Venice) ; All the Paintings on Walls and Ceiling, Portrait of Himself (Upper Floor, Hall, S. Rocco, Venice) ; Crucifixion, Christ before Pilate, Ecce Homo, Way to Golgotha, Ceiling, altogether sixty-two paintings (Inner Room, S. Rocco, Venice); Marriage of Cana (Salute, Venice); Baptism (S. Silvestro, Venice); Last Supper, Washing of Feet, Agony in Garden (S. Stefano, Venice) ; Temptation of St. Anthony (S. Trovaso, Venice) ; Birth of Virgin (S. Zaccaria, Venice) ; St. Augustine Healing the Plague-Stricken (Entrance Hall, Vicenza); St. Jerome, Susanna and the Elders, Sebastian Venier, An Officer in Armour, Old Man and Boy, Two Por- traits of Men, Portrait of Man, Portrait of Old Man, Three Portraits of Men, Portrait of Lady (Vienna) ; Portrait of Ales, Contarini, Portrait of Doge Priuli (Academy, Venice) ; Portrait of Man (Woburn Abbey).
Paolo Cagliari or Paul Veronese (1528- 1588) was also from the north of Italy. His uncle, Antonio Badile carried on an art school of which Paolo became a pupil. It has been said that his art was the commencement of the decadence.
Nothing is more difficult than to determine the relative greatness of artists. Genius is great in and of itself without regard to the char- acter of its product. Raphael could never have been a Titian or a Veronese. He could draw (because so educated) with great perfec- tion in the manner of the refined Greeks, but he could never feel that gushing joyousness in swift painting merely for the sake of expressing his exuberance of spirits. He never knew, nor could know, the delight of reveling in gorgeous coloring purely for the sake of doing it. Was Veronese's genius of a higher order? Who can say that it was? Who can declare that it was not? What can be greater than the genius of a genius, whatever maybe its tendency? If there is nothing in the character of the beautiful Florentine to compare for a moment with that of these Venetians, it is equally true that they had no power to invest a pagan image, i.e., an antique, with that marvelous celestial expression which we find in Raphael's Madonnas. No Vene- tian ever conceived the expression of a Christ-child as Raphael did, ,
Raphael — Portrait of Himself.
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nor could imagine it in order to make the attempt. Shall we conclude that Raphael's genius was the greater? Each one will answer this after his own taste and affection. Some love the moral in a picture; some love the painter qualities. Argument is useless in attempting to influence either. If we love it, we love it, so reasoning is useless.
Try as they would, not one of the followers of Raphael could make an expression like that in the Sistine Madonna. In all the genera- tions, even until to-day, they seek that attainment — uselessly. It must be that Raphael had a magnificent genius. However, it is equally true that all generations have emulated Titian and Veronese, with the same lack of success. Titian was a most original man, inventing human expression second only to Raphael, but surpassing the Florentine in painter qualities as the sun surpasses a candle in brilliancy. The wild gush of Tintoretto, which carries us all off our feet, was impossible for either Titian or Raphael. Again we come to a man who had a genius all his own; something impossible for any of his predecessors. I suspect that the criticism which is hurled at Veronese, that he was the turning-point between greatness and deca- dence, has its foundation in prejudice. It is largely a puff of smoke from that old war between classicism and spontaneity. Veronese painted from the fullness of his heart, drawing indifferently because not well trained in his classics, but painting like one of the gods, because his was painter genius.
It does not signify that his successors, attempting his magnificence, revealed themselves only decadents, because the same is true of Raphael's followers, of Michael Angelo's, of Benvenuto Cellini's, and of every rare genius. The divine fire had burned itself out, so that there was no more genius in the land. Diirer, Holbein, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Velasquez, all were followed by men of lesser light, some of them of no light at all. When the oil is consumed, what will you?
Portrait painting is a great test of genius — the power to perceive the best there is in a face and set it forth effectively. Raphael's por- traits are not as wonderful as Titian's or as Holbein's, or as those of the magnificent delineator of character, Velasquez. The faces of
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Veronese's pictures are portraits, wonderful in character. No face in a picture by Raphael is a portrait, nor did he intend that it should be. Thus, men of great genius differ, as they should, but who is to deter- mine the degree of genius in each? There is reason to doubt the often accepted theory that so-called importance of subject has anything to do with the measurement of grade of genius.
No man in the world has approached Veronese in the production of immense decorative panels, crowded with figures, nearly all life- sized and full of movement, set amid grandiose architectural sur- roundings only equalled in the tales of- the Arabian Nights, their persons clothed in rich garments, loaded with jewels and every sort of luxurious thing. No vessels of gold and crystal were too sumptuous for his noble company, nor could there be too many of them. The "Mar- riage at Cana" (Louvre) is more than twenty-five feet long, containing an immense number of figures, all the principal figures being portraits, including Veronese himself. The composition pays no attention to preconceived ideals of this scene, as Veronese sought only to produce a vast decoration filled with elegant people and objects. It is in reality a superb feast in which Venetian people enjoy themselves. All these things were rendered with the colors of the golden sunset, but modified by that wonderful harmonious gray which we talked about. His was far and away the most wonderful genius in this respect which the world has ever witnessed. The genius which has no competitors is indeed great, no matter in what manner it manifests itself.
Many claim that the orientals have more native feeling for deco- rative effect than the occidentals. If this be true, it is the direct outcome of genius, and Veronese had this power more than any other occidental. He lived sixty years, and then the light went out, as it has done many times since, and with equal suddenness. One genius does not create another genius. It may help to develop one; but only the Almighty knows where genius comes from or why it comes.
Principal Works: Madonna with Cuccina Family, Adoration of Magi, Mar- riage of Cana, Finding of Moses, Portrait of Daniel Barbaro (Dresden) ; Portrait of Daniel Barbaro (Pitti, Florence) ; Martyrdom of St. Giustina, Holy Family and St.
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Catherine (UfBzi, Florence); Madonna and Saints (?) (Hampton Court) ; Consecra- tion of St. Nicholas, Alexander and the Family of Darius (London) ; Holy Family (Dr. Richter, London); Christ and the Centurion, Finding of Moses (Madrid); Frescoes (Villa Barbaro, Maser); SS. Antony, Cornelius, and Cyprian, and Page (Brera, Milan); Martyrdom of St. Giustina (Padua); Christ at Emaus (Paris); Young Mother and Child, Marriage of Cana (Paris) ; Portrait of Man in Green (Colonna, Rome); St. Antony Preaching to the Fishes (Villa Borghese, Rome); Battle of Lepanto, Feast in House of Levi, Madonna with SS. Joseph, John, Francis, Jerome and Giustina (Academy, Venice); Thanksgiving for Lepanto ( CoUegio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice); Rape of Europa (Ante-Collegio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice) ; Holy Family (S. Barnaba, Venice) ; Marriage of St. Catherine (S. Caterina, Venice) ; Holy Family with SS. Catherine and Antony Abbot (S. Francesco della Vigna, Venice) ; Madonna and Two Saints, Crucifixion, Madonna in Glory with St. Sebastian and Other Saints, SS. Mark and Marcilian led to Martyrdom, St. Sebastian Being Bound (?) (S. Sebastiano, Venice) ; Onofrio and Paul the Hermit, SS. Matthew and Mark, SS. Roch, Andrew, Peter and Figure of Faith, Tiburtine and Cumaean Sibyls (Frescoes, SS. Sebastiano, Venice) ; Portrait of Pasio Guadienti, Deposition (Verona) ; Martyrdom of St. George (S. Giorgio, Verona); Madonna and Saints (S. Paola, Verona); Madonna (Sala II., Vicenza); Feast of St. Gregory (Monte Berico, Vicenza); Christ at the House of Jairus (Vienna).
CHAPTER III
THE SCHOOL OF RAPHAEL AND ITS COMPETITORS
The contest between an inclination to delineate objects as they exist and the desire to present lofty idealizations has occupied the attention of artists of all times. The division into distinct classes did not begin however, until the fifteenth century.
Among the first of the realists was Tomaso Guido, called Masaccio (1401-1429), and his ability to paint what passed before his eyes had a marked influence. His works were almost entirely of a realistic character, and he broke loose in a measure from the restraints which the ecclesiastics had fastened upon art. Departing from the fixed formulae imposed by the church, he copied freely from real life with such success that his frescoes were studied by the greatest artists of his time.
Principal Works: Adoration of Magi, Martyrdom of St. Peter and the Baptist, A Birth Plate (Berlin); Madonna, Child and St. Anne (Academy, Florence). Fres- coes: Expulsion from Paradise, Tribute Money, SS. Peter and John Healing the Sick with Their Shadows, St. Peter Baptising, SS. Peter and John Distributing Alms ; In the Raising of the King's Son, Middle Group and part of St. Peter, and scene to R., St. Peter Enthroned (Carmine, Brancacci Chapel, Florence); Trinity, Madonna, and St. John, and two Donors (S. Maria Novella, Wall R. of Entrance, Florence).
The great masters of the Renaissance, da Vinci, Angelo, Raphael, Titian and his following, still painted their highly-idealized concep- tions of religious characters, though more naturally; and they all executed portraits, somewhat ideal, though nearly naturalistic. Angelo and Raphael idealized drawing according to the forms of the antique statues. The Venetians, influenced less by the antique, became wonderful colorists, and finally almost realists, as with Veronese.
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The following of this great Renaissance rapidly degenerated, pos- sibly because the Italian people degenerated. Correggio was more naturalistic, and many of his erotic pictures will not altogether bear description. In churches, the ecclesiastics still controlled the art, though even there it lost dignity and religiosity. In many convents were painted decorations and easel pictures beyond belief frivolous. Excellent portraiture flourished, though the artists who may be admit- ted to the enchanted ground occupied by Titian, Velasquez, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and — in a judgment of charity — Reynolds, are almost limited by the names mentioned. Portrait painting is one of the noblest of arts; but for this reason good portraits are scarce.
After Raphael's career was ended, a school was formed for the express purpose of perpetuating his style and that of the other great masters just gone. It was called the Academy of the Caracci. Its masters had no real conviction, and the material with which they worked was degenerate Italian, but its influence was important, and it resulted in raising up Guido Reni, Domenichino and indirectly Carlo Dolci. The manner in which history continually repeats the same story is illustrated by this movement. Like undulations in the land- scape, when the top of the hill is reached, there is but one possible development — that the land shall descend. The top of most hills is very soon traversed. The ascent having been long and tedious, the descent is long but easy, and the next level valley quite often tedious to traverse.
That which happened in Greece, when the epoch of Phidias became that of the over refined Praxiteles, who was followed with indifference and frivolity, happened in Italy at this time, and it happened in France during the reigns of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. The Italian artists grew to be like naughty boys who needed to be gathered in a reform school. To this end Ludovico Caracci (1555-1619) created a school for teaching artists good manners. Exactly the same thing occurred when David attempted the reformation of French art (following the Bourbons mentioned) at the time of the Revolution and the Empire. The French had still sufificient virtue and the movement was a success
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eventually. The reform school of the Caracci family produced Guido Reni as its best example. The school of David produced Ingres, who was a better proposition. From this latter movement the best art of the nineteenth century sprang. Also, as Caravaggio rose up as the revolutionary force to set in movement a realistic and "romantic" movement, so Delacroix rose up to counteract the too well regulated art of David. It is necessary to keep these tendencies well in mind, if we would clearly appreciate the history of art.
The elder Caracci was slow and laborious in his execution, gaining the cognomen "the Ox," but technique, careful and well-regulated drawing, imitation of Michael Angelo for certain''styles of picture, of Raphael for others, of Titian in the proper moment and Correggio when it was suitable, made him a reformer who might have done much for art, had the material he worked upon been better. His has been called "the Eclectic School," which at once bars the idea of originality.
His first instructor was Fontana, of his native city, but Tintoretto did more to influence his color, and imitation of Raphael his style. His picture, "The Preaching of John the Baptist" (in the Louvre), is charmingly executed and pleases those who are satisfied with good technique for its own sake. His most important works are in the Palazzo Magnani and the Zampieri at Bologna, and in the churches of the same city.
Principal IVorks: Madonna with SS. Dominic, Francis, Clara and Mary Mag- dalene (Academy, Bologna); Pieta (Corsini Collection, Rome); Entombment (Munich) ; Feeding of the Five Thousand, Punishment of Amor (Berlin).
Assisting Ludovico were his cousins, Agostino Caracci (1558-1602) and Anabale Caracci (1560-1609). The former was the learned man of this company; the latter the energetic and by far the most talented one. The elder wrote books on perspective and architecture; the other did the good painting. In addition to these leaders there were the son of Agostino, Antonio Caracci (1583-1618), and the youngest brother of the important pair, Francesco Caracci (i 595-1622), who kept the Academy in operation.
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Important Works of Anabale Caracci: Frescoes (Farnese Palace, Rome); Madonna of the Cherries, Madonna of Silence, Resurrection, Appearance of the Virgin to St. Luke and St. Catharine (Louvre, Paris) ; Three Marys (Castle Howard, England) ; Bacchante (Naples) ; Holy Family (Gallery of the Capitol, Rome) ; The Lute Player (Dresden); Susanna, Eros and Anteros Fighting before Venus (Munich); Christ, Mary, St. John Baptist, Twelve Apostles (Berlin).
While Ludovico and his relatives were in full course of manufac- turing indifferent artists out of indifferent material, a child was born (of rude parents) who knew nothing of all this posturing and who painted just as nature moved him to paint, and because he could not help painting that way. His name was Michael Angelo Amerighii called Caravaggio (1569-1609).
Michael Angelo Amerighi (or Morigi), called Caravaggio (1569- 1609), was born, as his cognomen indicates, in a village of that name, near Milan. The son of a mason, he carried mortar to spread on the walls that the fresco painters might rapidly strike their colors into it before the surface was dry and so caught the infection and imitated the artists. No schooling of academical Caraccis held him to the proprieties, no rotten civilization had tainted his native force. He painted what was before his eyes, even the common objects, fruits and vegetables, still life and country people. Drawing with native spirit unhampered with the traditions of the antique or of Raphael, he spread the surfaces with colors somewhat more loud than charming, but always with sincerity and native force. Naturally the people liked it so much that a great many trained painters felt obliged to yield a point in the same direction.
Some of the historians, who are wedded to the proprieties of academical painting, have spasms over this departure from pure style. But if ever an innovator, however rude, was needed, this was the moment for his appearance.
Called to Rome, he painted in the churches, always in his own manner, very little modified by the influences about him. The Caraccis affected skillful modeling of the figure in full light, thinking strong shades vulgar. Caravaggio showed his remarkable originality by
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abandoning this affectation and dashing in all the sparkle, light and shade and color contrasts which nature suggested to him. On the whole, the priests did not long permit this "desecration" of sacred things, but the impetuous artist found abundant commissions in por- traiture.
In our history the not unimportant influence which this son of the soil had upon Italian art is less interesting than its influence upon another nation, one which was then advancing, coming up out of the darkness of priestly rule — upon Spain.
Caravaggio went to Naples and met there a young Spaniard, named Ribera, who was fresh in sentiment and the first of his nation to make an impression upon his country in a healthy art direction. Many of Caravaggio's pictures were sent to Spain and there influenced one of the greatest painters of all the world, Velasquez.
How strikingly this resembles the history of the "school of David" (French, early nineteenth century), in as much as that master was a marvelous draughtsman who ignored color, just as the Caraccis did, and his revolutionary pupil, Delacroix, drew less well but gave color its full development, as was the habit of Caravaggio. And in the matter of action of figures, it was exactly a parallel case — one reserved and "proper," the other abandoned and impetuous, utterly indifferent to the proprieties.
Holbein had been dead twenty-six years when Caravaggio was born. Except in Italy no art movement is in evidence at this time.
Rubens visited Italy about 1600, just before Caravaggio died, but there is nothing to indicate that he was affected by the art of the rude Italian. Salvator Rosa was born six years after Caravaggio's death and was doubtless greatly shaped by him, being a similar character.
Principal Works: Beheading of St. John Baptist (Malta); Holy Family (Borghese Palace, Rome); Entombment (Vatican); Gamblers (Sciarra Palace, Rome); Fortune Teller (Capitol, Rome); Medusa Head (Uffizzi, Florence); Lute Player (Vienna); Guardsmen, Card Players, St. Sebastian (Dresden); Christ Crowned with Thorns (Munich); Entombment, St. Matthew, Love Triumphant over Arts and Sciences, Young Roman Girl (Berlin)
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To return to the school of Caracci, the first important pupil is Guido Reni (i 575-1642). Born in Bologna, he early joined the Acad- emy of the Caracci and was precocious. Some brilliant works by Caravaggio carried him away by their power and sparkle, so that he adopted that manner. The proverbial red rag in front of a bull suggests the effect of a Caravaggio before one of the Caracci. It made him rave about vulgarity and the betrayal of the sacred trust of the artists — always the same story of the war between realism and the classics. What most worried him was the disposition of this son of a bricklayer to paint naturalistic subjects. Nature must not come into their presence without proper court manners. This little by-play of war between classical painting and genre painting is pretty impor- tant because we shall meet it many times. Both kinds are right just half way. Finally the victory was won by Caracci, though later, when Cardinal Borghese invited Guido to do some painting, it was stipu- lated that it should be in the manner of Caravaggio. Guido partially kept to that style, though his heart was no longer in it.
It seems that the student is forced into the senseless method of contemplating the history of art as if it were divided by the centuries into distinct strata. Guido Reni actually did most of his work in the seventeenth century, but he belongs to the movement of the Renais- sance, as do Domenichino and Dolci. The true history of the seven- teenth century is written in Spain and the Netherlands -excepting that made by Claude and Poussin, two Frenchmen who resided in Italy. It is not my desire to attempt this arbitrary division in this writing, but rather to picture the art world as it actually moved.
It is a sorry task to speak slightingly of something which many people love, but no art critic has the right to pretend that the superior mechanics of Guido is in any way great art. It may be pronounced remarkably excellent painting, however. He learned how to paint better than any other of the numberless students in the Caracci academy, but he did no more than that. Fine painting is worth having, when we cannot command great painting.
His best known work, the "Aurora," gives us one of the best
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mura. decorations in Italy, judged simply as a decoration. The figures are direct copies of antiques, but well arranged and delicately painted. Were they not in competition with the work of Raphael ail would be well. Doubtless most people like it better than anything by the great master. It is so easy to like Guido! He boasted that the Venus of Medici and the Niobe were his models, and his work sub- stantiates his claim to the uttermost. As it happens that both these antiques are of the debased Greek period, the claim does not elevate the situation. But judged by the jealousy and intrigue aroused by his success, there must have been something in his art far above the ordinary.
Principal Works: Altar piece (Churcn of San Lorenzo, Lucina, Rome) ; Cruci- fixion of St. Peter (Vatican); Madonna della Pieta, Crucifixion (Bolognese Museum). Frescoes; Aurora (Casino of the Rospigliosi Palace); Beatrice Cenci (?) (Barberini Palace, Rome) ; Ecce Homo (Corsini Palace) ; St. Michael and the Dragon (Church of the Capuchins, Rome) ; Massacre of the Innocents, II Pallione, Nativity (Naples); Ecce Homo, Labors of Hercules (Louvre, Paris); The Hermits St. Paul and St. Anthony (Berlin) ; Ninus and Semiramis (Dresden) ; Ecce Homo, Assumption ' of the Virgin (Munich); St. Jerome Reading Sibyl (Uflfizi, Florence); Cleopatra, Rebecca al the Well (Pitti Gallery, Florence); Portrait of Himself (Capitol, Rome); Magdalene (Coronna Palace, Rome); Daughter of Herodias (Corsini Palace, Rome); Contemplation.
A Dutchman who was conspicuous at this time was Franz Snyders (i 579-1657) — so well known on account of his engravings that a word about him is necessary. His treatment of hunting scenes and con- ventional landscapes was vigorous, and for realistic portraiture of animal life he is worthy of note.
Principal Works: Twenty-three pictures of wild hunts, dead game, lions, goats, fruit, etc. (Madrid); Hunts and dead game (Dresden); Kitchen Interior (Munich).
Domenico Zampieri, called Domenichino (1581-1641), is not so dangerous as Guido because less popular. The dignity in his figures'^ comes pretty near to stiffness; and his still life, introduced persist- ently as enrichment for holy figures, proves how poverty-stricken the
GuiDO Rbni — Beatrice Cenci.
THE SCHOOL OF RAPHAEL
49
art had become. It is excellent jewelry and lace that ne pamts, and a cup or holy vessel is beautifully rendered, much better than Raphael could do. At least, I suppose that this is true, though the great master may have had so much better things in mind than Domenichino ever dreamt of, that he paid no attention to still life. This man is another painter of classical statues — very correct reproductions they are, but little more than that. The work marks an epoch as concerns this matter of the lace and jewelry. Some of his saints appear in dresses which come pretty near modern costume, and this element of realism is a factor in his art. He could make a landscape which approaches atmospheric rendering, getting the world ready for Claude's coming. The wolf could not get in at his door because of Sibyls; any one of which became a St. John when the turban was taken off — an econom- ical use of one antique head for two characters; that is, if any of them had a character. He kept antique forms in stock like theater "properties."
He was born in Bologna, was a student in the Caracci Academy with Guido, and like him responded to calls from cardinals and popes to paint the walls of palaces and churches, work which he did superbly from the point of view of the artists of that time. Probably the near- est counterpart of these leaders of the Italian artists of the end of the Renaissance is David's pupil Ingres. But Ingres' race was a stronger one, a coming lineage, not a departing. Intrigue waxed hot in those days. Any man of superior excellence was persecuted by rivals. Like Guido, he retired to Bologna to rest until his end came, though always painting. Claude, Poussin, Velasquez, Murillo, Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, all came into prominence during the lives of Guido and Domenichino.
Important Works: Frescoes: Evangelists CSan Andrea della Valla, Rome); Last Communion of St. Jerome (Vatican) ; Murder of St. Peter of Verona, Martyr- dom of St. Agnes (Bologna) ; Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli) ; Scourging of St. Andrew (Chapel of the Saint on Monte Celio, Rome) ; Madonna of the Rosary (Bolognese Academy); Cumaean Sibyl, Diana and Her Nymphs (Borghese Palace, Rome); St. Cecilia (Louvre, Paris): Guardian Angel (Naples); Susanna at the Bath, St. Jerome Writing (Munich); Deluge (Berlin).
50 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
While it is true that Italy was the cradle of art up to the seven-, teenth century, we find a number of famous painters in other con- tinental countries. The naissance of art in Holland was especially^ • notable. The Netherlands had divided and after the conflict which resulted partially in throwing off the Spanish yoke their individuality became apparent. Revolutions have always inspired artists and writers and Flanders was no exception.
The name of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was of course the most prominent. Owing to political disturbances, the father of the artist, who was a man of importance in Antwerp, retired to Germany where Rubens was born in a small town not far from Cologne, but was taken back to Antwerp very early. The fact that the Roman Catholic church still maintained its power in Flanders and that there was a minor court there provided the opportunity for this man and his pupil, Van Dyck, to paint immense canvases while the Dutch could do so • only to a limited extent. The one people called for domestic pictures, the other for the grand art. Rubens was brought up a gentle- man in the home of a nobleman, learning there the manners which • later were used by this artist-diplomat to so great advantage. ;
Early taught the technique of his art by two men. Van Veen and • Van Noort, he went to Italy to the household of the Duke of Mantua, i who soon discovered his worth and sent the young man on a delicate mission to the court of Philip III., at Madrid, where he painted: the king's portrait. All over Italy he had already gained great fame by the creation of magnificent church decorations. He learned Ian- w, guages, studied science, gained distinction in art and returned to Antwerp, after eight years of splendid success, to take a wife from an important family, build a superb house, and, finally, to be sent on another mission to Spain, where the great Velasquez, then just win- ning fame, became his friend. There he painted more great pictures. What an array of superlatives are required to describe the movements 1 of this many-sided man, prolific painter and polished gentleman! '
One mission caused another to claim his attention; this time to England, when Charles II. was king. His portrait was painted and a
Rubens — Holt Familt.
THE SCHOOL OF RAPHAEL 51
ceiling in the Whitehall Palace banqueting room, which gained him the honors of knighthood. He had received the same honor previously from Philip IV. of Spain on his second visit to Madrid. His home in Antwerp saw the later years of his eventful life, where death found him rich, honored and one of the most widely-known artists of history.
As if it were not enough that his painting should be scattered all over the rest of Europe, the French employed him (1622) to paint the enormous series in honor of Marie de Medici, which is now newly arranged in a special gallery at the Louvre. Much has been said about this collection, that it belies Rubens' genius because his other occupations forced the excution of it upon his pupils and helpers. A recent examination of the collection convinced me that the great man did most of the work. It is easy to determine where he left off and the lesser men took up the work. All important heads and figures are by the master, and they are very fine.
Rubens was not as great a man in many respects as Velasquez, not possessing the power and stately dignity of the Spaniard, but he was superb as a colorist and brushman, abandoned in line and dashingbeyond all other painters. Magnificence as man, courtier and painter are the words which describe him, and in these respects he stands alone in art history. His color is laid with extraordinary freshness, the shadow parts often struck in with pure vermilion. The lights kept company with such a furious scale, and still there was a certain cool gray qual- ity which it is hard to imitate. As is usual in such cases of simple directness, the pictures remain to-day almost as fresh as when first laid in, examples to artists and admiringly studied in all ages since.
His drawing was careless, as judged by the standards of Raphael, and in no case do we find such divine expression as with the great master of religious works. Being a Fleming, he loved to delineate robust women in twisted attitudes that are more picturesque than dignified. Anglo-Saxons do not admire this element in his works, but it must be remembered that a man is greatest when he is himself and giving full play to his personality. With it all, there is but one painter in the world like this and originality has no price. As colorist,
52 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
nothing could surpass him, another matter which stops the mouths of his detractors. A landscape in the Louvre shows his appreciation of the atmosphere of a foggy morning, the sun struggling through the penetrable mists. The composition suggests that it was made in Italy, where, no doubt, he fell under the influence of the men already mentioned who looked at nature as a display of poetical effects rather than of bald facts. This is the wonderful advance which the seven- teenth century painters made as compared with the landscape paint- ing of earlier artists.
Principal Works: Descent from the Cross, Elevation of the Cross, Assumption ■of the Vu gin (Cathedral of Antwerp) ; Holy Family (Church of St. Jacques, Antwerp) ; "Venus and Minerva Contending for a Youth, Portraits of His First and Second Wives, Bacchanalian Scene (Uffizi, Florence) ; Holy Family, Mars Going Forth to War, with Flames and Destruction before Him, Four Philosophers (Pitti Palace, Florence); A Portrait (Corcini Palace, Rome); Brazen Serpent, St. George and the Dragon, Perseus Delivering Andromeda, The Three Graces, Nymphs and Satyrs, Diana and Calisto, The Garden of Love, Judgment of Paris, Adoration of the Kings (Madrid) ; Mai ie de Medici Series (Louvre, Paris) ; Peace and War, Triumph of Julius Caesar, Judgirent of Paris, Brazen Serpent, The Residence of Rubens, Lady in Straw Hat (Londob); St. Jerome in Prayer, Bathsheba, Daughter of Herodias, Neptune Stilling the \^ aves. Drunken Hercules, Satyr Pressing Out the Juice of the Grape, Diana Returning from the Chase, Argus Surprised by Mercury (Dresden) ; Drunken Silenus, Massacre of the Innocents, Fall of the Condemned, Rebel Angels, Castor and Pollux Carrying off the Daughters of Leucippas, Last Judgment, Crucifixion, Children with Fruit, Virgin and Child, Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, Susanna Surprised at the Bath, Capture of Samson, Portraits of Himself and His Wives, Hay-Harvest, Battle of the Amazons (Munich); Neptune, Andromeda, Procession of Children, Stag Hunt, Resurrection of Lazarus, St. Cecilia (Berlin).
Though of somewhat later date, Frans Hals (1584-1666) should be mentioned here. Though born on Flemish soil, his life was spent at Haarlem in Holland, except for some little excursions to paint portraits in cities which seem so near his own that we of the great distances would consider them suburban. In him we find the native characteristics of strong nerves and a steady hand. Not every painting is equal to his best, but all are superb.
His entire output seems to have been portraiture; that art which
Rubens — Madonna and Child.
THE SCHOOL OF RAPHAEL 53
admits of so much good painting united to keen perceptive faculty, though it calls for less invention than the creation of lofty idealiza- tions. Still, great portraits require a high order of imaginative genius. Just here is our opportunity to contrast Hals with Velasquez and Van Dyck. The former's portraits look like real people; the latter's like real people plus an expression of nobility and strange refinement. All the Flemish painters, after the Van Eycks, painted admirably the real facts, so that their near neighbor, Hals, lacked nothing in the way of example. Many little heads were capitally swept in by the earlier men; Hals' were life-sized heads, better still, and it may be declafed that no painter has ever been more able to strike a brush, well loaded with color, on the canvas just where he wanted it, accurately, forcibly, knowingly and purposefully. All the Flemish painters of the early school secured good color; Hals did the same and in a still larger manner. This is his claim to distinction.
To our younger generation, he is a magnificent example of frank technique. Portrait groups of the directory-boards of hospitals, often women, long canvases ranged around the walls of guardsmen's armories (as we see those by Hals in the city hall of Haarlem) were the only opportunities offered the Dutch painters to execute impor- tant canvases. Holland was not royal and had no palaces; was not Catholic and had no ecclesiastics to gratify with religious decorations, as was the case in Flanders.
A family group in the Louvre, "La Famille de Berestyne," is so odd in its quaint arrangement (lacking grace or grouping) that one smiles at the "innocence" of the artist. It is guileless. Four adults (two being nurses) and six children are ranged as if for taking an inventory of the assortment. All these moon-faced cherubs are placed in full light to give the drawing complete and allow of modeling to perfec- tion. Frankness of color and touch make one respect the work profoundly.
Principal Works: Portraits (Louvre, Paris); Portraits (London); Archer's Guild (Amsterdam Museum).
54 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Spain in the sixteenth century reveals so little worthy art that it is not in our present consideration. Every one of the little painters was an imitator of some Italian. The Inquisition ruled everybody and everything, dictating the forms and patterns of the saints and holy men depicted, even disputing as to whether the figure of Christ dare be represented at all, or, if made, whether the feet should be crossed and pierced with one nail or separated and fastened with two. In the time of Charles V., that monarch called Titian to Madrid and from his hand many fine works were left to ornament the churches and palaces, which served Velasquez well when it came his turn to look for examples as guides. Many other fine Italian pictures were imported, so that the painters of the seventeenth century did not lack for art to look at.
Jose Ribera, called Spagnoletto (1588-1656), was a Spaniard, although his entire life was spent in Italy, and as a pupil of Cara- vaggio of Naples, his sympathies were altogether Italian.
All the Spanish painters of this early part of the seventeenth century were like the wild Italian in feeling, though many of them less violent. This is to say that they were literalists, strong and posi- tive painters, uninfluenced by the attenuated doctrines of the school of the Caraccis.
In the Louvre is Ribera's picture of the shepherds visiting the infant Christ. They are real men in the costumes of their life, nothing ameliorated or changed. The Madonna is .a portrait (slightly if at all idealized) of some maiden who posed for the artist. The babe is one of the prettiest pink infants I remember to have seen, and superbly painted with frankness of touch and fresh color. When we think of the insistence of the Caraccis on artificiality of form and on paleness of color, it astonishes us to see such honest frankness com- bined with as much idealization as is considered necessary in our own time. There is a lamb, with legs tied just as farmers do it in these days, laid down beside the shepherds, whose wool is so forceful and real that nothing could exceed its seriousness as a direct study of nature. No sheep painter of the strongest modern school has been
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THE SCHOOL OF RAPHAEL 55
able to excel this realism. Above all, the expression of that pros- trate victim of sacrifice is naturalness itself. All the Spanish painters of this century have been marvelous for the rendering of facial expres- sion, and this lamb's face is not outdone by that of the human beings in the work. The school of the Caracci would have made the lamb in some one of the classical attitudes and his wool should be silken like that of Verboeckhoven of our own time. This artist spent his life in Naples.
Ribera was prodigal of paint, — a brushman of vigor and certainty, and a man of distinction. Many of his pictures went to Spain to influ- ence Velasquez.
Principal Works: Neptune, St. Jerome (Borghese Gallery, Rome); St. Jerome (Corsini Palace, Rome) ; Prometheus Bound, Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, Ixion at the Wheel, St. James, St. Roch, The Heads of the Twelve Apostles, Jacob's Ladder, Magdalene Ventura (Madrid); St. Mary of Egypt, Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, St. Andrew, Head of Diogenes (Dresden) ; Martyrdom of St. Bartolomeo (Berlin).
Indigenous French art had not yet begun to assert itself. The work of those artists who were not fully imbued with the Italian feeling was primitive, and with the possible exception of les Lenain (1583 and 1585-1648) and Simon Vouet (1590-1640) none deserves mention.
The brothers Lenain were of the same age as Hals and their art resembles his in a striking way, though done in miniature. There is the same direct touch and knowledge of the "planes" in the head. Nothing is smoothed over, the touches being allowed to remain as applied. Probably they learned in the same school as he, though there is no account of visits to Holland or Flanders. Attitudes and arrangements are primitive, but the workmanship is almost as good as that of Hals. These little known works may at some time claim their due fame.
As the fashion was, Vouet went to Italy and returned with much good painting, but having been made court painter to Louis XIII., he deteriorated because he was over-worked with painting large decora-
56 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
tions, and far from his original source of inspiration. He interests us because the greater artist, Poussin, was made so uncomfortable by his intrigue that he returned to Italy without accomplishing the work laid out for him. Vouet established the first art academy in France and brought out Le Brun and Mignard.
Principal Works: Presentation in the Temple, Roman Charity (Louvre, Paris).
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Rubens — Pohtbapt op his Wife.
CHAPTER IV
BEYOND THE ALPS
The seventeenth century brought with it nothing that was really new. Artists have always painted on the first of January as they did in December, and the beginning of a century brings no more momen- tous change. Yet every day means a certain variation that counts for development. In 1600 Rubens, the Fleming, was making pictures, though still young. In Holland, Frans Hals leads the chronology. He was sixteen. In Italy it is not an Italian but a Spaniard, Ribera, who traveled in that country and was eleven when the century came. Velasquez and Van Dyck were both one year old; Poussin was six years old; Claude came to greet the new century; Rembrandt came six years later; Salvator Rosa, fifteen years, and Dolci, sixteen. How shall we classify artists amid all this confusion of nationalities and influences? They group by influences largely, but nationality and political condi- tions have an enormous weight. Yet first of all, personality makes the artist.
It begins here to be difficult to separate landscape from figure painters — always a foolish classification. In fact, classification is absurdly enslaving, however made. Is Millet of Barbizon a figure or a landscape painter? He painted his figures as if in the atmosphere of his landscape, and is therefore a landscape painter. Poussin is counted a remarkable landscapist; but he made his figures so inde- pendent of the atmosphere that he is actually a figure painter.
It is time that we examined landscape painting, because it begins to claim a place for its own worth. In due course of time, there rose up artists who never could see nature out-of-doors without her accom- paniment of human life, and that is the true landscape painting. Yet there have been many artists who could not draw well enough to ren-
57
58 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
der the human figure, but were full of sentiment for atmosphere and light; and there have been others who gave all their hearts to the study of the human figure, neglecting landscape altogether. Rubens made some little landscapes which revealed so much feeling for atmospheric phenomena that we wonder how he conceived the idea. He was in Italy while Claude was at work there, but his effects do not resemble the latter' s in the least. Rubens' landscapes are composed upon the formal lines of the old painters, but with a different sentiment, an orig- inal observation of nature's phenomena. To make a clear statement of the matter, it may be said that the old painters used some landscape forms as backgrounds to their figures but did not think about the gradations of distance to any great extent nor about the atmospheric conditions at all. To secure a truthful presentation of light effects was no' part of their purpose. Real landscape began when the light, the fog, the lambent air counted as more important than a simple shaping of certain trees or hills, rocks or mountains. It was Claude who gained the reputation of doing these things and teaching the rest of the world this lesson. Possibly had Rubens given more extended attention to this matter, he might have carried off Claude's honors.
The history of Claude Gelee, called Lorraine or de Lorraine (1600-1682), is as obscure as his family is supposed to have been. He may have been of reasonably good extraction, but little is known on the subject. If he was the apprentice of a pastry-cook, it matters nothing, as genius recognizes no social position. What we are sure of is that he went to Italy and learned to paint, possibly accidentally thrown in contact with painters because he became the lackey of an artist. Many other great men have had as humble a beginning. As Jie went to no art school for extended periods, he never learned his classics as the students of the Caracci academy were taught them, and never learned to draw more difficult matters than trees and rocks, nor these very wonderfully. But the sense of nature's poetry was his birthright. A moderate amount of teaching and a great deal of cleverness enabled him to paint what he saw before him in the fields
o
m a H
Pi
BEYOND THE ALPS 59
where he spent the long summer days, an untrammelled student of nature. There are accounts of his spending long periods in an art school. These are questionable stories. Whatever else, we know that he never could draw the human figure and was obliged to call in another to do this for him. In the definition of "classicism" two kinds are described: imitation of the antique statues, and formal arrangement as contrasted with the copying of nature exactly. Claude, living in classical Italy, could not escape from formalism; that is, he was the second kind of classicist. All the objects in his pictures are arranged with care to secure a pleasing flow of line and an appropriate massing of forms. The introduction of classical nymphs added to the well-regulated effect. Claude was a painter of light and atmosphere; that was his advance over those before him. He even set the sun in the heavens in the midst of his picture and attempted to imitate his radiance. Others had done something like this before, but not as well. , The golden glow in his pictures is also new; though it is pos- sible that some of it is due to the ripening of the varnish. But why did no one else have the good fortune to secure the same accommo- dating varnish? Probably the gods were good to his pictures because he painted them right.
John Ruskin hurled much magnificently written literature at Claude {Modern Painters) and compared his painting unfavorably with Turner's, seeking to check the too great popularity of the Franco-Italian among English picture buyers. He could not understand Claude — nor Turner either, for that matter. Both men were poetic painters. Ruskin was a narrow literalist. As Turner lived one hundred and fifty years after Claude, he learned much of which the older man was ignorant. Claude was not very careful about the literal form of things; neither was Turner. He was a painter of sentiment — it is this which marks his immense advance. Turner was not wise when he attempted to rival Claude, as each had his own glory. The Englishman's pic- ture in the National gallery suffers beside the Claude it was intended to eclipse.
Claude's "Liber Veritatis" (Book of Truth) consists of a series of
6o THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
mezzotints mav^e for the purpose of verification of his pictures. In these days, artists use photography for this purpose.
As fashion must be considered in art, Claude was obliged to give a classical title to his works and sustain it with figures of nymphs or gods. These figures, the work of an assistant are entirely second- ary and work only as spots.
Principal Works: Book of Truth, a volume of two hundred drawings (Duke of Devonshire) ; Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca, Narcissus (London); Worship of the Golden Calf, Sernron on the Mount (Marquis of Westminster); Morning, Noon, Evening, Night (Hermitage, St. Peters- burg); Marine View (Uffizi, Florence); Landscape (Capitol, Rome); Landscapes (Doria, Rome); Sunset Scene, Sunrise over the Sea, Other Landscapes (Madrid); Landscapes, Marine Views (Louvre, Paris) ; Flight of the Holy Family, Coast of Sicily (Dresden); Landscapes and Marine Views (Munich); Landscapes (Berlin).
Nicolas Poussin
{1393-166^)
The art of painting did not flourish, at the time of Poussin's birth, in his native country, France. After receiving instruction from sev- eral painters who made no mark in art history, he went, at the age of thirty, to Italy and remained there for the rest of his life with the exception of some two years spent in France, where he was called (1640) by the king, Louis XIII., and made court painter. A man of small parts, Vouet, was then in favor and began at once to create annoyances for him. Before concluding any important commissions, except an excellent "Last Supper," he returned to Italy, rejoicing once more in congenial art surroundings.
Claude was about twenty-four years old when Poussin first arrived in Italy, and possibly had already some reputation as an artist. Poussin was, however, much better trained in drawing than his fellow country- man ever became. He was brought into contact with certain sculp- tors, who led him to study the antique and Raphael. It is related that he did a considerable number of sculptures, which in itself assured an education in drawing and this is sustained by the sculpturesque qual- ity of his figures. Some have called hirii "the Raphael of France,"
Velasquez — Don Balthazae Carlos.
BEYOND THE ALPS 6i
but he had no claim to this title other than that he was one of the hun- dreds of imitators of the great master. Yet he was a fine draughts- man. It is useless to classify him either as landscapist or as figure painter. His figures were his first care and the landscape served as a setting for them, as the fashion had been before his time. He did not paint landscape with love, as a sentimental effort. All critics who love facts distinctly stated love Poussin; those who love sentiment in landscape do not seriously love his works except as the tone was serious and profound and the figure painting excellent. In the Louvre, his pictures have turned very dark, looking like somberness itself, though there is every reason to think that he may have been a wonderful colorist in his day. This belief is sustained by certain pic- tures now in Italy which are well preserved. Classical subjects pre- vail, the figures beautifully carried out.
In Italy, he married the sister of Caspar Dughet, who then called himself "Poussin," thus causing an unnecessary confusion of names. The reason of Ruskin's preference for Poussin rather than Claude is easily discoverable in the fondness of the English critic for material- ism and his utter lack of appreciation of sentiment, except sentiment in subject matter. Poussin, however, if he be judged rightfully, holds a high place.
Principal Works: Arcadian Shepherds, Rebecca at the Well, Finding of Moses, Judgment of Solomon, Triumph of Flora, Four Seasons, Diogenes Throwing Away His Cup, Eleazar and Rebecca, Israelites Receiving Manna (Louvre, Paris); Adoration of the Shepherds, Entombment, King Midas Begging the Revocation of • His Gift of Turning Everything to Gold (Munich); Bacchanalian Dance, Phocian, Landscapes (National Gallery, London); Series of Seven Sacraments (Duke of Rutland); Moses Striking the Rock (Bridgewater Gallery) ; Martyrdoms (Vatican, Rome); Landscapes (Corsini Palace, Rome); "The Deluge," "Plague of the Philis- tines," "Rape of the Sabines," "Moses," "Triumph of Truth," (chiefly in Louvre).
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez
{iS99-i(>b6) I am disposed to place Velasquez at the head of the portrait paint- ers of the world. As knowing as Hals in brush work, while much
62 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
more refined; as capable of securing noble expression as Van Dyck and still more subtle in characterization; not as rich a colorist as Titian, yet his tones of gray are the embodiment of colorfulness — possibly a more difficult accomplishment. Above all, there is an ele- ment of character-greatness displayed by Velasquez which, it maybe, no man in all the world has equalled.
His school-teaching father came of a noble family (originauy Portuguese), his mother's family was more directly aristocratic. This circumstance accounts for the use of his mother's name rather than that of his father, de Silva. Well educated and of cultivated man- ners, the royal court was as natural to him as his home.
There were no antique statues in Spain, the Inquisition viewing them as pagan idols. The ecclesiastics forbade the nude in art (which does not seem to have aided the development of morals) so the artists began their study with still life, painting vegetables and kitchen fur- niture, cooks and beggar-boys, the latter as nearly nude as might be. This led to realism, and the pictures of Caravaggio, Ribera and other vigorous painters of strong light and shade, with realistic shadows and intensely natural colors, furnished examples to imitate. The atten- uated refinements of the school of the Caracci found no favor with these sincere men. It will be remembered that Titian spent five years at the court of Charles V., in Madrid. There were also certain exam- ples of Raphael to be seen. Very early (but not until he had learned to paint) Velasquez spent many months working in the royal palace^ copying these pictures. His opportunities were by no means limited, the strongest influences being those of Ribera and Titian. The Span- ish painters had an extraordinary ability in catching fleeting expres- sions, nothing like it being found in any other nation. Velasquez had this talent, but used it as no other did, inasmuch as he was made of finer stuff.
Philip IV., king of Spain, soon discovered the abilities of the young man, taking him into his confidence in a manner hardly equalled in the history of the relations between royalty and art. At the time of Rubens' second visit tc Madrid (on an errand of diplomacy) he was
Velasquez — Philip IV.
BEYOND THE ALPS 63
greeted by the young Spanish painter, delegated by the king to this office. It seems to have been Rubens who persuaded the royal art patron to send Velasquez to Italy, and it is interesting to note that he was commissioned to send home a large collection of the hated antiques, as well as many pictures of the great Italian masters. His reception in Italy was as royal as that of any king's favorite could be. He stole away to Naples incognito to talk with the man whose works had so much influenced him, Ribera. The copying of Italian master- pieces does not seem to have changed his style, as he was not impres- sionable like Raphael.
Important palace pictures (rather than religious art), usually portrait groups or battle pieces, furnished him opportunity for painting large canvases. Some of these show us the inner side of his genius, made to please the art-loving king, and too undignified for public display, in those days of formality and courtliness.
We read in books about the remarkable color of Velasquez. Mis- leading words; words cannot make us feel color. His color is grave and gray; the most positive tints far from pure pigment, always broken grays and pretty low in tone. In the "Las Meninas" (Maids of Honor) the large canvas is quiet, all blues and greens low down in the scale and scarcely defined as such. There is scarcely any red at all, as we commonly understand the color, but a succession of varied red- dish spots in sequence, reaching around the composition and placed where they will do the most good. The floor is one broken warm tone and this spreads itself to interlock with the series of cool tones occu- pying the upper part of the canvas. There are many figures and in the midst stands the little Infanta, her balloon skirt of steel gray spreading out so that the little hands rest upon it as on the top of a hogshead. The wonder is that an artist could make so good a pic- ture out of these almost impossible materials. Good color is artis- tically managed color, and it is always difficult to copy — as this is. Most of all is it difficult to paint gray flesh so that it will gleam out from the walls of a gallery, ruling all else, as the cool flesh of Velas- quez does.
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The "Reunion of Drinkers" shows us no rowdies like those in the Dutch pictures, but only pleasantly merry fellows with that subtle expression revealing the special talent of the Spaniards In many respects, this is the best exponent of the artist's peculiarity, though many prefer the "Lace Makers," an interior full of atmosphere such as almost no artist had been able to secure previously. In front, there are women in dishabille, working in the suffocating heat; beyond is space, and other figures in the lighting and aerial perspective which demanded close observation of delicate truths of effect. This indi- cates the naturalist, the man who had no sympathy with classical formulas. Still , it is reserved and duly arranged — an artistic naturalism.
Velasquez died of fatigue from his efforts to prepare a festival on the occasion of the marriage of the Infanta Maria Theresa to Louis XIV., of France.
Important Works: Gardens of Aranjuez, Prospect of Pardo, Coronation of Mary, Dead Christ, Portraits of the Imperial Family, Las Meninas, The Surrender of Breda, Topers, The Spinners, ^sop (Madrid) ; Portrait (Capitol, Rome) ; Philip IV. of Spain (Louvre, Paris) ; Admiral Paraja, The Scourging of Christ, Philip IV. of Spain, -Hunting the Wild Boar (London) ; Spanish General Borro, Trampling on the Bar- berini Banner, Maria of Spain (Berlin).
Several lesser Spanish painters had the peculiar talent highly developed in Velasquez— the ability to see and reproduce facial expres- sion, as Francisco Zurbaran (1598-1663), just one year younger than the great man. Impetuous, like Ribera, and still more fiery in tem- perament, he painted textures and vigorous light and shade, neglect- ing no truth of color. Lack of sensitive feeling for the refinements of realism placed him in the second rank, however. The "Funeral of a Bishop" (Louvre) shows his substantial stuff-painting; but better than all else is the movement of suppressed excitement among the attend- ant monks as they quietly talk about the virtues of the deceased. This is true Spanish talent.
Principal Works: St. Thomas of Aquinas (Museum of Seville); Kneeling Monk, Sleeping Christ, Infant Christ (Madrid) ; Franciscan Monk (London); St. Celestin Refusing the Papal Tiara (Dresden) ; Miracle of the Crucifix (Berlin).
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BEYOND THE ALPS 6$
Francisco Collantes (1599-1656), exactly the same age as Velas- quez, painted realistic landscapes, very correctly but with the classical arrangement of masses and light and shade. His figures are not, like Claude's, classical but natural, as in the "Burning Bush" (Louvre), in which the Moses was painted from a real peasant and his attendant donkey from the real animal, trappings and all.
Anton Van Dyck
{isgg-1641)
Van Dyck's portraits "have an air" about them, a something apart from simple likeness. Largely painted from aristocratic sitters, they carry the conviction of stateliness. Frans Hals' portraits have none of this air, possibly because the sitters had none, possibly because the artist had no feeling for stateliness. Two portraits of gentlemen (Louvre), each with a child accompaniment, show Van Dyck's powers of character delineation much as we see it in the famous "Children of Charles L" (Windsor castle and Dresden), showing that in all things he maintained his excellence. Scarcely any one has excelled him in child painting.
Perhaps no one has painted so many people in black clothes while maintaining his reputation as a colorist. Black made colorful is a triumph in good coloring. Where Rubens spread sumptuous masses of well-managed reds and yellows, Van Dyck displayed his command of tender, neutral grays. Where Rubens' flesh paraded his command of shining skin in brilliant tints. Van Dyck kept to the moderate scale. Still his flesh gleams more than almost any other in the galler- ies, almost as much as Velasquez's.
The followers of Raphael painted as much like their idolized leader as possible. Van Dyck, much as he admired the exalted Rubens (his master), never imitated him after his student days were over. This is saying that he was more original than most men can be.
Van Dyck's life divides itself into three periods: portraits and religious decorations in Flanders (while still young); a long stay in
66 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Italy, painting the same kind of pictures; and ten years in England, a petted favorite, with every distinction heaped upon him. Ladies sought his dinner table and posed before his easel; the king knighted him and filled his purse. Under royal patronage he married the daughter of a noble house. On the honeymoon journey with this wife of convenience, he sought to emulate Rubens' Marie de Medici series by securing a similar commission from the French government; but Poussin had at that moment been called from Italy to execute this extensive decoration, a work which he never accomplished.
Van Dyck's career in England lasted ten years, from the age of thirty-two until his funeral with impressive honors at the hand of Eng- land's nobles. The king was not present, being, a fugitive, already on the road to the headsman's professional attentions.
It is not too much to declare that, next to Titian and Velasquez, he takes the lead among portrait painters. With Rubens and Van Dyck, the current changes: Students went to the Netherlands instead of Italy. Velasquez was born in the same year as Van Dyck.
Principal Works: Cardinal Bentoviglio, Repose During the Flight to Egypt (Pitti Palace, Rome); Entombment, Crucifixion (Borghese Gallery, Rome); Cruci- fixion (Mechlin); Entombment, Crucifixion, Deposition from the Cross (Antwerp); Pieta, Burgomaster of Antwerp and His Wife, Organist Liberti, Duke Wilhelm, Por- trait of Himself and of His Wife, Queen Henrietta Maria of England, Colyn de Nole, Jan de Wael and Wife, Madonna, Dead Christ (Munich); Vision of the Blessed Hermann Joseph, Enthroned Madonna with Saints (Vienna) ; Children of Charles I., Infanta Isabella, Prince of Carignan, Pieta, Ecce Homo, Three Penitents (Berlin) ; Charles I. , Queen Henrietta Maria and Their Children, Martin Ryckaert, The Brother of Rubens, A Man in Armor, Thomas Parr, St. Jerome, Apostles (Dresden); Countess of Oxford, An Armed Knight, A Black -robed Cavalier, Organist of Ant- werp, Portrait of Himself, Earl of Bristol, Saviour Crowned with Thorns, Betrayal of Christ (Madrid); Virgin and Donor, Portrait of Himself, Children of King Charles I., Dnke of Bavaria and Prince Rupert, Duke of Richmond, Marquis d' Aytona, Madonna and Child (Louvre, Paris) ; Charles I. on Horseback, Miraculous Draught of Fishes, Crucifixion, Portrait of C, van der Geest, Portrait of Himself (National Gallery, London); Portrait of Charles I., Children of Charles I., Charles I. and Family, Henrietta Maria, Sir Kenelm Digby, Lady Venetia Digby (Windsor Castle); Portrait of James Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox (Metropolitan Museum, New York).
Van Dtck — Portrait of Himself.
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Paul Rembrandt van Rijn
(^i6o(}-i66g)
The Flemings and the Dutch are not the same people, though related. Several exclusive old provinces furnished material to people Flanders; not so many Holland. The Dutch had won their independence by hard fighting. The Flemings had not. An upper class in Flanders cultivated courtly manners. None of the Dutch seem to have been courtly. Herein is to be found much cause for the contrast between the art of the two peoples — homes in Holland, chateaux in Flanders; modest guild-houses in Holland, palaces in Flanders; the art suited to these conditions in each land. We know of but few large pictures from Rembrandt, the "Night Watch" (thirteen by fourteen feet) leading in dimensions. Rubens and Van Dyck painted great numbers of large religious decorations.
As painter and etcher, Rembrandt loved to dash in colors and swift lines, masterful strokes, at times brutally but always knowingly and correctly. The habit grew upon him. However, the "Gilder" (Metropolitan Museum) is finished to the uttermost, though still free, and the "Lesson in Anatomy" contains a group of serious faces superbly complete in execution. He was twenty-six when it was painted, and it does not suggest the little window and single shaft of light, of which we hear so much as being his favorite manner. The color is cool; not in the rich tones usually attributed to him. Toward the end of his life, he painted the "Syndicate of Drapers," also with- out the centering of light, though it is warm in tone.
His single portraits nearly all show this favorite arrangement of one spot lighted in the midst of vibrating darks. A large white ruff and one side of the face usualh^ show a forced light against a black, wide-spreading beaver, this light spot surrounded with dark back- ground. Exactly this composition rules in the "Night Watch," the captain in black clothing against the lieutenant in gray-yellow and a gleaming spot of light on the ground which suggests the broad ruff; this group of lights surrounded by darks all over the picture, except the echo of light in the second plane. The "Menage du Menuisier"
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(Louvre) is one of a very large series of little pictures, about a foot or even less in size, nearly all with the concentrated spot of light. It is a domestic interior, the carpenter at his work beside the window receiving the light on his shoulder. This light falls next on the mother and naked babe, leaving the head of the mother in shadow, also that of the attendant woman, though her garment and a spot on the floor receive its full force. All about this centering of light, the room is in luminous gloom. There is no positive color in the picture, but an abundance of rich tone. It is very smoothly and tenderly executed.
When the "Night Watch" was cleaned one day, behold, it was not night but late afternoon. Time and varnish had deceived every one. It is one of the richest in color of all Rembrandt's pictures, though little pure pigment can be found. It occupies suitably the most con- spicuous place of honor in the museum at Antwerp, making neighbor- ing work appear thin and meager by comparison.
Rembrandt gained the attention of his countrymen at an early age, having a great many pupils. The story of his marriage pleases the Anglo-Saxon peoples, who dearly love a true lover. His wife did not live to see his misfortunes. In middle life it came about that Holland experienced "hard times" and the artist was bankrupt, and his pic- tures, studies, collection of art articles, costumes, plate and fixtures were mercilessly sold out. He never recovered from this blow, but spent the rest of his life making etchings, for the most part, to pay his living, not too generously. People do not altogether love rough pictures, however artistic. His painting certainly grew ruder, though never less magnificent. His pupils, especially his first one, Gerard Douw, gained a place for themselves with an art that was prettier and easier to understand than his.
The free line of the etching needle suited exactly the spirit of his impulsive nature. He stands through all time the prince of etchers. Of all men who produced art solely for the sake of artistic expression, Rembrandt is head. Any group of peasants, in any old clothes which happened to be at hand, answered for religious or secular subjects
BEYOND THE ALPS 69
alike, if sufficiently picturesque. In portraits he made people very real, never lacking character, though not with the nobility of Van Dyck or Velasquez. Men imitated his manner but not his character- fulness.
Principal Works: Susanna, Lesson in Anatomy (Hague Museum) ; Gilder, Burgomaster (Metropolitan Museum, New York); Supper at Emmaus, Philosopher in Meditation, Menage du Menuisier, Four Portraits of Rembrandt, Old Man, Young Man, Woman of the Bath (Louvre); The Night Watch, The Syndics (Amsterdam); Two Portraits of Himself, Jewish Rabbi, Old Lady in Cap and Ruff, Landscape with Tobit and the Angel, Woman Wading through a Stream, The Adoration of the Shepherds, Woman Taken in Adultery (National Gallery, London) ; Gray-bearded Old Man, Old Woman Weighing Gold, His Wife Saskia Holding a Pink in Her Hand, The Artist Drinking Champagne with His Wife on His Knee (Dresden) ; Portrait of Himself, Holy Family (Munich) ; Portrait of Himself, Portrait of His Wife Saskia, Potiphar's Wife Accosting Joseph, Daniel, Pastor Ansto, Samson Threatening His Father-in-law (Berlin).
Albert Cuyp
{1606-167 J. Dutch.)
This artist is not to be confused with his father, Jacob, nor his nephew, Benjamin. Albert was a painter of simple landscapes with cattle and horsemen. He is merel\' an unusually good painter of rich tones. Many of his pictures seem as if lighted through amber glass. The cows are well drawn, and in near!}' every one of his pictures of horsemen there is a red coat. Let us call him the painter of golden tones centered with a spot of red, cow or coat as the case may be. Time has treated him so well that collectors search for his remarkably fresh works.
Born the same year as Rembrandt, pupil of his father, Jacob Cuyp.
Principal Works: The Cavalier (Dresden); The Departure, The Return, Landscape, Marine View, Group of Children (Louvre, Paris).
Gerard Terburg
{1608- 168 1. Dutch.) Terburg is one of the lesser painters who did his part toward pull- ing down Rembrandt. His pretty art consisted of a white satin gown, wonderfully hard and unpoetical, and a crimson velvet jacket worn by
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a young woman who takes a music lesson or converses with an officer. The neighboring table is always beautifully painted and the silver, the glass and the guitar are beyond reproach. No genius, but superb finish and absolute facts, — these measure him. He journeyed in France and Spain, learning the taste of the grandees who liked pretty pic- tures. He studied in Rome and painted as his Dutch literalism dictated.
Principal Works: The Satin Gown (Amsterdam) ; The Guitar Lesson, Peace of Munster (London) ; Lady Washing Her Hands (Dresden) ; The Music Lesson, The Gallant OfRcer ( Louvre, Paris); Interior of a Cottage (Munich) ; Paternal Instruc- tion (Berlin).
Van de Velde
This name is common in Dutch art history. In the later fifteen hundreds lived Esais and his brother James, fairly good figure painters. Later, " William the Elder " (1610-1693) and "William the Younger" (1633-1702) came into notice. They were marine painters; the elder being an early example of the true war-artist, going out with the fleet of DeRuyter to sketch actual battles. Later he was employed by King Charles II., of England, as marine artist. "The Younger" painted a great many of these sketches of "The Elder' ' in oils, also for the English court and nobility. Some capital work came from these men's easels.
Principal Works of William Van de Velde: Nine pictures (National Gallery, London); Calm (Louvre, Paris) ; View of Amsterdam (Amsterdam); Storm, Calm (Munich).
Adrian van Ostade
{1610-168^. Dutch.)
Though a pupil of Frans Hals, van Ostade made small pictures in the manner of Rembrandt's delicate work. On the other hand, a pic- ture of a fish merchant, painted about life size, shows a table loaded with large fish, painted so frankly that it might be from the severely rude, realistic school of this day.
Principal Works: Fish Market, Schoolmaster (Louvre, Paris); Alchemist (London) ; A Smoker (Metropohtan Museum, New York).
Rbmbbandt — Portrait of Himself.
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David Teniers, the younger
{i6io-i6go. Flemish.)
The elder Teniers was a pupil of Rubens and painted tavern scenes, like those of his more talented son. The younger Teniers was more like the Dutch painters than any of his great neighbors already men- tioned. But the royal province and its little court had its influence. The governor-general made him curator of the art collection and gave the young man opportunity to copy many works by famous painters. This was his schooling, and he used his remarkable talent to produce superb color tones, rarely using pure pigment as fine tonal painting distinguishes his works. His subjects were village festivals, royster- ing peasants, landscapes and farmyard scenes and stories of domestic life, usually humorous. There is no greatness in Teniers, but remark- able ability.
Principal Works: Rinaldo and Armida, La Graciosa Fregatriz, Village Festivals (Madrid) ; Peter's Denial, St. Anthony, Tavern Scene (Louvre) ; Chateau at Pearck, Four Landscapes of the Seasons, the Music Party, Backgammon Players, The Miser."?, Dives, or the Rich Man in Hell (London); Rural Fetes, Peasants, Interiors, Incantation Scenes, Temptation of St. Anthony (Dresden); Italian Fair, Feast of Monkeys, Dutch Ale-House, Violin Player (Munich); Kermess, St. Anthony's Temptation, Family of a Painter (Berlia),
Somewhat later came Pedro de Moya (1610-1666), a Spaniard, who is interesting because, determined to see the world at all hazards, he enlisted in a troop destined for service in the Netherlands. Arriving there, his officers gave permission to paint in the galleries where Van Dyck's works were hung. The great artist was in England, so thither Moya followed, only to find the life of his exemplar going out. It must have been about 1641. Van Dyck dying, he returned to Spain and met Murillo, to whom he communicated all the new methods learned in the north. Moya seems to have been an excellent imitator, but not original.
Meindert Hobbema
(/6//-.? Probably Dutch.) Though possibly born in Antwerp, this excellent landscape painter lived his life in Holland and was an intimate friend of Ruj'sdael,
72 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Berghem and other men who made such astonishingly good outdoor pictures. This is the moment when Claude was making his revela- tions of what a landscape should be, and these men took their impulse from Italy. There is no such poetry in these works as in those of the Franco-Italian, but the statement of the facts of nature's phenomena was loving and imbued with the atmosphere of the heavens. Col- lectors in this day prize all this art very highly. Mill sites, pastoral scenes, wood interiors, gray tones, little positive green, silvery skies and entire unity of effect reveal a high order of artistic talent. The figures in Hobbema's landscapes were touched in by his better- instructed companions. None of these Dutchmen indulged in the absurdity of introducing classical anecdote, as Claude felt obliged to do. Animals and men are good honest Dutch stock.
Principal Works: The Mill (Louvre) ; Others in England, Berlin, Venice, and Chicago.
In France Pierre Mignard (1612-1695) followed LeBrun, though a little older, as court painter and was in nearly all respects like him, producing Gobelin-tapestry designs and stilted Italian art. Both men studied long in Italy in the time of Carlo Dolci.
Principal Works: Vierge a la Grappe, St. Cecilia, Portrait of Madame de Maintenon, St. Luke Painting the Virgin (Louvre); Maria Mancini (Berlin).
Gerard Douw
{1613-1680. Dutch.) After spending three years in Rembrandt's studio, Douw had learned how to manage a picture and made one of the most remarkable painters of any period. Lacking an element of greatness of character which made his master notable, he painted so well that no imitator has approached him in sentiment. Aside from the wonder of it, his minute execution was so sincere in following nature, so tender in artistic sentiment, so loose in handling and refined in color that no one can assign to him a second place. While Rembrandt lost his hold upon the public, being too highly artistic, Douw gained in riches untii
MiGNABD — Child of Mignahd.
BEYOND THE ALPS 73
the last. This in itself is somewhat to his discredit, not that wrong can be charged against him, but simply because it indicates a lower grade of art.
Minute finish presupposes small canvases. Many of them are from six to twelve inches long, heads as small as a pea, finger nails like pin heads and the minutest possible finish in every part — an almost impossible finish and no imaginable detail omitted. One favorite arrangement was to place a figure or two in the embrasure of a window, as seen from the street, with perhaps the introduction of a curtain as if it had been drawn aside to reveal the picture. About the figures are gathered the articles appropriate to the personages. The housewife has a rabbit and a chicken, just bought in the market, every tiny feather and hair painted beautifully, yet not ruined by hardness of finish. Imitators of Douw could create as much detail as he, but could never touch so deftly or render nature's atmosphere so feel- ingly. Tenderness with sentiment, these are his attainments; nor did he fail of these however minute the detail. No artist in the world has done this thing like Douw. He is rightly called "great" who leads all others.
Principal Works: Schoolmaster (Uffizi, Florence); La Femme Hydropique, Reading the Bible, Dentist, Woman (Louvre) ; Poulterer's Shop (London) ; Hermit Kneeling before an Open Bible, Young Girl at a Window, Schoolmaster, Old Woman, Two Portraits of Himself (Dresden) ; Old Woman, Lady at Her Toilet, Quacksalver, Hermit (Munich); Cook, Penitent Magdalene (Berlin).
Gabriel Metzu, or Matzu
{ibis-ibs8. Dutch.)
Metzu was a genre painter whose work resembles that of Terburg, silken petticoats and all, though he showed more variety in his sub- jects. Some of his pictures are like Douw's. As with all excellent technicians, he commands the admiration of collectors.
Principal Works: Vegetable Garden at Amsterdam, Music Lesson (Louvre) ; Lovers at Breakfast, Lace Maker (Dresden); Dutch Family (Berlin); The Duet (London).
CHAPTER V
THE LESSER GREAT MEN Salvator Rosa
(i6is-i6yj. Italian.)
Easel pictures traveled about a good deal even in those days of difficult transportation; but history is meager, therefore it is hard to determine how much, if any, Claude may have influenced this man fif- teen years his junior. Coincidences in art movements are to be found in a strange way all over the world, like the discovery that Rubens was also a landscape painter who advanced far beyond his fellows, though he worked in Italy at the time of Rosa. The Dutch painters also produced excellent landscapes; nearly always learning their pro- fessions in Italy, leaning now to Claude, now to Rosa.
Rosa's home was near and in Naples, far to the south, whereas Claude lived in the center of the country and in the beaten track. It is pretty certain that Rosa came under the influence of Caravaggio very early in his career and the effect of this circumstance may easily be traced in his work. He has the same dash and the same indiffer- ence to the over-delicate finish of the Caracci Academy, just ending its existence but maintained as to influence by its following.
Born of a succession of painters, in Rosa's blood flowed the desire to paint, and it was so strong that parental designs as to a change of profession in the family, could not turn him away from paint brushes. Being willful, he not alone would not allow himself to be made into a lawyer, but he would not go to the art school, preferring to go sketch- ing. Naturally, this did not improve his drawing, but it did make an original landscape painter of him.
There is a picture by Rosa in the Louvre, of a fight between horsemen, full of violent action (the sort which the Caracci followers
74
MuKiLLO — The Beggah Boy.
THE LESSER GREAT MEN 75
disliked) and the faces are all turned so as to conceal the features. But he did many portraits fairly well, as a man of talent may even if he is not a wonderful manipulator of line.
While on a sketching trip, the brigands picked him up, which was not a serious matter as he had nothing that they could steal, and poor people had no fear of brigands. What a find he must have been to these wild sons of Italy, who were born with the love of pictures, and how polite they must have been to this genius, those cultivated out- laws! It was a chance too that would have delighted any artist, to sketch picturesque clothes and magnificent mountain passes and all that life of camp and bivouac. There is one of his earlier pictures in the Louvre, made a good deal like some of Claude's, or like the classical style of landscape, but the later ones with the life of the wild men are as wild and violent as the brigands themselves. Massive mountain forms, lakes in deep shades of furious Prussian blue, cliffs and rocks, forest trees, profound shadows, all that the Caraccis con- demned, superbly vulgar art possibly, but heart art. I recall one in which the brigands and soldiers shoot at each other, rather rudely touched in, but lifelike. All this was like Caravaggio and the oppo- site of the tender, full-lighted, shadowless art of the other school of painting. Wild marines attracted him; any disturbed composition. Though critics of the classical tendency rail at this genius, calling him the last tortured remnant of the fine art of Italy, he has had an extended influence on the art of the world, even upon our own painters of the "Hudson River School," and the Dutch artists of his own period. Ribera, the Spaniard, who lived his life in this locality and who was also a follower of Caravaggio (though rarely painting pure landscape), led Rosa by twenty-seven years. The active Dutch school had many landscape painters at this time, and so had the Spanish. Italian art was a-dying.
Principal Works: St. Jerome in the Desert, Landscapes (Madrid); Battle Landscape, Conspiracy of Cataline (Pitti Gallery, Florence); Two Battle Scenes (Corsini Palace, Rome) ; Mercury and the Woodman (London) ; Landscapes (Munich) ; Samuel's Apparition to Saul (Louvre) ; Warrior Doing Penance (Vienna).
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Carlo Dolci
(1616-1686. Italian.)
The master of Dolci was Jacopo Vignalli, who, rn turn, came from a direct lineage of painter and pupil from Raphael. But the influence of the Caracci Academy was in the land and fell upon him also. If an artist can paint with extraordinary smoothness, draw correctly and gracefully, and secure sentimental expression, he is sure of popular- ity. Dolci is the Cabanel of this time, though the pretty painting of the Frenchman led others into better ways, whereas Dolci had no fol- lowing except servile imitators. Over all this line of artists hangs the shadow of a declining period.
"The School of Raphael" ends with Dolci, as far as Italy is con- cerned. Numberless men in other countries have followed in the same line and will do so possibly until the end of time.
Dolci invented an Ecce Homo and a Mater Dolorosa, keeping at variations of these patterns through many years. All the world likes them, though even the enthusiastic laudations are dampened by apologies for the lack of character and the enforced slickness.
The daughter of Herodias bearing that bloody head of St. John— wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a king? The imagination lingers about the thought of this pretty savage with her grewsome offering. What an opportunity for an artist to study subtle expres- sion! Dolci's intellect carried him no farther than pretty figure painting, well done according to rule.
His sweet Mother of Sorrows, it is simply a novice from some convent, the draped head carefully adjusted to show the impassive face and a bit of thumb. That coquetish thumb— always the same thumb, sometimes peeping out a little more and then retreating coyly. How refinedly repentant are his Magdalenes! Is it possible that these are intended to portray one of the most mom.entous heart sorrows in human life?
More still life he has painted — lilies and roses astonishingly well done, but marble blossoms. It is said that another did these for him, his own laborious finish not reaching the standard of lifeless polish so
MuRiLLO — Madonna.
THE LESSER GREAT MEN ^^
dear to his heart. It were not worth while to dwell upon these declining, sugar-coated weaknesses of the dying school of Raphael, were they not so popular, so cherished in museums.
Most of Dolci's works are small, though he also made some life- sized figures.
Gerard Douw painted as smoothly as Dolci, but there is a certain sincerity and genuine observation of nature in those Dutch pictures which command infinite respect as against the absolute surrender to weak classicism we find here.
The art of these three men, Guido, Domenichino and Dolci, was so popular that even the highly-endowed Murillo forgot much of his native force in attempting to imitate it. Murillo and Dolci lived their lives at the same time, and the Spaniard's change to over-sweetness is contemporaneous with the arrival in Spain of Dolci's product.
Principal Works: St. Cecelia, Daughter of Herodias (Dresden); Madonna, Ecce Homo (Corsini Palace, Rome); Madonna and Child (Borghese Palace, Rome); Penitent Magdalene, Madonna of the Thumb, Angel of the Annunciation (Uffizi, Rome) ; Martyrdom of St Andrew, Fra Angelica, God the Father (Academy of Fine Arts, Florence); Dream of St. John, Mater Dolorosa, Magdalene, Angel of the Annunciation (Uffizi, Florence); Magdalene (Dresden).
Van der Faes, known as Sir Peter Lely (the lily) (1617-1680, German), lived in England. Lely was of Dutch extraction but German born. Educated in the Netherlands, he became a fairly good technician, an indifferent draughtsman, but quite clever enough to obtain a footing in England (where art was an e.xotic) to secure royal patronage and make numberless affected portraits, not forgetting the nudes and other conceits which took the popular fancy. He was, at the court of the gay King Charles H., what Fragonard was at the court of Louis XV.
Principal Works: Oliver Cromwell (Pitti Gallery, Florence), and many por- traits of the beauties of the Court of Charles II.
Bartolome' Este'ban Murillo
{1618-1682. Spa7iish.) Nineteen years younger than Velasquez, this artist ends the line for a long time. Spain had lost all claims to greatness. Murillo at
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first and the same man at the last are nearly two different artists, though the Spanish genius for nature observation never quite left him. The beggar boys, his most genuine works, were made when in his youth; he studied them because there were no nude life classes in Spain. Youth is genuine in sentiment, as these early pictures are. It is the art of Ribera, of Velasquez, some of the technique learned from the traveled imitator of Van Dyck and Moya. It is strong in light and shade, genuine in color, fine in action and altogether Spanish. Later, he submitted to the love of popularity or perhaps fell a willing victim to the wiles of that "School of Raphael" so often spoken of in this writing. His decorations in the churches of Seville, made after middle life, are so like the compositions of Raphael that the two seem the same only slightly varied. Saving grace is found in the remnant of the early and genuine Spanish fondness for actual facial expression. The beggar boys appear again in his latest works in the religious decorations, less genuine but with character enough to give flavor.
After learning how to paint well (having felt Moya's influence), his good fortune in selling out his collection of pictures brought money and the desire to visit Italy. Reaching Madrid, Velasquez introduced him to the collections of the palace, examples of Ribera, Titian, some of Raphael, Carlo Dolci, and other Italian pictures, and much from Flanders (a Spanish province), and these occupied him with good study. The art of Carlo Dolci (who was his exact contemporary) had become popular and seduced the young artist. After this, his painting is that of the degenerate Italian school, though far more characterful. He was greater than Guido or Dolci.
A marriage with one of the leading women of his native city (Seville) brought him commissions to paint in the churches there, because his wife had influence with the clergy.
A "Holy Family" (Louvre) shows color that is luminous and ten- der, though weak as compared to Velasquez and other Spaniards. The tendency is toward pink flesh (which never occurs with the others, nor in his beggar boys) over-delicate blues, reds and yellows. The Madonna is a portrait, slightly idealized; the Almighty, a weak old
MtraiLLo — The ImmactjiiAte Conception.
THE LESSER GREAT MEN 79
man; the Christ and St. John, excellent portraits of children with much of his Spanish virtue of characterful expression. The cherubs are excellent babies and true to life. In the "Cuisine des Anges" (Louvre) all the figures are artificial, but there is a collection of kitchen utensils which could not be better done.
He was nineteen years younger than Velasquez; thirty-one younger than Rubens; twelve younger than Rembrandt; one older than LeBrun, court painter to Louis XIV. of France; three younger than Salvator Rosa; two younger than Carlo Dolci.
Principal Works: Madonna (Pitti Palace, Florence); Adoration of the Shep- herds, Marriage of St. Catherine, Return of the Prodigal (Vatican, Rome); Madonna and Child (Corsini Palace, Rome) ; The Immaculate Conception, The Death of St. Andrew, Annunciation, Adoration of the Shepherds, Conversion of St. Paul, Vision of St. Augustine (Madrid); Immaculate Conception, Holy Family, Peasant Boy; (Louvre) Peasant Boy, Divine Shepherd (National Gallery, London); Virgin and Child, Burial of Santa Clara, St. Rodrigue (Dresden); Beggar Boys, Girls with Fruit (Munich); St. Anthony of Padua (Berlin); Moses Striking the Rock, The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, The Charity of St. Juan de Dios, The Infant Saviour (Hos- pital of Charity of Seville); St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Academy of San Fernando, Madrid); St. Anthony of Padua, Guardian Angel (Cathedral, Seville); Conception, Nativity, St. Francis Embracing the Crucified Saviour, Saints Rufina and Justa, Charity of St. Thomas of Villanueva, Virgen de la Serviletta (Museum of Seville) ; Flower Girl (Dilwich Collection, England); Conceptions, Madonnas (St. Petersburg.)
Charles Le Brun
(i6iq-i6go. French. )
Court painter to Louis XIV., Le Brun was of much use to France, though by no means a remarkable painter. The array of enormous canvases, which still occupy good space in the French art galleries, is heavy, in the debased Italian manner and largely intended for transla- tion into tapestry. He it was who organized the Art Academy under royal patronage and began that war for the support of stilted classi- cism which still disturbs French art circles. The Grand Monarque had lofty ideas regarding the establishment of art workshops. "The Gobelins" still exist, much as Le Brun projected the schools and shops for the production of tapestries, marquetry and decorative
8o THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
design of all sorts. The tapestries there executed in Le Brun's time are better than the designs he made for them.
Principal Works: Scenes from the Life of Alexander the Great, Battle of Arbela, Crucifixion, Magdalene, Benedicite, Portrait of Himself (Louvre, Paris); Jabach Family of Cologne (Berlin).
Philip Wouvermans
(ibig-i6b8. Dutch.')
Wouvermans, a townsman of Hals, was an excellent painter who discovered nothing new but could paint a well-ordered picture in charming tones, rarely with positive colors, though lacking no refine- ments of color. Battle scenes, skirmishes with horsemen in violent action, abundant smoke and confusion, these made him popular. It is with fine painter qualities that he wins admiration.
Principal Works: Stag Hunt, Six Equestrian or Battle Scenes (Munich); Hawking Party (Amsterdam) ; Milk Can (Dresden) ; Burning Mill, Stag Hunt (St. Petersburg) ; Hay Cart (The Hague).
Nicholas Berghem
{1624-1683. Dutch:)
Berghem (or Berchem) was the son of a painter, the two making landscapes so much alike as to confuse collectors. His taste was for landscapes with cows and figures, or domestic animals, all admirably drawn and in good movement. As paintings they are remarkably loose and free, everything clear in tone and few black shadows, sky and distance in excellent atmosphere, and the best tree drawing of any Dutchman. The faces are not so good as others made them. Many of his landscapes are classical arrangements — far-off mountains and near rivers; absence of herbage suggests Italian landscape, but an artificial arrangement and color for tone's sake rather than exact nature. Nearly all these Dutch landscape painters composed an artificial arrangement. Berghem is one of the best of these minor geniuses.
Principal Works: View of Nice, Port of Genoa, Crossing the Ford, Milking a Goat, Landscape with Cattle (Louvre, Paris); Boaz and Ruth (Amsterdam); A Turk Talking to a Woman (The Hague).
THE LESSER GREAT MEN 8i
Paul Potter
{1625-1613. Dutch )
At the Museum in The Hague hangs the much-talked-of "Bull," not a great picture but fine in its fresh color and the natural lifelike attitude of the animals. Like many of these Dutch animal painters, his human figure is no more than fairly good. It is the simplicity of the whole effect which makes the picture impressive, and the remark- able manner in which the green grass has maintained its original color. Some pictures have grown very mellow with time and varnish, seeming, like Cuyp's, to be lighted through amber glass. All his compositions are simple, not arranged from complicated Italian mountain subjects, as others too often were.
Principal Works: Two Portraits (Dresden); Young Bull (The Hague); Bear Hunt (Amsterdam) ; The Condemnation of Man by a Tribunal of Animals (Hermit- age, St. Petersburg).
Nicholas Maes
{i632-i6gj. Dutch.)
There were several artists named Maes or Maas, the most impor- tant being Nicholas. He imitated Rembrandt for the most part. He painted portraits with much financial and considerable artistic success.
Antoon Franz van der Meulen
(i6j4-i6go. Flemish.)
Van der Meulen was born in Brussels, but belongs with the French painters because a large part of his life was spent in the service of Louis XIV. as battle painter to the glory of the Grand Monarque.
The contrast of conditions between Flanders and Holland appears very distinctly here. Semi-royal Flanders kept in touch with royal- ties. The only evidence of nationality in Van der Meulen's work is a sort of slavish attention to minute details. In French galleries (Louvre and Versailles) may be seen large pictures, the center occu- pied with the scarlet and gold coach of the king of elegant manners, surrounded by a crowd of courtiers who attend the king. This impor-
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tant group is so arranged that the landscape stretches away beyond it and shows a city on fire, or one which they would like to set fire to, could they approach it. This management prevails continually — always the red coach. He was a fairly good painter, but France had few be,tter at the time. The noted Le Brun was his father-in-law.
Principal Works: Conquests of Louis XIV,, in twenty-three pictures (Louvre, Paris) ; Four others, similar in character (Munich).
Jan Steen
{i6j6-i68g. Dutch.)
A painter of domestic interiors and tavern scenes, being himself a tavern-keeper, Steen is the true forerunner of the school of domestic genre painters which has manifested itself all over Europe during many generations. It was the rise of these popular painters which destroyed the taste for Rembrandt's greater art, toward the latter part of that leader's career. None of the Dutchmen equal him in the creation of a "story picture" in which individual temperaments are studiously set forth. What he accomplished has been as well done since, but he deserves limitless credit for his invention of a style or, at least, its full development, in the execution of which he has scarcely been surpassed by his numberless followers. The effort which he made to render all stuffs and textures stood in the way of the produc- tion of simple refinements of tone and unity of effect. Liveliness of colors rarely means refined color. Some of his compositions are arranged with wonderful skill from the point of view of balancing lines and masses. Not able to secure subtlety of expression, he was still a leader in that line of genre painting which delineates ordinary facial action. The Diisseldorf genre school, long popular, was based on painters like Steen.
Principal Works: Mother Feeding Baby with a Spoon (Dresden); Inn Garden IBerlin); Fete, Flemish Festival (Louvre); Physician Visiting a Lady (Munich); Music Master (London); Alchemist (Private Gallery at Venice); Feast of St. Nicholas, Lady and Parrot (Amsterdam) ; Family Feast (Florence).
THE LESSER GREAT MEN 83
Jacob van Ruysdael
{/636-1681. Dutch. )
Ruysdael made landscapes like the others, classical compositions, artificial arrangements of color rather than an exact imitation of nature, but with refined sentiment and pleasing composition. All these were excellent painters whose works enrich European galleries, but they did nothing more than push along the development of art, push it in a good way and far along. Hundreds of good painters have imitated them or found here the source of their inspiration.
Principal Works: Monastery, Chase, Jewish Cemetery (Dresden) ; Waterfall, View of Bentheim Castle (Amsterdam); Storm at Sea (Louvre); The Forest Vienna).
Kaspar (Caspar) Netscher
(i6jg-i6S4. German; lived in Holland.')
Technique without originality now commences to indicate the decline of Dutch art. It is another attempt to outdo Terburg and Gerard Douw, with all the technique but little of the spirit. Netscher's two sons were, like him, technicians.
Principal Works: Material Instruction, Alchemist (London) ; Portrait of Madame de Montespan, Music Lesson, Young Man Writing a Letter (Dresden) ; Lady Who Is Singing (Munich).
Too much technique killed Dutch art. It grew mannered and imitative, as has often happened in other countries. Fresh and orig- inal talent does not seem to continue for long periods anywhere, though from time to time a new genius comes up and sets the pace for many followers.
Sir Godfrey Kneller
(1648-1723 (?) German; lived in England.)
Kneller studied with Rembrandt and then went to Italy. His life work consists of some good and numberless shockingly bad portraits of English royal and noble grandees, during the reigns of Charles II. and following kings to the accession of George I. During his career
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Hogarth, the actual father of English art, arrived. Reynolds was born the year that Kneller died.
Hyacinthe Rigaud
{i6^g-i'j4j. French. )
It is worth taking note of that Rigaud did not study in Italy but was shaped by the influence of Van Dyck (dead eighteen years at Rigaud's birth), which certainly causes a difference in his art from those just mentioned. He was a literalist, attempting the stately manner of the great Fleming without his refinement of conception. His full-length portrait of Louis XIV. in regal robes is a mass of velvet and gold draperies, very sumptuous but ridiculously over-loaded. It was this picture which incited Thackeray to make his famous caricature of, first the robes alone, then Louis lean and ugly, then Louis the king, which is the overdone work in question, suggesting that the clothes were the making of His Majesty. The picture bears out the thought.
Principal Works: Portrait of Bossuet, Portrait of Louis XIV. (Louvre.)
Antoine Watteau
(1684-1721. French.)
It is almost safe to say that national art in France begins with Watteau, though Rigaud used the Flemish influence, which gave him his training, in a decidedly French manner. But Watteau was so original and his art was so different from any other which the world had known, that we may declare his the product of true French influ- ence. He did not go to Italy, but studied the pictures of the Flemish masters found in Paris. Coming to Paris a poor boy, he managed to secure considerable training in the Academy and became a pretty good draughtsman, though never a severe classicist, as David (who came twenty-seven years after his death) would judge classicism.
There is a strong flavor of the art of Carlo Dolci (died two years after Watteau' s birth) in his work — the sweet saints here becoming pretty sinners — and the attention to still life painting is the same. But this was a coming, not a dying movement. The reign of Louis XIV.
THE LESSER GREAT MEN 85
ended in 1712, so that we find an art suited to the period of crooked- legged furniture, elegant gilding, sumptuous garments, increasing frivolity of manners, which culminated in the reign of Louis XV., the most frivolous in the history of any nation. Pastoral posturings, sheep and shepherdesses alike "genteel," cavalrymen who were made to wear pretty costumes rather than to fight, graceful groupings in park-like landscapes studded with statues of the elegant period as artificial in pose as the nymphs who went picnicing about them, love- makings -of the sweetly sentimental sort — this is the art of Watteau. All his swains and lassies are dressed in silks and satins, they pose in silken landscapes, amid trees which arrange themselves gracefully, and with color which corresponds with the subjects represented, suave, elegant and in tender artificial tones. It is by no means a second- rate art, though never roble either in pose or sentiment.
The "Embarkation for the Island of Cythera," island of love where Venus was born (Louvre and Berlin), is one of his best works, the example in Berlin somewhat over-finished and containing several additional figures. Frederick the Great was a patron of this artist, many of his best works being at the San Souci palace.
Though it is out of the sequence chronologically, I will mention here Lancret (1690-1743), Pater (1695-1743), Hilaire — and De Bar — who are all close imitators of Watteau, growing thinner and harder in the descent, though much patronized by Frederick.
Hogarth was thirteen years younger than Watteau; Sir Joshua Reynolds was born two years after Watteau's death; Murillo died 1682, two years before Watteau's birth; Teniers died when Watteau was ten years old; Ostade when Watteau was only a year old; Gerard Douw died four years before Watteau's coming.
Iviportant Works: Embarking for Cythera, Portrait of Himself, Grace before Meat (Louvre.)
Francois Le Moyne
{i6SS-i'ys7- F)-en.ch.) An artist four years younger than Watteau, of Italian education, who painted decorations with tender flesh and drapery, painting
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unusually "fat" color and excellence in all ways. What interests us most is that he had for a pupil a man less talented than himself but who is known all over the civilized world. The pupil was Boucher.
Jean Marc Nattier
{/68j -1766. French. )
A painter of fashionable portraits, Nattier has produced an art which maintains a certain popularity because an exponent of the times of the frivolous period at the close of the reign of Louis XIV. and the opening of that of Louis XV. His noble ladies in embroidered bodices are pink and pretty.
Goya, the Spanish painter of brilliant talent, was born in 1748 — twenty-eight years before the death of Nattier, and five years after the death of Rigaud. In 1686, one year after Nattier's birth, Carlo Dolci died.
CHAPTER VI
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM
England comes to her own in this chapter. France brings forth, besides some interesting little men, one of the most noted artists of any period. Spain sends up a rocket and harbors an artist polished by much hard work. America begins to take her place in the contest for fame.
William Hogarth
(i6gy-iy64. English.)
All prosperous peoples are self-satisfied and think that the world could not revolve but for them. The English are pugnaciously self- complacent. Not spontaneously artistic, they have always acted as if the arts would fare badly without their aid. No man knew less about the art of the rest of the world than Hogarth; but he was sure that he had all the secrets of it in his pocket. In his ignorance he railed at the idea of art schools and art knowledge, and looked upon a foreign art education as the embodiment of foolishness. Admitting that many a little genius has been injured by foreign study — if anything can injure a little man — one so talented as Hogarth might have made a wonderful mark in the world, had he been properly trained. Devoid of proper art education, Hogarth made of himself a superior caricatu- rist and a portrait painter who had few commissions, because his bad manners repulsed too many sitters. Somewhat embittered, he reveled in sarcastic delineations of the follies of his times, caricaturing people of importance whose enmity he thus cultivated. As there were no newspapers in those days for the circulation of caricatures, Hogarth sought to convince the public that he was a great painter (which he never attained skill enough to be) by making his satires on large can- vases with oil paints.
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Hogarth's pictures never sold readily, in fact they could scarcely be sold at all, even by means of ingeniously conceived raffles and other schemes to force the market. He lived by means of engravings made by himself which could be sold at moderate prices to people of the middle classes, who were delighted to see their aristocratic betters held up to ridicule. Narrow-mindedness was his birthright. I am not questioning the man's genius, as that is beyond dispute, but I am pic- turing the condition of art in England when the flame began to burn. In youth a silversmith's apprentice, he early found opportunity to study the works of Van Dyck, and with this training, in the absence of all art schools and life classes, he attained to considerable skill as a technician. Note that he is not a painter-genius, but one of literary bent, like almost all Englishmen.
His "Marriage a la Mode" and "The Rake's Progress," "The Harlot's Progress," and similar serial story pictures, grow coarser as the years passed, .until even his own public refused to consider them seriously, while the aristocrats waxed frosty toward him. In no case do we find subtlety in his conceptions. Everything is brutally direct. In these days, we relegate these things to the newspapers.
Principal Works: Marriage a la Mode, The Rake's Progress, The Harlot's Progress (London).
Jean Baptist Chardin
(_i6gg-iyjg. French.)
If Watteau's art may be called classical-genre, that of Chardin is the first real domestic-genre we have met with in all this history, even more so than the Dutch. In the French picture galleries, amid the endless array of learned classics, we find our hearts touched by Char- din's subjects revealing the joys and sorrows of actual home life, as well as by the tender painting and real artistic merit. Most school- men thought that it was beneath their dignity to paint an humble interior with a mother and her girls at household duties. But Chardin did his work so well that the world has stood by him. Many still-life pictures occupied him. This is in itself a matter to invite condemna-
Sir Joshua Reynolds — Penelope Boothby.
CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 89
tion, because mere texture painting is counted too easy for serious consideration. But his still life is wonderfully "large" and artistic in treatment, every picture a work of art because so dignified. It stands almost at the head of this sort of thing in any country or time.
Francois Boucher
(lyoj-ryyo. French.)
Madame de Pompadour was the patron and supporter of Boucher. This was in the midst of that period of pretty art, less dignified than that of the old king, Louis XIV. The art was trifling, when not actu- ally immoral. Boucher's panels, made largely as designs for tape- stries, are never in the least improper, though composed of groups of nude nymphs and cherubs sporting amid flowers and piles of musical instruments. Are they not to be seen in countless numbers repro- duced in the magazines called "Lady's Book" and in the art journals made for young women's use, to provide copies for painted china? The designs are simply pretty. As paintings, they are dry, heartless, indifferently drawn and altogether the true exponent of the levity and shallowness of the rococo period. His portraits are jaunty and have carefully painted clothes.
Charles Andre Van Loo, called " Carle "
{tyo^-ijdj. French.)
A Student in Italy, Van Loo decorated churches in the manner of the later Italians, but better. No romance was at one time complete without the description of an interior hung with a portrait by this artist, because his style kept sympathetic accord with scenes of tender experiences. He was not unlike Watteau in treatment of subject and costumes.
Claude Joseph Vernet, called "Joseph"
{11 1 2- IT 8g. French.)
We must not overlook a man who appeared at this time painting numberless marines, dry, correct and carefully studied. His greatest
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work was the production of his son, who in turn gave us his grandson Horace Vernet, the painter of Napoleon's battles. None of them was a great artist, however.
Principal Works: Harbors of France (Louvre); Landscapes and Marine Views (Munich).
Allan Ramsay
(i7ij-i'/84. English.)
Allan Ramsay, Sr., the poet father of this artist, gave his son an excellent classical education and sent him to Italy where, strange as it may seem to relate of one of these Englishmen, he learned to draw. The king, George III., made him court painter, which post he held until the time of the founding of the Royal Academy, when Reynolds in a measure supplanted him. His portraits are well made, though he had no special genius, being a rather dry literalist.
Richard Wilson
{17/3-1782. English.)
The first English landscape painter worthy of mention was Wilson, who also, at times, painted portraits. Had he remained in Italy where an art education and reputation were secured, the story had been pleasanter to relate. England had little use for a classical land- scape painter, leaving him to poverty. In the newly organized Royal Academy the little office of librarian, with a salary, was created for him, which sufficed for his needs. Reynolds had an unaccountable antipathy to this excellent man, doing him injury.
Sir Joshua Reynolds
{I72j-I7g2. English. )
It may be called the "School of Reynolds," the long line of artists which largely owes to him its style and its existence. Reynolds was a clergyman's son and a suave and polished gentleman. At eighteen years of age, an artist of indifferent ability, Hudson, taught him some things, but he learned most of his art in Italy. The primitiveness of
SiK Joshua Reynolds — The Strawberry Girl.
CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 91
his ideas is well revealed by the fact that on going to Italy, at twenty- seven years of age, he thought little of the art schools and paid no attention to training himself in drawing and technique. Instead he became enamored of the rich coloring of Titian and other Venetians, going about the picture galleries with a note book, rather than a palette, attempting to discover by this means the secrets of these great masters. A limited amount of copying enabled him to catch some of the technique. In after life, when his pictures arrayed themselves against him as reproachful evidences of lost opportunities, he regretted this mistake and had the honesty to say so. With genius of a very high order, he labored to secure magnificent color, but with a touch so purposeless and amateurish that it detracts very largely from his rank among the world's artists.
Heretofore, except for Ramsay, all the portraits of English notables had been painted by foreigners; he changed the current of events, claiming a place for himself and his following in the line of royal patronage.
Like a physician, he manipulated his sitters' dispositions while attending to their cases, thus gaining immense sums for his services. All histories of the man bristle with statements of the prices paid for portraits at various dates in his career, as they would in these days give the quotations of prices in stocks. He had the wit to take advan- tage of the popular fad for classical learning, and to dress his sitters in the garb of the heroes and heroines of mythology. Had he painted people as they actually were, the portraits would have been more interesting, though probably less beautiful. Like nearly every one of the men of his school, he thought a certain amount of grand historical painting essential to one of his rank. Of course he executed this grand art very badly, having neither the essential talent nor the art education to accomplish it. With Dr. Johnson, he founded a literary circle which included Pope, Goldsmith, Garrick and many others of fame. Though very deaf, he delighted in the society of cultivated people and his table was well supplied with costly plate and with aristocratic guests.
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The Royal Academy was founded in 1768, Reynolds being elected its first president and knighted by the king, George III. It was to the students that he delivered his noted "Discourses," writings which have been translated into several languages, but which while full of good common sense reveal all too plainly the semi-amateurishness of their author.
"The Snake in the Grass" shows Reynolds as he was, a painter of refined flesh tones, of pretty fancies, of superb color, but bad in drawing. Yet, the work is so fascinating that criticism becomes misplaced. No nation has raised up a portrait painter who did better justice to its peculiar tastes or, on the whole, was kindlier to its beauties and nobles. Early American art was influenced largely by the School of Reynolds. West, Copley, Stuart, Trumbull, Peale and Allston fol- lowed in its wake.
Principal Works: The Banished Lord, Holy Family, The Three Graces, Infant Samuel, Snake in the Grass, Heads of Angels, Age of Innocence (London).
Jean Baptiste Greuze
{iy2j-i8o6. French.)
While the English were learning the worth of their own talents, France continued to produce artists of merit. Greuze was not won- derful, except as a painter of delightful flesh tones. A better draughts- man, of course, than most of the English, he could render a young woman's figure in light drapery with more charm than almost any artist of that country. His innocent girl faces command universal- admiration and justly, as in the well-known "Cruche Casse" (Louvre), one of the most popular pictures in the gallery. His attempts at tragic-genre are absurd, though the flesh-painting is good.
Principal Works: Broken Pitcher, Paternal Curse, Repentant Son, Marriage Contract (Louvre).
Thomas Gainsborough
{iT2'j-i'j88. English. ) Gainsborough was as frank and simple in his manner of brushing paint as Reynolds was uncertain and tentative. The older man
Sir Joshua Reynolds — Miss Bowles.
CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 93
searched for forced color, the younger contented himself with tender grays lightly touched in. Reynolds accused him of making only sketches, but the painters nowadays approve of that simplicity of treatment. Gainsborough was more "clever" in portraiture than the president of the Academy, though possibly lacking in a measure his peculiar charm. His landscapes with figures are entirely poetical. The widely-know "Blue-boy" picture has created more talk than it called for. Gainsborough took up a challe'nge of Reynolds to the effect that no picture could be painted in which blue prevailed. This would be true from Reynolds' point of view, as he loved warm, rich tones. So Gainsborough painted the boy all in blue against a blue background, though there was not much pure blue pigment in it, tones of blue-gray rather. It was not a new trick, though possibly new to these provincials.
Gainsborough's schooling was secured from nature. He was clever in all things, barely escaping the life of a musician because he turned, as a boy, to landscape, figure and portrait painting. Among other clever things in his life was the winning of a dowered wife.
Principal Works: Market Cart, Rustic Children, Watering Place, Musidora, Portrait of Mrs. Siddons, Portrait of Ralph Schomberg (London).
Raphael Mengs
{i^38-iyyg. German, or more correctly Bohemian.)
Mengs' father was a miniature painter who considered genius only another name for hard work. The effort of many critics to prove Mengs a genius shows only that genius is nothing less than genius and that he had none. Long years of toil in Italy made him a learned draughtsman, a wonderfully correct technician and a faultless imitator of the masters he studied. For many years he was court painter in Spain, and as such had charge of the desperate efforts which the king put forth to revive the decayed art of that country, establishing tapes- try works and art industries. In this connection it was his good for- tune to give a young artist his opportunity. This young man took the opportunity and ran away with it, much to the distress of the dry
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schoolman. The young man's name was Goya, and there was none to follow his brilliant example. Mengs worked much in Dresden, which accounts for the association of his name, with Germany, that country which had no artists of its own to brag of for two centuries, including this period. Mengs painted sweetly-sentimental, classically-draped portraits, or women decked with pretty costumes and strings of pearls. This was in the time of Louis XV., the frivolous French king. His costumes show the fashions of the times, as Paris, even then, set the fashions.
Principal Works: Two Oil Paintings, Portrait of Himself, Portrait of His Father, Cupid Sharpening the Arrow (Dresden) ; Frescoes (Ceilings of the Pope's Apartments) ; Descent from the Cross, Nativity, Adoration of the Shepherds, Noli Me Tangere.
Jean Honore Fragonard
{iyj2-t8o6. French.)
Fragonard was the pupil of Boucher but had many times more talent than his master. Watteau's painting seems more his inspira- tion, many pictures resembling the latter's. A superb brushman and colorist, his pictures have inspired many recent men. Especially his study heads are capital examples of dashing technique and fine color. Unfortunately he was painting for a corrupt public, that of the deca- dence which caused the French revolution, and existed during the abandoned Directory. Many of his pictures are kept in the store- rooms of public galleries because too erotic for the present genera- tion.
David was sixteen years younger than Fragonard, and became the power which did away with this pandering to the popular fancy, con- fining art to strict orderliness, though thereby enslaving it.
George Romney
(y 1^4.-1802. English. )
Lightly-draped or semi-nude nymphs made Romney's art a con- trast to that of his fellows. The notable picture of Lady Hamilton
Geobge Romney — Mhs. M. Robinson.
CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 95
belongs to ttiis class. Of course he painted portraits. Indeed, the nymphs were generally only commencements. He rarely brought one of them to completion. A better painter of heads than Reynolds, he was an acknowledged rival and the president seriously disliked him. Probably this accounts for the fact that he never became a Royal Academician.
Principal Works: Portrait of Lady Hamilton (London) ; Milton Dictating to His Daughter, Infant Shakespeare Surrounded by the Passions, and many portraits.
John Singleton Copley
(/7j>7-7i5'/jr. American born; lived hi England.)
We have no claim to this man, beyond the fact that he was born in Boston (while the country was still a colony of Great Britain) and inherited a large amount of Yankee cleverness. When a very young man he went to England and exhibited in the Royal Academy the pic- ture "Boy and Tame Squirrel." Incited to picture-making when very young, he found no better instruction than to make copies of such "copies" of old masters as came in his way.
Probably he could draw as well as the majority of the English pamt- ers and his color is pleasing. Like the others, he felt obliged to do his historicals, as the well-known "Death of Lord Chatham," as passable a work as the times called for. His family portraits reveal the ideas picked up during a brief stay in Italy and the study of Reynolds. They are very much like Reynolds' and some Dutch pictures in com- position, though he painted people in their own clothes.
Principal Works: Death of Lord Chatham, Death of Major Pierson, Siege of Gibraltar, Charles I. Signing Strafford's Death Warrant, The Commons Arrested by Charles I., Offer of the Crown to Lady Jane Grey (London) ; Portraits (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
Benjamin West
(1738-1820. American born; lived in England.)
West was clever, else as a boy he could not have painted his baby sister's portrait with the clippings from the cat's tail. His success
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with George III. proved his ability to do business. Not satisfied with portrait painting, he lost himself in the desire to imitate Michael Angelo and his grand art. Several hundred enormous canvases, with names like "Death on the Pale Horse," now at Philadelphia, occupied much of his professional life. Without refinement of imagination, ignorant of drawing, technique and good color, he did these pretty- badly.
His boyhood was passed in Philadelphia at a period when unspoiled Indians were often to be seen in the neighborhood. This circumstance is responsible for the one celebrated picture which came from his hand, "The Death of General Wolf." Instead of draping his soldiers, hunters and Indians in classical costume (as the custom was) in order to give them proper dignity, he painted that which was really dear to him — the picturesque costumes which these characters would actually wear. Enormous success naturally followed, despite the opposition of Reynolds, who had predicted a failure. After a brief visit to Italy (while still quite young) his fate took him to England en route homeward. Business ability did the rest. He never went home. When Reynolds, first president of the Royal Academy, died, West became his suc- cessor.
Principal Works: Death of General Wolfe (Marquis of Westminster) ; Raising of Lazarus (City of Hartford) ; Christ Healing the Sick, Death on the Pale Horse (Philadelphia) ; Christ Rejected.
Charles Wilson Peale
{i74i-iS2g. American.)
A Marylander, very clever, studied in England with West, returned to paint portraits in Philadelphia, where he established the Peale museum of natural history and helped found the Philadelphia Art Academy. His son, Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), also studied with West and returned to follow in the footsteps of his father, adding to his portrait painting some historical works.
Principal Works of Charles Peale: Fourteen Portraits of Washington. Principal Works of Rembrandt Peale: Portraits of celebrated men.
Thomas Gainsborough — Mrs. Isabella Kinloch. (Reproduced by permission of the A. M. Byus Estate.)
CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 97 James Barry
{1^4.1-1806. English, born in Cork.)
Enthusiasm for art outbalanced his judgment. Education in Italy made him an unusually good draughtsman but also created the impres- sion that he was destined to be a wonderful painter of the "grand art." His historical pictures show limitless ingenuity, but are not great in conception. Elected professor of painting in the Academy, he lost his position and died neglected because of a bad temper.
Principal Works: Elysium, Six Paintings Illustrating the Civilization of Man (Presented to the Society of Arts at the Adelphi) ; Adam and Eve, Venus Rising from the Sea.
Marie Angelica Kauffman
(i'/4i-i8o^. Swiss, possibly of German extraction.)
This woman, of considerable talent and polished manners, won her position by virtue of feminine charm. Her portrait-painting father gave her the advantages of serious study in Italy. After extended travel, she found herself in England and a warm friend of Reynolds, whose style of painting she followed, though with better drawing and less charm. Wonderful to relate, she was made a Royal Academician. Portraits in classical costumes brought her much business. At forty years of age, she married Zucchi, a Venetian painter.
Germany had no painters during all this period.
Principal Works: Vestal Virgin, Sibyl (Dresden) ; Religion Attended by the Virtues (London); Portrait of Herself (Uffizi, Florence) ; Leonardo da Vinci Dying in the Arms of Francis I.
Willen Jacob Herreyns (1743-1827) was director of the Belgian Academy and came under the influence of David, when the latter was exiled to Brussels. But he did not suffer as much from the man who, accustomed to rule, became a self-appointed dictator of the art of his retreat, as men like J. B. Duvivier (1762-1837), J. F. Ducq (1762-1829), J. Paelinck (1781-1839), J. D. Odevaere (1778-1830), and a long line of others who travestied the colorless statue-painting of the Frenchman.
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David's color was at least agreeable if lifeless and his drawing was sufificiently magnificent to excuse artificiality. But these unfortunates became flavorless artificers.
Jacques Louis David
{1748-184^. French.)
Art is like religion. Some feel that religion is unworthily consid- ered unless worship surrounds itself with the monumental solemnities of the cathedral and its formalities. Others would give the yearning heart full liberty to meet its God in any surroundings, provided the feelings be allowed spontaneous action. Art worship is like that; some demand formal proprieties, some abhor them, denying that art is art unless spontaneous. This I can assert — that all art which has been enslaved by formalities has touched the sentiments less than that left to free expression. But fine technique does no injury to art unless the painter be its slave.
David sold his soul to an ideal which once had vitality, but in his day had become a corpse. Strange event, that one who really had an artistic soul and revealed it always when taken off his guard, should wage war to defend his theories which were already dead!
Already well trained in his classics, at twenty-seven years old he secured the prix de Rome., according to him several years of study in that art center. His measureless enthusiasm over the antiques of Greece and Rome led to a declaration of faith — that this was the only worthy art. This art tenet he maintained in his days of power in the art world. The art world was France. The two earliest presidents of the English Academy, Reynolds and West, were in full power when David was opening his art government, but the English school was not the controlling influence.
Returning from Rome, David became court painter to Louis XVL and the leading influence in French art. Nevertheless he was elected later on to the "Convention" and cast his vote with the others for the execution of that king, but was in turn cast into prison for a time at the fall of Robespierre. Under the "Directorate," and later under
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CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 99
Napoleon, David arranged the public festivals, designed classical furnishings and became art dictator, ruling the academy despotically in favor of classical purity. This meant that all figures must be mere revampings of antique statues, and pictures must be painted without any vulgar display of color. His figures, often nude, were no more than tinted statues — natural action had no place in his compositions, love of nature gave way to love of dry art laws. His "Rape of the Sabines" leaves the artist and the art lover alike cold. Nothing in it truly resembles the action of men and women enacting a tragedy. The immense "Coronation of Napoleon" shows us actual costumes but stilted postures and pale color. Portraits warmed his heart more, being nearly natural, exquisitely drawn and lovable as art work. Looseness of treatment and, to a certain extent, easy morals had crept into art and it was well that some one should play the dictator to restore dignity; but David went too far. Young men, who felt for art rather than for artificialities, revolted. The war was acrimonious, but the romanticists gained their point — Gericault and Delacroix demanded recognition for another sort of art and gained it. Thus again was waged the war that we learned about in the days of the Caracci and Caravaggio.
At the restoration of the monarchy, David was exiled for the part he took during the revolution, and spent the remainder of his days in Brussels. Reynolds was born 1723; Turner, 1775; Goya, 1748; Horace Vernet, 1789; Ingres, 1781; Delacroix, 1899; Gilbert Stuart, 1756; Mengs, 1728; the Louvre was opened 1803.
Principal Works: Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, Napoleon crossing the Alps (Versailles) ; The Oath of the Horatii, Belisarius Asking Alms, The Sabine Women, Leonidas at Thermopylae (Louvre) ; Assassination of Marat.
Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes
(.1748 1828. Spanish.)
The brilliant geniuses are so few! We gladly salute them, accept- ing their elements of character, their shortcomings, their vagaries and contradictions. It is incorrect to talk of the "vagaries" of genius as
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if that alone differentiated these men from others. Endowed with the ability to imagine new things, and conscious of their isolation, geniuses naturally become a law unto themselves, respecting but little the codes made by commonplace mortals. Yet, the majority of geniuses have made "good citizens," conservative in their lives and conduct, and well regulated in their works. But Goya was all that anyone could suggest by the term "eccentric genius. " In no sense was he law-abiding either in his art work or his conduct.
In the north, we are liable to associate drunkenness with wildness; but this is not a Spanish vice. Wild escapades, reckless love-making, balcony climbing, duels and broils, nocturnal raidings of all sorts amuse Spanish youth whose animal spirits mount too high.
Goya was notorious as a nocturnal roisterer whom nothing could suppress except his antagonist's dagger. This reached him one night, and to escape the consequences of an investigation he fled to Italy, remaining there until time healed his cuts — and his character somewhat, though it is said that he fled back to Spain in consequence of a nunnery escapade.
Like most brilliant men, the days of irregular study in Spain had introduced him to his profession and this removal to Italy added to his training, worth more with all its lack of seriousness than careful drill to most men.
Goya was thirty years old when he returned to Spain, fairly well equipped for his professional work. For a long time the conditions in his native country had been deplorably bad in art, as in many other respects. The king, Charles III., had called Raphael Mengs, the Bohemian-German artist, to labor with the nearly defunct art spirit, organizing some government institutions, manufacturing art enthusi- asm, tapestries and such trifles. As Mengs was a mild sort of classi- cal hen, this ugly duckling, insisting upon puddle sailing, gave him trouble. But geniuses were too scarce to be needlessly thrown out. Goya at once undertook a commission for church decoration. It was the first real work that ever tied him down to regular labor, but he went at it as at all else, recklessly breaking the accepted laws.
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Think of the sensation he must have created by spreading a series of pictures of popular life upon the walls of a church. A certain flavor of religious significance saved the situation, but the treatment was entirely naturalistic and very Spanish. If Mengs was shocked, the people were delighted and the young man found himself imme- diately within the threshold of the temple of fame, never to be thrust out of the edifice. Throughout a pretty long life he was kept busy, never asking what sort of pictures his patrons desired, but making them desire his startling individualities. As a portrait painter, his success was never disturbed by the fact that he always did the unex- pected.
Having been made court painter by Charles IV., he, as Spaniards do, rushed into intrigue and all sorts of pleasures, painting meanwhile all the pretty women and picturesque men. He favored the French revolutionists with the same violent ardor which he put into his paint- ings, but still the court endured his presence.
This man of extraordinary courage and reckless impudence had one rare virtue — the physical strength and skill to make all men fear and respect his prowess. On a journey, in company with noble ladies, his inventiveness and courage saved their lives, but the severe weather brought total deafness to the artist.
Matters were not going well at court; Joseph Bonaparte had been placed in charge and departed in due course of time, following the fate of his imperial brother. The new Spanish king, Ferdinand VII., disliked the artist, so the latter obtained permission to visit Paris, whence he retired to Bordeaux, where a colony of Spaniards made a home for him until his death at eighty-two years of age (1828). With such a fiery temperament, deafness did not improve his temper. Many great men sat to him for portraits and endured placidly his sharp scoldings and even his attacks. There is a story about his drawing a sword on the Duke of Wellington, his Grace's nimbleness alone saving him. Everything was forgiven Goya.
It has been said that his painting suggests Velasquez, Rembrandt, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Watteau, Fragonard, and others, but be
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assured that most of all it suggested the impetuous, ill-balanced Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes.
The English writer, Hamerton, who, like most of his countrymen, obstinately misunderstands the Latin race, has written an article (Portfolio, Vol. X., 1879) to tell us that Goya was overestimated. He strains a point to prove him a disreputable character with the lowest instincts, forgetting or blindly overlooking the fact that in an art journal the matter in hand is art, not morals. Yet, I cannot discover evidence of greater wickedness in his character than in that of every violent man. He certainly depicted some horrible scenes, but these are but the proof that he was first of all an artist who understood how to carry his art to its utmost conclusions. There is no evidence whatsoever that he was a man of degraded tastes. In the midst of the wildest and most repulsive presentations, the essential foil of sweet- ness and beauty is always introduced. The article says that he had a "demoniacal element in his character." This is exactly what he did not have, though he could paint demons as never man did before, and the list of demon painters is a pretty long one.
The impulsive Delacroix admired him extremely; the well-regu- lated classicist Ingres thought him an abomination. Our own artist, Whistler, found in his extraordinary originality something to worship and from him learned one of his best lessons. I much prefer Whis- tler's estimate. Goya was above all else an artist. His work will not endure the criticism of the extreme classical schoolmen, but the fascination of it is irresistible. No classicist could give us those dainty Spanish women, could catch the peculiar coquetry of their pose and bearing, as this man did. The things that made Velasquez great were found again in Goya, though far less well regulated. Yet he could not go as far as his great forerunner. In my memorandum book written up in the Louvre, I find the following entries: "Full- length seated portrait of F. Guillemardet, French ambassador to Spain. Frankly brushed head; luminous shades; no dark in face; hair is fussy and does not sit into picture; coat is nearly as bad and tri- color sash the same; hard gray background; color and touch in hands
CONFLICT BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM 103
and head superb." "Two-thirds length of woman seated, gray silk dress, lace mits to elbow; an inharmonious picture; flesh color fine; black hair is not well into the picture; edge of face cut out like card- board, but head finely constructed; details of things only hinted at, but the work of a man of so much genius that the impression is power- ful." "A little one, full length, black gown and mantilla, white slip- pers showing; face as big as a quarter, fine color; figure does not stand well; cold landscape; seems to be a pot-boiler, but remarkable all the same." No criticism could be more severe than this, but still the work drew me again and again to look at it.
Goya was the product of the influence of Velasquez and had that same peculiarity of talent already noted in the Spanish painters of an earlier period. Probably it would be just to say that he was an out- come of Ribera. His following is to be found in France, and in our own country to-day in Whistler and many others. For instructors he had at first an obscure artist in Saragossa, and later, in Rome, he became the pupil of the Spanish painter, Bayeu, whose daughter he married when both artists had returned to their native country. His parents were small landowners, only a degree above peasants, and his education was not extensive, though he was too bright to betray any lack of it. Goya was an excellent etcher.
Important Works: Equestrian Portraits of Charles IV. and of Queen Maria Luisa, Portrait of Charles IV., Portrait of Queen Maria Luisa, Charles IV. and his Family, Episode in French Invasion of 1808, Scenes of May 3, 1808 (Madrid); Eques- trian Portrait of Ferdinand VII., Portrait of Prince of the Peace (Godoy), Mad- house, BuU-fight, Gallant Dressed, Gallant Nude (Academia San Fernando); Crucifixion (Museo de Fomento) ; St. Francis Preaching (Madrid) ; Treason of Judas (Toledo); Sts. Justina and Rufina (Seville); St. Francis de Borja's Farewell to His Family, Portraits (2) (Valencia) ; Portraits (2) (Louvre )
It was the writing of Winckelman which caused A. J. Carstens
(1754-1798, German) to pursue almost the same policy as David. He was a north German and studied in the Academy of Copenhagen, where his classical style was so formed that he went to Italy to live, and from there shaped largely the indifferent art of Germany in a manner more colorless than David's.
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Gilbert Stuart
This son of Rhode Island was much the most talented painter of the early period. His master, West, was far beneath him in talent and Stuart wisely stuck to the art which he understood— portrait painting.
His brilliant color is as fresh, in most instances, to-day as when laid on the canvas. Suave in touch, able to catch admirably the char- acter of his subject and content to arrest his effort when enough had been rendered (one of the sure marks of genius), he has few equals in any country and none in Anglo-American portrait painting. Romney and Gainsborough were his contemporaries and not as good painters. Several portraits of Washington are celebrated. In the Boston Athe. naeum people studied his heads (without backgrounds) of Washington and Martha, his wife, for a great many years, with a sincere admira- tion, and artists do not tire of these beautiful works. He painted five full-length portraits of Washington, and portraits of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Story, Ames, Astor, and many others. Celebrated, are portraits of Judge Steven Jones and F. S. Richards of Boston.
Important IVorks: Portrait of Washington, Martha Washington, Washington at Dorchester Heights, Gen. Henry Knox, Josiah Quincy (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); Portraits at Harvard University, Historical Society of New York; Penn- sylvania Academy, Philadelphia ; Corcoran Gallery, Washington ; and National Gal- lery, London.
Madame Le Brun
(^i'j$yi843. French.)
Marie Louise Elizabeth Vigee married (at twenty-one years of age) M. Le Brun, a picture dealer and painter, with whom she was not happy. Louis XVI. was king and the talented young artist painted Marie Antoinette's portrait. With more ability as a painter than Angelica Kauffman, her charm was as great. Her portrait of herself and young daughter attracts attention in the Louvre equal to that
Mme. Le Bhun — Mme. Le Brun and Daughter.
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bestowed upon the works of Greuze, whose pictures, and those of Rubens, formed her style.
Principal Works: Portrait of Hersstf (Uffizi, Rome) ; Portrait of Herself and Daughter (Louvre).
Jotiathan Trumbull
{ijj6-i843. American.^
Trumbull was an historical painter of a sensible sort. Like West, he painted what really came within his powers. That is. West did it once and Trumbull all the time. He was West's pupil, after he had been an officer (colonel) in the army of Washington and had made sketches of all the distinguished characters connected with that important body of men. As a painter of scenes which he knew about, and which demanded no lofty imagination about saints and angels which he had never seen, he was a sincere worker.
He was a Connecticut man. Yale University has many pictures which he gave away because no one would buy them.
Principal Works: Decorations in the Capitol, Washington; Portrait of Ham- ilton (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); Portraits (Yale College Art Gallery.)
William Blake
('757- 'S2S. English.)
Blake was a half-crazy poet who wrote some extraordinary verses. He lived by means of illustrating books with engravings of his own execution and from his original designs. These appealed to the English love of the supernatural and mysterious, as did his poetry. Lacking all training in art, he painted shockingly bad pictures, but with a rich imagination he treated subjects which suggest what might have been, had the schooling sufficed.
Peter Paul Prudhon (1758-1823, French) was, like David, but with a character of his own, an excellent picture maker. Having no such personality as the dictator, he still made his mark, painting delightfully cool flesh, not natural, but more vivid than David's. Critics who draw fine distinctions love him more.
Principal Works: Justice and Vengeance Pursuing Crime (Louvre); Cruci- fixion, Assumption of the Virgin.
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Alexander Nasmyth (1758- 1840, English, born in Scotland) painted pleasing landscapes, conventional to a degree, gray and fresh in tone, very much sought after at the present time. His son, Patrick Nasmyth (1786-183 1, born in Edinburgh), and five sisters followed in his style, and the family has left much landscape art.
Georges Michel (1763-1843, French) stood alone as a student of nature when the landscape painting of France was hedged about with classical arrangement and color made to order. He won no glory with this sincerity until the new sentiment for honest study was awakened by the political and artistic revolution of 1830. It was at the salon of 1831 that the artists who afterward formed the "Barbizon School" gained recognition. After his death, Michel's art commanded great prices, for the reason just mentioned. It was the exhibition of several Englishmen's pictures which changed the current, especially Con- stable's.
Ingres was the art dictator of France while these things were developing themselves, though he was never so absolutely in control as David.
George Morland
(^176,^-1804. English.)
Morland is always associated with pigs, or else it is "drunken Morland" that we think of. He loved jolly company, provided no one present was a gentleman. There were many tavern signs in Eng- land, each representing the value of the drinks he took within. Most of these are pig pictures, the animals painted with delicate skins and truly aristocratic attributes. He was a talented fellow, who loved art almost as much as he did ale. Simple, honest, somewhat arranged landscapes have refined tones in grass, trees and sky, a figure or two of accessory character (one wearing a red coat probably), occupied him when sober enough to paint something besides pigs. But he was the Sir Joshua Reynolds of pigs' complexions.
Principal Works: Interior of Stable, Quarry with Peasants (National Gal- lery); The Reckoning (South Kensington Museum); Dogs Fighting, Old English Sportsman (Historical Society, New York.)
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Joseph Koch (1768-1830, German) holds up the light in that land which had been sitting in darkness since Holbein went to England. It was the "grand art" rather than real landscapes doing background duty to classical and Biblical figures. At this time Reynolds was closing his career; David commencing his.
Karl Rottmann (1798-1850, German) may as well be mentioned here, because he is like Koch, and he it was who painted the indiffer- ent, classical landscapes on the interior walls of the Pinakothek at Munich.
Joseph Fiirich (1800-1876, German) was not original enough to demand a separate place. He belongs with these.
Sir Thomas Lawrence
{r';6g-iSso. English.')
Lawrence was a wonder-child, an infantile reciter of classical poetry, a pet of Garrick, who sought to make an actor of him. People ordered crayon portraits of him; when at ten years of age he secured excellent likenesses. Always clever, his entire lack of schooling in books and art does not seem to have betrayed him. Idealizations of women's faces, and swan-like increase in the length of their necks, made him the most popular of the painters at the end of the Reynolds school. When he tried (as nearly all of these men did) to produce the "grand art," his lack of training made the work painfully ineffective, A great money getter and a great spendthrift, he lived a bachelor and died poor.
Principal Works: Portrait of the Emperor Francis, Series of portraits known as "The Waterloo Gallery," headed by the Duke of Wellington (Windsor Castle).
Raeburn (1756-1823), Hoppner (1759 1810), Opie (1761-1807), Harlow (1787-1819) were average portrait and figure painters, whom it is as well to keep in this connection.
Francois Gerard (1770-1837, French) coming out of the studio of David, clung to his traditions, but leaned a trifle to an art more human and romantic. For Napoleon, he painted immense battle pictures.
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Principal Works of Francois Gkrard: Cupid and Psyche, Entry of Henry IV. into Paris (Louvre).
Principal Works of Opie: Portrait of William Siddons (London) ; The Assas- sination of Rizzio.
Principal Works of Raeburn: Portrait of a Lady (London) ; Portrait of Sir Walter Scott, Portrait of Dugald Stewart, Portrait of Francis Jeffrey.
Antoine Jean Gros, " Baron Gros " (1771-1835, French), was the most amiable of men, and, though counted with Ingres, the best of David's pupils and followers, his largeness of soul made him the friend of rising men of the opposition, thus creating a healthier senti- ment in the Academy. Given by Napoleon a sort of commission in the army (Inspector of Reviews) the Emperor used him in many ways; sent him to Italy to select the artistic spoils of war. Swarms of young artists were his pupils during his nineteen years of service as professor at the Academy, and every one of them wept when the good man committed suicide, stung to death by criticism.
Principal Works: Battle of Eylau, Napoleon Visiting the Plague Hospital at Joppa, General Fournier (Louvre).
Martinus Verstappen (1773-1840, Belgian) pinned his faith to Italian art united to that of the Netherlands. He made rather grandiose landscape, in color and forms invented more than studied from nature. We may unite with him Francois de Marneffe (1793- 1877, Belgian) without specially breaking our sequence.
Alexander Orlovsky (1777-1832), Alexei Venezianov (1779-1845), Orest Kiprensky (1783-1836), Karl Brulov (1799-1852), Russian, are only interesting as suggestive of the appearance of painters in the country that is half Asiatic, half European. The first painted battle pieces; the second sincerely followed nature in reproducing the road- way with its common figures and people in the fields; the third is a portrait painter; the fourth, historical and rather sensational; none of them better than pretty good painters.
CHAPTER VII
THE REVOLT IN ENGLAND
Two of the world's great landscape painters arrive in England in this chapter, and a celebrated genre painter. The French show their lead, and America is beginning to do her part. Some other nations are still weaklings.
Joseph William Mallord Turner
{'773-1^5 '■ English.) Reynolds was three years dead when Turner arrived at manhood. West had recently been made president of the Academy and continued for more than a score of years to hold that office. Gainsborough had painted excellent landscapes, but they were always neatly conven- tional arrangements. He could not be said to represent any move- ment toward the creation of a new style. The element of agreeableness so conspicuous in Gainsborough does not seem to have entered into the calculations of Turner. It is difficult to trace the influences which made him. Study from nature is so different in its results as used by different men, who look at the forms of nature as simple material with which one man makes one thing and another something else, all depending upon temperament and force. It is easy to find Dutch pic- tures which might have formed Turner's early style, though no Dutch- man was his master nor do his landscapes look like the Hollanders' pictures. He studied nature very closely and then rendered his observations in his own manner.
The picture "Frosty Morning" is nature exactly, but different from nature painted by others equally sincere. Turner and Constable (one year his junior) both went to nature and produced something new. The two men were very alike at first, and the "Frosty Morn- ing" is the result of the same keen observation of atmospheric effects
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that marks Constable's work. The latter kept at the direct study of nature longer than did Turner and went much farther with his render- ing of subtle effects of light on the surface of the earth. Turner turned aside from the exact rendering of nature to invent methods, combinations of color and, above all, superb poetic effects made for the sake of fine lines and majestic renderings. Ruskin to the contrary notwithstanding, I will assert that Turner was never (after his first earnest literalism) so truthful a painter as Constable. Had the latter had his literary promoter, we might have quite different ideas about him. Turner did, however, develop into the most poetic landscape painter which the world has ever seen. For this wonderful achieve- ment Ruskin gave him scant credit. Ruskin never understood Turner — could not, as he was a literalist who could write magnificent phrases but had almost no conception of the great truths of art. Ruskin was an observer of the phenomena of nature such as rarely has put his ideas in books, but this is not saying that he could comprehend a picture. This barber's son (Turner) had almost no instruction in painting and was a shocking example of the lack of technical training. His poetic temperament saved him. I recall one picture, painted in his mature years, which looks as if a bad boy had stolen palette and brushes to make mischief and by some accident secured a marvelous poetic effect. Many a painter essaying to do this has sadly come to disgrace. Genius is to be found but once or twice in a century.
Turner's search for effects of light and color finally took him into seeming chaotic confusions. However, there is no reason in the idea that he was crazy. Abstractions these were, and such abstractions are the glory of art, when the maker of them really arrives at a result. Abandoning his literalism, this artist placed a spot of red somewhere and a spot or mass of playing yellows to sustain it, thus leading up to scales of browns; all these being warm tones. Against this he set a certain array of cool tones, culminating in blue and accented with a white spot. His lines were similarly artificial and always wonderfully manipulated. His further development of this principle was not at all understood by the people or artists of Turner's time. The wild
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pictures were simply carried a little too far. "Mt. St. Michael, Corn- wall" is an example of his arranged compositions not carried very far; the "Blue Lights and Rockets" is later and more purely poetic. The "Fighting Temeraire" represents a more literal imaginative effect.
Turner's representations of actual scenes were never true render- ings of the places whose names they bore. He did much artistic prevarication, which disgusted his matter-of-fact patrons. The "Heidelberg" is magnificently poetic, the scene traceable but by no means reliable as a truthful portrait of the place.
Turner had no "three periods." That is "a literary man's" classi- fication. The large-minded artist sees only the normal gliding from youthful literalism to over-ripe idealization.
His "Rain, Steam and Speed" is one of the wonderful pic- tures of the world. A railway train rushes straight at the foreground over a stone bridge. The spectator looks down directly over the parapet on the water of a navigable river, where a slow-going barge makes contrast with the speed of the moving train, and on the other side a plowman helps on the contrast. Over this wide-spreading landscape rises a lofty sky filled with one of the best representations of swirling rain that I have ever seen. This is a correct expression of carefully-studied nature, and the strange element in the painting is that the handling is utterly unlike anything previously attempted. It is in the manner which one of the reckless young artists of the present time would use to show how impertinent he dared to be. The loco- motive is not very correctly drawn, and the effort at representing the effect of glowing fire in the machine is another impertinence, because hardly to be accounted for. Yet, it conveys wonderfully the im- pression of an on-rushing fiery monster. Just in front of the loco- motive there is a streak of something which we guess may be a scared rabbit, trying to escape across the bridge before the monster catches him. In the painting it is a mere streak, quite undefined. The engravers sought to aid the work by translating it into a veritable rab- bit—to please the purchasers, no doubt. All the lower part of the picture is in brownish tones and the other half in silver, an artificial
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color scheme borrowed from the Dutch pictures then in fashion. Turner used this a great deal in middle life.
The "Fighting T^meraire" shows us a large expanse of sky and reaching sea (not far from shore) behind which the sun is setting in horizontal lines of cloud breaking higher up into the fleckings of cirrus clouds. Thus we have a series of long, quiet and dignified horizontal lines, with much clear sunset color — quiet departing day — and in the midst of this display of fading glory, the grand old warship goes down to her death. Her glory is departing amid fireworks, but she has lost her power of independent movement and depends upon a little black, smoking imp of a steam tug to drag her to the grave. Oh, the pathos of it all! Grand old hulk, the embodiment of dignity and force, led by the nose, dragged off to oblivion by the little black devil of modern invention, which suggests anything but knightly stateliness. This picture was painted in the latter half of his life at about the time when many of his extravagant experiments were com- menced. "The Snow Storm at Sea" is purely poetic; really not quite to be accounted for. But it does give marvelously the impression of a ship engulfed in almost opaque swirlings of snow, and this snow mingling with the raging waters. In this the little helpless steamer struggles to maintain itself like a tired fox in the loneliness of the blinding, all-enveloping snowstorms of the wild country.
Principal Works: Calais Pier, Death of Nelson, Dido and .iEneas, Decline of Carthage, Venice Bridge of Sighs, Snow Storm ; Rain, Steam and Speed, The Fighting Tem6raire, Sunrise Through the Mist, and many others (National Gallery, London). Slave Ship (Boston) ; Moonlight View on the Thames, ^aLneas with the Sibyl, Jason in Search of the Golden Fleece, Tenth Plague of Egfypt, Search of Apuleia, Lake Avernus, Garden of Boccaccio, Landing of Agrippina.
John Constable
{iT/6-iSjj. English.)
Ruskin becomes very tiresome when he writes about men like Constable. Did he know the magnificent influence that this painter exerted and that it was he who caused the wonderful coterie of
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painters called the Barbizon School to develop itself? I suspect that he was (Englishman-like) quite unappreciative of it. There are so many strange evidences of ignorance in Ruskin's writings, that he stands to-day entirely discredited as an art critic, though loved as a writer about nature.
Constable had the ability to see the real light of day coquetting with the local colors of trees and grass, and the courage to paint this boldly, although many tried to convince him that pictures should be formulated affairs, made according to certain rules. His technique must have appeared brutal to those artists accustomed to smoothed vaporings. So many artists in this day are much more summary than he in touch that we wonder at the complaints. That sort of handling is admired now. He went to France and there learned more about using paint than Turner ever knew, and he carried his close observa- tion of nature's true aspects farther than Turner ever dreamed of.
In 1824, when French landscapes were dry and classical, a number of Englishmen, among them Constable, Bonnington, Fielding and Prout, held an exhibition of pictures in Paris, astonishing the suscep- tible Frenchmen. Only Constable and Bonnington, however, left a lasting impression. The effect of it is frankly recognized by French artists, who are astonished that England failed to understand so great a genius. But England does understand now. At last Constable has his own glory.
He was the son of a miller on the Staur. and, excepting during his pretty long stay in France, he lived the life of one entirely devoted to art, in his country retreat. For many years his pictures went regularly to the Salon of Paris, and some of them are now in the Louvre.
Turner was a poet; Constable a literalist with a strong artistic tem- perament. If Turner could not handle paint prettily, his extraor- dinary ability to arrange lines and secure atmosphere imbue his work with sentiment; these excuse such trifling accidents as bad tech- nique.
Constable was a technician such as the previous landscapists had
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never known, as he added to his native ability the training of study in France. He took his originality over there with him and added training to it. His ability to see correctly, to make gray the grass which most people thought should always be green, to show the glim- mer of frost or dew on the surface of things, such matters as these executed with consummate simplicity of touch, called down upon him the thunderings of the critics and the condemnation of the steady and ox-like conventional painters. The supercilious criticism cast at him in those days furnishes amusing reading, providing one can keep his temper. Hundreds of painters to-day use the technique which Con- stable invented.
Important Works: Cornfield, Valley Farm, Barnes Common (National Gal- lery) ; Weymouth Bay, Cottage, Rainbow, Landscape (Louvre) ; Salisbury Cathedral, Dedham Mill, Hampstead Heath, Boat Building, Water Meadows (S. Kensingfton Museum.)
Washington AUston
(i72g-iS4S- American.)
The strangest feature in human nature is a tendency of talented men to follow a line of painting not in accord with their evident birth- right. Men born with the right to paint beautiful textures (still life) insist upon undertaking lofty themes which only a peculiar genius can accomplish. Raphael's birthright was the ability to produce the "grand art"; to invent it even. The same was true of Angelo. Titian and his followers had .for birthright the ability to make magni- ficent color schemes; to invent them. His contemporary, Benjamin West, was a genre painter whose ambition ran away with his judg- ment. So Allston, in turn, was bitten by the ambition to rival the great masters, while he possessed a talent for portrait painting and decided ability as a still-life painter. As we compare him with West, it is only just to say that his talent was possibly greater than that of the American-born president of the Royal Academy. Certain pas- sages in his works suggest dimly that he was not entirely self-deceived. There were several lofty flights.
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When he invited his neighbors to inspect one of his historical efforts, every one admired some brass jars in the corner, oblivious of the mighty portent of the heroic subject. So Allston paintedout the offending jars, destroying the only thing in the huge work which had been painted with real sincerity and from native talent. "I charge thee, fling away ambition," said the man whom King Henry had turned out of office. Artists as well as politicians sometimes need this advice. "Belshazzar's Feast," for many years in the Athenaeum at Boston and unfinished, reveals ability to compose and draw fairly well, but the characterization is of the sort on sale in the book and print-seller's shop.
Allston was a South Carolinian and revealed in his character the best elements of southern enthusiasm and tenacious courage. He was serious in purpose and expected to do the impossible by virtue of determination. A stay in Italy and later in England was an injury, because it turned his head while not giving him sufficient education. West was doing in England what almost all the English-born artists of the seventeenth century did, painting an art much over his head. So Allston did it too. He makes an admirable martyr figure there in Boston, the friend of the writers of the early part of the last century — solemn, dignified and of polished manners. But these qualities did not make great art for him. In the insane asylum at Worcester hangs his "Angel Liberating St. Peter," the principal figure decid- edly good because it is almost a direct copy of a figure by Raphael. Probably this is his best work. As a portrait painter he did well, though he was less successful than Copley and Stuart.
Ddvid, in France, died just as he arrived at mature years and was followed by the influence of Ingres and Delaroche, but these men had no effect on any early American painter. The Barbizon School com- menced as his career was closing, but he did not know anything about it.
Principal Works: Urial in the Sun, Jacob's Dream, Prophet Jeremiah, Belshazzar's Feast, St. Peter Liberated by the Angel ; Spalatro or the Bloody Hand, Beatrice, Rosalie.
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Jean Dominique Augustin Ingres
{i^8o-i86y. French.)
As David ruled the art of France, so did his successor, Ingres. Of David's three hundred pupils, he was, of those who cherished the master's precepts, by far the finest man. It is not remarkable that large numbers of these followers were decorated, and many of them became members of the Institute, because nothing more was necessary than to learn to draw elegantly and be classical. Any man doing these things had to be decorated to keep up the fashion of classicism; the style could not survive without honors and decorations. Ingres' was a tenderer soul than David's, and it is safe to assert that he was the greatest artist among the classicists whom France has raised.
David contended that art was most perfect in the Greek statues. Ingres based his art on that of Raphael, which was one shade more human. He is the link which binds all the recent classicists (Cabanel, Bouguereau and others of that type) to the School of Raphael, as represented by Guido Reni, Carlo Dolci and a long line of Italian painters of lesser talent. The sole aim of Ingres and his school (which was not altogether true of Raphael), was beauty of line and that sort of loftiness in the ideality of pose which lifted the art so high that Millet of Barbizon could never walk on such stilts. In justice to Ingres it must be allowed that his practice was more human than his principles, as he could not help making the people he painted some- what human, though many of his followers avoided this idiosyncrasy effectively. So much humanity crept into the figures of this great man that even the extreme naturalists love his work sincerely. It is very easy to feel that the picture painted at seventy-six years of age and called "La Source," a nude girlish woman who stands holding a classical jar from which water flows, might represent the source from which should flow a magnificent race of perfect human beings. The young girl is so real, so beautiful, so tender in flesh and so entirely earthly in her heavenliness that she could well win the love of man- kind and become the ideal mother of nations. The young "Oedipus Inquiring of the Sphinx" is not alone classical; he is a real man, one
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who might have anxious moments and hope to receive wisdom from the lips of the experienced but ever silent symbol of the enigmatic.
Ingres' religious picture, "The Virgin with the Host," reveals plainly the study and imitation of Raphael which was the artist's pride. It is still prettier than Raphael's Madonnas, less plainly a copy from an antique than the same character of picture by Carlo Dolci, but it has no sincere originality. We may well glorify Raphael the inventor of all this, but what are we to say of these men whose greatest ambition was to weakly resemble the master. The human element appears in his "Apotheosis of Homer." Compare the portrait heads in the fore- ground with similar figures in the great cartoons by Kaulbach, idealities which almost could not exist. The contempt which these classicists felt for genre painting shows plainly in the Sistine Chapel picture, where stately ecclesiastics gather about the papal throne. They are real up to a certain point only. It is no wonder that Ingres, who thus exalted his personages, should look upon the picture by Gericault, "The Raft of the Medusa," as altogether revolutionary because the latter created real men and women wet and bedraggled in the agony of shipwreck. "The Raft" was "only genre, " and unworthy the name of "art."
David was so set in his Greek-god worship that he also looked upon Ingres as a revolutionist because he dared to be just a trifle romantic. What a picture of the tyranny of schoolmen!
Ingres' real nature asserted itself when he painted portraits and could give play to his sincere, though suppressed, love of true nature. It is not much to boast of, as we see in the "Portrait of Madame Riviere" that the whole figure, drapery and all, is like marble and the hair reminds one more than all else of the bronze imitations of hair which the ancients placed on their statues. It never by any chance grew on the scalp.
The war between Ingres and Delacroix (both pupils of David) is the opening of the campaign which has lasted until to-day, and will ever be waged. Delacroix gave his love of violent action and sump- tuous color full play. Such things were sinful in the eyes of the
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classicists who never allowed themselves to break loose. Ingres looked upon refulgent color as a vulgarity and much action was a sign of decadence. Only idealities of a specific sort could keep art alive and elevated. How strange this appears to us, who believe that true art is the expression of a bursting heart and is born of love — its father enthusiasm!
Ingres strove hard, against odds, to obtain the Prix de Rome. Not a brilliant man, his winning of it was the payment for incessant toil. In the course of time he became the successor of the popular battle painter, Horace Vernet, as Rector of the French Academy at Rome. Probably the most coveted honor accorded him was member- ship in the Institute, but he was loaded with honors in every land. It is interesting to note that the Museum of the Louvre was a new institution in his younger days.
Principal Works: Apotheosis of Homer, Christ Delivering the Keys to Peter, Stratonice, The Spring, Portraits of M. Riviere and Mme. Riviere (Louvre); La Source, Oedipus and the Sphinx, The Virgin with the Host, Napoleon on His Throne.
Thomas Sully
(lySj-f American.)
Sully is so identified with American art that he belongs to us more than Copley and almost more than West. Born in England, his par- ents brought him to this country at nine years of age, making their home in South Carolina, where he was educated and began to paint portraits. Having had no opportunities for art education, he proved himself a talented man and commanded tender col-or and excellent likeness. Very many faces of the celebrities of the southern and middle states have come down to us because of his art, and they look well as he painted them. His influence was very considerable on the art of the day. In historical painting he undertook only that which he could manage readily, as the "Washington Crossing the Delaware."
Peter von Cornelius (1783-1867, German) is a name very familiar to students of the Dusseldorf and Munich schools. A classicist with
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ideas about form and the belief that color injured the purity of form, he executed endless mural decorations in Munich and Berlin, which we are forced to respect because of their evident sincerity but cannot admire because of our memor}' of the Italian classicists whom he imi- tated.
Principal Works: Mural Painting in "Hall'of the Gods" and "Hall of the Heroes,'' (Munich Museum of Statuary) ; History of Painting (Pinakothek, Munich) ; Frescoes' (Ludwig-Kirche, Munich); Frescoes (Royal Mausoleum and Campo Santo, Berlin).
Eckersberg (1783-1853, Danish) studied with David in Paris, then went to Rome. His style was classical, but from this his native taste saved him later and the nature before his eyes touched his heart. All the early Danish painters felt, like the writers, the mysticism of the north and painted in subject and treatment vaporings of landscapes and interiors that were low-toned and mysterious in treatment and subject. There was national sentiment in the work.
Sir David Wilkie
(iy8s-i84r. English, borti in Scotland.)
The old-fashioned methods of common-school teaching could not quicken Wilkie's mentality, but love of drawing did. In his teens he was already an artist. At the art school, and later at the Royal Acad- emy, he did well enough (even gaining a prize for some classical drawing), but his chief delight was sketching figures in the county fairs. Everyone knows his pictures, "The Blind Fiddler," "Blind Man's Buff" and "The Rabbit on the Wall," so frequently reproduced. When he began, this kind of art was new to the British public and the old academical painters, steeped in superstition about "the grand art," predicted disaster for the young innovator. Yet nothing could have been more to the taste of the English picture buyers, then as now, lovers of anecdotic art.
When he visited the Louvre, Dutch art impressed him greatly, but the magnificent works of Veronese did not. As long as he continued to follow the manner of the Dutch genre painters the public paid him
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enormous sums for his work, but a lengthy journey in Italy and Spain led to the adoption of the "grand style" and he made no impression with this manner foreign to his nature and temperament. Few of the English painters escaped from this microbe of High Art. He died on shipboard, near Malta.
At the death of Lawrence, he was made court painter. Ingres was four years his senior, Delacroix fourteen years his junior. He lived eleven years after Benjamin West's death.
Principal Works: Jonn Knox, Blind Fiddler, Village Festival (London); Reading o£ the Will (Munich) ; Pittessie Fair, Village Politician, Rent Day, Blind- man's Buff, Distraining for Rent, Parish Beadle, Chelsea Pensioners, Preaching of John Knox, Wellington the Night Before Waterloo, Benvenuto 'Cellini and the Pope.
Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846, English) studied at the Royal Academy. England loves literature more than art and Haydon declared that art was unworthy unless dedicated to religious subjects, a doctrine which he put in practice pretty strictly. A painting of Napoleon musing at St. Helena was an exception. Getting into an acrimonious controversy with the academicians, they refused him membership, so he started an academy of his own, which had the Landseers for pupils. Many people admire his lectures on painting more than his art work, probably justly. Financial troubles drove him to suicide.
Principal Works: Murder of Dentatus, Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, Rais- ing of Lazarus, Alfred the Great and the First English Jury.
William Etty (1787-1849, English) made many historical paint- ings, but is best known as a painter of nude women. These were fairly well drawn and so pleasingly painted that his reputation was sufficient to insure an excellent income.
Principal Works: Youth on the Prow and Pleasure at the Helm, Female Bathers (London); Joan of Arc, Ulysses and the Sirens, The Combat, Benaiah, Judith and Holofernes (Most of these in the Royal Scottish Academy).
Johan C. C. Dahl (1788-1857, Norwegian) was original and realistic as a landscape painter. His career was largely in Germany. This is
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not Hans Dahl now living, whose humorous pastoral genre pictures are frequently reproduced.
Wilhelm Schadow (1789-1862, German) built up the Diisseldorf Academy. With great talent, but no originality, he painted religious pictures inspired by real piety.
Frederick Overbeck (1789-1869) and Philip Veit (1793-1877), Ger- man, were two friends with ideals. They looked upon French art of their period (the Rococo) as very wicked and that of Raphael as elegant rather than religious. It was that of Fra Angelico which showed forth the true religious temperament, they thought, so they imitated him. But even those early men indulged in a coloring too pagan and lacked purity of purpose. Misguided fanatics! The cold- ness of all that effort to be holy was painful.
Principal Works of Overbeck: Holy Gospels, Boy Christ among the Doctors ; Christ Entering Jerusalem (I^iibeck), Triumph of Religion (Frankfort).
Emile Jean Horace Vernet (1789-1863, French) is the third artist of this name and the grandson of Joseph, the marine painter Vernet was brought up amid camps and never in all his life heard the tap of a drum without emotion and enthusiasm. Large canvases representing the battles of Napoleon in a literal manner, the most painstaking attention given to every detail of equipment and uniform, made him popular with the military and the people. It cannot be said that he was a great painter. His execution was hasty and by no means with fine technique or noble color. For a considerable period (1827-39) he was the director of the French Academy at Rome, a position given him by favor rather than because of any special fitness.
From 1836 to 1842 he painted battle pictures for the gallery of Versailles. It was after 1836 that most of his Arab subjects were handled.
Principal Works: The Defense of Clichy, Massacre of the Mamelukes, The Meeting of Michael Angelo and Raphael (Louvre); Dog of the Regiment, Horse with the Trumpet.
CHAPTER VIII
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL
While the Hudson River School andportraitpainting were develop- ing in America, the most important landscape movement of recent times came into existence, and neither knew of the other. England continued in her own independent way with one famous painter, and was also ignorant of the art movements in other countries. The isolation of the artist is more complete at this period than before or since.
The Hudson River School
There seems to be no connection between the group of portrait painters which came out of the colonial period and another distinct group of landscapists, commonly known as the Hudson River School. The list of them begins with Thomas Cole, who lived on the banks of the Hudson at Catskill, and studied many of his pictures in the neighboring mountains. It happened that all the land- scape painters penetrated every nook and corner of the picturesque country on either bank of the Hudson, going as far as Lake George and Lake Champlain (the Adirondacks being little known at the time), finally turning aside to the White Mountains. It was specifi- cally a landscape school, strangely avoiding marines at the beginning. Later, the coast of Maine attracted these painters and marines appeared from time to time. Some of them finally visited the moun- tains of Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and hungering for scenery, explored the Rocky Mountains.
One of these old landscape painters, a man of taient but unedu- cated in art, who looked with undisguised disgust at the work of cer- tain young men just returned from long continued and severe training in European art schools, and with apprehension at the prospect of a
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revolution, said to me, "This new style is not American art, we are the true American artists." He was mistaken; his art was not Amer- ican, but something based on the study of engravings of Italian pic- tures, or of English pictures which were imitations of Italian art, and upon brief training in Diisseldorf. I make this statement because of a considerable acquaintance with these men acquired in their studios, where they talked freely of the principles which influenced them and passed them down for m}' benefit.
Most of them managed, sooner or later, to do "the European tour," and boast of it on returning. Some of them boasted that they were untainted with European ideas, never having crossed the sea. Others spent many months in Italy, where they gazed and wondered but did no serious study. Claude and Salvator Rosa were flung at my young and susceptible intelligence, but rarely a word about French art. The French were looked upon as an artificial and frivolous people, unworthy of consideration. Only dead men counted in the scale of their puritanical estimation.
As they had but undeveloped appreciation of art for the sake of tone, line and atmospheric effect, and as the public knew absolutely nothing about these elements, they sought scenery and painted por- traits of places in the wonderfully picturesque Hudson River environs, selling these easily because they were portraits of famous views. Thus they fondly imagined that theirs was really an American art. They revolted against the pictures brought from Munich and Parisian studios because the subjects were not American. Also, they feared the influence of this well-trained art upon their own, so evidently less learned. They were sincere and honest in their work and lovable in their lives, but the art they produced is evanescent.
Yet they were fortunately men of talent, and they made admirable pictures, weak often, never of massive dignity, rarely well drawn, revealing utter ignorance of the use of color for the sake of color com- binations and avoiding figures totally, except as slight indications of the presence of humanity in their landscapes. It was word painting, not art for the sake of being artistic. Those who had much talent
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painted charming pictures, but they painted, naturally enough, exactly what the public was willing to purchase, and that was scenery. Americans knew little about art in those days.
Asher Brown Durand
{1779-1 ^77- American.)
Durand was for many years president of the National Academy, a man beloved and respected (as he deserved to be) by artists and public.
His birthplace was in New Jersey, and most of his life was spent in the vicinity of New York City. A peculiar Yankee cleverness served well in making him an engraver that no country could be ashamed of, and the picture reproductions found ready sale. By the year 1835 portrait and landscape painting occupied all his attention.
A large number of his studies from nature have passed under my eye — excellent transcripts of the scenes, literal, vigorously touched and revealing his true sentiment. When these were manufactured into pictures, it seemed to him necessary to create an artificiality, some- thing less sincere, more an imitation of the compositions of the Euro- pean painters as he saw them in engravings. Engravings from old masters were the early American artist's picture gallery.
Durand is known as a pupil of Cole, said to be the father of the school, who doubtless taught him much, but his handling and color differ from the former's. He was more of a literalist, never painting allegory or attempting pictorial literature, as all his aim was to pre- sent the poetry of nature. He never crossed the Atlantic.
Principal Works .- In the Woods, Thanatopsis, Lake George, Franconia Notch (New York.)
Louis Andre Theodore Gericault (1791-1824, French) died at thirty-three years of age, but this short life was sufficient to make him the hero of a revolution. A fellow pupil of Delacroix in the studio of a follower of David, his originality forced upon him other senti- ment than the coldly calculated formalisms of the classicists. His only large picture is "The Raft of the Medusa," a company of ship-
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 125
wrecked people on a raft in mid-ocean. To work it up he took a studio near a hospital, and studied the dead and dying. The carpen- ter of the ship (who was saved) built for him an accurate reproduction of the raft. In all ways, he attempted to reproduce the vitality of the scene. Many times since has this been done, but at that moment it was looked upon as sacrilege to so degrade art, so vulgarize it. He did not live to fight the battle of vitality against mannerism, but left his vigorous impression upon a host of fellow students, among them Delacroix.
Principal Works: The Raft of the Medusa, Officer of the Imperial Guard Charging, Wounded Cuirassier Retreating, The Derby at Epsom, A Carbineer, The Plaster Kiln, Turkish Horse in a Stable, Spanish Horse in a Stable, Five Horses in a Stable (Louvre) ; Wreck of the Medusa (Historical Society, New York) ; Cavalry Charge (Providence); Village Smithy.
Chester Hardiiig
{iyg3-iS66. American. )
During the winter following the close of the war of secession I was working in the studio of A. J. Conant, then the leading portrait painter of St. Louis. One day a man of advanced years entered who was quickly discovered to be an artist of ability. With a massive form and considerable height, he took possession of our hearts and almost of our bodies. Healthy, cheerful, full of fun and wisdom, few such men had then crossed my path. He was painting a portrait of General Sherman, then the war hero of the period. It was an admirable work, the flesh clear and pulpy, the coat, epaulettes and accessories tender in tone and treatment. One matter troubled him — some mountains which appeared in the distance to suggest the battle of Lookout Mountain, would not shape themselves into better form than a couple of gigantic ash heaps. Like many another, he had picked up his art from an itinerant portrait painter, and could not manage landscape. Conant put the mountains fairly right and the picture was finished.
A replica of his portrait of Daniel Webster and the likeness of his granddaughter followed, and this was the last season of his successful
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career. He had made some fine portraits of Daniel Boone, Chief Justice Marshall and a long line of aristocrats, south and north.
Brought up on a farm, this Yankee was trader, tavern-keeper, chair-maker and peddler, anything that wits could command; his giant form and never-failing good humor being his passport then as during all his life. So alert was his intellect, that he at once became an itinerant "portraitist" and executed twenty-five-dollar likenesses with- out any lapses until he returned to his home with more hard cash than the farmers had ever seen. Yet his honest uncle urged him "to drop this swindling business, buy a farm and become respectable."
This was early art in America. But all aspiring geniuses are not as brilliant, masterful and amiable giants as that delightful old man.
He classes with that long line of English portrait painters of the seventeenth century, who had little instruction in art but fine feeling and much talent. None of them knew his profession technically, but most of them painted pleasing portraits.
Thomas Doughty (1793-1856, American) is said to be the first landscape painter of America. Brought up to trade in leather, he abandoned business for art and made a success, not alone in his own country but also in England where landscape painting was at the time in high favor.
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793- 1865, English) was another literary man who studied art in the Academy and became its president. Writing well and painting pleasingly his influence was extensive and for the good. Eastlake did much to change the taste of the average British and American observer.
Principal Works: Christ Lamenting over Jerusalem, Escape of an Italian Family, Haidee, Christ Blessing Little Children (London); Christ Raising the Daughter of Jairus, Brutus Exhorting the Romans to Avenge the Death of Lucretia,
Charles Robert Leslie
{iyg4-iS^g. English.') Leslie spent ten years, when a boy, in Philadelphia, which certainly did not make an American of him. Being a very good painter and
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 127
producing illustrations of Shakespearean and other dramas — usually transcripts of actual stage arrangements — the English people (always lovers of realism) held him in high esteem.
Principal Works: Uncle Toby and the Widow (London); Illustrations for Washington Irving's "Sketch Book," Sir Roger de Coverley Going to Church, May Day in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, Merry Wives of Windsor, Dinner at Page's House, Sancho Panza, Coronation of the Queen.
Julius S. von Carolsfeld (1794-1872, German) belongs to the group of Biblical painters. He was director at Munich and at Dresden.
Ary Scheffer (1795-1858, Dutch, of German extraction) painted in a romantic classical style which excites the admiration of many people. His works have been much engraved and the prints are found in numberless homes. With long lines and simple, dignified poses, the subjects are impressive. There is very little rich color to recom- mend them, but a certain dryness causes the black-and-white reproduc- tions to please more than the paintings. At Dortrecht, his birthplace, there is a statue erected to his memory and in the museum an entire wall is devoted to his pictures.
Scheffer was educated in France, the influence of Ingres predomi- nating, and he received the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1825. Tender episodes of Biblical history, scenes from Faust and Wilhelm Meister were his favorite subjects, and to these he gave a melancholy cast.
Principal Works: Eberhard, the Weeper (Louvre) ; Faust in the Study, Margaret at the Spinning Wheel (Baroness Rothschild) ; Margaret at Church, St. Augustine and St. Monica (National Gallery, London) ; Ruth and Naomi, Tempta- tion of Christ, Dante and Beatrice, Christus Consolator, Christus Remunerator, The GroaningfS, Shades of Francesco da Rimini and Her Lover Appearing to Dante and VirgiL
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot
(i^g6-i8fs- French.) One of the most original and poetic of painters, Corot induced his prosperous shop-keeping father to allow him four hundred dollars per
128 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
year that he might make an artist of himself. The allowance was increased to six hundred dollars after many years had elapsed. But this always amiable genius made all the artists love him (even the classi- cists who doubted the tendencies of his art), so that "Pere Corot" is enshrined in many hearts. His father's shop faced on the quay over the Seine, opposite the Louvre, and the youth left the counter to paint the scene in front of the domicile. Thus he found his motives in ordinary places, painting not things but artistic effects. Departing from the absolute statement of facts, his purpose was to reveal the essence of landscape, its luminosity, its poetic suggestion and its silvery color. The oldest of the Barbizon group, he taught the world (always slow to learn) that nature was an essence. Looking into some of his pictures one is astonished to observe how much color his gray tones conceal. He loved to paint the dawn, when nature was cool and scarcely defined. After many years the world discovered his worth, and gave him a reward in money and glory. Lovable Corot, the greatest land- scapist of France, perhaps of the world! Having been to Italy when young, the ideas of classical composition formulated by Claude, and the little classical figures introduced, caught his fancy. Like Claude's are his compositions, but not his colors. At the age of forty he sold his first picture. Never living in Barbizon (the village near Fontaine- bleau where Rousseau and Mil'fet resided), he is called a Barbizonite for convenience of listing him with certain revolutionary painters. Ingres, Delacroix, Decamps and Meisonnier were his contemporaries; Rousseau and Millet his warm friends; Gerome, Cabanel and Bou- guereau, younger contemporaries. He lived a long and happy life, though denied the highest official honors and without a wife to console him.
Important Works.- Danse des Nymphs, Roman Forum, Coliseum (Luxem- bourg); JVIartyrdom of St. Sebastian, Evening Star (Baltimore); Morning, Evening, Sunset, Darite and Virgil (Boston Museum); Orpheus (Chicago); Nymphs Dancing (New York); Gust of Wind, Morning at Ville d'Arvay.
Paul Delaroche (1797-1856, French) maybe called a classicist or a genre painter, being both these. His painting was somewhat dry,
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 129
but he rendered scenes from history as if the life were real, which classed him as a genre painter. With the others, he did a very important part in breaking down the barriers which confined free expression. His "Princes in the Tower," the story of the two who were smothered by Richard HI., is a literal rendering, not classically treated, but with the grouping carefully arranged.
From the studio of Delaroche went out a small army of young painters, among them Jean Francois Millet, Gerome and Israels.
Principal Works: Moses in the Bulrushes (Baron Rothschild); Hemicycle (School of Fine Arts, Paris) ; Joas Rescued by Josabeth, Young Princes in the Tower, Cromwell Looking upon Charles I. in His Coffin, Execution of Lady Jane Grey, Death of Queen Elizabeth, Virgin Led Home by St. John after the Crucifixion, Christ in Gethsemane, Series on the Events of Good Friday.
Eugene Verboeckhoven (1798-1881, Belgian) is something of a toy artist. His immense popularity arose from the love of small-minded people for pretty things. His artificial, silken sheep had none of the dignity which the most foolish lamb can claim and his landscapes were too bad in their mechanics to deserve all this space, except for the benefit of his misguided admirers.
De Caisne (1799-1887), De Beifve (1809-1882), Gallait (1810-1887) and Slingeneyer (1823- ) — all Belgian — may as well be disposed of here as their huge pictures of ladies and gentlemen and battles were artistic inversely to their size. But they had admirers nevertheless.
Eugbne Delacroix
{i'jjg-1863. French.)
The story of the contest between Caravaggio and the Caracci repeats itself with Gericault and Delaroche against the schoolman Ingres. Both these men were pupils of GueVin (1783-1855) of the school of David, learning to draw in the classical manner, but refusing to stick to the mannerisms. His picture, "Dante and Vergil Ferried over the Acheron," was imbued with human despair. In the "IVIas- sacre of Chios" there is the horror of realism. This was the art of
130 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Rubens in a measure, but with the strong individuality of this young painter. The lifeless color of David and the ivory tints of Ingres gave way to color which Rubens might have envied. Deeper toned and far more serious than Rubens, though not so brilliant in technique, such work carried the younger painters off their feet. The classicists were shocked and alarmed, predicting the ruin of art. But out of this movement, which required so much courage and the fighting of a life- time, grew some of the best art of France and of the whole world. Perhaps the "Entry of the Crusaders into Jerusalem" is his best exam- ple of fine color and dignified design. With the ending of Napoleon's rule, the art dictatorship was less absolute; the supporters of this new sentiment demanded its recognition, and Delacroix finally was admitted to the Institute and given public work to execute. Like a true artist, he painted every sort of subject which stirred his enthusi- asm—animals, bits of the sea, fighting and horrors and tender senti- ment, but always with force and the display of genius. To the end of his life he was blamed and embarrassed by harsh criticism.
Principal Works: Dante and Vergil, Massacre of Scio, Twenty-eighth of July_ 1830, Algerian Women, Portrait of Himself, Jewish Wedding in Morocco, Shipwreck of Don Juan (Louvre) ; Entry of Crusaders into Constantinople (Versailles) ; Death of Sardanapalus, Death of Marino Faliero, Faust and Mephistopheles (London); Two Foscari (Chantilly) ; The Lion Hunt (Philadelphia) ; The Combat (Baltimore.)
Thomas Cole
{1801-1848. American.)
Thomas Cole was ten years younger than his contemporary, Durand, but the elder was the follower because not a landscape painter until later in life.
It happened that Cole's American parents were in England when he was born, but his boyhood was spent in Ohio and there he met the proverbial itinerant portrait painter, who did for him what that name- less individual has accomplished for so many of our self-taught early artists — awakened his enthusiasm and showed him how to use colors. In early manhood he actually sustained the family (left without sup-
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 131
port) by means of picture making. When he was twenty-seven years old and the National Academy was founded (1828) he was the leader in landscape painting; no great thing, at that period, but historically interesting.
His knowledge of art was too limited for a proper appreciation of Turner and Constable (then conspicuous), so that his visit to England was fruitless, but in Italy he felt strongly the influence of Claude, Sal- vator and Poussin, whose works became his art models.
In the "Dream of Arcadia," one of the best works from his hand, the literary-poetry is conspicuous, though painter-poetry scarcely exists. By this statement I mean that there is little appreciation of the beauty of Line combinations or color combinations for their own sake, while of scenic story there is abundance. From a garden-like valley the eye roams over mountain heights to distant peaks in a way that nature never invented. The trees have ranged themselves by literary methods, as one might say, and across the plain under atmos- phere and sky of Claude's invention the ideal beings come and go as if Pope's Essay on Man had come to earth. On the right, the moun- tain opens in a kindly way to allow one of the old Dutch masters to introduce a well-composed waterfall, such as we can see in any of the engravings. It reminds me of one of my monitors (of this school) who said, "put plenty of things in your picture; people like them well furnished." Cole's Arcadian nymphs wore clothes and bedecked themselves with garlands, minute figures, the wreathes of flowers as small as possible but carefully detailed. Strange to say, all this nig- gling did not utterly spoil the work, as he had genuine talent. But it revealed the naive uneducatedness, unavoidable in a self-made artist. The lesson of simplicity and largeness of effect. Cole never learned. Indeed, it is a hard lesson acquired by much scolding from an exacting master. Each one uses the instruction in his own way, but it differentiates the educated painter, whatever may be his nation- ality, school or epoch.
In many of Cole's ideal landscapes it is easy to discover some scene in the Catskill country which served him as model, and some of
132 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
the studies from nature show as much of painter talent as the finished work indicates of the literary leanings of the public which purchased them.
He understood well his patrons when he composed the widely- known allegorical series called "The Voyage of Life," or the larger compositions known as the "Course of Empire." Forty years ago engravings of these stilted lessons hung in every respectable home in New England. Cole was himself an engraver and a very good one.
Principal Works: Dream of Arcadia, Departure, Return, Garden of Eden, Expulsion from Paradise (Lenox Library, New York); Moonlight, Conway Peak, Catskill Creek, Summer Sunset (Historical Society, New York).
Burkel (1802-1869) was a German painter who promised nothing as an academy student, but, working in the. style of the old Dutchmen, painted all the life of the people much to the popular joy.
Koekkoek (1802-1862, Dutch) painted nature as he saw it, pretty and much like popular china work. Collectors buy his pictures, as they do anything old and pretty.
Ludwig Richter (1803- 1884, German) was landscape professor at Dresden, but is widely loved for his joyous presentations of domestic life in numberless published drawings.
Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-1873, English) is so widely known that the numberless engravings and reproductions of his paintings talk more about him than my words can. As a lover of animals all the world has learned to love him. His painting was exactly suited to the taste of Englishmen, both because he loved dogs, because of the human expression given to them, and because of the too smooth finish from his brush. The English love a story-picture, and his satisfied their longing. As painter, he was not a wonderful technician from the artist's point of view. A clever draughtsman at five years of age, he remained just that to the end. His father was a noted engraver and reproduced much of his son's work.
Principal Works: The Hunted Stag, Dignity and Impudence, Alexander and Diogenes, Low Life and High Life (National Gallery, London) ; The Old Shepherd's
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Chief Mourner, Seeking Sanctuary, The Monarch of the Glen, Children of the Mist, Night, Morning, Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time, Return from Hunting.
Joseph W. Allen (1803-1852, English) began as a scene painter and secured a reputation for landscape (pastoral subjects) which he somewhat injured by indulging in extravagant experiments with fanciful effects of color and light, not altogether praiseworthy.
Gustav Wappers (1803-1874, Belgian) was a good deal of a man and an artist who could use color superbly. He knew how to paint a picture that would rouse all Belgium to enthusiasm because of its intense action and the story of liberty which it portrayed. This was the semi-allegorical story of the revolution of 1830 which set Belgium free.
Bonaventura Genelli (1803-1868, German) may be mentioned as the last classicist of the old order in Germany who is worthy of men- tion. His mural paintings are in Leipzig, but many etchings are scat- tered about.
Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869, English, born in Scotland), having been influenced by the art of Delacroix, introduced a new feeling at the Edinburgh Art Academy, where he was professor, correcting the continuous inclination toward classicism. He made figure subjects, a sort of elevated genre painting.
Preller (1804-1878, German) went to Italy and bethought him to do the Odyssey in paint. So he retired to Norway, made studies and spent his life in the work. It was an advance toward good landscape painting. The series is now at Weimar.
Ferdinand Theodore Hildebrandt (1804-1874, German) painted the poetic aspect of the Crusaders and Hussites, and Moritz von Schwind (1804-1871) delighted the people of Germany with fairy tales in paint. He seems to be the last of the Munich men in this line.
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874, German) keeps up the tradi- tional grandeur of subject with his cartoons of allegorical character.
134 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
which we all know so well. It was the art of Raphael applied in a new way. The paintings on the stairway of the museum at Berlin are sorry affairs, and the big drawings awe people with faces which never lived. "Stilted" is a mild term to describe this art.
Principal Works: Frescoes (Odeon, Munich); Frescoes (Throne Room and Palace Rooms, Munich); Frescoes (Berhn Museum).
Morgenstern (1805-1867, German) traveled in Norway and did his part to reproduce its scenery. He loved the quieter aspect of land- scape.
Carl Sohn (1805-1867, German) was a Diisseldorfer who followed the teachings of Schadow, and painted romance with academical cor- rectness and formalism. The writings of Goethe furnished him with motives, which were carried out in a style little tending to promote any serious observation of nature or any real advancement in art. The dawn had not yet come to Germany.
Jean Baptiste Kindermans (1805-1876, Belgian) departed from the line of imitative landscape painters (such as Verstappen, b. 1773, and Marneffe, b. 1793), having in the course of time felt the influence of the Barbizon School.
Anton Wiertz (1806-1865, Belgian) would scarcely be worth talk- ing about were it not that every traveler is expected to visit the Wierfz Museum, at Brussels, where the peep holes in the wall dis- close abnormal horrors. His head became inflated because his eccen- tricity caused people (who did not know) to call him a genius. He was sent to Rome and attempted to outdo Michael Angelo. An occasional work indicated that he came pretty near being a good painter.
Jean Francois Gigout (1806-1894, French) made an impression upon many young men, his pupils, because of his realism of a healthy sort, coming as it did when Ingres was ruling the Academy with
classicism.
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 135
Horatio MacCulloch (1806-1867, English, born in Glasgow) painted in a rather extravagant light and shade, but his influence upon the Scotch painters was better than his own product.
Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Pena, called Diaz (1807-1876, French, of Spanish extraction). This member of the Barbizon coterie was crippled and poor, working in a porcelain factory, where his abilities commanded promotion but his plainness of speech produced his dis- charge. To make a painter of himself was a desperate struggle, but his talent was manifest. Admiration for Delacroix and inspiration from Rousseau (five years younger, but more advanced) supplied the essential impulse. His landscapes of ripe color, figures in gor- geously-tinted draperies, or the richly-toned flesh of nudes, contrasted strangely with all that array of pale correctness which Ingres insisted upon. The artists of the Academy had reason to find fault with it, as the drawing was scarcely passable. But a painter of great sentiment, as he proved himself, can defy all laws and take many liberties. This was live art and the pale classics were too frosty to compete with it. He loved to abandon himself to the sensation of painting, and that is a kind of exuberance that always wins. It is in strange contrast to the reserved propriety of many contemporary Germans. Living at Barbizon, with Millet and Rousseau, he revelled in the autumnal for- est and peopled it with nymphs. Some honors, grudgingly bestowed, and considerable wealth came to him, but the simple Diaz remained unspoiled.
Principal Works : The Storm, Edge of the Forest, Forest of Fontainebleau (Baltimore) ; Close of Fine Day, Last Tears, The Rival, Pond with Vipers, Galatea, The Smyrniotes, The Pyrenees, Bohemians, The Fairy with the Pearls (Luxem- bourg) ; and manj' works in France and the United States.
Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885, German) turned from business in early middle life to be a painter. Visiting France, England and Belgium, copying pictures as he tarried, but attending no art school, he formed a style of his own. In the art schools at this moment nothing but classicism was tolerated. So it was well that he escaped them.
136 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Without telling any studied anecdote, he pictured peopie who were of the world about him, and landscape settings innocent of artifice. This was indeed an approach to that sincerity which at present is consid- ered essential to good art.
Carl Friederich Lessing (1808-1880, German) studied in Diissel- dorf, painting landscapes with figures. One of them is a wide, open country with wheat fields and indications of peaceful prosperity, through which an attacking party forced its way to capture the redoubt visible in the foreground where some patriots lay on the defensive. Such subjects occupied him until nature in her simplicity appealed to his artistic sense and developed an original landscapist of considerable force. German art was getting away from artificial trammels.
Hermann Kaufmann (1808-1889, German) was a weak painter but made drawings of the life about him without artificiality. Meyer- heim (1808-1879), of the same nationality, represented the pleasing side of peasant life.
Wilhelm Marstrand (1810-1873, Danish) was an exception, having a sense of humor, a fondness for light story-picture making. He trav- eled much and, possibly, caught his style from foreigners. On return- ing to Denmark the national soberness fell upon him.
Hansenclever (1810-1853, German) was satirical. Jordan (1810- 1887) was a Diisseldorf story-painter.
Constant Troyon (1810-1865, French), the most poetic domestic animal painter of the world, began in a porcelain factory, but found that this pretty painting was dwarfing his talent. Imitating the Dutch at first, he soon "found himself" and produced powerful and rich effects unlike anything that had yet been done. An originator is a rarity in any line of conduct. The massive simplicity of the two pic- tures— one of cattle looming up against the lighted sky in dignified movement, the other of sheep in landscape (Louvre) — is monumental and impressive, tender in powerful coloring, and it will forever mark this as a turning point of the art of the world. Though seemingly
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 137
real, his cattle are strangely idealized like structures erected for im- pressiveness.
It is incorrect to call Troyon an animal painter, though groups of cattle and sheep are the centering objects in his pictures. He is, properly speaking, a landscape painter, because his animals are intro- duced as a part of the atmospheric effect which is his chief study. Many painters of animals expend their energies upon portraits of the beasts, using landscapes as mere backgrounds. The true landscape painter is one who studies light and reduces everything in sight as an object bathed in light or atmosphere. So Troyon was a true land- scape painter, treating animals as he did trees, rocks and earth — objects to catch and reflect light.
Principal Works: Oxen Going to Work (Louvre) ; Going'to Market (Amiens) ; The Return from Market (Art Institute, Chicago), and many landscapes with cattle in Prance and America.
William Page (1811-1885, American) figured extensively as a por- trait painter, and even attempted nude Venus effects. His color was an effort at tonal painting, decidedly interesting at the time, as this was when the Hudson River School still flourished and there was a tendency toward realistic and timid imitations of the tints of nature as the artists thought that they saw it. "Moses and Aaron on Mount Horeb" and "The Flight into Egypt" indicate the extent of his ambi- tion to be a great historical painter.
Gurlitt (1812- ), a Diisseldorf landscapist creating fine tone, had good influence on the new generation. Flugen (1811-1860) was pathetic and amusing with genre pictures. De Keyser (1813-1887, Belgian), was an exact painter of history. Tidemand (1814-1876, Norwegian), whose studio was in Diisseldorf, reproduced the life of his native peasantry. Hiibner (1814-1879), a German genre painter of Diisseldorf, made his little mark with great success; and these things were happening while the men of the Barbizon School were coming into notice.
138 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Jules Dupre (1812-1889, French), another of the Barbizon School, went to England when a young man and placed himself beside Constable for inspiration, at the source of the new movement in landscape, bringing back to France pictures which indicated the sort of painter he was to become. Gradually a semi-artificial treat- ment of nature crept into his work — strong contrasts of light and shade and dramatic effects, but always it was in the character of the Bar- bizon effort, colorful, graphic, and at the same time nearer to nature than anything from the old formalists. He loved an unostentatious life in the country and deserved the abundant financial reward which finally came to him.
''Principal Works : Many landscapes and marines in the Luxembourg and in American collections.
Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867, French), like all innovators and men of independence of character had a long battle with narrow- minded art critics, as well as the autocrats of the salon. A success at twenty-two years, and at once commanding admiration from a circle which recognized his genius, the salon refused his work, so that for a decade and a half nothing appeared in the annual exhibitions from his hand. There is evidence of the influence of Hobbema and Con- stable in his manner of treating nature, but never was there a more sincere experimenter, searcher after manners of expression, fresh and enthusiastic inventor of new combinations, than Rousseau. While all his works are recognizable as from his hand, he had fewer mannerisms than any one else. A profound colorist, a dignified classicist at one time and almost an impressionist at others, he stands alone in his period as an inspiration to all who would paint for the love of art and nature as seen through the eyes of an enthusiast. His temperament was sensitive, which led to unfortunate enmities; but during all the years that he lived in Barbizon (studying in the forest) he and Millet were warm friends. A change in the administration of the salon brought him a prize and medal of the first class and soon his honors multiplied, and his poverty became a memory.
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THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 139
Rousseau and Dupre were twelve or fourteen years old when Con- stable made his influence felt in France. Meisonnier was one year older than the two French landscape painters.
Principal Works: Forest of Fontainebleau, Marsh in the Landes (Louvre), and many others in the Louvre and in American collections.
Charles Emile Jacque (1813-1894, French) is sometimes listed with the Barbizon group. His art is in the same sentiment as that of those remarkable men, though it is simply as a painter of fine tone and a delineator of sheep that he commands a high place in art.
Antoine Chintreuil (1814-1873) and Francois Louis Fran9ais
(1814- ), French, both pupils of Corot, may be counted of the Bar- bizon group, though little known outside of France. The former painted like his master, the latter invented a style of his own and is counted one of the tenderest painters of the period
Jean Francois Millet
(18 1 4-1 87s. French.)
Millet may be considered the most characterful man of this group. A Normandy peasant boy, who learns Latin from the village priest while drudging on the farm, has claims to attention, as most of his kind do nothing of this sort. Millet was a profound thinker and an artist who painted not alone from sincere artistic conviction, but from the depths of his heart as an observer of the life about him. Given the problem of representing the peasant in his heaviness and his thankless toil, he entered into the treatment of it as if life and work were one and the same heart throb. Millet did not paint to preach, as Holman Hunt declares his aim to be. Out of the fullness of his artistic nature he painted that which appealed to his artistic sense. Every artist of genuine fiber looks about him for material, something which will move him to make pictures. The peasants furnished him pathos, pictur- esqueness, incident and poetical suggestion. So he painted for him- self and let the world look on as it would or could. The sociological sermons are read into his works without his volition.
140 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
After studying in the provinces, he came to Paris and entered the studio of Paul Delaroche, but was not a very good pupil, chafing under restraint. Following the fashion, he painted nudes in order to find purchasers. Some of these are delightfully original, literal renderings of the truths of effects of light on skin. We wish that his sensitive- ness had not been offended by a careless remark, and had allowed him to continue. Retreating to the little village of Barbizon to escape the confusion and expense of the metropolis, he painted peasants because there was nothing else to paint and because they interested him.
In telling the story of this heart-rending drudgery, mingled with the pathos of human sentiment, he never lost sight of the ultimate purpose, which was to make us feel what he felt. He did not delight us with clever rendering of stuff textures or any elaborations of the details of landscape, that we might be interested in his dexterity. All that he had to convey was the simple, somewhat rudely-expressed idea and that had to sufifice. Brought up a classicist, he never quite abandoned the formulas of classicism, but concealed them in rudeness, directness of statement and abrupt technique.
Long years of poverty and official neglect did not sour his temper, and finally the tide turned, honors came with the attendant financial rewards.
Principal Works: The Gleaners, Death and the Woodcutters, Sheep Shearers, Man with the Hoe, Goose Girl, Potato Planters (Luxembourg) ; Wool-carder, The Sower (New York); Potato Harvest (Baltimore); Bringing Home the New-born Calf (Art Institute, Chicago); The Angelus.
Jean Charles Cazin (1814-1901, French) will be popular for a long time. What history will say of his work, it is too soon to determine. Pleasing pictures he painted in enormous numbers, sometimes too hastily. All the actual colors of nature (local colors) he reduced to a tonality, a sort of mouse-color, delightful to see. Not a strong char- acter, he was thoroughly artistic in his temperament, and he understood composition perfectly, though breaking all the conventional rules. He never failed in his effectiveness or luminosity. I think that his repu- tation is permanent. Though an outcome of the Barbizon School, he
Cazin — The Windmill.
THE ASCENDENCY OF THE BARBIZON SCHOOL 141
is not commonly classed with it. The "Hagar and Ishmael" (Louvre) was painted amid the seaside sand dunes near Boulogne-sur-mer, where his home was and where he owned a line of these desert tracts, the scene of most of his pictures.
Principal Works.- Dock Yards, Pl^ht into Egypt, Art, Ishmael, Tobias, Souvenir de F&te, Judith.
Thomas Couture (1815-1879, French) is the man of one picture, the "Decadence of the Romans." It made an enormous sensation and the artist secured numberless pupils upon whom his influence was on the whole good and enduring. The rest of his life was spent in planning what he wanted to do next. This picture represents an orgie, half nude figures reveling. A cross between the art of Dela- roche and that of Rubens, it has excellent color and fine semi-classical movement, but "great" is not the adjective to use in connection with it.
Principal Works: Day Dreams (Metropolitan Museum, New York) ; Romans of the Decadence.
Hendrik Leys, "Baron Leys" (1815-1869, Belgian), has not much claim to our attention except as the master who shaped Alma Tadema. The influence is plainly visible even to-day. Attempting to enter into the spirit of the Gothic painters, like Quentin Matsys, he only echoed that which with them was vital. His pictures are well done and still evidently imitative. History at first and then genre, of a higher order of subject, occupied him.
Principal Works: Frescoes (Hotel-de-Ville, Antwerp) ; Luther Singing in the Streets of Eisenach, Bertal de Haye, The Golden Fleece, Margaret of Austria Receiving the Homage of the Archers of Antwerp.
Andreas Achenbach (b. 1815, German) lives in Diisseldorf, where his life has been spent in painting landscapes which have had an extended influence upon the young students, an influence now departed, as has the movement which he represents. His industry in studying nature gave him facility in rendering all the details of the old mills and
142 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
waterfalls of the highlands of Germany. Rather elaborate composi- tions, much made-out and very full of parts, they had excellent color, but he will be counted an imitator of Hobbema.
Fedotof (1815-1852, Russian) painted genre pictures; Russian art being somewhat in its infancy, though there had been portrait paint- ers, as Kiprenski (b. 1783) and Orlovsky(b. 1777), who also undertook battle pieces.
John Phillip (1815-1867, English, Scotch born) spent most of his time in London, but visited Spain in middle life, learning from the pictures of Velasquez the secrets of a stronger technique. He was a genre painter of the story-telling type, but painted for the sake of color as much as for the sake of story. His influence, with that of Lauder (1803) had much to do with a certain brilliancy of color in the painting of the next generation.
CHAPTER IX
THE QUIET MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
France in this chapter produces the great Meissonier and the last of the Barbizon School, also the remarkable woman who paints domestic animals. To Germany comes a real genius, after the long line of lesser men. In America the talented men still paint scenery, quite oblivious of the better art of France, though the French pictures were beginning to invade America. England shows the opening of some worthy careers and the noble Watts arrives.
Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier
{iSiS-iSgi- French.')
After attempting to find a place for each artist and discover his relation to the rest of the art world, where can we place this master? Nowhere; he stands alone, has no competitors, no predecessors. Many men have painted genre, history, military pictures and scenes in the desert, but none has done it like Meissonier. Those who essayed to become his competitors have done no more than reveal his greatness. He seems to have been inimitable. This is much to say of any artist. All along the pathway of his life, critics have cried out that his was not great art. Quite possibly it was not, but it was inimitable. His conception of the representation of nature was not of a high order. Possibly his only claim is the extraordinary technique which no man has excelled, and to that we may add remarkable drawing.
Meissonier was a miniaturist. The one picture which may be denominated "large" is his "1807," which was painted for our mil- lionaire countryman, A. T. Stewart, and now hangs in the Metropoli- tan Museum, New York. Stewart paid him the sum of S6o,ooo, the work having been done to his order. If we add to this the import duty, the purchaser was subject to an expenditure of Sgo,ooo, the great-
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est sum ever paid for a painting up to that time, not alone in America but perhaps in the world. Large is a relative word. I think that this picture is not as long as four feet. He painted numberless miniature pictures, not above three inches in size. In every one of these the subject is endlessly elaborated. Minute detail is common enough, but it is not Meissonier's specialty to be minute alone. It was a mas- terly minuteness. Some of these little pictures contained figures no larger than one inch high, but still admirable in pose, astonishingly complete in feature and costume, and perfectly modeled. Figures two inches high are very common, and no example of one over five inches comes to mind. This in itself is not matter for astonishment, because his imitators are legion. But on careful inspection, it is discovered that Meissonier never revealed the labor bestowed — his work seems spontaneous, easy, most of all, firmly touched. In the efforts of his followers the labor is revealed. The leader could plant his brush with one learned, square touch and, presto, it was a perfect drawing of the flat spot on the face which he had to represent. If Frans Hals' heads, with all their wonderful "flats," laid with marvelous accuracy, could be reduced to the dimensions of a small pea, that would be a Meis- sonier. Every coat and buckled shoe was kept to this standard of excellence. Infinite painstaking did not bring this about, but the artist took infinite pains. His habit was to draw figures from the nude model and life-sized, reducing them to these minute dimensions. But others tried this scheme, only to fall below the standard.
Meissonier was the pet of army officers, who loaned him cannon and horses, had them marched through the snow or mud to simulate tracks which some historical battery left in Russia in Napoleon's cam- paign. These he painted as only the one artist could. If any picture is his best, it may be "La Rixe," a tavern misunderstanding in which velvet-coated swashbucklers draw swords with vigorous action. Move- ments were never better studied nor coats better rendered. Every object keeps its place perfectly and all is tender. When the minute- ness of the objects is considered, it is superb work. In the large painting called "1807," showing the great emperor on horseback
Jdlbs Dupre — Morning,
MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 145
silently watching his impetuous cavalry charging past, all the horses are in violent movement and the gesticulating troopers are screaming in exultation. Each horse and his rider are wonderfully drawn, as no other artist could do it. There is a certain impressiveness in the ensemble, but it reveals Meissonier's great weakness as an artist as much as his triumph as a technician. No great impression of terror and excitement can be expected when we are forced to admire those knuckles and buckles and helmets, not to speak of the over-detailed herbage. He failed in landscape because he painted it so carefully. Landscapes represent outdoors. All Meissonier's landscapes are cata- logues of articles which nature provided for the light of heaven to shine on. There is no heaven light in any landscape by this tech- nician.
Just here is the limitation in his art. It had no soul, no large sense of the all-pervading oneness of nature. The triumph of Edouard Manet was the measure of Meissonier's failure. The world in years to come will be filled with wondering admiration for this work, but no one will laugh or weep over it.
Meissonier rarely painted women and accepted but few portrait commissions. His portrait of the late William H. Vanderbilt was painfully accurate, — the wrinkles as hard as if cut in stone, the some- what offensive lips of the man made so brutally correct that nature was outdone in her work.
Meissonier received extraordinary prices for his work. His home was a palace, his friends were princes and money kings. It was the payment for enormous energy, limitless power to work for long hours and an inexplicable talent. The struggling young Meissonier making black-and-white illustrations for publications was the forerunner of the most princely of painters. Though short in stature, he was an impres- sive figure from youth to old age.
Principal Works: Napoleon I. in the Campaign o£ France (London); Napoleon I. in 1814, Lecture chez Diderot (Paris); La Rixe (Buckingham Palace); Napoleon IIL at Solferino (Luxembourg) ; Ordonnance, Marshal Saxe and Staff (New York) ; Friedland or 1807 (Metropolitan Museum, New York) ; Stirrup Cup.
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Adolph Menzel
{iSis — . German.)
Menzel, of Berlin, is almost as unique a figure as the Frenchman Degas. Both men have had great influence upon the art of the latter half of the nineteenth century, though neither can be said to have a following — no man has a following whose art is dependent upon real genius unaccompanied by some specific technique. These men were not distinctly technicians, so their admirers had nothing material to imitate, as their talent of itself is inimitable.
A little anecdote from real life illustrates well why the art of Ger- many has for so many years failed to take its proper place in the world and why Menzel has broken through the crust. The art has been crusted over with that element in German character which makes for superb bureaucracy, army equipment, and well-regulated government, but which is the death of spontaneity. There can be no fresh art which is bureaucratic. All German art has been cursed by overregulation.
It happened one day, in Dusseldorf, that several of us were in the studio of an artist of talent who made excellent landscapes of a certain formal character, good enough to be in demand at the dealer's. Here we saw four studies from nature made by this artist in his garden. In the springtime of tender leafage, he had been seduced by the poetry of the season and painted from nature, inspired by love. We were as charmed with the results of this escape from formalism as he had been. "Oh, fine! Of course you will exhibit these." "No, no, I can't do that. They are not pictures, not properly regulated," or words to that effect. ' Just here he uttered the condemnatory sentence on a vast amount of German art. It must not be the outpouring of a soul full of passion — it must be proper, calculated, within the measure of the rule. The people who cherish this folly are at fault. Had he sent these co-called "studies" to France or to America, his success would have been immediate. But he was a German, in love with German precepts. So he sold his soul to his principles, as many another has done. I have forgotten his name, as, I fear, every one else has. He
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plodded away, sometimes letting his soul have its revel, but never thinking it possible to delight the world with this sincerity, like a woman who thinks it unseemly to let the world see her tenderest and best moments.
Menzel escaped all this formalism. His father was a lithographer, and the boy learned his art in the shop, learned it thoroughly, as ail Germans do. In making small and unimportant lithographs, it was possible to be less formal. No one thought it worth while to criticize so insignificant a matter. Little by little the world discovered that he had talent, that he was erratic and out of bounds, but these so-called faults were not serious matters. Many years went by before he under- took oil paintings, and when he did so, his style was formed and his reputation sufficient to oblige attention. It was as an illustrator that Menzel secured a place in art; the series relating to the history of Frederick the Great being his first notable work. Untrammelled by masters as he was, it was easier for him to break loose than for many others. Brilliant perceptive faculties enabled him to catch the fleet- ing expression and movement of people and to imagine his hero as he might have been, as he imagined Frederick the Great, alert, severe, foxy, hurnan, while so unlike other men. There is a certain slight lithograph representing the sly old man walking in his garden, peering around as if a quizzical idea had struck his mind. It is a masterpiece, and not ruined by any formal arrangement which might have tamed the freshness of a first impression.
Another represents a servant scurrying through a passage between the dining-room and the scullery with a pile of soiled dishes, heedless, laughing to herself over the memory of some old pleasantry, dropping scraps of food, knives and spoons. The absent mindedness! The heedlessness expressed in every muscle and line! The human animal that doesn't care! It was only an illustration — what could it matter if no academical formula guided the artist's hand? Another is a coffee- garden, where a man in a hammock takes his ease as men do when not on parade; somewhat unseemly in attitude, but life, real life. "The Tabacks Collegium" shows us the king at the head of an infor-
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mal party of generals at a smoker, all sitting around a table while some savant entertains the august assemblage with a learned paper (very dry, no doubt) until young Prince Frederick, moved by love of mischief, seizes a pet bear cub and claps its scratching claws on the wig of the absorbed dispenser of learning. Some laugh, while the king makes an effort to look severe, and the well-behaved waiter, who would not laugh for his life's sake, is nearly undone. The pipes, the rings of smoke, the wet circles made by overflowing glasses, all the incidents are faithfully given with few lines; best of all, with genius which nothing has tarnished. Watercolors were thought quite unworthy of serious consideration in Germany until very recently. But Menzel was allowed to use them for designing for chromo-litho- graphic reproduction. See what he did with them ! What opportunities he found to express his untamed imaginings in designs for bookcovers, for music, for titlepages, for all kinds of brief statements of fancies and bursts of talent! And he was not at all particular as to the man- ner of applying the paint. Paint was mere material, if it served his purpose, the manner of using it was a mere incident. This use of pigments in odd ways has widely influenced recent watercolor paint- ing in many localities.
The exposition of 1867 took him to Paris, where he painted the portraits of several artists, including Meissonier and Alfred Stevens, who admired his talent and became his warm friends. Yet nothing seems to have turned him from his own way.
In 1878 he was again represented at a Paris exposition, this time with his strongest picture in oils, "The Rolling Mill," an interior crowded with figures in action and glowing with the firelight of forges. This is the most graphic picture of the sort in the entire line of art effort. It has been criticized for not being "a picture," but it is a masterly study of life.
Though the German Emperor is attempting to force classicism on the country (exactly as Napoleon did), this man has far too much talent to be ignored. Accordingly, Menzel is not lacking in honors.
RiCHTEE — Portrait of Queen Louise.
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Kaulbach was slightly his senior; Piloty eleven years younger; Lenbach twenty-one years younger; Gerome only nine years; Meis- sonier four years older; Millet one year older; Rossetti thirteen years older.
Principal Works: Cyclops, Ride of Frederic the Great, Ball Supper at Sans Souci, Round Table of Frederick the Great at Sans Souci, Flute Concert at Sans Souci, Coronation of King William at Konigsberg (National Gallery, Berlin); Thirty-three pictures of soldiers of Frederick the Great, Uniform studies of Frederick's Army, Frederick the Great Traveling (Ravene Gallery, Berlin).
Nils Johan Bloramer (1816-1858, Swedish) still clung to the art of a former style, the new movements not having penetrated his country. But his fine poetic temperament enabled his renderings of the folk- lore of his people to appeal to their hearts.
Emanuel Leutze
{1816-1868, American, born in Germany.')
It is just as well that we can escape in American art from the line of so-called "historical painters," whose infatuation for classical mythol- ogy or Greek legends led them such a foolish chase after the glories of Michael Angelo, and find sensible effort to accomplish the possible. American history was not so far off that the moths had consumed all the heroic old garments. A model could at least be made to pose in a suit like Washington's, whether the artist had genius or not. It may be said that history is depicted in attitudes of body and expressions of face rather than in costumes, and that the followers of the English- Italian school were right in attitudinizing their characters to make them expressive of lofty ideals. True, provided the artists had suffi- cient genius — but they had not. However, Leutze was a man who could place costumes on a model and label him George Washington, making with such means a pretty good picture, because he understood technique. That is pretty nearly all the story; except that he was a German and secured an excellent education in Diisseldorf, to which American students flocked in small numbers. Those who staid at
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home imitated the more fortunate travelers. The Diisseldorf Gal- lery (a movement to improve the art, originated by some well-mean- ing people) had been established in New York (1853) and it turned the attention from the English manner. It was as artificial in its way as the old one, but it did attempt to reproduce the features of the life of the hour.
When Leutze was established in Diisseldorf, his studio was within a few rods of. the River Rhine, the garden extending close to the stream's bank. Here he watched the floating ice filling the stream as the winter season broke up, and made faithful studies; supposing that all ice was ice. But he did not reckon on the greater cold in America, which made a difference in ice. Out of this observation grew his "Washington Crossing the Delaware." The ice never looked just right to one who knew the historic river involved in the story, but that did not prevent quite a popular success. General Washington stood up in the bow of the overloaded boat (as no man ever does when the ice is dangerous) looking heroic, and the flag was picturesque; so the essentials were introduced according to the fashion for such things. The only matter lacking was greatness of expression — the element of genius.
"Westward Ho," the large panel in the Capitol at Washington (at the head of the grand stair) suggests the prophetic enthusiasrri of an emigrant party which has reached the top of the divide separating the Atlantic from the Pacific. He made the studies of mountains, quite faithfully, in Colorado. As mountains, the scene is correct enough and like the place, but it was a pretty long look of faith which could discover the Pacific from that divide. The advance wagon is just on the verge and others are ingeniously arranged struggling up the rugged and tortuous trail. Too much action marks the move- ment of the excited wanderers; it lacks dignity and impressive- ness. The artist had no inconsiderable success in his long career, but he added nothing to American art, as the coming men were still better equipped in technique and some of them had more talent. He died three years after the close of the war of secession. The new move-
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ment toward European study was just beginning. The new men went to Munich and Paris.
Principal Works: Storming of the Teocalli, Washington Crossing the Dela- ware (Bremen Gallery); Star of Empire (Capitol, Washington).
Johannes Bosboom (1817-1891, Dutch) leads chronologically in the movement which restored to Holland a worthy art all her own. It is founded on the impulse given by the Barbizon School, though not an imitation at all.
Charles Francois Daubigny (1817-1878, French) properly com- pletes the coterie of the Barbizon painters, being the youngest of the group. His abiding place was not in the village of Barbizon but his purpose kept step with the movement. Paying no attention to details, his renderings were of the essence, the large appearance, of the scene. At his home (Auvers) the ruins of a sort of houseboat, on which he floated about on the River Oise and sought for motives, is still shown. Though almost always working directly from nature, he had unusual ability to reduce it to the essential parts, with remark- able rich greens and luminous gray skies. Counted a colorist, he rarely produced brilliant color. It was the remarkable gray tone which won favor. Long, simple lines and quiet effects pleased his taste, a few well-placed spots satisfied his requirements. This art will live through the ages. He is one of the greatest of his school. He made his debut at Salon of 1838 with a view of Notre Dame, Paris.
Daubigny may be called the naturalist of the Barbizon group. None of them gave too much attention to details or minute and unim- portant incidentals, but others were inclined to render nature in some, what artificial arrangements. All seasons were alike attractive to him. The unaffected manner in which he jotted down the quiet lines of the banks of the river Oise, or any corner of his garden, in the simplest tones of nature's greens or grays, marks him a genius; the more so as so few can do this simple thing in an easy manner and make an impression on all the artists of the world.
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Principal Works: Sluice in the Valley of Optevoz, The Vintage (Luxembourg); Banks of the Seine (Nantes); Morning (Metropolitan Museum, New York); Fruit Garden in Normandy, Moonrise, View of Dieppe, and many landscapes in France and America.
Bocklund (1817-1880, Swedish) brought the teaching of Piloty from Munich and impressed it on the young artists at the Swedish Academy.
George Mason (1818-1872, English) makes us wonder that any man so long ago could have painted in the sentiment of the present day. It may be called genre painting, but not story-telling, though there was always much incident from English farm life woven into it. His pictures would make superb mural decorations, and are in the arrangement and treatment most approved by the recent mural dec- orators— something strange to find at that period. He lived a hermit's life in an English village, producing a noble, serious, low-toned art, which we know well from many examples of the reproductions hung in our homes, as the "Harvest Moon" and the "Return from Plough- ing." His influence was excellent and has continued to this day.
John Frederick Kensett
{i8i8-i8j2. Atnerican.)
No one of the painters of the Hudson River School had more tal- ent or better opportunities than Kensett. Though his technique always revealed the lack of solid schooling, there was more suave treatment and indication of pictorial conception than usually obtained at the time. Cole and Durand were "painty" by comparison. Admit- ting that surfaces were somewhat glassy and lacked substance, the tender grays were unusual, colors did not clash; there was tonality for its own sake rather than blind imitation of nature with its colors liter- ally given. Very few great artists paint nature just as she is, but rather use her for the production of artistic effect. This it is which marks Kensett as a superior artist.
Kensett remained some years in England, and seems to have under- stood very well what there came under his observation. At the Royal
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Academy of 1845, having painted a view of Windsor Castle, he exhib- ited the picture with success and obtained favor with English patrons. Rome attracted him sufificiently to retain his presence and occupy his talents.
All his renderings of nature were poetic, not the artificial poetry produced by labored arrangements, but that of tender treatment while holding fairly closely to the truth as he actually saw it.
Certain prejudices of the public influenced all these artists in an amusing way; they found the scenery-eaters very hungry and it must be scenery or no business. Also, it must be startling scenery, and each year something unexpected. A few people went to Europe, returning with glowing accounts of the Alps. Our poor little moun- tains seemed tame affairs compared with that old country where real peaks had found time enough to grow. The painters caught the infection, shooting up the dull heads of our noble and dignified hills, producing bastard Alps to order. In Kensett's "Conway Valley," a long-drawn-out intervale between rounded heights leading up, moun- tain upon mountain, to the huge majestic head of Mount Washington, he felt obliged to grow an Alpine spike as a fitting climax to that accumulation of heights. Without this the young country would have been shamed by the old. All this added nothing to the effect except frivolity. But it added much to the price of the picture. Yet with all the foolishness, it was pretty good work and a credit to the artist and the country.
Another trick was the habit of placing a "pusher" directly in the foreground, something to drive back the distance; as if the distance would not take care of itself should values be accurate. These men knew nothing about "values" however, hence the trick. The "pusher" was usually a striking protuberance of rock, partly light and partly dark, or perhaps two of them, one light and one dark. These occupied a position directly in the center of the foreground. Scarcely a landscape of this school escapes this petty trick, as anyone may see who takes the trouble to examine the engravings of them.
Foregrounds had to be excessively elaborated, filled with scratchy
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plants and weeds, much attention given to species and leafage. None of the artists understood the virtues of simplicity or knew that, should the subject-matter be in the distance, the picture gained character by keeping the foreground as quiet as possible. The laws of due sacrifice of one part of the picture to the other had never been taught them.
Turner was exhibiting in every Academy annual when Kensett was in England, but this was too difficult and extreme an art to follow, especially by a painter of the new world. Constable's fullness of brush and ability to see nature's peculiarities does not find any echo in American work. Sir Joshua Reynolds had been dead sixty years when Kensett exhibited in England, and Lawrence fifteen years. He does not seem to have paid any attention to French art, though the Barbizon School was in full action, fighting for its due recognition.
Principal Works: High Bank in Genesee River, October Afternoon (Corcoran Gallery, Washington) ; Lake George.
Jean Paul Clays (1819-, Belgian) has caught the spirit of the alive French painters we have been considering. Marines, full of brilliant sparkle and vital color have come from his easel, rarely refined work.
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877, French) is called a brute by people who cannot understand. No man of his originality and refinement of perception is a brute. He was rough in manner, indifferent to the polite usages of a society which he despised, revolutionary in his tem- perament, and disposed to do just as he pleased whatever the conse- quences. In politics he was a violent protestor, because he hated social conditions as he found them. A leader in the Commune, by his orders the Vendome Column was cast to earth, an amusement which cost him his property while he was in exile to pay the price of setting it up again.
Calling himself frankly a realist, he rendered nature without details but with marvelous correctness of observation and boldness of touch. There were no "impressionists" in those days, but Courbet was the most exact painter of impressions whom the world had seen. Natu-
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rally such a man loved to shock the sensibilities of artificially conven- tional people and he did so, but did it superbly as far as the art was concerned.
Courbet's painting is unlike that of any other artist in handling, color, manner of viewing nature and vigorous treatment. In a pic- ture of some insignificant Alpine valley, he has given more severe ruggedness to the cliffs and a greater sense of the awful severity of nature's bald upheavals than anything I can recall. This is done with the fewest possible brush strokes and a liberal use of blackish grays. It is difficult to give in words a description of something which depends for its influence upon the subtle touch of a genius. There is a picture of cattle, under the trees which for keen observation of the effects of light on the animals' hides stands almost unsurpassed. His unlovable, but startingly truthful renderings of the surf dashing on a strand are wonderfully powerful. The "Burial Party" shows us many large figures, people whom we would not select as daily companions, but true individuals, as anyone may see them if awake to the realities of humble life. In his "Interior of the Studio" there are many men and women gathered while the nude model stands among them, not ashamed.
Principal Works: A Burial at Ornans, Stone Breakers (Louvre) ; The Quarry, Doe Run Down in the Snow (Boston Museum of Fine Arts) ; The Siesta, Deer Call- ing, The Stormy Sea (Luxembourg); Village Ladies, Return from Conference, Stag-Fight.
Henri Harpignies (1819-, French), a powerful landscape painter, trained in his art to an intense appreciation of the solids of the earth's surface and rendering everything as if materiality rather than senti- ment, and solidity rather than detail were the essentials. Not lovable but majestic and imbued with style, he is counted great.
Principal Works: Evening on the Campagna, Twilight.
Jongkind (1819-1891, Dutch) is another who introduced the Barbizon sentiment into Holland by means of the work sent home, though none of them failed to reveal his personality. He lived mostly in France.
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Eugene Fromentin (1820-1876, French) kept well within the bounds set by the classicists and escaped trouble. His was a regulated genre — scenes from the Orient, horsemen, hawking parties and as much movement as the story required. In color he was reserved but not at all lifeless.
John Faed (1820-, English, born in Scotland) painted domestic scenes with much story of real life. His brother Thomas did like- wise.
George Frederick Watts (1820-, English) is as individual a per- sonage as it is possible to find in all the course of art history. While others have sought to interpret the poets, he has been one unto him- self. Without attending any art school, he studied the noble exam- ples of the art of Phidias which are collected in the British Museum, and then went to Italy to be influenced by the color and technique of the great Venetians. Naturally, his technique is not of the best, but his success in imbuing his noble conceptions with a certain power has secured for him a lofty place in the ranks of artists. Unlike many fine technicians, he never distracts the attention from his serious motive by amusing the eye with pretty painting of parts. He was made a Royal Academician in 1868. More than any other English artist (almost every one of them having the ambition to execute the "grand art") Watts has a real "call" to paint history or allegory.
Principal Works: Fresco, St. George and the Dragon (Parliament House); Fresco, The School of Legislature (Dining Hall of Lincoln's Inn) ; Fata- Morgana, Love and Death, Love and Life, Paola and Francesca, The Riders of the Apoca- lyptic Vision, Hope, Many Portraits, Echo, Alfred the Great, Cartoon "Caractacus."
The Harts
William Hart (1820-1894) and James M. Hart (1828-), American, born in Scotland, were brought to Albany when quite young, and car- ried their racial characteristics with them, the elder even his rich brogue. Anyone would trust him after the first few words were spoken.
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Positive, stubborn, somewhat irascible but always intensely sincere, these two played an important part in the history of forty years ago. William had obtained a foothold in the metropolis while James still remained in Albany picking up the trade of artist. Nearly all these men commenced by decorating sleighs, omnibuses and shop signs, and it is no small credit to them that talent produced such good art under these conditions. William never could forget that James was the younger brother and had no right to elbow his elder in the race for fame; there was some amusing side play in this con- nection which made everyone smile but in no case did the good brothers allow the rivalry to embitter them. I was myself a witness of these little brushes, being a frequenter of their studios. William would open the door a crack and seeing his brother would cry out, "Ah, it's you! You can naa coom in, you can naa coom in. I'm puttin' in a skee. " It was a big sky that was in hand. But at the next visit his smiling face and genial manner made up for the previous rude reception. When some one suggested that his brother had done something pretty good, he hastened to make it understood that there was really but one Hart. I have never seen either of these men paint a tree and a sky at the same moment and with the same palette, as if these were two tones in one atmosphere. The sky had to be finished and allowed to dry and the tree placed on it as trees are supposed to grow this side of the sky. But they were too witty to find no way out of the consequent hardness, and there are all sorts of ways to paint pictures. William loved glowing autumnal and sunset effects, finding his colors too weak and inefficient for his ardor, and conse- quently his pictures tended toward hotness. James leaned to the opposite extreme (probably in order to be different), painting cool gray and green midsummer, wood interiors and far-reaching meadows with a stream and fine tree groups. When he attempted full autumn, it was kept cool and reserved. Perhaps his was the finer artistic nature. Later in life, both became cattle painters, but the drawing always revealed the lack of schooling, and the painting became unpleasantly mannered as compared with their middle-life work.
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James went to Diisseldorf for a considerable period of study, but declared that he got no good from the experience. He did not remain long enough. William was ever sneering at his brother because of this surrender to foreign influence. So intense was the chauvanism in those early days. Both were men of decided talent and their pictures, when seen at this time, prove that art is a very large and wide thing, not to be measured by rules. William was made a National Academi- cian in 1858, and James in 1859.
Many men, now gray-haired, remember with tender feelings the kind aid extended by these plain-spoken Scotchmen, when their locks were curly and dark.
Principal Works of William Hart: Close of Day, Mt. Desert, Lake in the Hills, White Mountain, Morning in the Mountains, Keene Valley.
Principal Works of James M. Hart: Drove at the Ford (Corcoran Gallery, Washington); Adirondacks (Baltimore); At the Watering Trough.
Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893, English) was seven years older than Rossetti and had already established some reputation when the Preraphaelite movement manifested itself. His sincere realism and the trouble which he gave himself in order to paint nature as correctly as possible (a rare circumstance in those days when English art was not at its best) made him quite ready to join in the movement which had for its leading principle the exact copying of nature's truths. However mistaken this principle may have been (as art is not the exact and literal truth), Brown entered into the agitation enthusias- tically.
Principal Works: Wickliff Reading His Bible, Work, The Last of England, King Lear, Chaucer Reciting His Poetry at the Court of King Edward III., Christ Washing Peter's Feet.
Felix Ziem (1821-, French) paints much "commercial" art, though when younger his pictures were sufficiently sincere. Scenes on the waters of Venice and Constantinople, with the picturesque sails and intensely blue sky, furnish subject-matter for the display of pretty but often crude color.
Principal Works: View of Antwerp, View of Constantinople.
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Marie Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899, French). So widely known an artist needs no explanatory introduction. Her strongest claim to greatness lies in the original note struck (while she was still young) in painting animals as a realist, with an artistic treatment unlike any previous examples. Her view of nature was original, as in the "Ploughing in Nivernais, " wnere white oxen are set against each other and against a light sky, the whole in full sunlight. White upon white has been much practiced since, but she was one of the originators of the effect. The stories of her masculine dress (worn for con- venience and not as a defense against harmless and good-natured drovers) indicates the independence of character which has served her well. Largeness of heart and nobility of character set her apart from the multitude of humankind. During the latter part of a long life of art work, the early strength was not maintained. No woman has, however, been so highly honored officially. She was given the cross of the Legion of Honor.
Principal Works: Horse Fair (Metropolitan Museum, New York) ; Plowing in the Nivernais (Luxembourg); The Old Monarch (New York); Lion at Home, Monarch of the Glen.
Johannes Hendrick Weissenbruch (1822-1903, Dutch) painted landscapes of wonderful tone and simplicity, abstractions in which no details annoy the lover of suggestiveness. He is one of the forerun- ners of the remarkable modern Dutch school.
Gustave Richter (1823-, German) painted beautiful women, which were good, but his efforts to become great by executing history revealed his weakness.
Principal Work: Queen Louisa of Prussia.
Vermehren (1823-, Danish) followed the lead of the simple nat- uralists who sincerely painted what they saw in nature without bowing down to prejudices regarding preconceived arrangements. Dalsgaard (1824-) and Exner (1825-, Danish) did the same. Larson (1825-, Swedish) was a brilliant painter but rather raw in color.
CHAPTER X
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN FRANCE AND AMERICA
In America is born one of the most charming painters of the Hud- son River School, and a man of entirely opposite tendencies, whose inspiration came from Barbizon. Thus the reaction begins in America. Holland raises up the tenderest and most national of her contempo- raneous artists. France gives us three artists of remarkable talent in their way, whose pictures become distributed all over the world, especially in America, thus breaking in upon the previous conditions. Also, France produces her most remarkable mural painter.
Sanford R. Gifford
(/8zj-j88o. American.)
It was on the mountain-top of a bold spur of the Catskills, little frequented at that time by the summer boarder, that in company with a fellow art student, I wandered about in the autumn admiring the far-reaching view toward the Berkshire Hills away beyond the thread of the Hudson River gleaming in the intervale. Suddenly we discov- ered an artist who had set up his field easel, planted one spot of yel- low on the naked canvas and was walking about to work up his ideas for the reproduction of all that glory of color. His niglig^ costume revealed a long lean neck, and under a little felt hat a thin face with gleaming eyes looked all the handsomer for the rude setting. It was Sanford Gifford. The following winter I was allowed to visit the celebrated man's studio frequently. He was one of the men at the top in art circles. Always a literalist, his idealizations were no more than a glamour of refinement thrown over the scene, which always was an actual view of some place; though possibly the hills or mountains were somewhat exaggerated in size for effect's sake. Quite commonly he worked on a very smooth canvas, so that it could be covered with a
i6o
DEVELOPMENTS IN FRANCE AND AMERICA i6i
thin coat of tone and the multitudinous forms of tree-clad mountains lifted out with a stiff brush, letting the white canvas show through, as the paper does in watercolors, the whole result being very thin and glassy, though delightfully tender and pleasing. Long reaches of the Hudson River, with many idle sails basking in the evening glow and enveloped in the haze which hid the far-away shore, particularly pleased his fancy for tender effects. One of the boasts of these painters was to render the suspended haze in which a mountain floated, and I have never seen it better done by any school. Could they have escaped the weakness always going with little schooling, these had been great artists.
Once when Gifford was wandering on the hills of Staten Island, he sought shelter from a shower in a little hut and watched the storm pass away toward the eastward, letting in the setting sun's rays upon a large group of becalmed sail down in the bay. These glowed through the wetness, and the sense of an intervening veil of rain was superbly given. From a point close at hand, a line of telegraph poles staggered down and still down the shore until lost in this veiling of rain. At the top of each pole the glass insulator glimmered like a newborn star. These sparks of light led away into the mistiness, glimmering, glimmering, long after the poles had ceased to be visible, still leading the eye into the falling rain, seemingly without supports. Though the financial conditions at the time were at a very low ebb, so that nothing was selling, he found a purchaser for the picture which resulted, before the paint was dry. It was painted at one sitting and on a pretty large canvas. All the world wondered. He was elected National Academician in 1854, and served with the celebrated "Seventh Regiment" in the Civil War.
Principal Works : Golden Horn ; Ruins of the Parthenon (Corcoran Gallery^ Washington.
Alexander Cabanel
{iS23-i88g. French.) One of the advantages of the position of "professor" among the artists of Paris, is the intense loyalty of a succession of students. As a
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winner of hearts the instructor is frequently a phenomenal success. The rivalry between ateliers is often very keen. In my own student days, the number of followers of Cabanel was still very large, but with waning enthusiasm. Setting aside all his indifferent works, it remains true that Cabanel was a man of unusual talent with occasional gleam- ings of genius. Most of all, it can be claimed for him that he never sought to make "little Cabanels" of his students. All of them who had any originality easily broke loose from his leading strings, as did Gervex, Benjamin-Constant and Bastien-Lepage. Nothing approach- ing this liberality was true of David, whose iron will demanded Greek statues or nothing. Ingres was scarcely less imperious.
Cabanel was the direct sequence of Ingres' rule, and another avowed imitator of Raphael. "He who follows is always behind," and so is he who imitates; sometimes a long way. But there were expressions of face in Cabanel's pictures, glimmerings of originality not to be overlooked. In the "Birth of Venus" (Luxembourg) the drowsy eyes, just opening to the light of life, the coy face peering out from under the shadowing hand and that sense of relaxation in the entire figure, are pretty nearly evidences of genius. The figure lies lightly on the wave and, of course, is graceful. It is more than graceful, it is "sweet." To be graceful in all things is a Frenchman's birthright, especially if he be of the school of Raphael. The mark of genius is found when a painter can be graceful and still noble. This Cabanel never was. He was a painter by preference, a master by industry. His birth was in the academical atmosphere of Montpellier, where education and polish gave tone to the oxygen. As physician or bishop his success would have been equally remarkable. This picture of the just-discovered Venus and the excited sea-roving cupids, is spoiled by the effort to imitate Raphael in the cherub faces. The uppermost one is particularly bad-Raphaelisrh; none is at all worthy. This would be evident at once if we should secure a good example of Raphael and compare the two painters.
Ingres painted severely defined statues, according-to-Raphael; Cabanel produced languid imitations of these imitations. Many of
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his large compositions are of no value except as examples of highly- polished technique; his figures are no more than elegantly painted idealizations of models. The students used to stand before his "Thamar," then in the Luxembourg gallery, and, with bated breath, tell how a certain skilled model held out his draped arm for a full hour without flinching and then fainted from exhaustion. Oh, noble art! No one faints because of the simulation of a tragedy enacted by these postures.
Cabanel was a model portrait painter, able to reproduce a sufficient number of his sitter's characteristics to make the likeness pass muster, while at the same time softening all defects. His superb command of paint and brushes could not fail to render something agreeable, to be looked at while seated in a silken armchair, yourself elegantly dressed. It is related of him that his habit was to place his sitter and his easel exactly side by side and walk off thirty feet, his palette in hand, study carefully a minute and then walk up to apply one or two accurate touches. This promenade continued during the entire sit- ting. The touches were rarely altered, so well did he know his trade. But sometimes the sitter had to endure ninety of these inquisitorial inflictions.
In the Metropolitan Museum (New York) hangs a portrait of the late Catharine Lorillard Wolfe (full-length figure) which is very popular. She was a woman of plain features but great character. Her por- trait has some character with idealized features, and the workmanship is irreproachable. Can we wonder at the popularity?
From earliest youth until old age he had honors thrust upon him, until absolutely nothing remained to conquer. The firm establishm^ent of the French republic resulted in a retrenchment of the power of any one man in the Salon, but Cabanel, in connection with others live- minded, had great power until near the end of his life.
Naturally an art academy (as in the old universities) teaches classics, that fixed and perfected thing which can be doled out by measure and has long since been reduced to rule. Cabanel was for years a leading professor in the Ecole des Beaux Arts. It is an old
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saying, "Did you ever know of a Prix de Rome man who amounted to anything?" This sentiment is justly based on the fact that the prize is given to those who draw well; never for original genius. Good drawing never proved a man a genius. Cabanel was a noted "Prix de Rome," 1845.
Principal Works: Death of Francesca and Paolo, Birth of Venus, Thamar (Luxembourg); Shulamite, Portrait of Miss Wolfe (Metropolitan Museum, New York); Ruth and Boaz (New York) ; Christ before Pilate.
Jean Leon Ger&me
(1824-igo^. French) The glory of French art has always been magnificent technique. To handle the crayon and paint-brush seems as natural to this people as swimming to a Sandwich Islander. If we add to this native ability the habit of almost endless practice under exacting masters in the schools, it ceases to be a wonder that they have controlled the art market for so many years. They are all heirs to the art of Michael Angelo and Raphael, who counted correct line as something precious above all else. Art talent is common among the French; genius not uncommon. The former has produced an output of "articles de Paris" and pretty pictures which brought wealth out of every less favored country to them. Where are we to draw the line between genius and talent? Was Gerome only a man of superior talent who made "articles de Paris"? Artists whose orthodoxy differs from his think this, but they forget the noble "Death of Caesar," made in the years of his greatest strength. A large study for the principal figure in this work is at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington. Though highly finished, it is so "large" in treatment that only the bloody foot prints and the prostrate Caesar attract attention, and the shouting group of conspirators isolates itself impressively. That fallen hero lying at the feet of his great competitor, who stands there in bronze serenely unconscious of his prostrate rival, is a powerful conception worthy of any artist. This work alone proves Gerome a genius, but he also painted "Forty Centuries Look Down upon Him," a diminu-
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tive Napoleon on horseback standing alone in the vast desert contem- plating the colossal Sphinx, which does indeed look down upon this upstart invader of the civilization of four thousand years. The con- ception is intensely poetic and had the artist been content to treat this as he did the Caesar, in a broad and simple manner, another work had established his claim to greatness. But all that vast desolation is dis- turbed by trifling details of gravel stones and useless minutiae in the landscape which suggests space but is too trifling. He was witty enough to leave out the group of officers composing the attendant staff, suggesting their presence by means of shadows thrown athwart the figure which alone takes the responsibility of facing all that ancient solemnity. Herein we see GerSme's weakness; enamored of his ability to paint things, he throws away his soul for technique's sake.
This betrayed him again in the picture of Moliere breakfasting with Louis XIV. The king and the actor sit together at table, both hatted, while the scowling nobles stand uncovered in the royal presence of the king and this prince of actors. It was a superb opportunity to create an impression, but thrown away again for the love of painting silken coats and lace jabots, stiff ribbons on elegant shoes and all the para- phernalia of the palace furnishings. Dramatic force drowned in a sea of frippery; that is the impression. It must be admitted that the articles of still life were well painted and the heads masterpieces of superb drawing and construction.
"Son Eminence Grise" is still more painful because a still greater sacrifice; as the subject is finer. The subtle confidential adviser and secret executive of Richelieu, "Pere Joseph," stands, clothed in hum- ble monkish garb, at the turn in the palace stairway, while many ele- gantly-dressed nobles and church dignitaries ascend. He pays no attention to them, appearing to be absorbed in noting pious thoughts in his prayer-book, while in reality it is the names of those who bow less humbly which fill the sacred margins. Coats again, more silks and high-heeled shoes; but for the relentless "fine painting" this had been an extraordinary work. Made in the freshness of his first
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strength, the "Bal Masque" very nearly saves him for great art, the treatment is so simple and effective. In the luminous night we see two figures from the carnival, two fools, so the clothes suggest, gone to the park to attempt each other's lives for some trivial insult's sake or for some still more trivial love. There is abundant fine painting but not much detail.
A long line of subjects studied in the Orient, picturesque buildings, gaily-dressed horsemen, with animals beautifully drawn; interiors, of gorgeous bath-rooms where the nude women of that hot climate dis- port themselves — all subjects giving opportunity to show his skill in drawing, occupied the artist for many years and have brought him an enormous amount of money.
Personally, Gerome is a noble specimen of humanity. On one occasion when a superb Russian grand duke was being conducted through the ateliers where his numerous pupils (among them many Americans) were at work, the fellows nudged one another, remarking that the "patron" was the finer man of the two.
Not long since, Gerome, having filled the world with pictures, turned his hand to sculpture. A highly-educated artist has command over all mediums of expression. A number of his important painted figures were rendered in bronze, as the gladiator in his arena scene. It would be unjust to deny that he did this work very beautifully; still, •his faults show forth more conspicuously in sculpture, in that reserved art which admits of so much dignity and suggestiveness. When he attempts to display his technique simply to make it conspicuous, the effect is far from agreeable or noble. At the Exposition of 1900, at Paris, he exhibited gilded bronze equestrian figures of Washington and Napoleon which made no impression except that of beautiful repre- sentations of saddles, buckles, straps and fringes, all as hard as bronze of course. The horses were admirable.
Gerome obtained his first training in the studio of Paul Delaroche (where Millet of Barbizon studied), but his greatest impression was received from Gleyre, who came of the stock of Ingres, that favorite pupil of the great classicist David. These men ruled the Salons
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during two, generations so that no man could expect any considerable attention or honors unless he adhered strictly to the elegant classic forms in drawing and treatment. Because of this training, Ger6me became a classicist, a lover of elegant line and hard finish, allowing himself no enthusiasm, no fresh outpouring of spirit. He has been one of the leading instructors in the Ecole des Beaux Arts for many years, he has had honors and medals of the highest possible order bestowed upon him, and he has become rich.
Extreme classicists rarely have a free command of color, simply because color will not abide with labored manipulation and polished surfaces. In order to make his gray tones, Ger6me mixed his paints on the palette instead of laying them on the canvas quite fresh, leav- ing them somewhat rough and mixing as little as possible. The latter method does not admit of the same smoothness, but the color remains fresher. In the already mentioned picture, "Son Eminence Grise," the grays are so colorless as to almost appear cold and lifeless. To save himself, Ger6me indulged freely in all manner of red, yellow and blue coats, gay-stained glass windows and any positive objects which promised relief. All these could not counteract the effect of the dull grays. All his work reveals this same effort with color, even the oriental scenes rely upon gay tiles and costumes for the color scheme. Titian, on the contrary, while not altogether neglecting the bright clothes, subdued them to a series of superb vibrating grays. Very few of Gerome's pupils follow his methods of painting, though his severe criticism in drawing has produced its effect all over the world.
Ger6me's first success was the "Cock Fight" (which brought to him a medal at twenty-three years of age), 1847.
Principal Works: Death of Caesar, The Cock Fight, The Age of Augustus, King Candaules, Leaving the Masked Ball, Son Eminence Grise, Gladiator before Caesar, Napoleon before the Sphinx, The Hour of Prayer in a Mosque in Cairo, View of Paestum, Phyrne before the Tribunal, Cleopatra and Caesar, Women at the Bath, Turkish Bath, Moliere Breakfasting with Louis XIV., Guard of Louis XIV., Louis XIV. and the Grand Conde, Gladiator.
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Gustave Rodolphe Clarence Boulanger (1824-1888, French) is known everywhere as the "alter ego" of Gerome, as he was born the same year, exhibited for the first time at the salon in the same year, went to the Orient with Gerome and painted the same sort of pictures, with the same affection for smoothness and minute detail — nudes in the harem, the revivification of the life of Pompeii and Rome, and eastern cafes. Because his work resembles that of the more important man, it has been said that it came nearly up to it in excellence. This is not true. It fell short in nearly all respects and there is no such evidence of greatness as was manifested in Ger6me's "Death of Caesar" and many other works.
Principal Work: The Appian Way in the Time of Augustus
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
{1824-/ 8g8. French. )
In one of the Salo'ns of the later '70's was "The Poor Fisherman" by Puvis de Chavannes. I recall well the remarks of a fellow stu- dent, who declared that it was too ugly to exist. Certainly there is nothing "pretty" in this artist's work. It must claim something else. This fisherman stood in his boat, moored near shore, watching his net with an attitude of patient dejection. He is evidently excessively poor. The expression suggests that he believes that he will certainly starve unless the Lord sends a fish, and that he trusts, while doubting. On the shore, his youthful daughter gathers flowers for the baby, which is nearly naked. Nothing is in view but a forlorn reach of water and this barren bit of flat land, bearing some flowers in spite of its barren- ness. It is a magnificent lesson in life; the embodiment of the philosopher's conclusions, of the religionist's commingling of despair and hope, of some rays of light amid the darkest doubt. The color was sober but tender, laid in flat masses and not at all prettily brushed. No one could describe the color — pearly and nearly all in one rather pale quality, no strong darks or lights. The "flatness" of the tones is most important to remember. M. de Chavannes was a mural painter
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who covered the wall with flat tones so that the wall might retain its flatness.
This flatness of wall treatment and this manner of telling his truths in suggestions rather than in dry and positive statements, made him the greatest poet in paint and the best mural decorator that France had seen in long years. He did not tell facts but awakened chords of feeling. He did not attempt tricks of chiaroscura on the walls but reduced everything to the wall's use as a wall. Both treatment and color were good for the wall; went well with the architecture. "He does not paint Mars, Vulcan and Minerva, but war, work and peace," says Miither.
M. de Chavannes had an influence upon all the younger generation of workers that is hard to measure. He revolutionized all mural decora- tion and all sorts of decoration of flat surfaces. The older men could not, or would not change, as we see at the Pantheon, in Paris, where nearly all the great painters of the classical and classical-genre schools have covered the walls with confusions (for the most part) which torment us, while Puvis, as he is usually called in the studios, made simple tender panels. The subject is "The Girlhood of St. Genevieve," that is, of the patron saint of old Paris. The work is in three panels, divided by stout pillars. A simple landscape in quiet, slightly broken tones, many long, horizontal lines and flat tree forms, contains figures likewise managed for the effect mentioned. St. Gen- evieve is marked with the divine seal, and the various characters act their parts quietly, with dignity and force.
This decoration is one of the art sights of Paris, justly celebrated. Puvis also decorated the Museum of Amiens, letting weeping women and a few horsemen tell the story usually represented by classical figures of the Genius of War and his cohorts.
For the Lyons Museum he made "The Grove Sacred to the Arts and Muses," "Vision of Antiquity" and "Christian Inspiration"; for Rouen, "Inter Artes et Naturum"; for the Sorbonne, Paris, subjects relating to education.
His family was of old Burgundian stock; his father was an
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engineer, and to his profession the future artist was brought up. His early training was in the atelier Couture, where drawing was taught of course, but the method of painting received more attention. This method he speedily abandoned, as did nearly all his fellow students. As a draughtsman he never came up to the standards of those classi- cists who considered correct classical line as next to godliness; that is, next before it. It is a wonderful thing to find an original genius, or, more properly, all geniuses are original and they are few and won- derful.
Principal Work: Historic Decorations in the Pantheon, Sorbonne, and H6tel de Ville, Paris, and in the museums at Amiens and Lyons; Nine Panels in Public Library (Boston).
Auguste Bonheur (1824-1884, French, the brother of Rosa) painted domestic animals, but never with originality or force.
William M. Hunt (1824-1874, American, born in New England) was one who saw early the greatness of Millet and did much to pro- mote his welfare. Returning to Boston, he made figure and landscape pictures in the manner of the great Frenchman and had an immense influence upon the youth of America. His was a suicide's end.
Principal Works: Mural Allegorical Decoration in the Capitol of the State of New York ; The Diver, The Farmer's Return, The Fortune Teller, The Drummer Boy, The Bugle Call, and many portraits.
Josef Israels (1824-, Dutch) is the most remarkable character in the line of the new Dutch artists. Having obtained some knowledge of his technique, he went to Paris to the studio of Delaroche (where Millet studied) and then returned to Holland to paint historical pic- tures in the style of his master. Going to a Dutch fishing village (very much as Millet went to Barbizon) he sympathized with the life about him and struck, an original line of motives which has made its impression on the art of Holland. Beginning in the academical manner, he soon created a style of his own — rich tone but few positive colors, mystery, tenderness of sentiment and treatment, pathetic feeling for the sad life about him, masterful ability to. tell his story without disturbing
Josef Israels — :The Little Seamstress.
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the spectator with useless attention to pretty texture-painting-. He is the father o£ the present art of Holland. It can not be said that any one man creates a revolution, though there are those who stand as known leaders. Israels and Puvis, each in his own country, more than others opened the eyes of picture lovers to the fact that elaborate finish and over attention to details militate seriously against the expression of sentiment. What I have said regarding Gerome and the loss of greater expression, through the insistence upon the elabora- tion of cravats and shoe heels, should be kept in mind when studying the pictures of Israels and Puvis. Neither of these men in bestowing less attention to drawing has offended the majority of mankind because of slovenly delineation of the human figure. Quite possibly they have offended the classicists, as Titian offended Michael Angelo. In place of wonderfully drawn lines and abundant details they have given us their higher sentiments so unhampered that the observer could think of nothing else. In Gerome's pictures we think of the pretty painting first and then seek for the human or the poetic elements after having satisfied our thirst for fine workmanship.
In Israels' picture "Alone in the World," the handling is rude and there are no details at all — nothing but that one thought of the old man who sits in the mysterious gloom of his forlorn cottage and slowly realizes the truth that he has lost his one faithful friend, his wife, and that all the sweetness has gone out of life. Why need the handling be rude? That sort of brushing produces the effect of mystery and forbids attention to the prettiness of the painted surface. The handling should not be so rough as to call attention to its affecta- tion of rudeness, as that would defeat the object in view. Probably Israels managed his paint just about right. In France the Barbizon School did its part in landscape painting, and Puvis worked in the same direction in mural painting. Israels and Puvis were born the same year.
Principal Works: William of Orange Defying the Decrees of the King of Spain, Village Scene, Preparation for the Future, Walk Along Cemetery, Children of the Sea, Age and Infancy, Anxious Family, Alone in the World.
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Charles Chaplin (1825-, French) reveals feminine charm in a most delightfully elegant way, with exquisite color and arrangement.
Charles de Groux (1825-1870, Belgian) did more than any other to bring the people of his country to an appreciation of the worth of literalism artistically manipulated, and break down the enslavement of conventionality. Humble people in their wretchedness, the poetry of sad lives, told with truth, this made his art
William Adolphe Bouguereau
{iSej- French.)
Pupil of Picot; Prix de Rome, 1850; member of Institute, 1876. Both Bouguereau and Cabanel have often been elected president of the Salon and had extended influence. It will be thus for generations doubtless, a classicist in power. Bouguereau is another little Raphael, possibly one grade higher in the scale of imitators than Cabanel. I recall with amusement the remark of one of his students, who had been enthusiastically congratulated upon his opportunity to be near such an important man: "Yes, it is good to be well launched, but I am distressingly tired of all that wax." Just here is to be found Bouguereau' s weak point. His pictures are collections of pink wax figures. Had he real greatness, this would matter little, but with few exceptions, greatness fails him.
The "Vierge Consolatrice" is impressive, decorative in a refined way, and comes very near to greatness. It was painted on the occa- sion of the death of his infant child and represents the sorrowing Vir- gin consoling a kneeling mother, while the naked infant, in an attitude plainly suggesting lifelessness, lies prone on the pavement at the foot of the group. In color, the entire work is refined to paleness, almost robbing the corpse of its appropriate whiteness. All the flesh- painting suggests wax.
Bouguereau is never by any chance the victim of accidental enthu- siasm. Every touch is studied and laid with sureness. The joke used to go around, that if he stopped to blow his nose, it cost him twenty francs, so precious was each fore-ordained instant. Beginning in the
BOUQUEEEAU — SONGS OF SPEING.
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morning at the appointed moment, he lays in a part (well learned as to amount that may be undertaken with safety) working swiftly and frankly. This accomplished, his lunch occupies an exact measure of time, after which the brushes are again applied to the "licking together" of the now sticky paint. On the morrow he knows exactly how to join this part to another then taken in hand. Nothing may be altered, for fear of disastrous effects upon the pink wax. Of course this is a studio yarn, but probably not much exaggerated. It was in 1879 that the "Birth of Venus'' (Luxembourg) appeared in the Salon — Venus standing on the sea, an attendant group of nymphs and tritons with cherubs posed about the principal figure. It was no light matter to unite in one atmosphere so many life-sized nudes. The shocking rumor circulated in the studios and cafes that Bouguereau had caught himself in a false harmony and actually had glazed one of his figures to the proper tone. Horrible thought! On varnishing day, we all ran to see the iniquity, and found no difficulty in identifying the sin- ning figure. More than anything else, this illustrates the man who never can feel the joy of exaltation. Tasteless good taste is his sin, wonderful accuracy in drawing his glory. Study in the atelier of Picot connected him directly with David's influence and more work in the Ecole des Beaux Arts did not decrease the tendency toward clas- sicism, which became absolute during his stay in Italy when he became a "Prix de Rome" (to use the studio phrase).
Besides his purely academical compositions, he has sent all over the world (especially to America where nudes have until recently been in disfavor) a great number of peasant-girl subjects. More wax, the clothes colored somewhat like the rude garments of the children of the cottager. They were made to sell; made for polite folk who did not relish the presence of his nude nymphs. These are about as sincere as the society smile with which they were intended to associate. In them he confines the nude flesh to the innocuous babes too young to wear clothes, which the artificial girls carried about for ladies to look at.
One of his best pictures is "The Satyr and Nymphs," which for
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many years hung in the Hoffman House in New York. It represents a well-rendered woodland dell where several nymphs struggle to drag a satyr into a pool. They grasp at arms, ears and hair, shouting in glee and assuming superb attitudes. In tones of flesh it excells his other works. Cabanel never equalled this picture in all his painting. Principal Works: Body of St. Cecilia Brought into the Catacombs.'La Vierge Consolatrice (Luxembourg) ; The Angel of Death, The Saytr and Nymphs.
Adolphe MonticelH (1824-1886, French) was a native of the south- east of France and, like all sons of Provence, intensely poetic. His was the sense of rhythm, pure and simple, not that of insight which leads to analysis of humanity. The ability to create harmony in sounds is a portion of the poet's gift, but by no means all that we have a right to demand. Harmony of lines and exquisite blendings of sparkling colors are a part of the painter's mission, and these are indications of a genius sufficiently rare in the world, but they are not all. As far as he attempted to go, MonticelH was an artist. In early life, his line work rhymed with Raphael. Later, the influence of Dela- croix caused him to abandon the search for rhythmic lines and to load on colors until they alone claimed attention. He felt much, but never thought profoundly.
George Fuller (1822- 1884, American) was an artist not altogether unlike MonticelH, in that feeling rather than science predominated. Having but a limited capacity for drawing, he gave himself up to expression by means of color. Fuller was poetic, but went little beyond the grade of refined versification. Many rustic figures and portraits of personages came from his easel, but painted for the sake of rhythm in color or line — being very badly drawn, as art students judge drawing. In a landscape or a face he saw only the suggestion of form, enough to cary his poetic scheme of color.
George Inness (1825- 1874, American) stands high in esteem as one who paid no attention to external materiality, but sought to cause us to dream of the rich beauties of landscape. A peculiar temperament separated him from other Americans and from his numerous imitators.
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In the mid-sixties, Inness was a spare man with thin face and very sharp eyes, his remarkable brows overhung by quantities of dark hair. The Hudson River School was then in full favor in New York, giving the people faithful representations of scenery but little affected with the impression of light on the surface of things or the painting of masses of forms for their own sake or the greater poetic aspects of nature's suggestiveness. Inness had already been abroad and fallen under the influence of the Barbizon group. He is the first one of our landscape painters to feel this influence. The others knew absolutely nothing about it. I often heard them say that Inness was a really talented man who had gone wrong in allowing himself to be led astray ,by those Frenchmen. The Hudson River men had a great contempt for anything French, largely because they knew nothing about it. Inness was greatly impressed by the beauty of the immensity of out- doors, its vastness of extent rather than the details which composed it. It was almost a forlorn hope, but there were art lovers who believed in him and in the doctrines which he maintained. The effect of the French school was already making the older American painters trem- ble for their position, and very soon the young men commenced to return from serious study abroad, and the merry war between the old and the new began.
Poets were scarce among American landscapists, and Inness was a poet, seeking to render the essence of landscape rather than its exte- rior aspects. It is needless to say that he won, that his position at the time of his death left his early detractors far below, and that his was the coming and the better art.
Principal Works: Joy After the Storm, Twilight, The Afterglow, Spring, Day in June, Sunset ; Gray Lowery Day, Pompton, N. J. ; Winter Morning, Envi- rons of Montclair ; Sunburst, Greene County ; Sunset, Montclair, N. J. ; Twilight, Medfield, Mass.
CHAPTER XI
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND THE BEGINNINGS OF IMPRESSIONISM
In France, Van Marcke, Baudry, Dore do their popular work and are followed by the impressionists with Manet. Rossetti, Burne- Jones and Millais form the Preraphaelite Brotherhood in England. Germany presents three widely-known men, Kaulbach, Boecklin and Knaus. America still produces the Hudson River School men, Church, Bierstadt and McEntee. Italy comes out of the darkness, as Morelli is born.
Frederick Edwin Church
(iSsd-igoo. American.)
That "old saw" about the prophet and his own country is by no means true in all cases. This Connecticut Yankee never visited Europe and boasted lustily of the fact, and that his art was purely American. Never was artist more popular. Considering the period in which he lived, his financial success rivals that of Alma Tadema and the late Sir John Everett Millais. A pupil of Cole, he abandoned his master's allegory, caught the popular spirit, understood the love of wonderful pictures, of scenes from strange and marvelous countries, the effect of bright colors and superabundant minutiae of forms on minds hungry for art but uneducated in art matters. His facts were stated with a positivism which admitted of no discussion as to his meaning.
Immediate success brought him the means to visit what lands he liked in search of scenery, so that in 1853 he traveled to South Amer- ica, going to a point where he could see the Andes Mountains in all their grandeur. His most famous picture, "The Heart of the Andes" (owned by Mr. David Dows, of New York), was the result of this visit, and its success was a matter for wonder. It was a composition
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THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 177
of several views. Through the packed masses of tropical verdure he opened a way for the eye to enter by introducing a little stream bor- dered by carefully studied tree trunks and all manner of vegetable growth that his ingenuity could find a place for. Over this forest the eye wandered to peak on peak of far-off mountains losing themselves in the sky far up in the heavens. It was an insufferably hard paint- ing as to textures, and still talent maintained her place in it.
In Mexico he secured the studies for his "Cotopaxi," and all the people ran to see what a volcano really was like. In the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, every visitor may study his "Niagara," the most popular rendering of that much-painted phenomenon. The fore part of this is a wide sweep of disturbed water, every wavelet drawn with absolute hardness and correctness and very metallic in texture. This ends in the edge of the nearer fall and the eye gains the face of the cascade beyond. From the edge of the fall rises a great toss of spray. Not satisfied with drawing this mighty wisp of water in correct shape, he packed its surface with numberless tiny dots of the particles of water. And so the people wondered! And so we all wonder that a picture so painted can still be effective and even impressive. Once upon a time, his artistic sense got the better of his theories. He astonished people by painting a swiftly-moving horse and buggy, the wheels glistening in the dust of the road. It was worthy of a French realist, and upset the ideas of people who imagined "picture" and "scenery" to be synonymous words. All these painters tried to out- Claude their great exemplar in placing the sun in the heavens. It was said of Church that his suns blinded the eyes. I used to hear heated discussions as to whether the sun should be represented by a pure white button of paint or a yellowish button. Of course the white was lighter but the yellowish gave greater glow. Weighty question! They all astonished the country visitors with their suns, and some city ones too. If those men had been better educated this would have been a great art period. Church ceased to paint before his style had become obsolete, which is more than can be said of Bierstadt.
Principal W(frks: Niagara (Washington) ; Cotopaxi, Heart of the Andes.
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Domenico Morelli (1826-, Italian) shows us again life in Italian art. Best known is his strikingly original "Temptation of St. Anthony," in which the poor man is having a hard time, sitting in a hovel of despair because he cannot escape temptation. From under the matting which forms his bed, bulging from the wall and concealed in every corner, he sees seductive faces smiling at him. Superb touch and exquisite coloring do not make this the equal of the old masters, but it is wonderfully clever.
Carl von Piloty (1826-1886, German) followed Kaulbach at Munich and made an extensive impression upon pupils from many lands. His drawing was fine and arrangement rather artificial according to the rules, but there was a certain nobility in the pictures, especially in his "Seni before the Corpse of Wallenstein." The picture commonly known as "The Triumph of Germanicus" shows us the victor seated upon a throne while the captives march past; the principal figure, Thusnelda, a superb German woman with noble bearing, occupying the center of interest. In the corner lie bound captives and with them a picturesque pile of trophies. All the main portion of the canvas is kept in cool light, but beyond in the background a blast of golden light envelopes everything, forming the pictorial contrast of colors. The entire arrangement is an imitation, almost a copy, of the operatic stage, lighting and all. There is an artificial theatrical arrangement of the grouping and the posturing is the same. This is Piloty's weak- est point, indicating a lack of originality and real artistic sincerity. His finish resembles that of Ger&me.
Principal Works: Triumph of Germanicus, Nero Walking among the Ruins of Rome, Mary Queen of Scots Receiving Her Sentence, The Death of Wallenstein, Galileo in Prison.
Hoeckert (1826-1866, Swedish) opened to Swedish art the render- ing of native life without anecdote more than natural events. He wisely avoided the temptation to paint history.
Arnold Boecklin (1827-1866, German), a painter of many dainty conceits, the subjects sometimes drawn from mythology and some-
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 179
times entirely original, made a great impression upon the German public. He was a powerful colorist, going to the depths of his palette, loving profound darks but always set off with a due allowance of light. It would be almost safe to call him a landscape painter, so important was this feature. But the scenes were rather fanciful than literal, though always based on a true interpretation of nature. Mass- ive cliffs, castle-crowned, beside waters of the ocean; fanciful castles hidden away amid groves of trees and near by the mythical person- ages supposed to inhabit the retreat; beautiful spring meadows with flowers in bloom and over the green herbage a swarm of doves flutter- ing. His skies were painted in full note, perhaps an expanse of fleecy clouds with peepings of the pure blue between. A pair of mermaids, in peculiar colors, sport with the gorgeously-arrayed sea serpent on the rocks by the bluest and most attractive of seas. There was the note of originality in all this which marks a strange and rare charac- ter. With all his fancies, he never departed from the probability as to literal truth. In no way was he a classicist. In fact, the entire doctrine of artificial reserve as taught by the classicists, was opposed to Boecklin's character. He was a literalist of high order, who wrought poetical ideas into his realism.
Emile Van Marcke (1827-1890, French), an imitator of Troyon, but a fine tonal painter. His cows are exactly like those invented by his master and he has but three or four of them. Frans Verhas (1827-) and Jan Verhas (1834-), Belgian, show the progress of art in their country and the abandonment of the old conventionalisms, painting children with simple incident in excellent gray colors.
Jules Breton (1827-, French), is a painter of peasants in processions of a religious nature and other matters, naturalistic though with fine style. Style is the most notable element in the painting of Breton, as it is in the painting of Piloty. Style is an artificiality, supposedly a valuable element in any art. Of course the value of this artificiality, with each critic, depends upon the taste and point of view. The over-operatic dramatics of Piloty are an offense to some. Breton is
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certainly quieter and more dignified. He is much nearer the exact attitudes of nature and his efforts to secure style are subtle and refined, which Piloty's were not.
The large picture in the Luxembourg, "Blessing the Harvest," is seemingly a reproduction of the exact appearance of the peasants in procession through the ripening wheat-fields, the village priest and his attendants, the kneeling spectators and the surrounding landscape just as they are in nature. Still there is that something we call "style" permeating all of it. He has painted many effects of the early evening with harvesters returning from the fields; each picture bathed in the subdued and rich color of the twilight.
Single figures of peasants, natural while each is a goddess — these are manifestations of his sense of style. His "Song of the Lark" (Art Institute of Chicago) shows a single figure. She is rude but dignified, and marches like a Greek statue as with head erect she listens to the skylark, herself a ponderous but elastic bird. This is a high order of art.
Principal Works: Song of the Skylark (Art Institute, Chicago) ; Blessing the Harvest, Last Sunbeam, Les Glaneuses, The Pardon.
Adolf Schreyer (1828-, German) was a pupil of the art school in his native town, Frankfort. Though his constant success has tended to make him careless in picture-making, some of the representations of Arab horsemen and wild horses in exciting conditions have been remarkable. In subject he is inclined toward too much melodramatic action, but he has an unusual command of grave, rich tone.
Principal Works: Artillery Attacked by Prussian Hussars, Battle Near Wag- hausel, Cossack Horses, Charge of Artillery, Cuirassiers' Attack, Lunisian Cavalry, Arabs Resting, Arabs Retreating, Watering Place, Wallachian Teamsters, Danger, Arabs on the March, Arab Scout. The last seven and a number of others are in the United States.
Albert Bierstadt
(iS28-igo2. American.) Diisseldorf was full of reminiscences of Bierstadt thirty years ago. Up on the hill, perhaps two miles away, may be seen the little village
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM i8i
of Solingen, where knives are made and marked as genuine "Shef- field" for the American market, and there the painter saw the light. Diisseldorf was nearly all art academy in those days and its inhabit- ants rented lodgings to art students. The boy Albert was taken to America, but in the course of time he returned to become an art stu- dent in the city near his birthplace. Judging by the anecdotes, he was too far along in his painting to enter the academy as a beginner, and thus failed of the severe drill which would have been good for him.
If his touch had been firmer and his knowledge of form more sure, Bierstadt might have maintained himself until now. On the other hand, his prosperity turned to his downfall because the enormous prices given him startled the public into alertness, which revealed to it that there was greater art to be had for less money. It was the sale of the "Domes of the Yosemite, " for ^35,000, at that time an unheard- of figure, which marked the beginning of the end.
The young men of America were forming the habit of serious study in Europe and after some years they began to return with a better-sus- tained manner of working, because they actually studied instead of looking about aimlessly. Church had already ceased to exhibit, and it had been better for Bierstadt had he followed his example. The public relegated him to obscurity. Perhaps another development hastened his decline — the importation of much European art by the picture dealers. This was not all excellent, but some of it was of the best.
Not satisfied with scenery in the mountains of the Atlantic coast, and knowing well his patrons' tastes, Bierstadt accompanied General Lander to the Rocky Mountains on an exploring expedition. With the studies then gathered he painted, in 1863, the large "Lander's Peak" (six by ten feet) and exhibited it in many of the cities in the eastern states with success. Later came "The Storm in the Rocky Mountains," an equally large work. The motive for this was found not far from the location of the present city of Georgetown, Col. I have been on the spot and know well how much he idealized the locality. His picture was geologically an impossibility. People dis- covered this, and resented the liberties he had taken with nature, so
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much so that scandal said that "his faith was of the kind which moved mountains." His last huge canvas was the "Domes of the Yosemite," a weak work considering its size, the foreground overloaded with min- ute details to the injury of the feeling of immensity in the lofty cliffs. Still, the critics spoke in warm praise of his "sincerity" in the fore- ground manipulation.
While Bierstadt was in Europe (1853-7) Millet and Rousseau were building up the fame of the Barbizon School; but the German-Ameri- can did not know anything about that. However, the Boston artist, Wm. M. Hunt, left Diisseldorf and went to Barbizon to study with Millet just at this time, and such men as he pulled Bierstadt from his high pedestial. Turner died the year before Bierstadt went to study in Diisseldorf, and this was the period of the growth of Preraphaeli- tism. In Diisseldorf the strongest influence in landscape was Andreas Achenbach, and Lessing was also something of a power. Bierstadt came in direct contact with these men.
Principal Works : Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak ; Valley of the Yosemite ; Emerald Pool ; Mt. Whitney ; Mt. Corcoran, Sierra Nevada (Corcoran Gallery, AVashington) ; Discovery of Hudson River (Capitol at Washington).
Jervis McEntee (1828-1891, American) was far more advanced in technical ability and knowledge of color management than the others of his school. He felt the beauty and poetry of late autumn bet- ter than the others. He was the first to dwell on the tender effects of that moment when trees are nearly naked but some rich colors still cling to the picturesque branches. In "1866, when the American pic- tures which had been exhibited in the exposition at Paris came home, they were placed on view at the Academy in New York, and one by McEntee attracted special attention. Beneath it were the words: "The melancholy days have come. The saddest of the year. Of wailing winds, and naked woods, And meadows brown and sere." It was then the fashion to label paintings with verses — an appeal to the world which still saw only literature in pictures. We owe the
RossETTi — The Blessed Damosel.
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 183
escape from this habit to the French, who considered the art of pic- ture-making as superior to the art of poetry.
Another of McEntee's pictures showed a mountain (Catskills) not very far off, the head capped by a heavy white cloud, superbly ren- dered, while all the land, with its tangle of naked brush and young trees, suggested the coming of an early snow flurry. This effect, which has been so much studied of late was then quite new, and these pictures manifested originality and artistic feeling, as well as force of execution. While painting with a forceful brush, McEntee under- stood the art of subordination of details to general effect.
Principal Works: Old Mill in Winter, Autumn Day, Woodpath, Winter in the Mountains, Edge of the Wood, Valley of the Humboldt, Shadows of Autumn, Winter Morning.
THE PRERAPHAELITE MOVEMENT Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882, English) was a strange man. It is more correct to denominate him "strange" than original. It is difficult to find in him strength of character and certainly physical strength did not exist. The Italian blood inherited from his father must be taken into account. The Italians of the nineteenth century were spirited, intellectual, poetical, tender, but not especially inventive or strong in character. Rossetti invented nothing but a woman with a long neck, which may or may not be beautiful. All artists dream of making themselves original. Those who have the divine flame upon their foreheads make a success of their attempts at originality, and their number is few. Rossetti dreamed in his turn of being original. English art was in a pretty deep sleep, and he fancied that h^ could awaken it. The way to do that was to make a success in an entirely new style of painting. Rossetti was not the man to invent a new style, but he could imitate a long-lost one, giving it some new flavors. Perhaps this was enough originality. But Turner and Constable were really original, Menzel is very original, so were Monet and Leonardo da Vinci. These men were original without searching for it as Ros- setti searched. They were so from unconscious originality of charac- ter; Rossetti from intention and with conscious forethought. It may
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sound very Irish, but I think the only originality about Rossetti was his strangeness. That was original because he could not help being strange. His character was an unhealthy contrast to the Englishmen of full blood about him. The English have always been susceptible to the influence of these strange individuals, just as we are. We all love to be mystified and this man was mysterious.
He came just as the English people were ripe for something, no matter what, so long as it was different. The country was tired of its lifeless art. Any new thing was welcomed as soon as they found out that it promised to be respectable, and also was sufficiently extreme to prove attractive. Millet of Barbizon was purely sincere, but Rossetti was only half way sincere. He was sincere in his dislike of the story- telling art of England and sincere in his disgust with the classical prettiness of much French art. He loved the quaintness and purity of the pictures by Botticelli and Lippi; so he determined to imitate them. It was imitation pure and simple, scarcely a spark of orig- inality in it. He was actuated by no unconscious mentality, by some- thing which he could no more help than a fish can help swimming. The style of Lippi and Botticelli was adopted because it was the best thing he could think of and because he liked its quaint directness. His Italian feeling for sensuous beauty saved him from failure with the public. One of the strangenesses of Rossetti was his habit of saying and doing things that nobody understood clearly. Nothing catches the bluff, practical Englishman so much as a suggestion of deep thought only half expressed, and we are made in the same way. We turn eagerly from the dry hardness of life to anything which has a flavor of the spirit land, even when it means nothing well defined to us. It is because we cannot explain it that we love its sensationalism.
The good which came from Preraphaelitism is found in the renewed attention to those beautiful old pictures which the world had overlooked so many years, and the taste for the quaint which has entered into our decorations, our artistic utensils and furniture. All our furnishings were in confusion; senseless copies of styles little understood by the makers. The public was indifferent to the sort of
RossETTi — Beata Beatrix.
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 185
decoration the professionals gave it and the whole thing was as stupid as the life of a lord. Following the new movement, after it had ceased to be a practiced manner of picture-making, came a long line of art-workers in every kind of decorative article, all in the sentiment of the long-ago. Finally this became original design, so that at this day we see some superb designs, not copies, but affected by the study of old fashions. Even if some of this is bad, much of it is excellent. William Morris would have had no opportunity but for the movement of the Preraphaelite Brotherhood.
One of the amusing circumstances connected with this develop- ment of art was the appeal to the brutal feeling for honest truth which the English people cherish as their most sacred birthright. It is an element of character to be admired, cherished, and counted upon in those emergencies in life which try men's souls. But holy as is this quality, it leads to amusing results when an art question is under dis- cussion. Only a limited number of the British "know themselves in art" — they wish to be told what to admire. The art which really appeals to them tells a pretty story, or a mystical one. But as Rus- kin had to convince the British public that Turner really was truthful before they would have anything to do with him, so when Rossetti had convinced them that the art of the Preraphaelites was something more truthful than any other, everything was smooth sailing. The public was captivated with the idea that at last there was "truth" in art, something until then doubted. This uprising of a sincere people to acclaim these heroes of sincerity was amusing. As if the dry truth could ever be great art! All art is simply art, something made to create an impression, awaken feeling, existing for the sake of expressing emotion, and not as a literal statement of facts. Those men went into the fields determined to capture every detail of nature and record its qualities as if they were topographical engineers or botanists. The elements of broad statement, largeness of sensation, suggestiveness and fine line were ignored. The strained effort which they made never entered into the calculations of the painters previous to Raphael. Those primitives painted as they did because that was
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all that they knew how to produce, not from any notions about the morality of truth-telling. They were sincere men who saw no more than a few plain facts, which they used as adjuncts to their sensational madonnas. The later Preraphaelites went to nature year after year, at the same season, in the same weather, in order to set down the facts just as they existed, nothing omitted or slighted. Of course they secured only hardness, dryness and stupid materiality. This could have no other result than the one which eventuated — a tired public and deserters from this sacred "Brotherhood."
Rossetti imitated Diirer without his nobility and Botticelli with the charm of that really honest painter omitted. I am not accusing these men of the "Brotherhood" of dishonesty. Their intentions were serious and they really thought themselves apostles of better things. All honor to them — mistaken partiots in art.
Anyone can paint pictures, if he have an all-round talent. Cer- tain men are born for no other purpose, are preeminently artists first and always. What is an art education? Special training, which occasionally injures a genius, but more often develops his abilities. In educating an artist, the first essential is to allow him to draw forms, preferably the human figure, under the disciplining influence of some one who will insist upon absolute accuracy, force of expression, grace, the peculiar effect of one line on another and the "construc- tion" of things, especially of the human head and figure. "Construc- tion" means more than simply a knowledge of anatomy. It means something about solids and their relations to each other; a matter hard to explain to one not an artist. It is difficult of attainment, very difficult. Education also means a knowledge of the relations of colors and how to use them with proper force, and this is also a long study. Pigments are curious materials. One artist can do strange things with them which another utterly fails to comprehend, and of course can- not imitate at all.
Of all these matters Rossetti showed himself strangely ignorant. Yet no one knows about it who lacks training. Though rather weak and uneducadet in art, Rossetti attacked the most difficult problems
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while utterly unprepared to cope with them. All that he brought to the task was good intentions and poetic feeling. Of these there was an abundance, and these saved the art from utter negativeness. The man behind the brush was a poet, and that made a difference.
His best picture is the "Beata Beatrix," in the National Gallery, London. Beatrix is a-dying; she sits on a balcony (overlooking the valley of the Arno, bathed in golden light) and the body suggests well the languid relaxation of the coming end. Into the relaxing hands a rose-colored dove, halo-crowned, drops the emblematic poppy. In the background, Dante and a female figure are seen, one passing away, one following — the echoed suggestion of the feelings of a lover about to lose his loved one and moved to attempt to follow into the other world.
Bad as is this picture from the point of view of the artist of any serious training, it carries a certain power from suggestiveness alone. Fortunately, the drawing is no worse than weak and the color is inoffensive, which is more than can be said of much of his work.
Principal Works: Annunciation, Beata Beatrix (London); Dante's Vision (Liverpool); Girlhood of the Virgin, Proserpina, The Blessed Damosel, Sibylle Palmifer, Vision o£ Fiammetta, Found, Ecce Ancilla Domini, Lady Lilith, La Pia.
Paul Baudry (1828-1886, French) painted the decorations in the famous Paris opera house in a style which has commanded admiration for its pure classicism.
Principal Work: The Wave and the Pearl (New York).
Alfred Stevens (1828-), said to be a Belgian but always living in Paris and more French than the natives, touches his interiors with the personality of handsome modern women with marvelous cleverness. Stevens was one of the first to reveal the influence of Japanese art upon European painting. His figures of beautiful women were nat- ural though drawn with a fine style. What style is in literature is hard to describe and what it is in art still more difificult of definition. But this art had style, a certain noble something which differentiated it. All his forms were broadly rendered, never cut up for the sake of
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useless details. This he acquired from the study of the fine old Japanese pictures and prints. Also, his color was reserved and reduced to that refined play of quiet tones found in the finest of the old Japanese masters. We do not see it usually in the cheaper prints which, unfortunately too often confront us. The art of Japan which has influenced such men as Stevens and Whistler is found only in museums and private collections.
Principal Works: Masquerade on Ash Wednesday (Marseilles) ; Consolation (Berlin); Lady in Pink (Brussels) ; Conversation, By the Shore (New York); At the Railway Station (Art Institute, Chicago); The Visit; Innocence; Miss Fauvette.
Paul E. Gabriel ( 1 828-, Danish) does luminous, spaceful landscapes and good ones. Richard Bergh (1828-, Swedish) is a fine figure painter. Christoffel Bisschop (1828, Dutch) paints interiors of Friesland with simple truth and distinct forms, rendering old furniture so that we can examine its decoration easily.
Ludwig Knaus (1829-, German), for a long time a professor in Diisseldorf in its palmy days, but called to Berlin by the emperor, was a sincere painter of domestic genre, sweet perhaps but well exe- cuted. His "As the Old Sung so Twitter the Young," several tables set in the open air, the front one seated about with children beauti- fully rendered, will keep his name green for many years.
Knaus paints in a style quite unlike the modern French — though a considerable time was spent in Paris, where he was deservedly well thought of — in that his German temperament found its way to influ- ence his manner of painting. There is a glassiness and lack of solidity in the touch, though no detail is omitted. In the picture mentioned, he gives us the texture and makeup of the childrens' clothes with a faithfulness quite German. Indeed, his faithfulness would not admit of any neglect of minute and unimportant matters. It would have been easy for him to conceal the childrens' feet under the table, but not one of them is neglected. Every shoe is painted with the same care bestowed upon the faces This may or may not
Knaus — The Holt Family.
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 189
be considered an artistic virtue; but it pleases his patrons, the Ger- man public, who worship his name and fame.
Principal Works: Children's Festival (Berlin); Holy Family, None but the Cats (Metropolitan Museum, New York).
Thomas Hill (1829-, American) is still living in San Francisco. With many paintings of the Forest of Fontainebleau, but especially California scenes, Hill is nearly the last of the "scenery painters" of note. Unlike Bierstadt and Church, whose reputations suffered because of a certain scandalous suggestion that they were not truth tellers about those marvels in out of the way places, Hill reproduced every spot just as it actually appeared. His views of the Yosemite Valley were literal transcripts, and certainly he found the material quite marvelous enough. He was a bolder brushman than either of the others, but less fascinating. However, there was no lack of dol- lars to his credit. In his hay-day, the fashion for imported art had scarcely taken hold of the public. In these days, no American painter commands the prices frequently paid for European pictures. In some cases this has been an injustice, but it must be remembered that some extraordinary pictures from over the water are housed in America and their influence has been the making of our art.
Anselm Feurbach (1829-1880, German) was a Diisseldorf man who tired of the sweetness of that school and went to the studio of Couture in Paris, afterward producing a quite noble art, semi-religious, semi-classical.
Principal Works: Dante with the Women of Ravenna, Iphigenia in Aulic, The Banquet of Plato.
Victor Muller (1829-1871, German), also a student with Couture^ found in Victor Hugo and Faust his inspiration, and made cartoons from Shakespeare's works. William Lindenschmidt (1829-1895, German) was a Munich professor who had an excellent influence by painting history and classical subjects in a semi-realistic manner. Benjamin Vautier (1829-1898, Swiss) rivaled Knaus at Diisseldorf, but
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was not as beautiful a painter of genre, though much sought after. Jean Jacques Henner (1829-, French) is a Prix de Rome man who has given to the world numberless nude nymphs with red hair set in a deep-toned landscape of enamel colors. Cool flesh and entire inno- cence of sensualism make his art delightful though not great. Paul Dubois, the father of the noble line of French sculptors, was born in this year.
Principal Works: Fabiola, Idyl, Naiad, Good Samaritan, Cha.ste Susanna (Luxembourg); Biblis, Madeleine, Andromeda.
Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896, English) began in the Pre- raphaelite movement, but was not one of the sincere advocates of its principles. He soon painted in a larger manner, though still pretty careful of the details. Later in life his brushwork was large and bold. As a portrait painter, he had magnificent success and commanded enormous prices. Many anecdotic pictures came from his easel. The English loved him, as he was a fine specimen of the nationality. At the time of his death he w;as president of the Royal Academy.
Millais' "Chill October" is a careful rendering of one of those commonplace subjects which many artists overlook, only some grassy foreground with the land broken by pools of water and this reaching out into the quiet distance. He worked at it in the chill weather at the spot where it existed as an actuality, and rendered the spears of grass and every detail of foliage with the conscience of a true Preraphaelite. There is, however, a sincere rendering of nature, as he had already commenced to draw away from the needless artificialities of that school. Possibly a colored photograph would have answered the pur- pose equally well, however. One of his most popular pictures, "A Flood", shows us the country in time of inundation, the wildness of the overflowing waters well rendered and in the principal plan a cradle bearing safely its crowing occupant — an unguided bark, except as Providence guides the helpless.
Principal Works: Christ in the Home of His Parents, The Huguenot Lovers, Boy Princes in the Tower, Chill October, Over the Hills and Far Away, Yes or No,
J. E. MiLLAis — Effie Deane.
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 191
Portrait of Gladstone, The Ornithologist, Mercy, Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru, Grandfather and Child, Mariana in the Moated Grange, Ophelia, A Flood, Hearts are Trumps, Northwest Passage, Stitch — Stitch — Stitch.
H. S. Marks (1829-, English) is a satirist in a way.
Sir Frederick Leighton (1830-1896, English) was the most notable president of the Royal Academy in recent times. Though a man of remarkable education and polished manners, he was not a strong character. The president should be such an one. Geniuses of great individuality have no place in the office. His drawing was elegant and correct, but not at all strong. Carefully treated color did not make him a great colorist. As the English are impressed with classical art, he invented a somewhat original style of classics. Smooth painting is popular and elegance commands large prices, as Leighton's pictures did. His home was a palace with its furnishings and fittings of his own designing, and the best work of art from his talent. He will not be ranked among the great artists of the world. Such frozen elegance never is.
Principal Works Cimabue's Madonna Carried in Triumph through Florence (Bought by the Queen in 1855); The Odalisque, Michael Angelo with His Dying Servant, Perseus and Andromeda, Rizpah, Garden of the Hesperides, Persephone, Bath of Psyche.
Louis Dubois (1830-1880, Belgian) painted nude women about as refined as those of Courbet, whose influence moved him. Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831-, Dutch) stands at the head of powerful marine painters. Like all his countrymen, he is moved by the serious moods of nature, loving the stern aspects of the sea, which his vigorous touch renders naturally and with extraordinary sense of the weight of the waters. Until forty years of age, he followed the business of banking and accumulated wealth. Henry Moore (183 1-, English) follows sea painting, but otherwise than the Hollander just mentioned. His pic- tures are pretty true but mannered and not very strong.
Principal Works of Mesdaj';: Strand near Scheveningen (Amsterdam) ; Sunrise on Dutch Coast (Rotterdam); Fish Market in Groningen; Collision; Looking for Anchors After Storm, North Sea ; Arrived.
192 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Emile Adelard Breton (1831-, French), a younger brother and pupil of Jules Breton, paints deep-toned and dignified landscapes, usually winter scenes, rich twilights and gray days, motives selected in the villages of his native north country on the coast of France. His range is somewhat limited, but his color is so profound and tonal that he produces a most poetic effect and has no relationship with the pretty technicians about him in the exhibitions.
Casada del Alisal (1832-1886, Spanish) shows how Spain returned to life in art matters, intensely clever in handling but repulsive and sensational in motive, quantities of headless corpses, the severed heads in view and pools of blood flowing. The Spanish liked the sub- ject and the artists liked the workmanship. Johannes Leonardus Hubertus Da Haas (1832-1900, Belgian) modeled cattle in paint, as it were; one of the strongest brushmen producing these subjects. His color though not rich is sufficiently natural, Leon Joseph Florentine Bonnat (1833-, French) almost paints sculpture, so vigorously modeled are his figures and so strong in light and shade. Also, he likes to have them on a midnight background. He draws superbly, renders every wrinkle relentlessly but correctly, and gives his figures a noble style. Portrait painting has made him famous, but he has pro- duced as well numerous religious pictures and decorations. On the younger (the present) generation the influence has been extended and good. As a colorist he is not entirely agreeable. Amandus Nilson (1833-, Norwegian) was brought up in the Diisseldorf School, but abandoned its mannerisms when again in his own couritry, painting simple barren lands, which became real and pathetic under his brush. He did not reproduce the lofty heights and the deeps of the fiords. Vassili Perov (1833-1882, Russian) attempted to preach politics (in paint) as the times seemed to call for it.
Principal' Works of Bonnat: Samson Slaying the Lion.
Gustave Paul Dore (1833-1883, French) created an immense stir in England and America, but the French never took him seriously. Many have pointed to his honors as proof that he stood high in the
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L. BoNNAT — Martyrdom of St. Denis.
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 193
estimation of his countrymen, but he did not command many, and never the coveted highest distinctions; a matter which ruined his happiness and embittered his dying moments.
No man with the genius of this artist could escape glory and the enthusiastic approval of the people, but Dore was not content to "stick to his muttons," to produce that which he could do better than anyone else had done. His ambition called for glory and, to attain it, he attempted great historical and religious pictures, which his lack of training and his temp^erament both forbade. As a boy, he was well educated, but not in art. When still in his 'teens he happened to go to Paris and showed some hastily made drawings to a publisher, who at once engaged him at a good salary to do illustrative work. Thus, without any serious training, his career was begun and continued with great industry until his death. The French always called him "Dor6 the caricaturist," which hurt his feelings. But it was not a slight, for he was a caricaturist. Probably the best work of his life was the illustrations of Don Quixote. His illustrations of Dante made an impression, but not upon artists. Artists sorrowed to see such good ideas so badly executed. He had ideas in abundance, in shoals, in floods, his thoughts evolved designs, striking ones, and so rapidly that even his remarkable industry could not keep up with them.
Many salons were adorned, or disgraced, with enormous oil paint- ings, chiefly with religious subjects. Artists wondered why he painted them. It was to gain the medals and honors which never came; nor had he a right to expect them. With color at the best indifferent, with drawing that made even the boys in the schools laugh, and with a certain strange lack of dignity in his treatment, he could not expect to win medals.
The series of illustrations of life in London is a curious commen- tary upon the lack of training. With much effect of bigness in the presentation of the city, he does not show a single characterful face, not one. He could not use a model and made everything from memory. As a consequence, his personages were characterless. But his ability to give human expression to animals was boundless, and
194 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
the dramatic element in his illustrations impressed people who were not very particular, as better studied work would not have done. This was his claim to glory. It brought him great wealth instead.
"Christ Leaving the Prstorium," seventeen by twenty-three feet, is his best religious picture. Had it better technique and better color, it would be almost great. The "Neophyte" stands as his best work. It is eight by ten feet in size and represents two rows of monks in the choir of a church during service. Most of them are brutes, but the youngest, an intellectual youth, has just waked up to the appreciation of the stupidity of his surroundings. Simple and direct as is this story, it borders on caricature, because he has overdone the stupidity of the monks to make contrast with the intelligence of the youth.
A great many of these religious pictures are gathered in London, in what is known as the Dor6 Gallery.
Principal Works: Designs for Don Quixote, The Wandering Jew, Dante's Inferno, and Tennyson's Poems; Dante and Virgil in the Frozen Hell, Christ Leaving the Prsetorium, The Dream of Pilate's Wife.
Sir Edward Burne- Jones (1833-1898, English), the follower of Rossetti, was educated at Oxford for the church. He did not finish his collegiate course because the pictures of Rossetti came under his notice, and Holman Hunt's "Light of the World." A meeting with Rossetti determined his life work. The latter advised him not to study in any art school, fearing the influence of severe classical train- ing upon his poetic nature. In the condition of English art schools at the time, perhaps this did no harm. For many years, though con- tinually producing pictures and decorations, he did such needlessly bad things that they had no excuse for existence. During a long expe- rience and with much industry his drawing became refined and some- times subtle, though never by any means strong or masterful. All that has been said of Rossetti' s influence on the British and American pub- lic may be said of this artist. His frank imitation of the masters previous to Raphael, such as Botticelli or Angelico, gave him means to indulge in mysticism and develop his sentiment for decoration.
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THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 195
His studious and painful elaboration of draperies reminds one of Sir Frederick Leighton's work; both of doubtful vitality. It is a forced artificiality inclined to weakness, and will not compare for dignity and grace with the same work by the best Renaissance artists or by the real Preraphaelites.
The array of figures standing on the opposite side of a pool and admiring their fair proportions, called "Venus' Mirror," has been greatly admired and it certainly has elements of beauty. Regarded purely as a decoration it would be unjust to demand greater truthful- ness; indeed all decoration has a right to be artificial, as it is an arrangement purely for formal space-filling with graceful lines.
Principal Works: The Venus Mirror, The Golden Stairs, Flamma Vestalis, King Cophetua, Briar Rose.
THE IMPRESSIONISTS
In the year 1880, in Paris, I had the pleasure of examining one of the first exhibitions of the new society calling itsplf "The Impressionists." The French, quick to see the ridiculous side of everything, laughed at it more heartily than at any new thing for a long time. As none of us knew what it meant, or how serious it was to become, as we had no idea what we were expected to see, the affair seemed a farciful eccen- tricity. We saw only long lines of pale colors, seemingly crude, lack- ing in "tone" and that "fatness" to which we had become accustomed and which we thought essential to good painting. We did not ask for finish, but this daubing was a little too much for our comfort. Of course, the first noticeable thing was the purple or violet shadow cast by every object in sunlight. The following day, I made a second visit, got my eyes accustomed to the glaring effects and went away much impressed with the sincerity, and especially the truthfulness of many elements previously considered as only eccentricities. Most of all, I found out that the sun shone in these landscapes as I had never seen it shine on canvas before, and the air seemed to vibrate wonder- fully. With apologetic timidity, I approached my master, asking him to express himself. Much to my relief and astonishment, he had
196 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
noted the same elements and then and there predicted the coming influence of this movement.
We had been accustomed to see pictures carefully arranged as to the placing of objects, so as to produce an agreeable effect upon the senses, i e., semi-classical composition. Here, arrangement seemed to have been abandoned utterly. It was as if one should put up his two hands before his face and paint anything which happened to appear between them. It was as if one had looked sharply at a bit of nature without any forethought and then turned his back at once and painted all that he could remember of it, stopping when his memory was exhausted. There were heads half in the canvas, half out of it, right in front with all the world beyond hinted at in a wonderful manner. Lingering distinctly in my memory are interiors of railway stations, all in luminous shadow, with many trains, the smoke reach- ing up in curiously but truthfully managed volume — all this in shadow and the sun shining brilliantly on the buildings far away at the extremity of the train-house opening. Nothing was very plainly defined, but the "impression" of sunshine and shadow was magnifi- cently rendered. The selection of motives was unheard of — views along the bridges across the river Seine, with people walking through the smoke and steam thrown across the roadway by a passing steam- boat, and that same brilliant sunshine over it all. How they did glimmer and how purple the shadows were! At once we began to search nature for these truths, and of course we at once found them; or, at least, we found hints of their existence. But this manner of managing light influenced everyone who worked from nature directly, and it eventually permeated the entire output of the art world. Not that everyone became an impressionist, but that things were inevi- tably changed by this new influence.
Edouard Manet
{1833-1883. French.) .
Manet was a man of serious convictions. He despised the conven- tionalities of life, considering them no better than trammels on the
BtraNE-JoNBS — The Golden Stajb.
THE PRERAPHAELITES AND IMPRESSIONISM 197
free expression of all that made a man manly. His feeling was that no person had the right to encumber himself with fashions and man- ners which had become simply useless and harmful embarrassments upon his naturalness and the spontaneous giving out of his valuable ideas. I have never heard that he made a bad use of this liberty; he was a man of excellent habits, an earnest worker, a thoroughly artistic temperament, and one who never cried aloud in the streets. In no way did he insist upon forcing his personality upon the world except as an artist, and upon that he did insist. To him, the rules of painting were as smoke in the nostrils. There could be no rules for the living expression of the impression which nature made upon him. Anyone who reads Emerson's lectures will see how strongly that great writer felt in the same way. Emerson wrote as Manet talked. It is possible that Rossetti felt in the same way; but he could not use his feeling to advantage. Manet was a born painter; Rossetti a born poet, a literary not a painter man. Manet learned his technique at once; Rossetti never learned his at all. Manet's technique was not that taught in the schools, but it was a firm, bold manner of laying his paint, not a weak and bedraggled manner like that of the English-Italian. Most of all, Manet saw the "values" in nature with astonishing accuracy. Ros- setti never imagined that there were any values as he struggled to represent every unimportant minute detail in the bushes, and painted the cannon on a far-off fortress so that the big gun sat on the ear of the unfortunate saint in the immediate foreground. All Manet's can- non went back where they belonged and tormented no saints, however closely they happened to be juxtaposed on the canvas.
Manet believed sincerely in the joy of living, and to him to live was to paint nature as she revealed herself to him, and never was nature kinder to man. She sat down beside him as he worked and took him into her confidence as she does only those who are worthy. Geniuses are the children of nature, her own, and they are possibly better untaught except by their own indulgent mother. I am not say- ing that a certain amount of instruction tarnishes genius, because it needs to know what the world has already accomplished before it
igS THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
came. But sometimes it is not well that an artist remain too .ong under the taming influence of regulations. Yet genius will have its own, however it is at first tied down; so perhaps it makes no differ- ence in the result. Manet did not lack school training, but he sub- mitted to less of it than was customary in France.
As Edouard Manet had found out a new truth m nature's aspect, his congenial fellow worker, Claude Monet, pushed the investigation still farther, discovering the principles of light effects. Heretofore, artists had attempted to create an effect of light by means of very dark contrasts of shade. Monet observed that all shadows were very luminous, so he sought to keep all objects in shadow quite light and produce the effect of brilliant light by other means. Monet invented the purple shadows. Manet never used them.
Pigments have no light of their own; only the sun has light, and all outdoors has light because directly under the sun. A spot of paint becomes comparatively light if surrounded with dark paint, but dark paint is dull and heavy, while nature is luminous. If one attempt to paint shades with light colors, the lighted parts necessary for the contrast approach white, which has no color. Herein every artist has found his hard-to-solve problem of light effects.
Manet did not receive any recognition from the salon until his forty-first year, and then because his supporters insisted. It was in 1881. Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1882.
Principal Works: Man Drinking Absinthe, The Breakfast on the Grass ; Olym- pia (Luxembourg, Paris); Nana, Boy with a Sword (Metropolitan Museum, New York); Christ Insulted by Soldiers, Good Bock Beer, Railway, The Lion Hunter, The Fifer, A Bar at the Folies Bergeres, Spanish Dancers.
H. W. Mesdag — The Beach at Scheveningen.
CHAPTER XII
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART
In France we find Degas, Lefebvre, Carolus-Duran, Laurens. England's list grows longer — William Morris, Poynter, Hunt, Forbes, Orchardson, Alma-Tadema. America has now almost completely turned a new leaf, with Whistler, La Farge, Martin and Homer. Three remarkable men distinguish Germany — Gebhardt, Defregger, Lenbach. Belgium becomes more noticeable with Hermans. In Holland, Maris and Mauve are fine painters. Fortuny breaks the spell in Spain.
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas
{iSs4 — French. )
In temperament. Degas is in many respects the most artistic indi- vidual that history deals with. He is not at all widely known and he has no desire to be. Satisfied with a modest patrimony, only art interests him. His horror of a newspaper writer shuts his door and his mouth at the suspicion of approach. This seems to be very genuine and not an affectation. It has always been difficult to secure information regarding his art and his personality. He hates exhibi- tions, never allowing anything to go before the public unless sent in by a dealer who had purchased the work. The dealers also appre- ciate that this art is for the few and above the comprehension of gal- lery visitors.
Most people consider it shockingly ugly; artistically-inclined people look upon it as marvelous. Both are right. If it is difficult to point out the artistic qualities of his pictures when standing in front of them, what can I say in cold words? Subtlety of artistic expres- sion, keenness of observation, rudeness of execution with astonishing command of sensitive line, and all this bestowed on a subject which
199
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offends my lady's sensibilities. Never at any time approaching inde- cency, he is still anything but elegant. He loves strange effects — whatever he can find that has never been attempted before. The ugliest old woman, bending at her toilet saTis habiliments, is rendered in a subtle way unequalled by the greatest painters of the world. This statement is exactly correct and not exaggerated. There is a rude poetry in it not unlike that of Walt Whitman. As Whitman is not agreeable to many sensitive women and some men, so Degas is likewise no companion for varnished veneering. He stands alone in his art, without forebears or followers, and heroically indifferent to praise or blame so long as the world allows to his genius untram- melled expression. No one has defined "indecency." The word is used too loosely. This I can say: in no case has Degas painted any- thing to produce a blush, though he often paints scenes which many would draw the curtain over because they are unseemly. But who dares insist that the finest lessons in art or literature may not be con- veyed in matters which respectability would veil? Respectability has more sins to answer for than Degas.
His more commonly seen pictures are of ballet girls, sometimes behind the footlights, at other times in the practice hall. Other men, who have presented the life behind the scenes, have pictured the coquetry popularly supposed to prevail there. Degas shows us these hard-working girls as they actually are— tired, bored, often plain, pot- tering over their troublesome stockings or adjusting a needed pin to prevent a toilet catastrophy. No one is plagued with foolish stuffs- painting or elaborated textures. He gives only the impression, the glance of the eye, quickly observed and indicated by mere spots of color; astonishingly correct spots, impressions caught at a glance on moving figures.
What elevating influence has this on the soul? Who proves to us that art was invented to elevate anything? Art is expression, the outcome of a desire to reproduce the impression made by some scene. If the skilled man feels strongly moved, the effort at expression is art. When any one undertakes to make art by rule, thinking only about
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 201
the proprieties, the result is mechanics, unworthy the name of art. Judged by this standard, Degas \% great.
In one picture he represents a large hall, the grim dance-master training the girls who are arranged in a long row along the wall, each with her foot on a rail. It is like a company of soldiers at squad drill. Elements of awkwardness are keenly observed, the personality noted. Another shows all the girls balancing together in a straight line down the space. Each stands with one leg outstretched, in the perspective of approach until the last figure is outside the frame and only an extended foot appears to indicate its presence. This trick of cutting things off in a peculiar manner gives piquancy remarkably well managed, as when the heads of all the ballet corps are cut off, while the heads of the musicians appear below; thus the floor of the stage is the center of the picture, suggesting that a ballet is an affair of legs and orchestra; or these girls in gauzy costumes are balanc- ing just over the footlights, so that the light shines upward penetrating the thin stuff, catching under chins, noses, brows and ears — a most interesting and startling effect which every one has seen time and again, but no one has had the wit to reproduce, except Degas. Noth- ing excites his contempt as much as the endless repetition of hack- neyed subjects indulged in by artists of mediocre ability. Anything but the vulgarity of the commonplace is his motto.
Early influenced by the polished art of Ingres, whose pupil he was, he imitated his style in a series of pictures of pretty shop girls. The race-track also furnished material for character-painting, both men, women and horses. But the advent of the refined Japanese art revealed to him a new point of view; so his is a Frenchman's render- ing of Japanese sentiment, though oriental technique finds no place in it. Japanese art and Edouard Manet were the influences which developed his genius.
"To pass through the world unobserved by those who cannot understand him — that is, by the crowd — and to create all the while an art so astonishingly new and so personal that it will defy imitator, competitor, or rival, seems to be his ambition, if so gross a term can
202 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
be used without falsifying the conception of his character. For Degas seems without desire of present or future notoriety," says George Moore.
He painted in oils, until watercolors and pastels offered a more facile material for the rapid expression of his feelings. Feel he must; without this sense of urgency no art is art to him. He some- times begins in watercolors, continues in gouache and finishes in oils, even adding to this with touches with pen and ink. At one time, lithography interested him and his prints were often finished with pas- tels, and rare art he made in this way. When we remember how diffi- cult, almost superhuman, originality in art is. Degas' genius seems astonishing. Any fool can imitate Degas, but it will not hurt this master in the least. There can be but one Degas. In his paintings of the nude there is no suggestion that the woman is posing to be looked at, as is usual with nudes. George Moore speaks truth when he says that "Degas now occupies the most enviable position an artist can attain — if the highest honor is to obtain the admiration of your fellow-workers. That honor has been bestowed on Degas."
It is difficult to obtain any information about the parentage of this man, because of his reticence. It is probable that his family was fairly wealthy, as he parted with a considerable fortune to relieve the necessities of a brother in financial difficulties. He is a Parisian born.
Principal Works: A Ballet, The Ballet in Robert le Diable, The Ballet in Don Juan, A Ballet Dancer, Before the Race, Foyer de la Danse a I'Opera, Rehearsal of a Ballet on the Stage, Dancers.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
(,/8j4-igoj. American.) .;
Whistler is another unaccountable individual. In a measureless^ degree a charletan and poseur, his stupendous ability disarms criticism which would crush a smaller man. Some events can be accounted for, some, almost accounted for — Whistler is a mystery. Every coat the man wore was planned to create an impression, every move he made was for effect — studied posturing. But Napoleon also posed and so did
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 203
Richelieu; why not this wonderful artist? Should we respect him more did he carry himself with dignified reserve? Probably not; as in that case he would be some one else and not Whistler. Better not interfere with a genius as he is and as the Lord made him! That coat with the buttons half way up his back and the skirts at his heels is a part of the man. So is his laugh, which calls attention to his pres- ence, and the long cane and that carefully guarded lock of white hair over his forehead.
This can be asserted of him: that he never has swerved from his purpose to paint in the way that seemed to him right, no matter how much the art world frowned or the little-comprehending public scoffed. He went straight forward in the face of all kinds of defama- tion, crushing his enemies with a tongue and pen of extraordinary sharpness and wit — and he has won. In the matter of influence upon the art of all countries in the latter half of the past century, scarcely the like is found in any period. Velasquez himself has had no greater influence, nor Van Dyck, nor the Barbizon School.
Except for a period at Gleyre's studio (whence Gerome also issued) Whistler does not seem to have attended any school of art, but a harder student has never existed. All painters have been his masters, and that is enough for a genius with energy and industry. He secured his education in that great schoolhouse — Europe. Goya and Velasquez taught him (as they also taught Sargent) and the use he made of the influence was peculiar. Sargent largely followed the Spaniards' technique, but Whistler made his own. The actual source of his inspiration is found in those painters and color-print makers of Japan, who flourished an hundred or more years ago. The widely- admired Japanese artist, Hokusai (died middle of nineteenth century), appeared as a godlike personage to Whistler. The latter once said, with a lofty air: "Yes, there is Velasquez, Hokusai and — myself." And he has said things much farther from the truth than that.
His reduction of all forms to simple masses was suggested by the Japanese; also his reduction of all colors to quiet, harmonious tones rather than realistic renderings. The old Japanese prints are not gay
204 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
in color. It is Interesting to trace these impressions through his life; and never once a suggestion of the copyist in it all. It is one thing to accept an influence and quite something else to merely copy.
Whistler has not always painted dark pictures. In the Pan-Ameri- can Exposition was one of his light-toned and reserved but absolute color pictures: a room with white walls, white chintz curtains and portieres, plainly marked with patterns in color; unnoticeable green borders and wainscot; a large mirror reflecting a woman in gray dress, with dark hair; nearly all the lower half was a dark maroon carpet. United with this a woman in black riding habit, one white-gloved hand making an isolated spot on all this spread of darks. Directly behind, but very visible, there was another figure, a girl, reading, all in white except black shoes on the maroon carpet, her reddish hair against the pale-green wainscot, and her book in white. The chintz has patterns of red and green; rose figure. This describes a remark- ably original picture, but does not tell of the peculiar quality of his still stranger colors, or the fact that all this had very little light and shade (Japanese effect), so that the different articles showed each as a separate spot.
Whistler painted, some time ago, "nocturnes," "arrangements in black and white," such as the one just described, "arrangements in blue and gold" and in any other colors or tones, also "symphonies" in various colors. All this was so opposed to the usual painting for the sake of textures or story telling accompanied with garish reds and other crying primaries, that the art of it found tardy recognition except with people of keen artistic feeling. The academicians were shocked beyond measure. To meet the hostility of the Academy came the establishment of "the greenery yallery Grosvenor gallery," sung of in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, which gave to all the "queer painters" their public opportunity.
These unexpected "queers" were discovered by all agressive young men and served to turn the scale in Europe against the dry artificiality of the classicists. It was itself an artificiality, but not a dry one, and it was much nearer the throbbing heart of nature.
iS-
i^.^:dC.ii^J^^Jaafeai^Ea^t-"''-^ -^siiMl-l'm
Whistler — Traumerei.
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 205
The nocturnes led to the style of low-toned effects which carried away so many distinguished Frenchmen and proved that Constable was not the only example of a foreign artist who could upset the established canons of art in the sacred city of art itself. The Expo- sition of 1900 was studded with works by eminent Frenchmen who had learned their lesson from Whistler. Going through the galleries of the whole world and seeing on all sides these evidences, and then returning to the American galleries, I said many times, "Who does this thing better than Whistler? Who can lay those bold, long strokes of shimmering gray so beautifully in the tender atmosphere? Who is so firm with this vague poetry of nocturnal mystery?" And the answer was always the same at each visit: "No one."
One of his "nocturnes" was a portrait of himself, called by that technical name because the colors were all reduced to a very low and almost black-and-white colorless tonality, even the flesh kept in tone, no pink about it. The other one was a full-length portrait of a lady — a splendidly swept-in effect of black lace over black dress and the flesh again in tone. Sargent's black upon black was a real black altogether different, and his flesh was flesh color, not reduced to a vibrating tonality.
The photograph of the portrait of Whistler's mother (Luxem- bourg), so well known, is pretty nearly the actual picture as it is in color. Pretty nearly. That almost marks the difference between this artist and all others. The photograph would be exactly the painting over again, were it not for that suggestion of color almost not there and still dominating the tone. It is this little "almost" which differentiates Whistler and marks him as the most subtle painter of many centuries.
It was interesting to observe how much the work of Miss Mary Cassatt (American, residing in Paris) followed Whistler's style, even to the mannerisms, and how much the Japanese had influenced her also. This impression is more manifest among the French painters of importance than with the Americans, though sufficiently in evidence with our men.
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Whistler's birthplace is a matter of dispute. Baltimore and Lowell, Mass., both claim him. His father was a civil engineer who moved from place to place, and in this way the boy went to Russia for a considerable period. But his education was American and in the course of time he entered the United States Military Academy, at West Point, where he was "plucked" at one of the examinations because of careless indiffer- ence to the matter in hand. Then the young man was a draughtsman in one of the scientific bureaus at Washington, but did more drawing for his own amusement than for his country's good. He engraved maps as well as doing draughting, thus acquiring the technical skill which has made him one of the world's finest etchers. During those periods when the "symphonies" did not meet with ready sale, he had only to issue an edition of etchings to command all the money needed, as these met with no dispute, unusual as they also were. The col- lectors of etchings have always been in the advance with all innovations and new sentiments in art.
Important Works: The White Girl, Coast of Brittany (Baltimore) ; Portrait of My Mother (Luxembourg) ; Portrait of Carlyle (Glasgow) , Portrait of Sarasate (Pittsburg) ; Princesse des pays de la Porcelaine, At the Piano, Gold Girl, Nocturne in Blue and Gold, Nocturne in Blue and Green, Nocturne in Blue and Silver, Blue Girl, Entrance to Southampton Water, Great Fire Wheel, Harmony in Brown and Black, Rosa Corda, The Lady with the Yellow Buskin.
William Morris (1834-1898, English) influenced the decorative art of England powerfully, as his Gothic love of massive simplicity changed the taste of his countrymen from the frivolous to the mas- sive and quaint. . Such a strong character could not fail to overturn that which it disliked. His intense honesty revealed itself in all his writings and in his product as a designer, whether it was a wall deco- ration, a carpet or an armchair.
Morris was an original character, having "ideas." These were in regard to art and to the relations of the art worker to the public, to the employer and to his fellows. Such men as Morris and Walter Crane have done a vast work in awakening the art-craft workers to a proper appreciation of their own dignity. These men insisted that
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the craftsman should be allowed to sign his own name to his product irrespective of the claims of the firm issuing the work. For this reason, many artists now do superb craft work who would not consent thus to occupy themselves unless givpn credit for their output.
Morris improved the artistic printing and bookbinding (which needed it) of his country more than most of us appreciate. He also set a new and artistic stamp on wall hangings and created a factory for the making of carpets and rugs. In fact, he revolutionized art industries.
Alfred Walberg (1834-, Swedish) has resided much in Paris and received his influence from the Barbizon men, but has his own manner of expression; low tone, broken touch, simple composition; good landscape painting, but mannered. No one else paints with his pecul- iar texture. Carl Bloch (1834-1896, Danish) was born when the art of his country had not attained a position. By travel and by study in France he attained to greater technical excellence but ceased to be a Danish artist in feeling. Genre and history occupied him. Franz von Defregger (1835-, German), a genre painter who pictures the peasantry of the Tyrol at their sports and simple life, with no attempt at other anecdote than the actualities of the life. As many as fifteen figures sometimes are grouped in an interior of that picturesque country. Probably one or two of these will be in violent action, as dancing. He understands his art and is a healthy delineator of real- ism, much beloved of the people. Piloty was his master.
William Quiller Orchardson (1835-, English), while not the strongest, is one of the most pleasing painters in his country. Inci- dents, often with a moral tacked on (as the fashion is with our sermon- loving cousins), from actual life are painted with a peculiar loose touch, the paint being laid very sparingly. It is like a watercolor done in oils. One of his interiors represents a quartet at cards, hav- ing spent all night at the table, as is evidenced by the floor, completely carpeted with the cards scattered about as each round was terminated and a fresh pack taken in hand. The young nobleman of this party.
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having been worsted, is taking his leave. The expressions of the faces are over-dramatic. He is nearly at the head of the list of portrait painters of England.
Principal Works: The Challenge, Casus Belli, The Bill of Sale, On Board H. M. S. Bellerophon, July 23, 1845, The Salon of Madame Recamier.
Hugh Cameron (1835-, English) departs from the conventional, paints loosely and secures fine color. John La Farge (183 5-, American) is a peculiar man, of Parisian art education, most sensitive to refined color, a free handler of paint and quite unlike any one else. His mural decorations in Trinity Church, Boston, and the Church of the Ascension, New York, and his superb work in stained glass set him apart in other ways. His methods in glass window manufacture are entirely original and truly wonderful. His position in the profes- sion is close to the top. Franz von Lenbach (1836-, German) is a great man in his portraits, both in expression and in handling and sug- gestive treatment. A realist who never is too real, an idealist who repro- duces the exact character of his sitter — and character is in all of it— this man stands at the head of German portrait painters. His color is sufficient and still reserved.
Jules Lefebvre (1836 or 1834-, French) is the outcome of the classi- cists who descended from David's influence through Ingres. His scientifically correct nude figures are pure idealizations and sometimes only tender vaporings. But usually his figures are firm and superbly constructed and finished to a high polish.
His "Truth" shows us a life-sized nude woman standing at the bottom of a well (which is supposed to be the abiding place of Truth) and there is only a suggestion of water about the stones upon which the figure is planted. It is a figure of wonderful grace and correct line, painted as only those highly-educated Frenchmen can do these things. One hand holds the bucket rope (for no purpose except to give pose and excuse for the position of the neatly bent elbow), while the other is held aloft bearing a torch, which suggests an electric
A. DE Neuvillb — The Depaettibe.
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 209
light. At the time of the production of this picture the arc lamp was still an experimental affair; so this incident is prophetic. Principal Works: Nymph and Bacchus, Truth.
Alphonse Marie De Neuville (1836-1885, French), a well-educated man, began art work as an illustrator of books, chiefly historical and military events. During the Franco-Prussian war his position on the staff enabled him to see and sketch all the incidents of the cam- paign. Thus equipped he began to paint the series of battle pieces and incidents which have made him famous. The character in the faces of his German officers pleased even the enemy. Usually De Neuville pictured activities and Detaille, the other great military painter, quiet events.
Principal Works: Defense of Le Bourget, The Adieu (New York) ; In the Trenches, Attack at Dawn (Baltimore) ; Last Cartridges.
Sir Edward Poynter (1836-, English) is now president of the Royal Academy. As is suitable, he is a classicist, a correct draughts- man and a rather hard technician. We might be happier could we feel that he had genius as well as correctness.
Principal Works: Israel in Eg-ypt, The Catapult, The Ibis Girl, Atalan- ta's Race, Zenobia, Diadumene, On the Terrace.
Laurens Alma-Tadema (1836-, English, of Dutch birth) is the best one of this array of classical painters, having many indications of genius, though it may be no more than remarkable talent. He paints far better than any of the others and has infinitely more invention. In coloring he has often fine tonal qualities and positive colors used with marked feeling. Usually confining his themes to the reconstruc- tion of ancient Roman life, he has also made some smaller pictures of local interest, less learned but with greater sentiment. In the painting of marbles, bronzes and flowery accompaniments no one equals him, and he has produced beautiful flesh textures.
Principal Works: The Vintage, Catullus, The Siesta, Entrance to a Roman Theater, Tarquinus Superbus, Phidias, An Audience at Agrippa's, Egyptians Three
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Thousand Years Ago, The Mummy, Phyrric Dance, Death of the Firstborn, A Roman Emperor, The Picture Gallery, The Sculptor Gallery, A Reading from Homer, Sappho, Cleopatra, A Question, The Improvisatore.
Peter Graham (1836-, English-Scotch) learned his art in Scotland and handles paint like no one on the continent. Beginning as a painter of figures, he used that training to reproduce the rugged cattle of his rocky hills, giving them much detail though of a healthy sort of reality. He is a people's painter. Paul Chalmers (1836-1878, Eng- lish-Scotch), a talented man who did much for the art of his province but little for himself, because he rarely could satisfy his ideals.
Homer D. Martin (1836-1879, American) paints landscapes; notpor. traits of the scenery but idealities which express his sentiment. This is the true mission of the poetic artist. He is not a strong brush- man because of his labor to secure sentiment but the world is better for such men.
Principal Works: Thames"'at Richmond, White Mountains from Randolph Hill, Adirondacks (Century Club, New York); Evening on the Saranac, Spring Morning, Sand Dunes on Lake Ontario (New York) ; Autumn Woods, Landscape (Brooklyn) ; View on the Seine (Metropolitan Museum, New York).
Winslow Homer (1836-, American) stands so high in rank as a man of remarkable power and originality that he has lifted American art many stages upward. He lives the life of a recluse on the coast of Maine and studies the sea at all seasons, rendering it in a manly way. Strange aspects and unusual points of view attract him, things never before attempted. There is little detail in his painting; nothing but the bold statement of the peculiar aspect of the sea, done directly and left alone. He is also a good figure painter, though never manu- facturing a story for its own sake.
His picture of "The Breeches Buoy" represents an incident suffi- ciently common on the coast of Maine, where he lives — the rescue of a woman from a stranded ship by means of the apparatus used by the life-saving force, always ready to respond to the call of nautical suffer- ers. The stranded ship is not visible but only the taut rope, which we
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know has been thrown out to the wreck by means of the cannon kept for this purpose. On this stretched rope, the machine with loose breeches, into which the life-saver thrusts his legs for greater security, glides on a trolley wheel. Thus the life-saver bears a fainting woman through the raging waters to the land. Nothing is visible but the two figures thus suspended between wild waters and the wild sky. This is the most original subject ever undertaken from American life. It was purchased by the late Catharine Lorillard Wolfe; the first American work in her collection. The color is gray, as suits the subject.
In his renderings of surf-beaten rocks. Homer departs from the common practice, placing himself close down in intimate association with the in-coming-wave (in dangerous proximity to it), and with a few well-placed brush strokes suggests the overwhelming power of the in-rushing waters.
Principal Works: Prisoners from the Front, The Sunny Side, Launching the Life Boat, Coming Away of the Gale, The Life Line, The Breeches Buoy.
Elihu Vedder ( 1 836-, American) lives in Rome. The illustrations for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam reveal his true talent, and these are excellent. In mural decorations at the Congressional library there is indication of peculiar ability, though these are greatly bet- tered when translated into mosaic. His color is dry and displeasing and much of his composition not worthy of attention. By means of mysticism he catches the attention of people who do not object to his paucity of painter qualities.
Principal Works: The Lair of the Sea Serpent, Questioner of the Sphinx, Cuinsean Sibyl, Young Medusa, Designs for the Rubaiyat.
Charles Augustus Emile Duran, called " Carolus-Duran " (1837-, French), portrait painter, figure painter also; this artist stands high in the scale. Occasionally he paints a full-length nude. His women as painted are all noble and elegantly posed; he gives them beautiful flesh tones, and superb draperies. His brush work is dashing, sure in touch and suggests the texture of the goods without any appearance of effort. In the late Paris Exposition, there is an evidence of effort to
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be peculiar and artificially sentimental which displeased many artists. A large number of pupils have come from his atelier, among them John S. Sargent.
Principal Works: Dame au Gant (Luxembourg) ; Portrait of Mile. Croizette, Gloria Mariae Medicis (ceiling in the Luxembourg) ; and many portraits.
Adolph Artz (1837-1890, Dutch) is one of the good landscape painters who sprang up when Holland came to her own again. He is tenderly gray in color. Jacob Maris (1837- 1889, Dutch) and his brother, Willem Maris (1815-), were superb painters of landscape, the former following in the lead of the Barbizon men, and the latter influ- enced by the impressionists, though mildly so. An older brother, Mathew Maris, was born in 1835, but spent his life in England paint- ing pictures of sentiment in the medieval manner. Ivan Kratnskoi (1837-1887, Russian) led in a revolution in art matters at the Russian art academy and had influence on the rising generation, causing the new men to paint what they pleased rather than the conventionalisms.
Holman Hunt
{1837 — English.)
Hunt declares that his mission is to preach religious sermons. If he cannot preach, he will not paint. Pictures are to him simply a convenient medium for making a religious impression. As might be expected, he has little real genius for painting, though his learning in art-technique enables him to draw a good figure and paint objects neatly and correctly. Despite his artificial color, which puts artists' teeth on edge, his conceptions and compositions are so excellent that he carries conviction to many people.
A figure of Christ standing at a door, with a lantern in hand, and knocking for admission, is delicately composed and executed, every detail carried to the utmost. Hunt was one of the Preraphaelite Brotherhood and followed their tenets to the extreme, counting excess- ive detail as one of the essentials of "truth." This picture is better in engraving than in color.
His "Shadow of the Cross" represents Jesus in the carpenter shop,
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WiNSLOw Homer — The Breakers.
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 213
as a young man. He stretches himself as if fatigued, thus throwing his shadow on the wall, making the figure of the cross. The concep- tion is ingenious and original, but the painting of shavings and other minute details becomes tedious, and many people find the entire work lacking in the first principles of effectiveness and dignity. "The Triumph of the Innocents" is a large picture with the usual elements of Joseph, the Madonna on the ass and the infant Christ in arms. Hovering over these figures are swarms of wounded babes (the ones which Herod slew), and these physically dead but spiritually alive cherubs accompany their Infant Master in whose cause they have been slain. All about are iridescent bubbles, reflecting many colors. Again this is remarkable invention, and the details are pushed to the extreme of finish, but it is hard and unsympathetic and shockingly inharmonious in color. In truth. Hunt has no genuine color sense. His sincerity led him to spend much time in the Holy Land for pur- poses of study of actualities.
Principal Works: The Strayed Sheep, The Hireling Shepherd, The Light of the World, The Scapegoat, Christ in the Temple, The Triumph of the Innocents^ The Miracle of the Sacred Fire.
■A. Stanhope Forbes (1837-, English) studies, by the sea in Corn- wall, figures in boats, the port and its picturesque details serving as background. He is a realist in the large sense, and a strong painter- Thomas Moran (1837-, American) clings to much of the style of the Hudson River School, painting landscape "views" in the Yellowstone Park, with bright colors. Many imitations of Turner have come from his easel. Jean Paul Laurens (1838-, French) renders Biblical his- tory and other historical subjects with a vigor in technique and depth of color which have rarely been equaled. Though not a popular painter, he influences many young students to do vigorous work and is greatly admired by them. His picture of the body of General Marceau lying in state is a triumph of directness in the rendering of facts.
Principal Works of Forbes: By Order of the Court.
Principal Works of Lavrens: Death of Morceau, Pope Formosa, Death of St. Genevieve,
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HippolyteBoulanger(i838-i874, Belgian) was a poor boy who began life painting for house decorators, but went into the country to study nature, developing a lovable art much like that of the Barbizon men, first low toned and then in tender grays resembling Corot's. He changed the art of his country. Alfred Varwee (1838-, Belgian) changed the character of domestic animal painting in Belgium, abandoning the silken finish of Verboeckhoven. Anton Mauve (1838-1888, Dutch) lived at Laren, a little village south of the Zuider Zee, painting sheep and other domestic animals with beautiful senti- ment and tender color, handling them frankly. His pictures are so simple in their quiet statement of facts that any spot would seem to answer,, but they are all actual scenes on the sand dunes about Laren. Mauve is to the sheep and animal painters of the recent Dutch school what Israels is to the figure painters. His following is considerable, many imitating his color and handling closely. But none of these can handle so loosely or so freely as he did. Cool gray color and simple lines, flocks of sheep in quiet movement, the sentiment of restfulness which goes with long lines in composition — these are his characteristics.
Vilem Rosenstand (1838-, Danish), having studied in Germany, followed the style of the school and had no national character. Edouard von Gebhardt (1838-, German) lives in Diisseldorf and paints religious subjects, not in the style of Schadow, because he is a protestant. Choosing medieval German costumes_ because of their picturesque dignity, and the faces of the people about him as models, painted just as they are, he secures realism with impressiveness. Rich, low tone and no attention to useless details, make these noble works. Jan Matejko (1838-1892, Polish) was director at Crakow, but painted as he had been taught in Germany.
Francis Hopkinson Smith (1838-, American) is a clever man whose profession is that of a contractor for laying sea walls and build- ing lighthouses. For amusement he paints, and this to so good pur- pose that people buy his pictures at high prices. He is witty enough not to undertake things that he cannot do. A few lines on toned
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THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 215
paper and tinted with watercolors, done in a large way, are. his claims to art standing. But he is clever. His writing is also clever and very popular, covering a considerable field of romance.
Mariano Fortuny y Carbo
{1838-18^4. Spanish. )
"The Choice of a Model," the largest of Fortuny's famous pic- tures, which has recently come into notice through the accident of its purchase for a large sum by Senator Clark of Montana, was exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1878, together with enough others to fill an entire wall. This was the largest group of this painter's works ever seen at that time. All of them were owned by Mr. W. H. Stewart, an American residing' in Paris (familiarly known as "Sugar Stewart," to distinguish him from the millionaire dry-goods merchant), who was one of the first to discover Fortuny's ability. It is right that he should have the credit for this.
"The Choice of a Model" is only as large as tlie panel in a writing desk, but there is a great deal in it — people, architecture and decora- tions. The scene represents a palace interior and an art jury of the period of Louis XV. These men are in the silken clothes, richly colored, of that period of fine coats, and the gorgeous interior is in keeping with the clothes. Having cast off her garments, the model springs upon a table, striking an attitude quite in accord with the posturing fashions of the period.
Richly variegated marbles, decorations ana costumes gave Fortuny his opportunity to lay a mosaic of pure colors, gay but harmonious. Possibly this use of pure tones was the first of the sort ever seen in the world. "Of the sort" is a proper limitation, because this young artist had manifested an original color talent, something entirely his own. There is none of that peculiar ability to delineate character, spoken of in connection with Velasquez and Goya. Wonderful color sense, brilliant technique, the bravura of Goya and the minuteness of Meissonier (but without his wonderful firmness), these characterized Fortuny.
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Another of these pictures, quite small (as they all were), showed a garden beyond a wall and buildings, the orange trees bearing per- fectly-formed fruit, though each yellow orb was no larger than a pin- head. Many figures, no larger than a goose quill and finished to the minutest detail, showed the effort to rival the great painter of the minute. He fell a trifle short in this, though the color left nothing to criticize. Little heads, the size of a quarter dollar, were rendered in iridescent colors which made older men despair. This was the art of a man still very young. He died young, carried off by Roman fever while sketching on the Campania near Rome.
In boyhood he revealed his talent by carving and decorating some puppets for his relative who made the itinerary of the Spanish prov- inces as a showman. This early expression of form-and-color-sense attracted attention, bringing the penniless boy patrons who paid his way for several years in the Academy of Barcelona. Gaining the prize there which sent him as a beneficiary to Rome, his career began auspiciously. This was in 1857. During the war with Morocco, the Academy of Barcelona commissioned pictures which took the young man to Africa and gave opportunity for limitless use of his color- talent, resulting in the reputation already spoken off.
Fortuny was the first manifestation of artistic life in Spain since the death of Goya, 1828. He was Spain's second comet in the nine- teenth century, but many more came immediately, most of them fol- lowers of his style. A great many men, not Spaniards, also followed it. His wife was the daughter of Frederigo Madrazo. As an etcher, his brilliant technique created a revolution in style. All these pic- tures at the Paris Exposition of 1878 were in oils, but he used water- color much (then unusual on the continent), and every medium was at his command. His tireless industry and intensity of purpose amazed his fellow artists and eventually caused his death.
Principal Works: The Spanish Wedding, The Snake Charmer, Arab Fantasia (Paris); Portrait of Mme. Garcia (Metropolitan Museum, New York); An Ecclesias- tic, Don Quixote, The Mendicant (Baltimore) ; Tribunal of a Cadi, Carnival of Last Century, Beach at Portici, The Choice of a Model.
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Velasquez — The Infanta Margtterita.
THE GROWTH OF THE PERSONAL IN ART 217
John Pettie (1839-1893, English, born in Edinburgh) was an his- torical, genre and portrait painter; exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1861; "What-d'ye Lack," painted in 1862; "A Drum-head Court Martial," 1864; "Arrested for Witchcraft," 1866, because of which picture he was made an A. R. A., and in 1874 he obtained the full title of Royal Academcian.
Charles Hermans (1839, Belgian) is a sincere naturalist, working in a large and simple way. In his picture "The Dawn," he shows the entrance to an all-night ballroom from which issue a young and well- dressed man and two prett)' girls. The faces seen in the shadowy doorway against the not yet extinguished gas, are simple black sil- houettes, an evident truth but one which shocked the mannered Diis- seldorf painters when the work was exhibited there. His insistence upon actual truth did much for Belgian art. Wilhelm Diez (1839-, German) studied with Piloty but laid out his own course, tending to simplicity, dignity and a certain resemblance to the manner of some old Dutch and early German painters. He has an original way with him and many pupils seek to follow it. Constantin Makovsky (1839-, Russian) and his brother, Vladimir (1846-), are extremely popular painters, representing Russian life as it really is, some senti- mental story interpolated with the reality. Large pictures, over- loaded with detail and true to textures rather than correct observation of the light of heaven. The widely-known "Russian Wedding Feast," with every inch of space loaded with embroidery and jeweled gar- ments, is not at all great art. Most Russian painters contented them- selves with following the methods of the schools they studied in, as Wagner (1838-) and Liezen-Mayer (1839-1898), who became instruct- ors in the academy at Munich, following Piloty' s methods. Edoardo Zamacois (1840-1871, Spanish) had much of the cleverness of Fortuny but was not so lightsome a painter. All his genre pictures are fin- ished to the extreme of the possible, well colored and pretty strong. A baby prone on the floor rolling a ball at tin soldiers which an attendant field marshall in gorgeous uniform has set up for him, repre-
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sents "The Education of a Prince," and it is one of his famous pic- tures. Gabriel Max (1840-, German) was the outcome of the Piloty studio, but did not imitate his master. Instead of striking contrasts of cool and violent warm color, Max was a painter of cool tones and simple effects, a very dignified art and original. Throughout the works runs a strain of affectation of materialism in spirit-manifesta- tions, as the "Spirit's Greeting," a girl of serious aspect touched on the shoulder by an armless hand from spirit land. The manner of treatment prejudiced some people against the man's art, and indeed it was too "common" in conception. Hans Markart (1840-1884, German) undertook to rival the gorgeous color of the great Venetians. His enormous panels are good decorations but without any indication of original conception. Scenes from Venice furnished him themes.
Principal Works of Makovsky: Choice of the Bride, Russian Wedding Feast.
Principal Works of Zamacois: A Good Pastor, The Entrance to the Convent, Education of a Prince, Favorite of a King.
Principal Works of Max: The Anatomist, Head of Christ, Crucifixion, Mar garet on Walpurgis Night, Maiden Martyr in the Arena, The Lion's Bride.
Principal Works of Makart: The Pest in Florence, The Plague in Florence, Catharine Cornaro Receiving the Homage of the Venetian Nobles, the Entry of Charles V. into Antwerp.
Briton Riviere (1840-, English) is one of the good painters whom modern England has produced. He treats animals in a natural way, as where the lions roam at will by moonlight amid the ruins of ancient edifices. The sense of solitude and abandonment and the mystery of atmosphere are admirably given.
Principal Works: The Poacher's Nurse, Circe, PersepoHs, Daniel in the Den of Lions, Sympathy, Rizpah, The Exile.
CHAPTER XIII
IMPRESSIONISM— ITS FOLLOWERS AND ITS OPPONENTS
As usual,, the list of France is the most important, including Monet, Vibert, Regnault, Lhermitte, Benjamin-Constant, Merson, Detaille, Bastien-Lepage, Besnard. Frederick Walker and Walter Crane appear in England; Thaulow and others in Norway; Denmark makes some showing; Madrazo and Pradilla are brilliant in Spain; Italy has Chialiva; Repin and Munkacsy draw attention to Russia; and in America Tiffany. Blashfield and Thayer do excellent work.
Claude Jean Monet
{184.0 — . French.^
Monet insisted on making his shadows luminous, as nature is. He discovered that he could manage with very little of the colorless white if he laid little spots of pure pale yellow, pale red and pale blue (pri- mary colors of the spectrum) closely side by side, like stitches in embroidery. Mixed together, these made dull gray. Kept pure and separate, they made light. It was the application to paint of a simple principle in optics. Of course, as he used almost no pure white, he avoided the cold colorlessness of white. He could make it a yellow light by using more of yellow than of the other two colors; blue by using more of the blue, and so with red. It was as simple as that famous (tgg of Columbus, when once demonstrated. One difficulty was the excessive roughness and rudeness of the painted surface. People like their pictures smooth. He braved public opinion and did as seemed to him correct. People learned that his pictures were more alive than others, and they accepted the roughness, finally liking it as they learn to like old cheese. The roughness became a virtue,
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because the paint glimmered as ligiit does instead of looking dull and lifeless.
Every one knows that music can be reduced to science of har- mony; to a mathematical formula. Monet reduced his scheme for the management of colors to a mathematical formula. Any skillful person can learn to play the piano by this musical formula, and any one can paint a picture by Monet's mathematics of color. Only a musical genius can make so sensitive a use of the mathematics of music as to give us pleasure, and only a painter genius can use Monet's formula delightfully. Fortunately, he was such a genius. "Which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned," says the Scripture. Many painters essaying to do this, proved themselves Egyptians, and this is the reason that so few practice it now. Almost every painter uses the principle somewhat, however. Among American artists, Childe Hassam has sufficient genius to use it admirably. So does the Frenchman, Henri Martin. They are in no sense imitators of Monet, but rather competitors for the honors of the situation.
It is not as possible to reduce the art of Edouard Manet, the elder impressionist, to a science or tell with exactness wherein lie his claims to inventiveness. All artists were searching for the truths of "values," and Manet found them. As pure white is one extreme of the palette and pure black the other extreme, it required a very sharp eye to dis- cover the relative "value" of every light object in its relation to white and every dark object in its relation to black. This was the problem which Manet attacked and conquered. He at once rejected every- thing in nature which was non-essential and confined his attention to the exact value which an object held, thus creating an "impression" of truth, going further than had ever been done. It was a great les- son that he taught the world. But for this lesson, it is improbable that Monet would ever have made his discovery. Also Manet proved how much the artists had been the slaves of non-essentials. His work was not pretty, because that element of prettiness had long been the bane of true rendering of nature. His works taught the world that a fitly spoken word of truth is worth more than tedious words uselessly
IMPRESSIONISM 221
repeated, and that finish is not necessarily good art. These men's names will be written high on the walls of the pantheon of art his- tory. It seems strange that the world should for a moment have imagined that Rossetti was finding truth because he imitated the prim- itives in their limitations, by painfully laboring over hundreds of minute leaf forms while still ignoring the first essentials (which every artist knew to be essentials), the relationship between these leaves and the sky and distance. However, the mistaken and poetical Rossetti was not a painter genius; the pen was his true instrument.
Edouard Manet's painting was broad and free in touch, made with a full brush. He never used the embroidery-stitch which Claude Monet invented. The purple shadow is no essential part of the art of the former — possibly is never found in his painting. This purple shadow is a part of the principle of the light effects of Monet; helping to create the effect of luminosity in shadow by contrast with the warmed white (yellow) used in all the lights. It may or may not be truthful exactly— who knows what is the true color of light or the exact color of shadow? In principle it is certainly true, though it may be a sacrifice of certain truths for the sake of others.
Principal Works: Mouth of Seine at Honfleur, Caniille, Fontainebleau Forest, Vessels Leaving Le Havre, Lavacourt, Breaking Up of the Ice on the Seine, Low- Tide at Pourville, Snow at Port Villers, La Manne Porte at Etretat, Study of Willow Trees, Canal in Holland, A Wheat Field, The Seine at Givemy, Fourteen Studies of the West Front of the Cathedral at Rouen, and many Landscapes.
Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Camilla Pissarro should be spoken of with enthusiasm as followers of this school of painting, and Georges Seurat who, with the strange commingling of paint-spot- tings, secured an effect meaning nothing near at hand, but gleaming wonderfully at a proper distance.
Jean Francois Raffaelli is a Parisian born and his bearing and his work show it. Though schooled in art under Gerfime, his paint- ings reveals no trace of his master's influence, except the results of perfect training in drawing. It is customary to class him with the
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impressionists, but his painting resembles the work of no leader of that movement, except that his statements of nature's truths, which are observed very keenly, are expressed in the briefest possible terms. He startled the art world by presenting views of Paris, its streets crowded with hints of many moving figures, and its characteristic inhabitants in pathetic situations, the painting executed in an unknown handling. It seems as if he had drawn all the buildings and figures with charcoal, in loose, scratchy lines, not unlike an enormous and careless etching. At first glance, these lines seemed quite purpose- less, but a few moments of study revealed their full meaning. All the canvas beneath these scratchy lines seemed entirely bare excepting at certain parts where remarkably refined colors had been smuggled in. It was discovered that the rude line work had been made with crayons of solid oil paint, something of his own invention. So refined and poetical was the sentiment of the work that all artists accepted it at once. Finally Mr. Raffaelli invented a series of paint-crayons, imitating all the tints of the palette, which have been received with a great deal of favor by noted artists. The use of these is advantageous because no brushes are required in producing the painting, thus saving much inconvenience. It is not to be expected that these solid-oil sticks will create a revolution in painting, but the invention is interest- ing and ingenious.
Jean Georges Vibert (1840-, French) is one of the most clever of the very fine French technicians. He has studied the chemistry of colors and made many valuable additions to the painter's palette. Whether this is a good thing for art or not depends upon one's taste. The finest pictures are made with a simple palette — perhaps. Vibert believes in using pure pigments in abundance, even to a point which by some is regarded as violent crudity. No blossom is too brilliant in color for his palette. He makes them and his stuffs more crudely true than the facts demand. Subjects without limit which call for the rep- resentation of cardinals in scarlet robes occupy his attention. These are frequently humorous, like the scene where cardinals are at outs over an ecclesiastical argument, or where two are engaged in burning bad
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books but find themselves seduced into the absorbed perusal of the forbidden literature — anything to give the opportunity to paint a red robe and tell a funny story. It is pretty and talented, but not noble art. He founded the French Watercolor Society not long ago. It was some time before the French artists were willing to take water colors seriously, as they looked upon it as a trifling and unimportant medium. Now they have learned from the Dutch artists and from such men as Menzel its capabilities.
Principal Works: Grasshopper and Ant, Monseigneur's Antechamber, Com- mittee on Moral Books (New York); Gulliver and the Liliputians (Baltimore).
Fred Walker (1840-1875, English) died so young that his works are not numerous, but the influence left in the world, in and outside of England, might be the envy of more conspicuous men. With little sound health and a retired life he made no noise — his art did the talking. Small pictures, many of them in watercolors, were made very tender and revealed so much of that sentiment which we call "artistic" for want of a more specific term to describe the matter we feel but cannot analyze; these have laid hold of artists' hearts. Recognizing the British love for story, he still managed his subject matter not anecdotically but as a pastoral poem. Besides this, the technique was wonderfully good. In one of his important works, a lithe young man mows the lawn of an old peoples' home, at sundown. Many old tod- dlers sit about an ancient fountain in the center background, while just in front an erect young woman, looking calmly ahead into the future, sustains an old woman who looks nowhere but muses silently, and near them the mower irresistibly swings his scythe. A simple subject, but nobly painted. The reproduction of this hangs in many of our homes.
Walker and Mason (twenty-two years older) are the men of this period in the production of figures in landscape painting. Turner died when Walker was eleven years old. Cabanel, Bouguereau and Gerome were flourishing during his lifetime. Menzel was thirty-five years his senior.
Principal Works: The Plow, The Old Gate.
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Marcus Stone (1840-, English) is a pure story-telling artist who paints well.
Thomas Hovenden (1840-1895, American) came from Ireland, the land of his birth, when a young man. His education was Parisian and pretty thorough, and he produced genre pictures, scenes laid in American life. His "Breaking Home Ties," at the Columbian Expo- sition, created an enormous impression upon thousands of people who read in it the story of many American boys. He painted well enough, but was neither great nor original except in subject.
Polish painters went to Munich, as Brandt, Rosen and Kowalski, and created no original art, though reproducing their local life. Albert Moore (1841-1892, English) created a good deal of a sensation with decorative panels filled with studiedly draped women quietly posing in a long row. His painting resembles that of Alma Tadema considerably, or he may be placed between Tadema and Leighton. A certain original decorative sense makes these interesting, though they look better in reproduction than in the original, being softened in the half-tone process. Charles N. Henry (1841-, English) is a marine painter who lives on his yacht and studies faithfully the life of the ocean and navigators, painting human figures in action well. Sir George Reid (1841-, Scotch), president of the Scotch Academy, paints a good deal like Mauve, making refined landscapes.
Raimundo de Madrazo (1841-, Spanish) is a descendant of an influential line of painters. His home has been much in Paris, though his native country has not been neglected. Fortuny was his master and his painting resembles the brilliant leader's work in dash, color and treatment, being nearly an imitation. His picture of revelers issuing from a mansion at dawn after a masked ball, is a well-told story, the pretty women in gay costumes adding to the picturesque- ness. Beside the door stands a group of coachmen and servants, one reading the "Petit Journal" while the others listen, suggesting that influence and power and political control may pass from the favored mortals into the hands of the despised and humble. A hint of
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laborers going to their work, some of them not employed in very clean occupations, gives additional force to the contrast. Fortuny was the brother-in-law of this Madrazo.
Principal Works: End of a Masked Ball (New York) ; El Jaleo (Philadelphia) ; My Model, La Soubrette.
Marie Collaert (1842-, Belgian) is a woman painter who rivals, if not exceeds, Rosa Bonheur in the painting of cattle with strength. Francisco Domingo (1842-, Spanish), a dainty brushman and colorist, follows the lead of Meissonier, making domestic scenes. Otto Sinding (1842-, Norwegian) paints well, but in various manners, seem- ing to be an imitator. Vassili Verestchagin (1842-, Russian) has managed his business so as to attract wide attention to himself. Sent out by the Russian government to delineate the events of the Russo- Turkish war, he was seriously wounded as a reward for his reckless bravery. The horrors in his too faithful renderings of war caused the government to reject his works, which he then took to Paris and (posing as the advocate of peace) created a sensation, which continued around the world. He is not a great painter. Luigi Chialiva (1842-, Italian) lives near Paris but paints in his own way, with the delicacy and sen- timent of his race, rendering figures with sheep, geese, turkeys or other domestic creatures, in landscape, with graceful groupings and tender color. His pictures are not marked by that dashing technique and extravagant color which is the pride and perhaps the taint of the mod- ern Italians. His work is more normal and healthy.
Leon Lhermitte (1844-, French) has ability beyond most artists to render his transcript from nature (peasants at toil or at rest in the woods or the hay field) with rugged vigor, sentiment and directness of touch. Sometimes his peasants tell a Scripture story. Giovanni Boldini (1844-, Italian) is the most striking example of that dashing technique, the doubtful glory of recent Italian art. His full-length portraits astonish the visitors to each international exposition, because of the strange and almost grotesque picturesqueness of the pose and the wonderfully clever brush work. The women in his portraits are
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all coquettes. Wilhelm Leibl (1844-, German), a man of consummate ability, is capable of imitating Holbein without losing the respect of the most exacting art critic. His motives are found in real life and painted with intense sincerity in the manner of the old German mas- ter. Albert Neuhuijs (1844-, Dutch) follows the lead of Israels in painting Dutch fisher and peasant life with its quiet peacefulness, in colors harmonious and grave. Wilhelm von Gagerfeldt (1844-, Swedish) paints like no one else, a richly-toned, mysterious landscape in sparkling grays made with the lower notes of his palette. Hlias Repin (1844-, Russian). Realism, as applied to scenes of Russian life, could not be carried farther than this man goes. His technique has been learned in Paris, but his treatment is original, impressive and thoroughly national. In the 'Tnsulting Reply" picture (Cossacks writing to the Tzar) he is brutally faithful to character. His theater gallery full of people laughing at some witticism in the play keeps this other picture company; but the "Return of an Exile to His Fam- ily" is quiet, pathetic and intensely true. Unlike Verestchagin, he is a superb painter and not a poseur. Mihali Munkacsy (1844-, Hun- garian) has made for himself a wide reputation with his large picture, "Christ Before Pilate" (owned in America). The scene is literally and forcibly portrayed, but the arrangement is conventional on very much used lines. It is as a painter of rich, deep color that he can claim distinction; largely genre pictures. One of his best known pupils is Dannat, the American. Julius Benczur (1844-, Russian) is director at Buda-Pesth and follows Piloty's manner. John Appleton Brown (1844-, American) studied in Paris and paints a pleasing gray landscape on simple lines. C. S. Reinhart (1844-, American) has been much on the plains in our western country and gives faithful and sprightly renderings of wild Indian and soldier life. Henri Regnault (1843-1871, French), a brilliant young man, worshiped by the students in Paris. He was killed in battle during the Franco- Prussian war. In the Orient he found the colors and costumes for magnificent effects. The "Execution in the Alhambra" shocked the world. On a grand staircase an executioner has caught his victim
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and with one blow of his sword whipped off his head, which rolls down the stairs followed by streams of too literally painted blood. The executioner quietly wipes his sword. It is a magnificent work of art, though so shocking.
Principal Works: Execution at Grenada, Portrait of General Prim.
Ernest Duez (1843-1896, French), a strong painter of figures in landscape, quiet and dignified in treatment, sometimes with a religious tendency. Edoardo Dalbono (1843-, Italian) follows the lead of Morelli. Over-dashing in technique, forced in color, clever to a fault, he has painted some horrors; but usually represents the Bay of Naples with its gay festival life or with allegorical conceptions. Though somewhat shallow and lacking serious conviction, his work is pleas- ing. Carl Gussow (1843-, German) abandoned the theatrical treat- ment of Piloty for a healthy realism, indicating a remarkably keen observation of the aspect of objects and figures. Anton von Werner (1843-, German) is another in this line of serious literalists. George von Rosen (1843-, Swedish) has some of the stilted over-action learned in various schools, but his portraits are dignified. He is director at Stockholm. Ludwig Munthe (1843-, Norwegian) studied in Dussel- dorf, but even before leaving there displayed originality and force in winter landscapes. Christian Zahrtmann (1843-, Danish), though a student in several schools, keeps to a good national individuality. Christian Zacho (1843-, Danish) paints landscape much in the style of the colorful impressionists, which has been good for the too grave Danish artists.
Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845-1902, French), a powerful painter, rich colorist, who laughed at artists who could not give the fullness of the palette, was a leading painter who greatly influenced the rising generation of students. Oriental subjects pleased him, and he treated them differently from all others. The artist's very first picture — "Hamlet and the King" — created a sensation at the salon in 1869. But it was his Morocco subjects that made him famous, as they were at once dramatic and daring in subject.
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Benjamin-Constant laid paint in the most positive manner, being the embodiment of that result of thorough schooling which is the pride of the French; using color pure from the tube without the admixture of white except when absolutely essential to the rendering of light, and thus commanding a richness which those who mix too much never attain. His recent portrait of Queen Victoria, a very large picture, is so glowing in tones of the full palette that it pales everything else in a gallery.
Principal Works: A Woman of the Riff Coast,' Prisoners of Morocco, Women of the Harem, Entrance of Mahomet II. into Constantinople in 1443, Portrait of Emmanuel Arago, The Last of the Rebels, Cherifas, Justice in the Harem, Justi- nian, The Moonlight Sonata; Portrait of the Painter's Son Andre (Luxembourg); Portraits of M. Chaplain, Lord Dufferin, the Due d'Auniale, M. Maurel, Mr. Jay Gould, Sir Julian Pauncefote, Mme. Benjamin-Constant, the Grand Duchess Paul of Mecklenburg, Mme. Calve, the Princess Radziwill, and Queen Victoria on her Throne in the House of Lords.
Luis Jiminez (1845-, Spanish), one of those astonishingly dextrous painters that Spain and Italy have so often produced in this genera- tion. His figures are beautifully made. Ludwig Loefftz (1845, Ger- man) was until i-ecently director at Munich. All the masters from Quentin Matsys through Holbein and Van Dyck have so influenced his manner that he has almost copied them. He has great skill if no originality. Albert Keller (1845-, German) is a colorist who first of all studies color arrangement. Beautiful gray tone and combinations of color are applied to portraits and fashionable interiors of the period. Blommers (1845-, Dutch) is another follower of Israels, painting ripe tones with little positive pigment, rendering the pathetic life of the Dutch peasantry. Hugo Salmson (1845-, Swedish) is a strong painter of scenes from his native country, figures of importance in landscape, in refined color and somewhat in the manner of Bastien- Lepage. Gottfred Christensen (1845-, Danish) is another who helped out the heavy Danes in the matter of color and departed from the severe naturalism which prevailed. Frank Holl (1845-1888, English) painted portraits with singular appreciation of pose and characterful
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arrangement, holding worthily a high place. Robert Gibb (1845-, Scotch), though never a soldier, paints military scenes, the Crimean war furnishing the pathetic subjects. He began with landscape and anecdotic pictures.
Luc Olivier Merson (1846-, French) made an impression with his "Repose in Egypt," in the salon of 1879, because it was so very unusual in conception. He painted a representation of the plains of a desert country entirely in a peculiar bluish-gray tone, with very little contrast between the land and the sky. In this solitude the sphinx stands quite alone under a starry sky. Reposing in the arms of the sphinx, Mary and the Babe sleep. From the figures gleams a soft light, the sacred halo. Near by, Joseph sleeps and the ass stands in an attitude of repose. Beside them the remains of a fire are smoldering and sending up a thread of smoke, like a motionless indicator of the absolute windlessness of the air. Nothing could more thoroughly suggest solitude, silence and repose. This picture is now in St. Louis. Beginning as a pupil of the classicist Pils, Merson has invented his own uses for his talent.
Principal Works: The Vision of the Cross, Sacrifice to Patriotism, St. Francis Preaching to the Fishes, Two Decorations in the Palace of Justice (Paris); Arrival at Bethlehem.
Jerndorff (1846-, Danish) is a very good portrait painter. Walter Gay (1846-, American) paints French subjects and lives in France. Alfred Roll (1846-, French) produces large pictures of work people, often delineating their pathetic life and with great power, in gray tones. He has made beautiful pastorals, very simple and imposing, with exquisite tone. Francesco Pradilla (1847-, Spanish) is another of the astonishingly fine brushmen of the south. The Frenchman Laurens influenced him to a severe manner, but he can do anything with paint and handle any subject, terrible or commonplace, history, camps, seaside resorts or domestic scenes; he is an acrobat with paint, true in observation but not full of conviction. Pradilla's painting of the "Surrender of Grenada" secured him a gold medal at the exposi-
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tion at Munich in 1882, and he had previously been honored in the same manner at Paris in 1878 for the "Joan the Maid," which was in the solid manner of Laurens. In the Grenada picture there are grouped on the right the king and queen on horseback and a multitude of attendants, while be5'ond is a glimpse of the captured city. Balancing these is the figure of the captive chief of the Moors, Boabdil, who is received with the honor which his extraordinary abilities deserved. All the massive composition and solid handling of the artist's early days have been abandoned here for a butterfly touch, extraordinarily pleasing, but not very serious.
Fritz Thaulow (1847-, Norwegian) is called the Apollo of the north, and paints magnificently the landscapes of his own country and the north coast of France. His moonlights are among the finest of recent times. Thaulow has made a special study of running water, as when it issues from the tail of a mill race. Of course the picturesque- ness of the mill also gives him opportunity to paint old brick and the attractive surroundings. Formerly his habit was to make all his pic- tures directly from nature, but the moonlights had to be produced from observation, so that his power for memorizing increased greatly and the result has been fluency of expression and attention to artistic treatment independent of the literal rendering of textures. Now he has become one of the most forceful manipulators of poetic effects, rich in color and full of mystery in treatment.
Jan Ekenaes (1847-, Norwegian) finds in the fisher people of his land subjects to paint with force and character. Like most of the recent Scandinavians, educated in good foreign art schools, he has used excellent technique to develop his national character. F. A. Bridgman (1847-, American) was a pupil of Gerome and painted at first exactly like his master, having success with his "Burial of the Mummy," mourners in boats crossing the Nile. Oriental subjects occupy him, but nothing better has come from his easel. John Macallan Swan (1847-, Scotch) has remarkable talent in representing
Bastien-Le Page — The Hat-makers.
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wild animals and wild naked men among them. His attitudes are superb and original.
Daniel Urrabita, called Vierge (1847-1882, Spanish) did not put forth an extensive array of paintings, but he is the father of the modern manner of working with pen and ink, ink washes and other light manners of treating illustrative matter for reproduction. This is not saying that all illustrators follow his style, but that the influence has been great. Vierge is of Spanish blood, but has spent his life in Paris. In the manner of composing his works so that they will have just enough of clear statement without encumbering the page with use- less incident and confusion, he is a past master. The question of causing the printed illustration to appear in the same tone and general texture as the printed matter has been solved by him wonderfully well. His figures are admirably drawn and posed, full of vitality and naturalness. While still young, but after his reputation was estab- lished, an incurable disease (a sort of paralysis) laid hold upon him, but with dauntless courage he continued his work until death relieved his sufferings.
Edouard Detaille (1848-, French) is a pupil of Meissonier and paints in a measure like his master, though never with the same atten- tion to minute details. He saw service of a serious sort in the Franco- Prussian war and has made fame for himself in delineating military life, usually selecting scenes with little action but having tense nervous interest. A scene in a garden beside the high wall which the soldiers are preparing to defend, an anxious general officer, a worrying gardener incensed at the rude treatment of his pet vegetables, troops waiting for the attack, others in active defense in the distance, quiet and awful expectation, these go to make up the subject matter of the "Defense of Champigny."
Important Works: En Retraite Charge du g erne Cuirassiers, Le Regiment qui Passe (Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington); Salut au Blesses, Le Reve, 1888; Charge duer Hussards, (Luxembourg).
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Jose Villegas (1848-, Spanish) is a pupil of Fortuny and one of the ultra brilliant technicians and colorists, painting either an armourer's shop or the marriage of a Doge with an astonishing variety of cos- tumes and color rarely equaled. Fritz von Uhde (1848-, German) is a grave man producing severe and serious subjects in low, gray tones, many selected from Scripture and treated in naturalistic manner in the costumes of to-day. His Christ and the disciples are as we are.
Jules Bastien-Lepage
(1848-188S. French.)
The man's name is Bastien. The "Lepage" is added to do honor to his mother's family. He came of sturdy peasant stock, reasonably prosperous through years of industry and saving, his birthplace Dan- villiers (Meuse). The circumstance that he, while a student in Paris, became a letter carrier in order to earn money that he might pursue his studies, is no more than one of those incidents illustrating the frugality of French peasants. His parents were not without a savings- bank account. The hard drill in Cabanel's studio served him well, and the failure to obtain the Prix de Rome (though all the students manifested their serious displeasure that their favorite should be sup- planted by another who was less good but more classical) is another leaf in that long history of the war between well-regulated classicism and independent research. A good many years later, he had the same experience with his famous "Joan of Arc" picture. The independent thinkers acclaimed it for the Grand Medal of Honor, but it was not thought as worthy by the jury as the "Good Samaritan" of Moreau, a carefully-painted classical composition. Both these failures were blessings for Bastien, as they more surely fixed his purpose to paint as he liked. It was the originality of Edouard Manet and his discoveries regarding "values," with the attendant keenness of observation of nature, which set Bastien in the right way.
When one is surfeited with the artificialities of classicism, his senses are wonderfully quickened by the contemplation of a picture presenting a few simple truths in a broad, direct manner. Absence
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of artificialities is like the inrush of fresh air to the stifling atmosphere of a ballroom. Somewhere in the mid-seventies, I happened upon the salon containing Bastiens twin portraits of his father and mother; the simple, unaffected people seated under the trees in a garden. Those faces, frankly laid in and fully illuminated by the diffused light of day, seemed the perfection of correct statement. This is a remark- able instance of the value of academical training. Bastien received the severe and long continued criticism of Cabanel, nearly carrying off the Prix de Rome. If Manet could have had the benefits of this severe classical training, we might have had less rudeness in his work. Yet, possibly, the rudeness was an excellent influence and had the greater power in the reformation. I shall not attempt to interfere with the workings of Providence; it is enough that Manet's influence was what it was. But certainly Bastien was the better painter because of his training, although he owes his manner of seeing to Manet. Also, he proves that genius is its own safeguard, not to be injured by contact with anything. Manet's painting is shockingly brutal; Bastien's refined. Both followed the same tendency in rendering nature.
Bastien's picture of the hay field (mowers resting), the air heavy, sun overcast as it so often is in northern Europe, reproduces an effect, which we rarely see in America, called the "beau temps gris"; not threatening rain, simply a condition of silvery mistiness. The light is like that cast by ground glass — diffused, tender. This was the artist's opportunity to make his figures like the tones of the half-dried hay — a marvelous tonality. The students holding advanced views, clamored for the artist's recognition. This was denied in the measure they desired, but that did no harm to the rising school or the interests of art.
The story of the contest over this Grand Medal of Honor, as told in the journal of Marie Bashkirtseff, is entirely correct. I was myself in Paris at the time and a witness of the events. After all is said, it is possible that an art academy does right to give prizes for academical excellence rather than for originality. Originality has to take time to
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prove its value. The public is its own guide though so often encum- bered with the ponderous habiliments of established respectability.
The "Joan of Arc" we can see at any time in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Instead of arranging an artificial landscape for the heroine's use, one in which visiting voices would feel them- selves at ease, Bastien betook himself to his own back yard and found one of his peasant neighbors suitable to enact the part of the inspired maid. She is represented exactly as nature made her, almost repul- sively plain, and the rude clothing adds no charm. Intense abstrac- tion is suggested by the attitude, one hand reaching out to toy with a twig of the tree under which she stands. Much weeping or long con- tinued anxiety might produce that dark circle about the eyes, but the artist exaggerated it for effect's sake. Like all supernaturalisms, it created wonderment. Literalism was carried too far when the spirits were materialized. They had been better left to the imagination, as the expressive face was enough for the effect desired. There can be little doubt that the hay field is the better picture.
Bastien-Lepage died, in the midst of his success, of a lingering illness.
Albert Wolff, the brilliant art writer for Figaro, made it his busi- ness to create public interest in Bastien's art. In the course of time the artist painted the critic's portrait, one of several masterful per- formances on quite small canvases. The art writer was represented seated at his writing desk in study-gown and scarlet-leather Turkish boots. These boots were conspicuous and wonderfully polished. Complaint had been made that the artist truckled too much to the writer. So, when the question was asked of a salon visitor, "Isn't it wonderful?" the reply came promptly, "Yes; but do you not think that the artist has 'licked his boots' too much." Things in a painting too much finished are said to be "licked," in studio parlance, but "lecher les bottes" means something else.
The celebrated portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, the actress, was again on view at the recent Paris Exposition (1900), and it is the most won- derful of these little portraits. It was framed in a steel-colored mould-
Besnard — Decohation in the Vestibule of the Ecole de Pharmacie.
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ing, and a gray-toned white garment reached from high ruff to heels, the red hair brought in relief against a steel-gray background. The actress sits gazing, with parted lips, at a carved old-ivory figurine held in the hand. At once the public knew it as "the fair idolatress, " because she was worshiping a graven image.
This harmony of steel-gray frame and a series of cool and warm whites (or grays) in the various parts of the garment and surroundings, contrasted with the old-ivory white of the image and the cool flesh and red hair, was the first of a long series of these studies in white on white and gray on gray. It is the same problem which Rosa Bonheur attacked in the oxen-ploughing picture, her first success.
Principal Works: Joan of Arc (Metropolitan Museum, New York); First Com- munion, Village Love, The Haymakers, Grandfather's Portrait, Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, The Potato Harvest.
Bruno Piglhein (1848-1894, German) was an ingenious man who painted a panorama of the crucifixion with great success. Pastels of remarkable force and cleverness kept him busy and commanded admiration. A. Normann (1848, Norwegian) was a Diisseldorf stu- dent, but paints the precipitous fiords of his own country in an original and forceful way. Walter Crane (1848-, English) deserves our hearty thanks for rescuing the child's picture book from the vulgarities of cheapness. Publishers were frightened at the idea of putting much money into a child's amusement, but Crane had his way and made the success which always attends the ability to please adult and child alike with truly meritorious work. His designs are superbly pictorial, decorative and suitable, well drawn and entirely original in concep- tion. His imitators are legion, but none can surpass him. Walter Ouless (1848-. English) delineates character and paints well. Louis C. Tiffany (1848-, American) is of the same family as the famous New York silversmiths. Educated in Parisian art schools, he returned lo invent a new method in making colored glass windows and glass mosaics, applying his skill to the production of monumental works which have made him famous the world over and placed the art-glass
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product of America on a high plane. Edwin Rowland Blashfield
(1848-, American) has given his attention to mural and other decora- tions of important size, among others some of the important panels in the Congressional Library. He does this work with rare excellence. Paul Albert Besnard(i849-, French) gained the Prix de Rome, but abandoned the classical manner, making of himself one of the most remarkable and original painters of France. His color is magnificent, though kept well in hand and never garish. In the new Hotel de Ville at Paris (a sumptuously decorated building containing the best art of France) his decorations are possibly the best. He is sometimes classed among the impressionists, though the name applies but little. An independent and original worker he certainly is, and the utter abandonment of polished finish contrasts his product with that of the classical school. At the Luxembourg is a painting from his easel called "La Femme qui se Chauffe." A nude woman, just from the bath, is seated on the floor of her chamber in front of the grate fire, a cup of something hot in her hand, the back toward the spectator. No fire is visible, only its glow on the nude flesh reveals its existence. This effect has been often attempted, but always with the firelight shining in a darkened room. This is broad daylight, the irhpression of firelight secured by the contrast of cool flesh with warm glow. The woman's hair is a peculiar ashen color, which almost melts into a back- ground of a similar tint. Handled with swift, free strokes, the paint- ing is so brilliant as to dominate the gallery, though few positive pigments are used. He paints his picture to completion in cold black and white at first. When this perfect, though colorless, statement is quite dry, the brilliant tints are swiftly added, with such certainty of touch as to mark the artist as an extraordinary technician.
Besnard is one of the leaders of the organization known as "The New Salon," which is saving the reputation of France as the leading art center of the world.
Emile Wauters (1849-, Belgian) is an historical and portrait painter of distinction. Giacomo Favretto (1849-, Italian) is a most brilliant colorist and technician, who revivified the life of medieval Venice.
,AuBOTT H. Thayer — Brother and Sister.
IMPRESSIONISM 237
Ferdinand Brutt (1849-, German) took his subjects from the social and the commercial life about him, striking an original note, and painting well. Max Lieberniann (1849-, German) fell in with the movement inaugurated by Gebhardt, Uhde and others that religious subjects should be treated in a realistic manner with types found in the daily life of one's immediate environment. He carried it to the extreme of choosing woefully ugly models. Finally abandoning this extreme, he paints daily life as he sees it without artificially arranged story. Franz Skarbina (1849-, German) follows the same ideals in literalism. Hans Dahl (1849-, Norwegian) was educated in Diisseldorf, but paints his native scenery with important figures, usually with humorous inci- dents. Reproductions of his work (in black and white) are very com- mon. Michael Ancher (1849-, Danish), with his wife, who is ten years younger and an excellent painter, discovered the attractions of a north Danish fishing village. Ancher produces fine heads and charac- terful action from his fishermen models. J. M. Strudwick (1849-, English) follows the mysticism of Burne Jones. Hubert Herkomer (1849-, English, Bavarian born) has made a name for himself, though handicapped by an unpopular style of technique. His pictures of peasant life are full of character and without forced story. His first success, "Chelsea Pensioners," shows a powerful characterization of ranks of superbly painted veterans in chapel. This picture was awarded the first grand medal of honor at the Paris Exposition, 1878. He visited America and dared paint very badly many thousand dol- lars' worth of portraits, and with this money he started a very per- sonal art school near London. Alfred East (1849-, English) is a popular painter of spring and autumn landscapes with lively effects. John W. Waterhouse (1849-, English) is mystical enough with his classical genre to please the English, and rather realistic withal.
Principal Works of Liebermann: Flax Spinners, Munich Beer Garden.
Principal Works of Strudwick: St. Cecilia, Ramparts of God's House.
Principal Works of Herkomer: Last Muster, Eventide, The Chapel of the Charterhouse.
Principal Works of Waterhouse: Herod and Mariatnne.
238 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Abbott Henderson Thayer (1849-, American) studied in Paris with Gerome, but abandoned his master's style to make decorative designs of a semi-religious or allegorical character, remarkably original and dignified in style. He is worthy to be called "great." Thayer began as an animal painter, making such pictures as "Young Lions at Cen- tral Park," "Cows Coming from Pasture," "Boy and Dog," "Autumn Cornfield," but his reputation is built upon the facts that he is a think- ing painter. His drawing is by no means faultless, his color being gray makes little impression in a gallery and lacks clearness; but he has ideas and, what is worth a great deal, style. There is something which recalls the early Florentine School in the "Corps Aile," a girl with wings against a blue ground — something mysterious and impres- sive. "The Virgin" shows a tender-faced young woman (an Ameri- can type) marching breezily across a meadow, leading a boy and a girl in either hand. Nothing could be farther removed from imita- tion than this trio of faces. They are evidently studied from actual individuals who live with us, being of us. In the sky are painted clouds which suggest enormous heavenly wings for this angelic creature. "The Virgin Enthroned" is owned in Boston, by J. M. Sears. The "Caritas" is in the Art Museum at Boston. Thayer's birthplace was Boston, and he now lives at Cornwall on the Hudson.
Principal Works: Caritas (MHseum of Fine Arts, Boston); The Virgin Enthroned (Boston); Brother and Sister, The Virgin, Winged Figure, Portrait of Two Ladies, The Child with the Kitten.
Edwin Lord Weeks (1849-1903, American) studied in Paris and resides abroad. His motives are found in India and the output is natur- alistic and strongly painted but not of the great order. Dwight W. Tryon (1849-, American) has struck a note in landscape painting which commands the admiration of artists because of fine gray tone and great naturalness. He follows the Japanese method of simple, long lines, always seeking dignity of effect. Selecting a spot in a New England level meadow, where the tall trees range themselves along the dividing fence in continuous line, he manages his composition in long hori-
DwiGHT William Tryon — Early Spring in New England.
IMPRESSIONISM 239
zontal bands. Thus: the green meadow makes one horizontal band, the Hne of thin trees another, the low hill behind this long-drawn hedge of trees another, the sky another still. This series of varied bands, extending from edge to edge of the frame, creates a decora- tion suitable for architectural accompaniment; that is to say, it is rest- ful and intensely dignified. He selects the early spring, when trees are thin and bare, with tender colors; or the late autumn, when the same conditions prevail with similar but not the same tints, and this manner of procedure has given to us some of the most original com- positions in our exhibitions.
CHAPTER XIV
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS
Only one Frenchman of importance, Dagnan-Bouveret, appears in this chapter, but the array of Americans is very striking, as Chase, Alexander, Abbey, Harrison, Brush, Stewart, Sargent, and Hassam. In Italy, Michetti sparkles and Seganlini is vigorous. Zorn comes out of Sweden with remarkable things.
William Merritt Chase
(/c?^9 — . American.)
It was in 1869 that a gentleman in St. Louis said, "Come with me, I have found a young man who paints so well that I dare not tell him how good his work is." It was Chase and he had been in New York studying with Wyatt Eaton, showing the effects of moderate training. He revealed a remarkable aptitude at painting anything set before him, which at that time was mostly still life and an occasional portrait.
His birthplace was in Indiana, his father a merchant, his mother a woman of remarkable sweetness and refinement and given to the pur- suit of the fine arts according to the limited opportunities to be found in a small place. Chase says that it is to this gentle mother that he owes his art tendencies. He was astonishingly clever and self- centered even at that early period. With people and paint alike his command of the raw material was remarkable.
St. Louis was raw in those days and artists lived on expectations, all except Chase. So great was the impression made that, after two years' stay, several persons united in making up a purse for defraying his expenses during a long stay in Munich for study at the art acad- emy. After rapid advancement in the antique and life classes, and the reception of several important prizes, he became a member of
240
William M. Chase — Alice.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 241
Piloty's "Master Class," the highest rank in the school, and in that class he gained another and still more important prize.
A long residence in Venice and Paris caused an early abandonment of the mannerisms acquired in Munich, and gave to his painting a decided French flavor- He has always been impressionable, revealing the influence of the impressionists, of Alfred Stevens, of Whistler, of Vollon, of Carriere-Belleuse, but never appearing to imitate any one, his own character shining out conspicuously through all the changes. Every artist goes through these preliminary periods of experimenting with his powers before they are perfectly under his command.
While in Munich he planned several pictures containing many fig- ures, street scenes, original in conception — like a large group of prisoners huddled about the gate of a forlorn edifice waiting for some officer to conduct them whither they were to be transferred. Much invention was displayed, and a feeling for the misery of prison life. Lack of funds compelled their abandonment, which was well, as Chase has greater talent for giving swift expression to his thoughts than for wearisome delving through many months of elaboration. He is impulsive and needs to act promptly; then, the genuine talent works its forceful influence. Paintings done at one sitting, or redone swiftly, show him at his best. All sensitive men are like that, from Velasquez to John Sargent.
Another reason why the abandonment of the elaborate figure pic- tures was fortunate lies in the fact that there is no taint of literary art in the man's work or his nature. He is a painter-artist emphatically. A keen joy in painting for the sake of reproducing nature, of com- posing color schemes, of rendering the atmosphere and the surfaces of nature, the joy of command over paint, oils, watercolors or pastels, no matter what medium, these are not to be indulged in by the laborious worker but by the impulsive one. His command of values, of sur- faces, distances over flat plains or flat seas, the rendering of textures by the slightest means, these are his glory and his pleasure. Unlike the men of the "Hudson River School," he cares nothing about scenery. When his home was in Brooklyn, he used to slip out to the
242 THE WUKLJJ'^ rAlJNliiKb
parks or to the wayside and bring home most beautiful tonal studies — completed pictures they were. The washerwoman hanging out clothes, white against white, awakened his enthusiasm and set his brushes going. His wife and children are a constant irritant to his artistic sensibilities. He keeps them always in artistic garments, as if his life depended upon such surroundings. They are willing models and appear frequently on canvas in the exhibitions, just as they daily present themselves to the world, natural, simple and without affecta- tion.
In portraiture his work is painter work, done for the sake of beauty in pose and tonal combinations. Probably did he flatter his subjects, as Cabanel could, he might paint more of them. In the Paris Exposition of 1900, were hung in places of honor, r"Ladj^ with White Shawl," "A Landscape," and "The Big Copper Kettle." Nothing in the entire gathering of the world's art was more dignified nor finer in tone than that simple, modestly posed woman and nothing was more artistic than all his work. The American exhibit ranked high. The "Copper Kettle" was in the manner of VoUon. Itookpains to visit the Vollon group for purposes of comparison. Though simi- lar, the works Were not alike. Was one better than the other? I could not tell.
The command over people displayed in his youth, in St. Louis, has never grown less. As an instructor, he is a power; his pupils are enthusiastic slaves. At Shinnecock, Long Island, he has created a summer school the like of which exists nowhere else.. It is to Chase that the famous Art Students League in New York owes most of its existence. In saying this, I do not forget the balance wheel, Shirlaw, a man older than Chase, who returned from European study at the same time, and these two set in motion one of ; the greatest factors in the development of American art as we now see it; and the work still goes on, though at this time Chase has a large school of his own in the city.
The return of these two educated and enthusiastic men (and others like them) sounded the knell of the Hudson River School. The
Dagnan-Bouveret — Madonna.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 243
National Academy, controlled by the old coterie, tried to freeze them out, but they organized the Society of American Artists (1878) which disputes with the Academy the respectabilities in art matters and excels it in true artistic value. However, the Academy found itself obliged to put out an anchor to windward and presently was only too glad to elect Chase a full National Academician.
The landscape about Shinnecock, the location of the summer school, is a forlorn stretch of weed and-brush-grown undulation. On my first visit there, I made the remark to one of the students, "What did anyone start an art school in this wilderness for? — there is nothing to paint." The student at once waxed enthusiastic over the beauties of the wilderness and looked upon me with contempt. There was color, distance, undulation and the sky over it all with its ever-chang- ing glories — was not that enough for any serious young painter? Surely, this tells the story of the change from the scenery-seeking old school to the art-loving and educated new; and it reveals Chase's influence over his pupils, that they should wax enthusiastic over paintings of this barren waste, unfit for other than purely artistic uses. This man has been and still is a mighty factor in the development of American art.
Principal Works : Alice (Art Institute, Chicago) ; Portrait of President Eliot of Harvard; Lady with the White Shawl, A Landscape, The Big Copper Kettle, and many portraits.
August von Kaulbach (1850-, German) is a descendant of the great Wilhelm and paints, for color's sake, many charming female heads and some imitations of Titian in religious art. Heinrich Zugel (1850-, German) paints sheep in a remarkably realistic way. Frederik Hendrik Apol (1850-, Dutch) is a success with winter land- scapes. Julius Kronberg (1850-, Swedish) goes in for color like the Venetians of old. Ernest A. Waterlow (1850-, English) has been influenced in his landscape painting by different celebrated men from Mason to Corot.
Gotthard Kuehl (1851-, German) is a colorist, painting church interiors in an excellent manner. Gustave Hellquist (1851-1890,
244 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Swedish) studied in Munich, but soon became one of the leaders in the painting of pictures in the open air, securing a fine tone, better than then known by his masters. Historical painting was occupying him when lunacy ended his valuable life. Peter S. Kroyer (1851-, Danish) has had a wide influence on the art of his country. He studied with Bonnat in Paris and paints admirable heads, as well as figures in land- scape and by the sea. Foreign academies have bestowed honors upon him, each most worthily given, because he is a fine painter. Viggo Johansen (1851-, Danish) makes beautiful and poetical landscapes. Viggo Pedersen (185 1-, Danish) learned of the French impressionists to paint his landscapes in the open air.
Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (1852-, French) is one of the cleverest painters of the present time, but it is doubtful if pos- terity will give him a high place in the line of talented men. As a genre painter, his pictures are composed on dignified lines and the technique is the embodiment of solidity, with drawing not to be sur- passed. Later he painted Norman peasants at the "pardon" in a vigorous fashion, with simple directness and few colors. Quite recently several religious pictures, large in size, very rich in color and original in treatment, have appeared. "The Supper at Emmaus" shows the Saviour seated, with outspread hands so as to form a pyram- idal figure, against a sky of remarkable yellow brilliancy. He breaks the bread, a round loaf, into exactly equal halves. The apostles and the attendants are startled into expressions carried to the point of grotesqueness. At one side is a group of the artist and his wife and little son in the attitude of adoration, and these are remark- ably well-considered and noble figures, quite redeeming the otherwise over-dramatic conception.
Principal Works: The Horse Pond (Luxembourg) ; A Wedding at the Photog- rapher's, The Nuptial Benediction, The Consecrated Bread, Bretonnes au Pardon.
Jan van Beers (1852-, Belgian), though a Belgian, spends his life in Paris, painting extravagant figures, very Parisienne women done with a cleverness which startles the beholder. Paolo Michetti (1852-,
Dagnan-Bouveret — Bretons at the Paedon.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 245
Italian) is another of the wonderfully clever technicians and colorists that recent times have produced in Italy. When very young he was already a good painter. His "Springtime and Love" (Art Insti- tute, Chicago) is full of sunshine and studded with little nude figures of girls and boys enjoying the fine air on a hill by the sea; the embodiment of cleverness. Johannes Christian Karel Klinkenberg (1852-, Dutch) produces sunlight effects with the houses and canals of Holland for material. He is an original, decorative genius. August Hagborg' (1852-, Swedish) loves the wide reaches of strand when the tide is far out, finding there broad masses of gray ground and silver sky against which to pose fisher people.
Edwin A. Abbey
(18^2 — . American, b. Philadelphia.)
I have no patience with the plaintive wailing about American artists who see fit to reside for lengthy periods, or all their lives in Europe. Why should they not? It is a much better place to carry on art work. I know some of these men. Are they lacking in patriotism? Not in the least. The statements about their ways, which we read in some books, are not true, except in the case of the small men who never will nor could make a mark anywhere. The men whose names occur in this history are as patriotic and as interested in the doings of the House' of Representatives as we who stay at home, and sometimes they judge much better of the movement than those who are in the dust of the battle on this side. Also, it is true that their art is in no sense lost to America, neither is their influence. Their works are largely sold to Americans. If I mistake not, the patriotism of Sargent and Abbey when they refused much well-paid work in order to execute the decorations in Boston for the sake of their love of art and pride in the land of their birth, is not equaled by any considerable number of us who stay at home. Art is cosmo- politan. There is no national art, though there may be racial sentiment. Nationality in art (so called) is not for this age of steam- ships and other distance killers. Is the art of Holland "national"?
246 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
A mixture of the Barbizon School and the personality of Josef Israels is the distinguishing feature of Dutch art, except certain effects of the French impressionists and such other matters. The art of Holland in the seventeenth century was an outcome of Italian art as used by literalists. No two Dutchmen painted alike. Hals, Rembrandt, Douw, Steen — which of them was specifically the Dutchman? Are they at all alike except in the matter of black hats and white ruffs? It is the personality of the man which makes art. What man could be more an American than John S. Sar- gent, even if he has lived his life in Europe, and which home- staying American has had more influence upon the art of stay-at- homes than Whistler? What I wish most to insist upon is that their art is largely made up of American influences, displayed in American gal- leries and hung in American homes. Therefore Abbey is" a good. American.
Abbey lives in the suburbs of London (village of Broadway). His works have been abundantly published in American magazines. Many of his pictures are owned in America. He is not only a Royal but a National Academician. At this moment, Edward VII. has commis- sioned him to paint the scene of the coronation.
Abbey has been criticized because he did not decorate the delivery room of the Boston public library with subjects from the history of Massachusetts. Such subjects would have been appropriate, certainly. But the story of the Holy Grail is that of yourself and of myself, and of every soul tormented with the universal struggle between good and evil, between generosity and selfishness.
It astonished the world to see this man, who had spent so many years in making pen and ink drawings, suddenly produce these immense oil paintings and do them so well. They are not absolutely first efforts in oil painting, his previous experience with the medium being very limited. In color, they are full and rich, grading from the clear red of the garments of Sir Galahad to the soft whites of various figures. Some maintain that too much color was bestowed upon them for mural decorations, but this is a feeling which I do not share.
DaGNAN-BoUVEKET CONSECEATED BrEAD.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 247
They seem to me suitable and very impressive. The series of panels is eight feet high, extending around the large room, above a high dado.
The labor of making these library decorations has been immense, and the sum paid for them is ridiculous as compared with that paid him for the Shakespeare series of black-and-white drawings. Very few can appreciate the amount of research, the seeking for correct costumes and their manufacture, the journeys to study bits of correct architecture and scenes, which this extensive frieze required. He was somewhat prepared for it by the study of the Shakespeare illustrations, though that was another subject. Upon matters con- nected with the Elizabethan age, few are so learned or possess so much material. His great studio is becoming a museum of valuable antiquities.
Abbey had a limited art school experience in America, but never submitted himself to that long-continued drill in drawing which is an essential to the painters of the Gerome and Bouguereau type. As a consequence, his drawing is not always severely correct. However, it is so varied, so lifelike and so expressive of the subject, that the most exacting critics wonder at his productions. Magnificently mas- terful in pen-and-ink work, in no way mechanical, it is a question whether he has a rival. The celebrated Vierge (Spanish-French) is the exemplar of nearly all the black-and-white workers, but does not seem to have largely influenced Abbey. Compared to him, the American is less well regulated but more expressive. It will be hard to discover an artist so fertile in fancy, so endlessly varied in design for every subject and period. Everything is so fresh, so graceful, so different from anything that came before, that each new issue of a magazine with his drawings becomes a treasure to be sought out and cherished. Constantly in demand, he would naturally be tempted to do careless things, but nothing less than his best has ever come from his hands.
Principal Works: Illustrations of Herrick, Shakespeare, She Stoops to Con- quer. Decorations: "The Quest of the Holy Grail," in the Boston Public Library.
248 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Christian Krohg (1852-, Norwegian) finds his material among the fisher folk of his country, and paints it well. Eilif Peterssen (1852-, Norwegian) after studying in Germany and imitating several masters, settled down to an excellent naturalism with the landscape of his own land. Vacslav Brozic (1852-1901, Bohemian) secured an education in Paris and was induced by the picture dealers (as was Munkacsy) to paint historical pictures, as the "Columbus at Salamanca." He paid no attention the art of his own country. Edward Simmons (1852-, American) has done some admirable decorative work in our public buildings, and this is the present best hope of American art.
Frank Dicksee (1853-, English) illustrated Shakespeare with many paintings and has made sentimental story pictures. J. Francis Murphy (1853-, American) commands fine tone in his landscapes but has struck no original note. William Dannat (1853-, American) studied with Munkacsy and developed remarkable talent and strength. He found in Spain some life which has been rendered with an origin- ality worthy of all praise, whether popularly appreciated or not. Alexander Harrison (1853-, American) has given many evidences of real genius, changing his style many times and always producing something which commanded the admiration of artists. He can color richly or gravely, but never fails to color well, doing both figures and landscapes.
Principal Works: Au Bord de la Mer, Shipwrecked, Coast of Brittany, Chateaux en Espagne, The Amateurs, Little- Slave, Harbor of Concarneau, Pebbly Beach, Breton Garden, Twilight, The Shipwrecked of Glenans, Seashore, The Wave, In Arcady.
Will H. Low (1853-, American), after serious study in Paris, returned to America to follow in the footsteps of the neo-classicists (Gerome, Cabanel, etc.), making pictures of nymphs and similar mythology. His illustrations of Keats are noted, possibly more so than they deserve. It is doubtful if the designing of the new paper money was placed in good hands when he received the commission. Paul Hoecker (1854-, German) works for color's sake in making pic-
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THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 249
turesque Dutch interiors. Christian Skredsvic (1854-, Norwegian) has very tender poetical sentiment and soft color in his landscapes, doing also religious pictures with figures from the life of to-day. Walter Dendy Sadler (1854-, English) secured his art education in Diisseldorf aud returned to England to revivify the life of old stage- coaching days in a manner unusually good, though conventional. Leonard Ochtman (1854-, American) lives near New York and paints the landscape of Connecticut with marked originality and tenderness and in good color.
Karl Nordstrom (1855-, Swedish) paints the night and waning day with force and tenderness. M. Larsson (1855-, Swedish) is a brilliant landscapist who searches for somewhat extravagant color. Erick Werenskiold (1855-, Norwegian) illustrates national fairy tales most acceptably and paints figures with realism. Karl Edvard Dircks (1855-, Norwegian) finds his motives along the shores of his native land. Nils Hansteen (1855-, Norwegian) also makes marines. Yeend King (1855-, English) is a genre painter such as the English admire and is better than the common. George Be Forest Brush (1855-, American) is a rather remarkable character, seeking to use his excellent Parisian training in the production of serious art, whether popular or not. His wife and children have posed in a manner sug- gestive of the holy family and the resultant art is admirable, com- manding a leading position in national and international expositions.
Principal Works : Silence Broken, Mourning Her Brave, The Sculptor and the King; Mother and Child (Boston Museum of Fine Arts); Mother and Child (Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia) ; The Artist's Family.
Jules L. Stewart (1855-, American) lives in Paris and is the son of the American known as "Sugar Stewart," who was the first impor- tant patron of Fortuny. The young man was brought up in the studio of Madrazo, Fortuny's pupil, and given every advantage, which his career honors because, though not a great genius, he is a serious stu- dent of nature and has produced some strange and admirable original effects in color and realistic treatment.
250 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Stewart's "Hunt Ball" is a large picture filled with men and women in motion, as the title indicates. The men are in red and the women in pale tints. It is a brilliant example of stuff-painting, resembling in texture the work of Madrazo. More recently, he has studied the effects of sunlight as manifest when a nude figure holds up variously- colored stuffs through which the brilliant light penetrates, throwing very strange tints on the flesh which contrast with the reflections from the brilliantly-lighted green grass. The strangeness and originality of these studies and their sincere truth command the attention of artists who understand the difficulties overcome and the keenness of observa- tion required. If it .may not be called "great," it is at least admirable.
Principal Works: Court in Cairo, Five O'clock Tea, The Hunt Ball, Full Speed.
Claus Meyer (1856-, German) places his figures under the light of some large window where the whites in his draperies will have to be seen against it, thus conquering difficult light effects and studying subtle truths of nature. Max Klinger (1856-, German) is a painter of poetic fancies in a dignified way, sometimes a trifle morbid in his con- ceptions.
John Singer Sargent
{i8$6 — . American.)
If a portrait express character as well as likeness, it may be the greatest of all works of art. Portraits of unknown personages, like Rembrandt's "Gilder," are more fascinating than most great compo- sitions. They quicken the imagination and show forth all the won- derful skill of their makers. In the Paris Exposition of 1900 I saw a painting of a woman's figure in the robe of a university doctor, black against a black background, relieved only by the purple scarf and the flesh color of face and hand, a most monotonous composition; yet it fixed my attention more than almost anything else. That Sargent had painted it was plain, but more than that I knew not, nor cared. The pose was simple and quietly dignified; the expression of face car-
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George de F. Brush — Mother and Child.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 251
ried that peculiar something which proclaims masterfulness, the hand was not especially highly finished, but it had power. The subtlety of the entire work overpowered my senses. The Jewish woman (Mrs. Meyer) with the two children, on the opposite wall, was wonderful, but this outdid it as an example of subtle delineation. Not alone was the brush-work more direct and frank than anything else in sight, and the color superb; it was the power of expression which will make this live as a wonderful work. The subect, as I afterward learned, was President Thomas of Bryn Mawr.
On another dark canvas, looming out of the blackness, only a head, hands and a quite lively red tongue down in the corner were visible. Closer inspection revealed an owner for the tongue — a black French poodle lost in the black atmosphere; but the spark in the beast's eye glimmered brightly. The head belonged to a man and one hand held a cigar, not too easily seen. Nothing but the face showed plainly. Such a face! A mixture of stupidity and shrewd- ness— a marvelously suggestive expression. How does it happen that people allow a man to paint such pictures of themselves? Contrast this with the amiably adjusted portraits by Cabanel. That face was painted with fewer master strokes than any that my memory recalls.
The larger canvas, with group of three (Mrs. Meyer and children) occupied the place of honor. The lady sat on a silk-tapestried and gold-framed sofa, her children leaning over the back, one of them in steel-gray. This made contrast with the extensively spread-out rose silk dress of the mother. As passages of swift, determined brush- work, even Velasquez could not surpass it. But this is a detail of minor importance. Character is what tells in Sargent's work. Who can describe character?
Much is said about the influence of Velasquez upon Sargent, but usually nothing more than technique is taken into consideration. Goya is one of his favorites also. Sargent had, more than any other that I know, the Spaniard's peculiarities of genius. Referring to the passages in this writing on Velasquez, it will be seen that his pecu- liarity was a Spanish one — the ability to see in a face what no other
252 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
man ever could discover and note down. Sargent is next in that line of talent.
In a century or two, the art lovers will gather about the works of "the great American" and purchasers will pay enormous prices for them. This is not an exalted fancy, but beyond doubt to be a reality. Good technique would not accomplish this, but great characterization will.
Sargent's parents were young Americans of means who lived in Florence for a year before this boy was born. Who knows what subtle influence of that enthusiastic mother's delight over the art she studied enabled nature to make this great painter? Add to this the fact that he was educated in that city of art glories and the results are explained. But education alone never made a genius.
Some have complained that he is not an American because his home has always been in Europe. But in the late Paris Exposition his work was the center of attraction in the American section of fine arts, and it stood out as the most American thing in it.
"American art" is not necessarily American in subject. All subjects are alike to a good artist; it is altogether a question of the character displayed in the painting This man's aggressiveness, independence, quickness of perception and general expertness are entirely American. Wherever he lives or whatever he paints, he will be American. It is a matter of no importance whether his sitter be a Jewess in London or Madame Fifth-Avenue.
At the Pan-American Exposition (Buffalo, 1901) two tall figures, in outing costume of linen stuffs, the man holding a tennis racquet, made the subject matter of Sargent's most important picture (owned by I. N. Phelps Stokes, Esq.). The swift strokes forming the white trousers and skirt of the figures were uncompromisingly long lines of positive drawing — the entire rendering of textures was naturalistic, and yet done with the most direct means. Everything else in that well-hung gallery seemed labored and tediously manipu- lated by comparison. All the flesh was normal and cool. The woman smiles, not sweetly, but with an expression of personality bordering
J. S. Sargent — Portkait of Homer St. Gaudens.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 253
on caricature. Still, people seek for these peculiar pictures of them- selves. There is no character painting, perhaps, which does not strike us as caricature, so accustomed are we to the sweetened and fancifully managed portrait.
His first Salon success was in 1879, with a portrait of his master, Carolus Duran, done so much in the manner of his master that envious people declared that Carolus himself had painted most of it. But the work was marked by peculiarities so unlike those of the mas- ter that this accusation fell on stony ground It was the Salon sensa- tion. His work known as "The Hall of the Four Children" came soon afterward: a spacious arrangement, the hall having openings and portieres rendered in grave, rich tones. Three of the children were in the background, the little one playing near the center on the floor. With these was the portrait of an enormous Chinese vase, against which one of the children was leaning. Nothing like it occurs in any of the museums, and the impression made was as great as the origin- ality of the composition, the superiority of the color and brush-work and the personality of the expressions.
Wonderful as are Sargent's decorations of the Boston Public Library, it is doubtful if they surpass his portraits as manifestations of genius. In them we see how a man may undertake a task which has occupied the best of the world's artists in all ages, and still find a new way of expressing himself. Where are we to find a prototype for that vault overhead? Some declare that it is Byzantine, but it is not that except as it is archaic in sentiment, rather than according to the classicism of the school of Raphael. Its management is startlingly original, with heads modelled in relief and great seeming confusion in arrangement. As decoration for an unbroken surface, few efforts can compare with it. The frieze of prophets is noble in its series of monumental figures, which are more like other men's work than the vault. Much as they are admired, I feel them to be less characterful than the portraits.
Sargent is an English Royal Academician and an American National Academician. He illustrates the benefits of hard work in
254 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
the best Parisian schools, a thorough understanding of all technique and principles of picture-making as they may be used by an original genius, and he proves that training does not stunt anyone's growth or dry up his freshness, as it is claimed by some that long training is sure to do.
Principal Works: Carmencita (Luxembourg) ; EI Jaleo, Mrs. Meyer and Chil- dren, Beatrix, The Hall of the Four Children, Carnation Lily — Lily Rose; Portraits of Carolus Duran, Homer St. Gaudens, William M. Chase, Henry D. Marquand, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, Col. Higginson, Mrs. Fiske-Warren, and many others ; Decorations in the Boston Public Library, called "The Triumph of Religion."
Charles H. Davis (1856-, American), the hermit of Mystic, Conn., lives with nature, painting beautifully what he sees, or reproducing his impressions in the quiet of his country studio. John W. Alex- ander (1856-, American) has abandoned Paris for New York. There is no more original portrait painter of our nationality, and his rank in Europe is not a low one. Magnificent conceptions of the sweep of lines and original poses have commanded wide admiration. Alexander is another who uses few pigments and with them secures extraordinary variety of color. With him it is a question of lines and masses rather than of characterization. He seeks beautiful effects through these qualities and through a certain diffused color which has a peculiar magnetism. His individuality is very marked. His work has distinction.
Principal Works: Portrait of Walt Whitman (Metropolitan Museum, New York) ; Isabella and the Pot of Basil (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) ; Portrait of a Woman, The Blue Bowl, The Ray of Sunhght, A Mother.
Robert Haug (1857-, German) does military pictures, not quite literal because seeking for sentimentality. Frank Bramley (1857-, English) is a genre painter of the better sort. Wyllie (1857-, English) knows the details of the picturesque craft which ply the Thames in a manner to excite admiration and his paintings give much of the senti- ment of the great port of London. Bruce Crane (1857-, American) is a landscape painter who has made many very attractive pictures. Nils Kreuger (1858-, Swedish) is another who painted the mystery of
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 255
night with fine effect. Horatio Walker (1858-, American) is counted as remarkable for sincere study and rendering of landscape with domestic animals and figures. He secures the rare virtue called style. Even when he paints pigs, there is fine style in the picture. Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899, Italian). Decorated with crape, a considerable collection of this artist's works hung in the Paris Expo- sition of 1900. Three of the largest represented the top of the Alps, treated in a very strange manner in composition and handling. The paint was laid as if embroidered with heavy cords. The effect was startling, truthful in a sense, rarely equaled and revealing an observa- tion of nature scarcely surpassed by anything in the entire exposition. Some called it an affectation, but it carried the conviction of sincerity and truth.
Nils Gustav Wenzel (1859-, Norwegian) is one of those who studied with Piloty and then in Paris, returning to his own land to create a landscape art entirely national and excellent. Childe Hassam (1859-, American) is a follower of Claude Monet in his use of color and has secured some effects of light and atmosphere which almost no one has excelled, with tender and rich color most admirable to see. His figures are bathed in atmosphere and light. Hassam painted a young woman playing the piano in front of an open window, the daylight falling on masses of greenery and reflecting this light over the polished surface of the piano, until the two seemed bathed in one liquid atmosphere. Nothing useless, nothing obtrusive, nothing but the solitary statement of white-clad woman, shining light and vibration of atmosphere intruded on the senses. Upon the piano top stood several transparent glass vases holding variously-colored pop- pies. The manner in which he hinted at the vases (which an ordinary artist would have delighted to elaborate) and the tender way that he made the brilliant flowers serve the arrangement of the composition, just enough and no more, was amazingl)' good.
Jan Toorop (i860-, Dutch) is a mystic who creates decorative panels with original lines and combinations of colors. He certainly
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has remarkable talent and fills a place in art now becoming more and more appreciated. Bruno Liljefors (i860-, Swedish) mani- fested so little talent that his masters despaired. So he retired to the country and communed with nature, painting animals and figures in a new and excellent way. Anders Zorn (i860-, Swedish) is a man of extraordinary character and a painter who goes about many countries executing portraits as a prince who can command the world. In observation of nature and rendering its truths in his own bold and orig- inal way, no one is his superior. His omnibus interior (at Columbian Exposition), a night scene in which the passengers are exposed to the blasts of electric and gas light commingled, is a marvel of true observation. Certain pictures of the stout nymphs of his own country, bathing from the rocks, were considered somewhat too realistic, but that is merely a matter of opinion. There is no reason why we should have the dictation of the style of nymph he is to study, so long as he paints them so superbly. Zorn's color is gray. He uses a great deal of black and red, duly qualified with yellows. This simple palette in his hands produces a series of tones of wonderful tenderness and variety, the more so when his bold brush-stroke and ability to manage light and shade are considered. Of course in landscape there are the essential greens and blues to make nature's colors, but with it all the color is tonal. Extraordinary ability to see the refinements of expression in a face and to catch the evanescent effects of unusual appearances, as in the already mentioned "Omnibus," constitute his principal claim to genius. In etching he is easily close to the head.
Principal Works: The Omnibus (Boston) ; The Ripple of the Waves, Portraits of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. Deering, Mr. Caton, and many others.
Julius Paulsen (i860-, Danish) produces figure pictures with great breadth and an original sentiment. Solomon J. Solomon (i860-, English) was educated on the continent and returned to take up the painting of nymphs after the manner somewhat of Sir F. Leighton.
Principal Works: Cassandra, Samson, Niobe, Laus Deo.
John W. Alexander — Portrait of a Woman.
THE AMERICANS AND SOME OTHERS 257
Frank W; Benson (1862-, American) is one of the serious students of unusual effects, such as firelight on flesh and other difficult phenom- ena. His decorations, "The Seasons," at the Congressional Library are among the best. Otto Reiniger (1863-, German) is a Stuttgart artist who has great feeling for tonal landscape. Frans Stuck (1863-, German) is an original genius, making ideal renderings of mythologi- cal and religious subjects with strong light and shade and mysterious effects. Complained of as not a good colorist, he has recently given proof of extraordinary power in using newly-found, rich tones.
Prince Eugene of Sweden (1864-) has done much for the art of his country and paints a landscape which gives another evidence of the vitality of the royal family of Sweden. He loves those new effects which the young men invent, and this is in contrast with the practice and sentiment of too many conservative reigning houses.
CHAPTER XV
THE PRESENT SITUATION
This chapter gives the names of some artists who are now forming the frontier guard in art matters. It is followed by a final review of the situation, and a few pages on "Schools of Art," as they have been conventionally classified.
Several Rising Frenchmen
There are important contemporary French painters who keep up the traditions of the country for excellence in technique, marked talent and originality in conception of their art.
Rene Me'nard took his inspiration from Bastien-Lepage, but as early as his second Salon exhibition (1884) had already formed a style of his own, which revealed something of the influence of the Barbizon School. His observation of nature is strikingly faithful, yet he has "style' ' in his rendering. Nude women standing or wading in shallow water of the wide spreading sea or the woodland lake, give him oppor- tunity to show his training in drawing and his ability to imagine large effects. This is not at all the style of nude given us by Cabanel or Lefebvre, but a bolder and more dignified rendering of truth. "Le Troupeau," at the Luxembourg, represents cattle drawing near water to drink, but it is the superb largeness and extent of the landscape which catches and holds the attention. It is not a "cattle picture"; the group of animals is used, like the masses of trees, as a part of the vast landscape.
Charles Cottet is a power at each salon with his peculiar and truthful renderings of figures, largely subjects drawn from people living on the French sea coast (Brittany). "L'Enfant Mort" repre- sents a Breton family kneeling about the corpse of an infant which has
258
Carriehe — Maternity.
THE PRESENT SITUATION 259
been laid out on a white-spread table with a few pathetically meagre candles and such greenery and flowers as the locality furnished. The little body is mounted for view, dressed in its quaint costume, while the window above it centers the light over the white spot. All Cot- tet's figure pieces are realistic in a new way and have an individuality peculiar to the artist. His color for these sad subjects is dark and approaching blackness, but in other works the color is rich and bril- liant. He often paints the sea with boats entering or leaving the fisher havens at dawn or twilight. Though something resembling story often appears in Cottet's pictures, he religiously avoids the story-tell- ing habit of the usual genre painter. He cares nothing about the details or the literalness of the furnishings on tables or in rooms, never allowing them to absorb the attention, using such details sparingly and secondarily. His "story" is only sufficient to act as a vehicle to carry the mighty sentiment of the life of this serious Breton people. His is a nobly conceived art, the dignity sustained by deep tones of color and massive forms.
Principal Works: Rayons du Soir (Luxembourg) ; Series of pictures called Au Pays de la Mer ; Triptych entitled Le Repas d' Adieu, Ceux qui s'en Vont, Celles qui restent.
Henri Jean Guillaume Martin reveals many elements of genius, using color with the spotty handling of pure touches of pigment, as invented by Monet, but carrying the effects farther than Monet did. "Chacun sa Chimere" (property of the government) represents people with hobbies in a very poetical manner. "Serenite" (belonging to the government) is a large picture with tall pine-tree stems reaching like harp strings up and down across the entire canvas, and floating amid them are figures, in rose-tinted costumes, bearing musical instruments in their hands. Soft rays of the declining sun filter through the trees, the seated figures in pale draperies seem serenely contented as they watch those musicians gliding through the air. It is a peaceful land- scape inhabited by peace. The entire abandonment of details allows of no distraction from the lofty expression of the one sentiment — serenity. The canvas is beautiful in color, poetic in treatment and
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managed in the Japanese manner. Martin received a grand prixat the exposition, Paris, 1900. His mural decorations at the Paris H6tel de Ville are counted among the good ones in that wonderfully beautiful edifice.
The number of these talented men is considerable, and there is no occasion for imagining that French art is declining.
Edmond Aman-Jean has not alone talent of the highest order but produces dignified art, serious in its purpose. Each generation of the Anglo-Saxon race, not understanding the French character, has its outcry over French frivolity. In each generation there has been frivolity, but it is not on the increase. The men mentioned here are not frivolous and the majority of French artists are as serious to-day as they ever were.
Aman-Jean reveals the influence of the Japanese artists, who taught Europeans to see nature simply and in nearly flat masses. It is also correct to declare that this artist and others have been influenced by the American, Whistler, who was one of the first to partake of the Japanese delicacies. Whistler invented a flesh tone, not pinkish but gray, and this tone is found in Aman-Jean's faces. Whistler reduced the modeling of his faces to its simplest parts, only subtly revealing the rotundity; Aman-Jean does the same. In the Lux- embourg he has a figure of a woman (probably a portrait) seated and nearly profile. The dress is reduced to its simplest parts, and in color recalls that strange, indescribable purplish hue which the Japan- ese painters of the good period in the last century used so variedly and so charmingly. So the bit of yellowish scarf is in a Japanese tone, and all the hair, the background, the slight suggestion of plant forms are entirely Japanese in treatment. All painting in the world, however noble, resembles that of some previous generation; why not this of Aman-Jean? It is nobly done, indicating the results of serious academical training but abandoning the traditions of the classicists of Italy as they are taught in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, All the choice pictures of Aman-Jean in the Exposition of 1900 were of this sort —
Edmond Aman-Jean — Pohtkait of a Young Woman.
THE PRESENT SITUATION 261
Japanese in sentiment and treatment. Several of them were mural
decorations, to which this style lends itself so kindly. The students
of to-day admire Aman-Jean and his influence upon them is vigorous.
Principal Works: La Jeuiie Fille au Paon; Portrait (Luxembourg); Venetia.
Eugene Carriere is another Frenchman who reveals Whistler's influence, though he is less directly like the Japanese than the last man mentioned. It is Whistler's more recent style of using nearly black tones — always refined and colorful black — and his non-pink flesh tones which Carriere has adopted. However, where Whistler is firm and masterful in touch, Carriere is inclined to be vague in hand- ling though clear in thought. All his pictures suggest that he made them out of dark smoke. One day he became jocose at his own expense when visiting the Luxembourg and confronting his own work: "Voila — some one has been smoking in the nursery." The picture was a domestic scene. One of his most important works at the Expo- sition of igoo was the interior of a popular theater, the spectator sup- posed to be in one of the higher galleries looking across to the other tiers of galleries over the vast emptiness of the space, below which is the stage, though the latter is invisible. The lights are turned down and all is somber, vaguely lighted from the glow of the performance. This light reveals the faces of the nearer occupants of the circling gal- lery seats and in the obscurity of the distant galleries we see the mul- titudinous audience, all enveloped in the vapory smoke. It is not generally supposed that he intended to state that every one in the house was smoking cigars, though the effect suggests this. Which- ever way he intended this smokiness to be understood, it is true that all his work is bathed in it, as suggested by his own witticism. He is as clever in his treatment of this effect as any one has a right to be. Certainly his school training must have been of the best, because every line of the drawing is learned. Studying his dignified domestic scenes (Luxembourg), and forgetting what some other artist has painted in the same manner, they become vigorously impressive.
Principal Works: Portrait Group, Motherhood (l^uxembourg); Alphonse Daudet and his Daughter Esmee, Theatre Populaire, L'Enfant Malade.
262 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Some Artists in England
There was a group of painters in Scotland known as "the Glasgow School." They battled for recognition by legitimate display of talent, without the aid of any literary "promoter." Created by the influence of the Barbizon School, the recent Dutch painters and Whis- tler, and most of them of Parisian art-school training, they evolved' a style of their own, which commanded the admiration of the European and American collectors. In manner they differ widely, only having in common the sentiment of poetic treatment and largeness of style. Their habit was to meet in one of the studios and criticise their col- lected works, even retouching the paintings for each other; then voting which should be exhibited at their public appearance, for they never exhibited except collectively. The group is now scattered.
Probably the strongest is Sir James Guthrie, recently made Presi- dent of the Royal Scottish Academy, who is a fine coloristand a daring painter of figures and portraits. His arrangments are unique and picturesque while always in good taste. E. A. Hornell is decorative in the management of his figure subjects, leaning to the Japanese man- ner, making highly-colored spottings much resembling the effects of stained glass. M. R. Stevenson paints landscapes of wonderful poetic sentiment, often reproducing the twilight tenderly and without any of the garishness which so often vulgarizes such effects. W. Y. Mac- Gregor (not Robert) and James Paterson are landscape painters to be proud of, with tender tones and many resemblances to Corot, though more solid in treatment. John Lavery is a painter of portraits, hand- ling his matter very loosely, merely suggesting the surfaces but always with knowledge and power. His color is grave but luminous in its depths. The originality and quaintness of his arrangements, the inno- cent air of his children and the abandonment of all academical con- ventionalities proclaim him an artist far higher in rank than the "fine painters." These were the leaders, though the list could be' extended.
Principal Works of Guthrie: In the Orchard, Portrait of Rev. Dr. Gardner, Portrait of a Lady.
Cecilia Beaux — Mother and Son.
THE PRESENT SITUATION 263
A man of Welch extraction, Frank Brangwyn,has made a name for himself by the use of remarkable color, very low in tone and the pigments laid as pure and rich as possible. Many of his subjects are poetic in a dignified way. His work suggests painted windows, and he has invented many fine designs for actual windows.
William Stott, recently deceased, was a warm friend of the American artist, Alexander Harrison, and the two influenced one another in the matter of reproducing the female nude in peculiar con- ditions of the light of out-of-doors. Stott was fond of painting nudes in the surf of the sea, and gave to them a peculiar wildness as if they were children of the open who had never known the restraints of clothing. Byam Shaw follows, to a certaint extent, the influence of the Preraphaelites, though never slavishly. He is a colorist in that he reproduces the brilliant tints of draperies correctly. But he fails to impress the spectator with his serious subjects because of the interest excited by this same brilliant coloring and a too faithful rendering of textures, thus distracting the attention from more important matters. He is sermonizing very often in his pictures, as in the little work:
"Maggie has written a letter to give me my choice between A wee little whimpering Love and the great God Nic-o-tine;'
representing a young man seated in his smoking den, surrounded by luxuries of wine and tobacco. The little God of Love, who has just delivered his message, stands tearful and embarrassed in the edge of the frame because this son of degeneracy has cast Maggie's letter on the floor, the anti-tobacco sentiments and conditions of surrender contained therein not pleasing him. All details are beautifully car- ried out, including the sense of green light which pervades the room, reflections from green curtains and walls.
The large and crowded picture called "Truth" shows us an Eng- lish king of the early fifteenth century who has captured Truth and blindfolded the helpless, naked creature, while his supporters, repre- sentatives of the Law, the Church and the Army, appeal to books or heaven or look on indifferently. The queen and her two daughters
264 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
hold up a drapery to shield the king's acts from the vulgar gaze of the populace in the background. A brazen woman (the king's mistress) has stolen the white robe of Truth and causes it to be dipped in a pot of blood. Near at hand, the court jester has captured the lamp of Truth and attempts to satisfy himself as to whether it can be extin- guished or not. Innocence, in the person of a child, enters into the sport of blowing out the lamp, with great glee, knowing no better, A young woman watches this operation earnestly, to satisfy herself as to the perpetuity of the light of Truth. This serious and portentous situation is presented with an array of gorgeous and positive coloring and of elaborate stuffs painting which distracts the attention from the intensely vital sermon which the picture is intended to suggest. It is fine work, but a mistaken effort.
Some American Contemporaries
Cecelia Beaux (b. Philadelphia) is one of the women painters who nas won for herself a position that many men envy. Portrait painting occupies her principally, and the touch is strong, the color vigorous and rich. It is not right to place any artist too high. This one's painting resembles John Sargent's so closely as to be almost an imita- tion. But she can secure the character of the subject remarkably well, which is much. J. Carroll Beckwith does excellent portraits, direct and natural, examples of which went to the Exposition, Paris, 1900. Robert Blum (deceased 1903) was so capable and inventive in all things, illustrations, decorations and pictures, that success attended him. His large decoration in the Mendelssohn music hall in New York shows us a festival of Music. It is painted in watercolors. John G. Brown (b. in England, 1831) has widely commanded the public attention these many years with sentimental pictures of bootblacks and street gamins. He holds with us the same position as the German and English anec- dotic painters hold in their countries, not a great, but a pleasing artist. F. S. Church makes attractive, pale-toned and harmonious panels with lightly-draped women coquetting with wild animals and birds, sus- tained by a slight allegorical pretext. R. Swain GifTord has given us
Carkoll Beckwith — " 1776
THE PRESENT SITUATION 265
numberless landscapes with excellent low-tone and arranged composi- tions. Charles Dana Gibson does not paint. His illustrations are widely known; made with pen and ink. He can produce works with touching sentiment, enlivened by wit. Over-patronage is injuring him, but his talent is of a high order. Francis D. Millet was born near Boston, secured his art education in Antwerp, was sent to the Russo-Turkish war as correspondent for the London Graphic and did wonderful things by his courage and intelligence in that horrible win- ter campaign. He now paints genre pictures, the subject matter found in the Elizabethan period of- picturesque characters and clothes, in the manner of the late Lord Leighton.
Gari Melchers (b. Detroit) secured his education in European art schools; lives now in Holland and Paris and paints strikingly decora- tive compositions from material found in Holland, also powerful por- traits. It is interesting to remark the effect of temperament in two artists both painting Dutch child life. Melchers and MacEwen have selected this line of work in Holland, but neither is in the least like any one else.
Melchers loves strong colors; has not a perfect color sense, but manages so well as almost to disarm criticism. His masculinity com- mands such respect that every one bows to its force. In one of his pictures two young people of Holland go a-skating, clothed in the costumes of the peasantry. The woman wears a short cloak of varia- gated brocade, brilliant with several violent contrasts. The man has on a highly-colored Jersey jacket. Giving to these all the vigor of his palette, Melchers creates a decorative scheme which throws down the coloring of all other pictures in a gallery. The force of the effect is tremendous and it wins by manifestation of vigor and self-confidence in the painter. Whatever criticism the spectator is inclined to indulge in is dampened by his admiration of the daring of the artist.
His portrait of President Harper, of the University of Chicago, is full length, untrammelled by useless accessories or belongings. This vigorous man stands alone on the canvas, exactly like himself, determined, alert, rugged and independent. In all the line of portrait
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painting, few efforts are more successful than this in the delineation of character. A lack of personality in the sitter disturbs Melchers. He is a true artist, dependent upon his inspiration. Given person- ality, he will feel its value and render its essence.
Principal Works: Mother and Child (Luxembourg); The Sermon, The Skaters, Portrait of Donald G. Mitchell, Little Constance, Sainte Gudule, Little Red Ridinghood, Vespers, The Bride, Married, Portrait of Mr. David Jones, Portrait of Dr. Harper, The Young Mother.
Howard Pyle (b. Delaware) commands the respect of all artists, although, like Abbey, he uses his art in making illustrations. Many of these are painted in oils, sufficiently reserved in the coloring not to interfere with the reproduction on the pages of a book, by means of photo-process. His illustrative work reveals force, originality, excel- lence in arrangement, good drawing, and an ambition to do his best. He has illustrated all sorts of matters, but the stories of the old buc- caneer life are sufficient to stamp him as a remarkable man. H. O. Tanner (b. Pittsburg) is interesting partly because of his negro blood. His character is not less than that of the best of our painters; refined, with exalted ideals, and to this he adds remarkable talent and extended Parisian art-school training. His subjects are usually derived from the Bible and the matter seems to be handled with real convic- tion. His treatment is original. Robert W. Vonnoh (b. Hartford) is a portrait painter who has been much in demand and deserves his success, because of truthful delineation- of character and good color and technique. A. H. Wyant (recently deceased, b. Ohio) was one of the serious painters, strong and fine in color, also very poetic in treat- ment of his landscapes. He is an outcome of the Hudson River School, but kept up with the recent movement, never falling behind the best of the trained men.
Walter MacEwen (b. Chicago) may not be passed over lightly- His Parisian art education has served to place his technique on a plane which is in no sense lower than the best in any land. While painting in Holland he once saw a number of round-faced and pale-haived boys
Carroll Beckwith — Paul du Chaillu.
THE PRESENT SITUATION 267
staring at him and making childish hootings in derision of the stranger. The sun shone through the thin hair, making glowing halos around the urchins' heads. It was a unique effect, one never serving an artist as motive until then. He saw the opportunity instantly and produced a picture which commanded attention at once. Facial movements, character, freedom from extravagance while rendering peculiar expressions, all this was so well done that it proved the exist- ence of one much-sought-for element in the artist— originality. Thus it happened that MacEwen found his subject matter. Not continuing with the saucy boys too long, he has made a series of character studies of Dutch peasant life which few have equaled.
Thomas Wilmar Dewing (b. in Boston) after securing his Parisian training, developed a peculiarly poetic rendering of figure pictures. An early work represented several female figures grouped on a slight elevation in formal manner. These were conventionally draped and, standing back to back so as to face outwards, they blow upon golden trumpets. The color was quiet and tenderly varied. At that time decorative panels were rarely to be seen in our exhi- bitions (as the taste for them is entirely recent) and the public found this quite uninteresting, the more so as the artist had spent no time in elaborating the draperies or in careful stuffs-painting. Such short-hand work is more admired at present, though the execution of it must be masterful.
Dewing has also painted floating figures, as if the evening mists were embodied in women's forms and swayed in lengthened nearly horizontal wraiths over the velvety grass. He has this field largely to himself, though the poetically treated decorative panel is now in demand and the supply comes accordingly. His portraits are very personal, — they have an exquisitely delicate distinction.
Trincipal Works: At the Piano, Morning, A Concert, Portrait of Mrs. Dew- ing, Prelude, A Garden, Slave.
CHAPTER XVI
FINAL REVIEW
It is plainly to be seen from a careful review of the matter here presented that it has been in France, during the last one hundred years, that the art of painting has had a renewal of healthy growth. The classicists (some of them men of a high order of genius) have kept alive the traditions of masterful drawing as in no other nation since the decline in Italy. Proud of their skill, these artists have claimed that no art could be worthy unless hedged about with the refinements and the restraints of the rigid classics. They have stood in the way of all innovations and made the road of the independent thinkers very hard to travel. However, the effect has been on the whole salutary. It has enabled the innovators to do their work better and kept them from falling into weakness and confusion. A great many of the revolutionists went through the hard courses of drawing in the classi- cal schools, and though they usually did not make remarkable draughtsmen from the point of view of those standing on the classical heights, they could not fall to as low a standard in drawing as those do who have had no such influences about them. The true vitality of French art has many times been made manifest by the radical innova- tions of thinking men and the intensity of their endeavor to discover the hidden secrets of nature.
In Germany, with the exception of an occasional genius like Menzel (and he stands almost alone), there was no original initiative for nearly two centuries. The schools of Diisseldorf and Munich do not furnish a single example of true artistic vocation. The former was mechanical and bound about with traditions borrowed from the earlier centuries and in manner there was no painter inspiration. Piloty, in the latter, was a talented man who reduced his art to an
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FINAL REVIEW 269
artificial system and taught this to his many pupils. None of them made original artists until in some cases they found themselves in other situations and moved by new impulses. Most of the really talented artists of Scandinavia and the lands of the north, received their inspiration in Paris.
Quite recently there has arisen a movement (started probably in Munich) called the "Secession," gathering together the independent fellows who tired of the monotonous mannerism of the schools. The name of this movement explains itself. It included not alone paint- ing, but decoration, architecture, and the manufacture of articles of daily use. The outcome is called "neue kunst" (in France, "art nouveau"). These artists sought to emulate the practice of the "new Salon" in Paris, by encouraging unexpected manifestations, admitting grotesques if talent went with them. Firm believer that I am in this liberty, it is not strange that I admire much of the result. It is not that it is all beautiful, but it is fresh, hopeful, full of opportunity. As long as art schools live, there will be classicism and conservatism. In this lies the safety. In the meantime, the "secession" is doing a world of good.
The naturalist, Lieberman, had much influence in this movement. Other names are those of Franz Skarbina, Reinhold Lepsius, Frederick Stahl, Hans Herrman, Hugo Vogel, Walter Leistakow, and Frans Stuck. Gustav Klint, of Vienna, has been a leader within his sphere of influence.
Russia has little to show in the line of original art — little that we call national. Repin is Russian in treatment of subject and thoroughly national in his literalism, but his technique is not Russian. Verest- chagin is Russian in his love of gaudy trappings and the overloading of his figures with glitter, as the interior of a Russian church is all a-glitter.
The Dutch, after a few years of keen life in the seventeenth cen- tury, degenerated into mannerism and mechanical excellence without real vitality. With Israels and Mauve, whose technique is based on that of some Frenchmen, arose a new order of art, serious and reserved
270 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
like the Dutch people and thoroughly racial in this respect as well as national in subject matter.
The English have played the little round of anecdotic art until their very selves tired of it. Some of their men had remarkable talent and originality in lines not difficult to trace but original still. In recent years their young men have been going to the French ateliers to study and from this has arisen another art which promises fine things. The movement introduced by William Morris is original and peculiarly English, and from it is growing up a superb line of decorators.
America has followed in the line of least resistance and that has led largely through the French ateliers and Ecole des Beaux Arts, as well as the Academy of Munich. The severe classical drawing there taught has resulted, as it always does, in producing among us a company of excellently equipped artists. Naturally at first these students imi- tated their masters. But this has long since ceased to be a scandal, because our young men are the children of a land where youth pre- vails— youth in blood, — and an atmosphere of vigorous originality in all lines of thought and work.
The most promising development is the newly aroused love for mural decorations in public buildings, hotels and private residences. The Columbian Exposition is responsible for the initiative in the mat- ter of decorating public buildings, and the ornamentation of the Con- gressional Library, while not free from crudeness, fixed in the minds of Americans the value of the application of art to these ends. Most successful is the Boston Public Library. All over the country are courthouses and capitols either already ornamented with good sculp- ture and mural painting or in course of development in this direction. The example of the Frenchman, Puvis de Chavannes, has the greatest influence upon this art, though it has not become slavish imitation "The Triumph of Religion," the subject of John S. Sargent's decora- tions in the Boston library, is treated with such originality and success that we find ourselves startled to find such a genius of American blood. The series by Edwin A. Abbey, "The Quest of the Holy Grail," is the history of all mankind and executed with dignity and power.
Walter MacEwen — The Judgment op Paris.
CHAPTER XVII
SCHOOLS OF ART
There is a tendency in almost all art histories to group artists by "Schools." The arrangement is purely arbitrary, and often confusing. Artists move around, work in many different places, change their styles because of such restlessness, and in no way is this forcing of them into set formalities conducive of a better understanding of their artistic attainments. Yet it may be useful to summarize these divi- sions according to the best authorities.
Beginning farther back than our history extends, are many divi- sions by provinces or cities, because the means of communication were limited and the artists remained at home, thus maintaining a certain manner peculiar to the locality.
The Early Florentine School may go back as far as one chooses, but Paolo Uccello (b. 1396*) worked somewhat scientifically, and Antonio del Pollajuolo (1426) studied anatomy carefully if far from completely. A really serious advance came with Masaccio, so that the school may be dated from 1402 to 1452 (the coming of Leonardo). It includes Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Giorgione, Credi and Verrocchio, the sculptor. There was much beautiful painting in this period, but the early Gothic influence prevailed, the figures followed many con- ventional patterns and the color was by no means as fresh as it became with Leonardo's advent.
The schools of Umbria and Perugia (1420-1530). These painters may go back as far as Piero dei Franceschi, who was somewhat like Masaccio in talent and product, also Signorelli, Da Forli, Santi and especially Perugino. The latter' s composition was symmetrical, only varied by certain turnings of head and body, but he made much impressive work.
* These dates are those of the birth of the leading man and the death of the last representative.
271
272 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
The schools of Ferrara, Bologna and Lombardy (1425-1523). CosimoTura, Lorenzo Costa, Francia and Borgognone. The character of these painters did not materially differ from others of the period, and the artists moved about sufficiently to make a more exact differentiation as to local influences impossible.
Padua, Verona and Vicenza had painters who may be said to have formed schools (1380-1450). Andrea Mantegna was the chief light of Padua, a man who studied his antiques with assiduity, painting many fine altar pieces. In Verona, Vittore Pizano and Bonsignori are most conspicuous; in Vicenza, Bartolommeo Montagna. The study of good classical models had much influence on these men.
Early Venetian School (1400-1516). The Bellini (Jacopo, Gentile and especially Giovanni) were the leading influences, discovering ability to color better than any painters before them, which led to the wonderful results achieved by Titian and others. Antonello da Mes- sina learned the methods of painting with varnishes or oils from cer- tain Flemish painters who came that way, and improved on their results. With these methods (whatever they may have been) the colors became much clearer than with fresco or distemper.
Florentine-Roman School (1452- 1564). Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Fra Bartolommeo, Andrea del Sarto, Raphael Giulio Romano. This is the moment of Italy's greatness, when the study of the best antiques (remains of the Graeco-Roman ancestors) brought the art to its perfection, except that the Venetians added the refined element of color.
Ferrara and Bologna (1479- 1 542). Dossi Garofolo and Bagnaca- vallo are names associated with these places, but the men are not worth discussion in a work like this which attempts to deal only with artists who really made a mark. Some historians are so bitten with the mania of classification that they place Correggio with this cate- gory. But I refuse absolutely to classify Correggio with any others. He stands alone. "The Reading Magdalen" has here been ascribed to Correggio, according to the more familiar classification, but Morelli and the most recent authorities have taken it from him.
SCHOOLS OF ART 273
I have great respect for the acumen of experienced experts, but also harbor serious doubts as to their invariable reliability. So incor- rect have been the conclusions of some of the best experts of Europe, even within the past few years, that we may well pause before chang- ing our opinions because of their statements. All painters have been strangely influenced by peculiar conditions or unusual contacts, making pictures in quite divergent styles. To doubt the authenticity of a long accepted attribution is to imagine that the artist must of necessity have painted invariably in a specific, well-known manner, — an unwarranted conclusion.
The Venetian School (1477-1588). Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, Palma Vecchio, perhaps Luini. This is the comple- ment of tne Florentine-Roman School, adding the element of extraor- dinary color to the wonderful product of northern Italy.
Early Flemish (1366- 1 5 30). The two brothers Van Eyck, Roger Van Der Weyden, Memling, Quentin Matsys. These were wonder- ful painters and with them were many others of lesser note. They advanced the period in which'they lived. The Van Eycks are reputed to have discovered oil painting It is certain that they did discover some new methods other than the commonly employed fresco and distemper, though these useful and dignified methods long held their places.
In Holland, Lucas Van Leyden (1494-1533) is the most important man, though there were other not indifferent painters. In France we find the father and son, Clouet, and Jean Cousin (1483-1589). These artists produced works which excite admiration even to-day. It was Gothic art very like that of Van Eyck, but it revealed talent of a high order.
Franconian School (so called, 1434- 1569). Wolgemut, Durer. The painters were Gothic, even Diirer, and little influenced by the study of antique remains. Following Diirer there is little to note as wonderful.
Swabian School (1446-1543). Schongauer, Holbein the elder, Holbein the younger. Commencing quite Gothic, these painters were finally strongly influenced by the renaissance of Italy.
The following of Raphael: School of the Caracci (1558-1686).
274 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
Agostino Caracci (and his relatives), Guido Reni, Domenichino, Carlo Dolci, Poussin. The Caracci family founded a famous school, which taught the drawing of Michael Angelo, the grace of Raphael and the color of Titian; those who followed this teaching became painters of superior decorations and refined religious pictures, but without great originality. Poussin, who studied Raphael, had no con- nection with the Caracci School, excepting indirectly.
Revolutionary Painters (1569-1673). Caravaggio, Ribera, Sal- vator Rosa. This can hardly be called more than an influence, as there was no gathering in one locality. It did not end with the date given, because the influence echoed all the way down through the lives of the Spanish painters of the seventeenth century. Ribera was a direct outcome of untamed fondness for natural effects and striking coloring (rather than the forced refinements of the school of the Caracci family) which Caravaggio inaugurated. Rosa, the landscape painter, felt this influence vigorously.
Claude Lorraine (1600-1682). Claude is said to be the father of landscape painting. He discovered the effects of light and atmos- phere as they exist out of doors. His arrangements were formal, that is, classical as the word ma)' be applied to arranged landscape. His following extends through all the centuries even until to-day.
The Spanish School (1588- 1682). Ribera, Collantes, Zurbaran, Velasquez, Murillo. All these were vigorous naturalists. When the influence of Ribera began in Spain, the artists were ready to feel its effect. Thus it maybe said that this is a continuation of the influence of Caravaggio.
The School of Rubens (i 577-1641). Rubens and Van Dyck. Who can place the date of the close of the influence of Rubens? To the native Flemish feeling for form and good use of color, these painters added long training in Italy, influenced by the classical school. With Rubens the tide of migratory artists turned extensively, not so fre- quently visiting Italy, but Flanders more.
Dutch School (i 584-1694). Hals, Rembrandt, Van Ostade, Ruysdael, Hobbema, Steen, Douw and Teniers (the younger).
SCHOOLS OF ART 275
With portraits, domestic genre and landscape, this was a famous period, — naturalistic, but decidedly influenced in many instances by study in Italy. Hals, Rembrandt and their immediate following did not reveal an Italian influence. Though Teniers was a Fleming, he belongs with this group.
The School of Watteau (1684-1806). Watteau, Lancret, Pater, Boucher, Fragonard, possibly Greuze. The study of Rubens (but the already widespread Italian influence in composition) shaped these painters of pretty, artificial genre, elegantly dressed women posturing as shepherdesses, pleasing the taste of the Bourbon period.
The School of David (1748 to the present day). David, Prud- hon, Ingres, Gerard, Cabanel, Bouguereau and an endless array of others. David was a dictator in art matters and insisted upon the closest attention to pure classical forms. With Ingres came a milder form of classicism founded on the art of Raphael.
The Revolutionary School (1791-1863, but extending indefinitely). Gericault, Delacroix, Delaroche. Quite possibly the last name does not belong here, but Delaroche would never have painted as he did but for this movement. It was an exact contradiction of the tenets of David, admitting of every liberty in violent action, refulgent color and original composition.
The Barbizon School (1763-1878). Michel, Corot, Rousseau, Millet, ending with Daubigny, The movement really commences during the life of Michel and was caused largely by the influence of the Englishman, Constable. This was a breaking away from the fet- ters of classicism which bound the landscape painters, a free expres- sion of the sentiments created by the study of nature, and still it was semi-classical style.
The Impressionists (1832 until now). Manet, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Childe Hassam. With closer study of the truths of nature and the invention of the principle of the analysis of color as light is analyzed, this group of painters has arrived very close to truth in landscape and interior painting. It abandons high finish in order to secure greater accuracy of impression.
2/6 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
The Orientalists (1803 until today). Decamps, Fromentin, Ge'rome, Ziem, Cabanel, Bouguereau, Boulanger, Baudry, Henner, Lefebvre, Benjamin-Constant. This is a purely arbitrary classifica- tion made on the basis of subject matter. The painters supposed to fall in this category do not paint in any specific manner nor follow any individual influence. Such a grouping is an abomination to an artist, though it may be convenient to writers. I do not think that it has any reason for existence.
Realists, influenced by that sincere man Courbet. From 1819- 1877 are the years of his life. His influence will last a long time. It is too extensive to trace.
The Military Painters. 1836 is the date of birth of De Neuville; Detaille is the other one whose name belongs here, and several lesser men who imitate them. Some historians include Regnault and Meis- sonier, who painted some pictures of soldiers, but also studied more extensively other subjects. They belong in no such category.
The German Romanticists (1789-1874.) Overbeck, Cornelius, Veit, Schadow, Fiihrich, Carolsfeld, Schwind, Kaulbach. There is not a decided character to this grouping. Not nature study, but a cer- tain artificial style based largely on the study of the old masters of various periods, formed an art hard to classify exactly. It was not a group of painters of special originality, though they were strong char- acters in certain ways. Some of them were very religious and worked their exalted ideas into pictures, though not very much to the edifica- tion of mankind.
The Diisseldorf School and the Munich School. It is impossible to separate these two localities, as far as their art interests go, as the painters moved back and forth and there is but an almost imper- ceptible contrast between them. Cornelius and Schadow are inti- mately connected with the history of Diisseldorf, Carolsfeld and Kaulbach with Munich.
The German Landscape Painters (1768). Koch, Rottman, Les- sing, Preller, the brothers Achenbach, Morgernstern, etc. The old landscape school of Diisseldorf and Munich was heroic in its use of
SCHOOLS OF ART 277
formalisms. Every scene had to be reduced to "firstly, secondly and thirdly," like an old-time sermon. Many of the arrangements were extremely ingenious and occasionally impressive. But there was little in it of genuine feeling or true artistic treatment. With Lessing, mat- ters were much better. He was a serious student of nature, as were the Achenbachs. The school of Diisseldorf has lost its prestige and become merely a good provincial academy. At Munich and Vienna there is abundant life, as manifested by the movement called "the Secession," which is a school of protest against the tendency toward formalism, so long the bane of German landscape and figure painting.
German Genre School (1811 until now, though the movement is at present not conspicuous). Fluggen, Hubner, Knaus, Vautier, Defregger. The pictures were at first, like the landscapes mentioned, afflicted with too much formality and arranged like a stage setting with principal, secondary, subservient, and a hero, a villain and the woman who has sympathy with the victim. This has disappeared in favor of simple statements of life as the painter found it. Piloty, while called an historical painter, because of his subjects, came very near to being a genre painter of this nature. However, he painted clothes largely.
The Recent Dutch School. Israels (1824-), and Neuhuys, Blom- mers, Kever. The revival of Dutch art, in the sentimental treatment given by Israels, is so before the public at this moment that extended comment is not called for. The Barbizon School is responsible for its character, but so much national feeling is manifest that it may safely be called a remarkably individual movement. Mauve, the brothers Maris, and many others have painted landscapes which keep excellent company with these figure pictures.
In Scandinavia the artists have obtained their educations largely at Paris or Munich, and with this preparation have manifested much national spirit.
In the same manner the English, Danish, Russian and American artists have secured their educations in Paris and Munich and returned to their native countries to make an art more or less national.
278 THE WORLD'S PAINTERS
The Preraphaelite Brotherhood of England originated about 1848, Rossetti, Millais and Hunt being the enthusiastic prime movers, F. Madox Brown an important convert and Burne- Jones a follower. The influence of the style then established still exists, though its theories have long since been abandoned. They sought to prove that theirs was the only "true" delineation of nature, whereas no school of any period has been wore artificial. By the studious rendering of minute detail, much mysticism and imitation of the archaic manner of the painters who worked before Raphael came, they made it appear that they were more sincere than any others.
INDEX
Abbey, Edwin A., 240, 245-247, 266, 270. Achenbach, Andreas, 141-142, 182, 276,
277. Alexander, John W., 240, 254 .\Iisal, Casada del, 192 AUegri, Lorenzo, 28. Allen, Joseph W., 133. Allston, Washington, 92, 114-115. Alma-Tadema, Laurens, 141, 176, 199,
209-210, 224. Aman-Jean, Edmond, 260-261. Amerighi, Michael Angelo (Caravaggio) ,
44, 45-46, 47, 54, 62, 74, 75, 99, 129,
274. Ancher, Michael, 237. Angelico, Fra, 121, 194. Apol, Frederik Hendrik, 243. Artz, Adolph, 212.
Badile, Antonio, 38.
Bagnacavallo, 272.
Barbarelli, Giorgio (Giorgione), 14, 16,
17, 271, 273. Barrv, James, 97. Bartolommeo, Fra, 24, 272. Bashkirtseff, Marie, 233. Bastien-Lepage, Jules, 162, 219, 228,
232-235, 258. Baudry, Paul, 176, 187, 276. Bayeu, 103. Beaux, Cecilia, 264. Beckwith, J. Carroll, 264. Bellini, Gentile, 272. Bellini, Giovanni, 8, 12-13, 14, 16, 272. Bellini, Jacopo, 272.
Benczur, Julius, 226. Benjamin-Constant, Jean Joseph, 162,
219, 227-228, 276. Benson, Frank W., 257. Bergh, Richard, 188. Berghem, Nicholas, 72, 80. Besnard, Paul Albert, 219, 236. Bianchi, Francesco, 28. Bierstadt, Albert, 176, 177, 180-182, 189. Bisschop, Christoffel, 188. Blake, William, 105. Blashfield, Edwin Rowland, 219, 236. Bloch, Carl, 207. Blommer, Nils Johan, 149. Blommers, 228, 276. Blum, Robert, 264. Bocklund, 152.
Boecklin, Arnold, 176, 178-179 Boldini, Giovanni, 225. Bonheur, Auguste, 170. Bonheur, Marie Rosa, 159, 170, 225, 235. Bonnat, I^eon Joseph Florentine, 192,
244. Bennington, Richard, 113. Bonsignori, 272. Borgonone, 272. Bosboom, Johannes, 151. BotticeUi, Sandro, II. 3, 7, 184, 186, 194,
271. Boucher, Frangois, 86, 89, 94, 275. Bouguereau, Wilham Adolphe, 116, 128,
172-174, 223, 247, 275, 276. Boulanger, Gustave Rodolphe Clarence,
168, 276. Boulanger, Hippolyte, 214.
* Figures in black type indicate pages on which the painters' biographies are given.
279
280
INDEX
Bramley, Frank, 254.
Brandt, Jozef, 224.
Brangwyn, Frank, 263.
Breton, Emile Adelard, 192.
Breton, Jules, 179-180, 192.
Bridgman, F. A., 230.
Brown, Ford Madox, 1 58, 278.
Brown, John Appleton, 226.
Brown, John G., 264.
Brozic, Vacslav, 248.
Brulov, Karl, 108,
Brush, George De Forest, 240, 249.
Brutt, Ferdinand, 237.
Buonarotti, Michael Angelo, I, 4, 6, 10-
12, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, 36,
39, 42, 44, 96, 114, 134, 149, 164, 171,
253, 272, 274. Burkel, 132. Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, 176, 194-195,
237, 278.
Cabanel, Alexander, 76, 116, 128, 161- 164, 172, 174, 223, 232, 233, 242, 248, 251, 258, 275, 276.
Cagliari, Paolo (see Veronese).
Cameron, Hugh, 208.
Caraooi, Agostino, 44-45, 273.
Caracci, Anabale, 44.
Caracci, Antonio, 44-45.
Caracci, Francisco, 44.
Caracci, Ludovico, 43-45.
Caracci, The, 27, 43-45, 46, 47, 49, 54, 55, 58, 62, 74, 75, 76, 99, 129, 273, 274.
Caravaggio (see Amerighi).
Carle (see Van Loo).
Carolsfeld, Julius S. von, 127, 276.
Carolus (see Duran).
Carrier-Belleuse, 241.
Carriere, Eugene, 261.
Carstens, A, J,, 103.
Cassatt, Mary, 205.
Cazin, Jean Charles, 140-141.
Cellini, Benvenuto, 39.
Chalmers, Paul, 210.
Chaplin, Charles, 172.
Chardin, Jean Baptiste, 88-89.
Chase, William Merritt, 240-243.
Chavannes, Pierre Puvis de, 168-170, 171,
270. Chialiva, Luigi, 219, 225. Chintreuil, Antoine, 139. Christensen, Gottfred, 228. Church, Frederick Edwin, 176-177, 181,
189. Church, F. S., 264. Cimabue, I. Claude (see Lorraine). Clays, Jean Paul, 154. Clouet, Frangois, 34, 273. Clouet, Jean, 34, 273. Cole, Thomas, 122, 124, 130-132, 152,
176. Collaert, Marie, 225, CoUantes, Francisco, 65, 274. Conant, A. J., 125. Constable, John, 109, 110, 112-114, 131,
138, 139, 154, 183, 275.
Copley, John Singleton, 92, 95, 115, 118. Cornelius, Peter von, 118-119, 276. Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille, II, 127-128,
139, 214, 243, 262, 275. Correggio, Antonio Allegri da, 28-30, 43,
44, 272. Costa, Lorenzo, 272. Cottet, Charles, 258-259. Courbet, Gustave, 154-155, 191, 276. Cousin, Jean, 34, 273. Couture, Thomas, 15, 141, 170, 189. Crane, Bruce, 254. Crane, Walter, 206, 219, 235. Credi, 271. Cuyp, Albert, 69, 81.
INDEX
281
Cuyp, Beiijamic, 69. Cuyp, Jacob, 69.
Da Forli, 271.
Dagnan-Bouveret, Pascal Adolphe Jean,
240, 244. Dahl, Hans, 121, 237 Dahl, Johan C. C, 120-121. Dalbono, Edoardo, 227. Dalsgaard, Christen, 159. da Messina, Antonello, 13, 272. Dannat, William, 226, 248. Daubigny , Charles Francois, 1 5 1 - 1 52, 275, David. Jacques Louis, 43, 44, 46, 49, 84,
94, 97, 98-99, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108,
115, 116, 117, 119, 124, 129, 130, 162,
166, 173, 208, 275. Da Vinci, Leonardo, T, 2-4, 19, 20, 21, 24,
34, 42, 183, 271, 272. Davis, Charles H., 254. De Bar, 85. De Beifve, 129, De Caisne, 129.
Decamps, Alexandre Gabriel, 128, 276. Defregger, Franz von, 199, 207, 277. Degas, Hilaire Germain Edgar, 146, 199-
202. De Haas, Johannes Leonardus Hubertus,
192. De Keyser, !37. Delacroix, Eugdne, 44, 46, 99, 102, 117,
120, 124, 128, 129-130, 133, 1.35, 275. Delaroche, Paul, 115, 128-129, 140, 141,
166, 170. 275. del Sarto (Andrea), 26-27, 272. De Neuville, Alphonse Marie, 209, 276. Detaille, Edouard, 209, 219, 231, 276. Dewing, Thomas Wilmar, 267. Diaz (see Pena). Dicksee, Frank, 248. Diez, Wilhelm, 217.
Dircks, Karl Edvard, 249.
Dolci, Carlo, 43, 57, 72, 76-77, 78, 79, 84,
86, 116, 117, 273. Domenichino (see Zampieri). Domingo, Francisco, 225. Dor^, Gustave Paul, 176, 192-194. Doughty, Thomas, 126, Douw, Gerard, 68, 72-73, 77, 85, 246, 274. Dubois, Louis, 191. Dubois, Paul, 190. Ducq, J. F., 97. Duez, Ernest, 227 Dupr6, Jules, 138, 139. Duran, Charles Augustus Emile (Caro-
lus-Duran), 199, 211-212, 2.53. Durand, Asher Brown, 124, 130, 152, Diirer, Albrecht, 4, 5, 6-9, 10, 16, 17, 31,
32, 33, 34, 39, 186, 273. Duvivier, J. B., 97.
East, Alfred, 237.
Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock, 126.
Eaton, Wyatt, 240.
Eckersberg, 1 19.
Ekenaes, Jan, 230.
Etty, William, 120.
Eugene, Prince, 257.
Exner, 159.
Faed, John, 156.
Faed, Thomas, 156.
Faes, Van der (Sir Peter Lely), 77.
Favretto, Giacomo, 236.
Fedotof, 142.
Feurbach, Anselm, 189,
Fielding, 113.
Flugen, 137, 277.
Fontana, 44.
Forbes, A. Stanhope, 199, 213.
Fortuny y Corbo, Mariano, 199, 215-216,
217, 224, 225, 232, 249. Fragonard, Jean Honor^, 77, 94, 101, 275.
282
INDEX
Frangais, Frangois Louis, 139. Francia, II, 272. Franceschi, Piero dei, 271. Fromentin, Eugene, 156, 276. Fuller, George, 174. Furich, Joseph, 107, 276.
Gabriel, Paul E., 188. Gagerfeldt, Wilhelm von, 226. Gainsborough, Thomas, 92-93, 101, 104,
109. Gallait, Louis, 129. Garofole, Dossi, 174, 272. Gay, Walter, 229.
Gebhardt, Edouard von, 199, 214, 237. Genelli, Bonaventura, 133. Gerard, Francois, 107, 275. G^ricault, Louis Andr6 Theodore, 99,
117, 124-125, 129, 275. G6r6me, Jean L^on, 128, 129, 149, 164-
167, 168, 171, 178, 203, 221, 223, 230,
247, 248, 276. Gervex, Henri, 162. Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 11. Gibb, Robert, 229. Gibson, Charles Dana, 265. Gifford, R. Swain, 264-265. Gifford, Sanford R., 160-161. Gigout, Jean Francois, 134. Giorgione (see Barbarelli). Gleyre, Marc Charles Gabriel, 166, 203. Goya, Francisco Jose Lucientes y, 86, 94,
99-103, 203, 215, 216, 251. Graham, Peter, 210. Greuze, Jean Baptiste, 92, 105, 275. Gros, Antoine Jean (Baron Gros), 108. Groux, Charles de, 172. Guerin, 129. Guido (see Reni). Guido, Tomaso (Masaccio), I, II, 3, 10,
27, 42, 47, 271.
Gurlitt, 137. Gussow, Carl, 227. Guthrie, Sir James, 262.
Hagborg, August, 245.
Hals, Frans, 52-53, 55, 57, 61, 65, 70, 80,
144, 246, 274, 275. Hansenclever, 136. Hansteen, Nils, 249. Harding, Chester, 125-126. Harlow, 107. Harpignies, Henri, 155. Harrison, Alexander, 240, 248, 263. Hart, James M., 156-158. Hart, WiUiam, 156-158. Hassam, Childe, 220, 240, 255, 275. Haug, Robert, 254. Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 120. Hellquist, Gustave, 243-244. Henner, Jean Jacques, 190, 276. Henry, Charles N., 224. Herkomer, Hubert, 237. Hermans, Charles, 199, 217. Herreyns, Willen Jacob, 97. Herrman, Hans, 269. Hilaire, 85.
Hildebrandt, Ferdinand Theodore, 133. Hill, Thomas, 189.
Hobbema, Meindert, 71-72, 138, 142, 274. Hoecker, Paul, 248-249. Hoeckert, 178.
Hogarth, William, 84, 85, 87-88. Hokusai, 203. Holbein, Hans, 6, 7, 8, 15, 29, 30-34, 39,
46, 107, 226, 228, 273. Holl, Frank, 228-229. Homer, Winslow, 199, 210-211. Hoppner, 107. Hornell, E. A., 262. Hovenden, Thomas, 224. Hiibner, Rudolf Julius, 137, 277.
INDEX
283
Hudson, 90.
Hunt, Holman, 139, 194, 199, 212-213,
278. Hunt, William M., 170, 182.
Ingres, Jean Dominique Augustin, 44, 49, 99, 102, 106, 108, 115, 116-118, 120, 127, 128, 129, 130, 134, 162, 166, 201, 208, 275.
Inness, George, 174-175.
Israels, Josef, 129, 170, 171, 214, 226, 228, 246, 269, 276.
Jacque, Charles Emile, 139. Jerndorff, 229. Jiminez, Luis, 228. Johansen, Viggo, 244. Jongkind, 155. Jordan, 136. Joseph (see Vernet).
Kauffman, Marie Angelica, 97, 104. Kaufmann, Hermann, 136. Kaulbach, August von, 243. Kaulbach, AVilhelm von, 117, 133-134,
149, 176, 178, 243, 276. Keller, Albert, 228. Kensett, John Frederick, 152-154. Kever, 277.
Kindermans, Jean Baptlste, 134. King, Yeend, 249. Kiprensky, Orest, 108, 142. Klinger, Max, 250. Klinkenberg, Johannes Christian Karel,
245. Klint, Gustav, 269. Knaus, Ludwig, 176, 188-189, 277. Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 83-84. Koch, Joseph, 107, 276. Koekkoek, Barent, 132. Kowalski, Alfred, 224.
Kramskoi, Ivan, 212. Krenger, Nils, 254-255. Krohg, Christian, 248. Kronberg, Julius, 243. Kroyer, Peter, 244. Kuehl, Gotthard, 243.
LaFarge, John, 199, 208.
Lanoret, 85, 275.
Landseer, Sir Edwin, 120, 132-133.
Larson, 159.
Larsson, M., 249.
Lauder, 133, 142.
Laurens, Jean Paul, 199, 213, 229, 230.
Lavery, John, 262.
Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 107, 120, 154.
Le Brun, Charles, 56, 72, 79-80, 82.
Le Brun, Marie Louise Elizabeth Vigee,
104-105. Lefebvre, Jules, 199, 208-209, 258, 276. Leibl, Wilhelm, 226. Leighton, Sir Frederick, 191, 195, 224,
256, 265. Leistakow, Walter, 269. Lely, Sir Peter (see Faes). Le Moyne, Frangois, 85-86. Lenan, Les, 55.
Lenbach, Franz von, 149, 199, 208. Lepsius, Reinhold, 269. Leslie, Charles Robert, 126-127. Lessing, Carl Friedrich, 136, 182, 276,
277. Leutze, Emanuel, 149-151. Leys, Hendrik (Baron Leys), 141. Lhermitte, L^on, 219, 225. Liebermann, Max, 237, 269. Leizen-Mayer, 217. Liljefors, Bruno, 256. Lindenschmidt, William, 189. Lippi, Filippo, II, 3, 184, 271. Loefftz, Ludwig, 228.
284
INDEX
Lorraine, Claude, II, 14, 47, 49, 57, 58-60, 61, 65, 72, 74, 75, 123, 128, 131, 177, 274.
Lotto, Lorenzo, 21-22.
Low, Will H., 248-249.
Luini, Bernardino, 19-20, 273.
McEntee, Jervis, 176, 182-183.
MacCulloch, Horatio, 135.
MacEwen, Walter, 265, 266-267.
MacGregor, Robert, 262.
MacGregor, W. Y., 262.
Maas (see Maes).
Madrazo, Frederigo, 216, 249, 250.
Madrazo, Raimundo da, 219, 224-225.
Maes, Nicholas (Maas), 91.
Makart, Hans, 218.
Makovsky, Constantin, 217.
Makovsky, Vladimir, 217.
Manet, Edouard, 145, 176, 198-198, 201,
220, 221, 232, 233, 275. Mantegna, Andrea, 272. Maris, Jacob, 212, 276. Maris, Mathew, 212, 276. Maris, Willem, 199, 212, 276. Marks, H. S., 191. Marneffe, Frangois de, 108, 134. Marstrand, Wilhelm, 136. Martin, Henri Jean Guillaume, 220,259-
260. Martin, Homer D., 199, 210. Masaccio (see Guido). Mason, George, 152, 223, 243. Matejko, Jan, 214.
Matsys. Quentin, II, 6, 32, 141, 228, 273. Matsu (see Metzu).
Mauve, Anton, 199, 214, 224, 269, 276. Max, Gabriel, 218. Meisonnier, Jean Louis Ernest, 128, 139,
143-145, 148, 149, 215, 225, 231, 276. Melchers, Gari, 265-266.
Memling, 6, 273.
Mendrd, R6n6, 258.
Mengs, Raphael, 17, 93-94, 99, 100, 101.
Menzel, Adolph, 146-149, 183, 223, 268.
Merson Luc Olivier, 219, 229.
Mesdag, Hendrik Willem, 191.
Metzu, Gabriel, (Matzu), 73.
Meyer, Claus, 250.
Meyerheim, 136.
Michael Angelo (see Buonarotti).
Michel, Georges, 106, 275.
Michetti, Paolo, 240, 244-245.
Mignard, Pierre, 56, 72.
Millais, Sir John Everett, 176, 190-191,
278. Millet, Francis D., 265. Millet, Jean Frangois, 57, 116, 128, 129.
135, 139-140, 149, 166, 170, 182, 184,
275. Monet, Claude Jean, 183, 198, 219-221,
255, 259, 275. Montagna, Bartolommeo, 272. Monticelli, Adolphe, 1 74. Moore, Albert, 224. Moore, Henry, 191. Moran, Thomas, 213. Moreau, 232.
Morelli, Domenico. 176, 178, 227, 272. Morgenstern, 134, 276. Morland, George, 106. Morris, William, 185, 199, 206-207, 270. Moya, Pedro de, 71, 78. Muelen, Antoon Franz van der, 81-82. Muller, Victor, 189. Munkacsy, Mihali, 219, 226, 24S. Munthe, Ludwig, 227. Murillo, Bartolom^ Estaban, 49, 71, 77-
79, 85, 274. Murphy, J. Francis, 248.
Nasmyth, Alexander, 106.
INDEX
285
Nasrayth, Patrick, 106. Nattier, Jean Marc, 86. Netscher, Kaspar (Gaspar), 83. Neuhuijs, Albert, 226, 276. Nilson, Amandus, 192. Nordstrom, Karl, 249. Normann, A., 235.
Oohtman, Leonard, 249.
Odevaere, J. D., 97.
Opie, John, 107.
Orchardson, William Quiller, 199, 207-
208. Orlovsky, Alexander, 108, 142. Ouless, Walter, 235. Overbeck, Frederick, 121, 276.
Paelinck, J., 97.
Page, William, 137.
Palma, Jacopo (II Vecchio), 20-21, 273.
Pater, 85, 275.
Paterson, James, 262.
Paulsen, Julius, 256.
Peale, Charles Wilson, 92, 96.
Peale, Rembrandt, 96.
Pedersen, Viggo, 244.
Pena, Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la (Diaz),
135. Perov, Vassili, 192. Perugino, 4, 24, 271. Peterssen, Eilif, 248. Pettie, John, 217. Phidias, 43, 156. Phillip, John, 142. Picot, 172, 173. Piglhein, Bruno, 235. Piloty, Carl von, 149, 152, 178, 179, 180,
207, 217, 218, 226, 227, 241, 255,
268, 277. Pils, Isidore, 229. Pissarro, CamUle, 22, 275. Pizano, Vittore, 272.
PoUajuolo, Antonio del, 271.
Potter, Paul, 81.
Poussin, Nicholas, 47, 49, 56, 57, 60-61,
66, 131, 273, 274. Poynter, Sir Edward, 199, 209. Pradilla, Francisco, 219, 229-230. Praxiteles, 43. Preller, 133, 276. Prout, 113.
Prudhon, Peter Paul, 105, 275. Puvis (see Chavannes). Pyle, Howard, 266.
Raeburn, Henry, 107.
Raffaelli, Jean Fran?ois, 221-222.
Ramsey, Allan, 90, 91.
Raphael (see Sanzio).
Razzi, Giovanni Antonio (II Sodoma), 20.
Regnault, Henri, 219, 226-227, 276.
Reid, Sir George, 224.
Reiniger, Otto, 257.
Reinhart, C. S., 226.
Rembrandt, (see Rijn).
Reni, Guido, 43, 44, 47-48, 49, 77, 78, 116,
273. Renoir, Auguste, 221, 275. Repin, Elias, 219, 226, 269. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 43, 84, 85, 90-92,
93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 106, 107,
109, 154. Ribera, Jose (Spagnoletto), 46, 54-55,
57, 62, 63, 64, 75, 78, 103, 274. Richter, Gustave, 159. Richter, Ludwig, 132. Rigaud, Hyacinthe, 84, 86. Rijn, Paul Rembrandt van (Rembrandt),
39, 43, 49, 57, 67, 69, 70, 72, 79, 81,
82, 83, 101, 246, 250, 274, 275. Riviere, Briton, 218. Robusti, Jacopo (Tintoretto), 35-38, 39,
44, 273
286
INDEX
Roll, Alfred, 229.
Romano, Giulio, 27-28, 272.
Romney, George, 94-95, 104.
Rosa, Salvator, 46, 57, 74-75, 79, 123,
131, 274. Rosen, George von, 224, 227. Rosenstand, Vilen, 214. Rossetti, Dante' Gabriel, 149, 158, 176,
183-187, 194, 197. 221, 278. Rossi, Rosso di, 16. Rothmann, Karl, 107, 276. Rousseau, Theodore, 128, 135, 138-139,
182, 275. Rubens, Peter Paul, 46, 49, 50-52, 57, 58,
62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 71, 74, 79, 105,
130, 141, 274, 275. Ruysdael, Jacob von, 71, 83, 274.
Sadler, Walter Dandy, 249.
Salmson, Hugo, 228.
Santi, Giovanni (Sanzio), 24, 271.
Sanzio, Raphael, I, 6, 8, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24-26, 27, 29, 32, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43^ 44, 45, 48, 49, 51, 60, 62, 63, 65, 76, 78, 114, 115, 116, 117, 121. 134, 162, 164, 172, 186, 194, 195, 272, 273, 274, 275, 278,
Sargent, John Singer, 203, 205, 212, 240, 241, 245, 246, 250-254, 264, 270.
Sehadow, Wilhelm, 121, 214, 276.
Scheffer, Ary, 127.
Sohongauer, 273.
Schreyer, Adolf, 180.
Schwind, Moritz von, 133, 276.
Segantini, Giovanni, 240, 255.
Saurat, Georges, 221.
Shaw, Byam, 283.
Shirlaw, Walter, 242.
Signorelli, Luca, 271.
Simmons, Edward, 248
Binding, Otto, 225.
Sisley, Alfred, 221, 275.
Skarbina, Franz, 237, 269.
Skredsvic, Christian, 249.
Slingeneyer, 129.
Smith, Francis Hopkinson, 214-215.
Snyders, Franz, 48.
Sodoma, II (see Rossi).
Sohn, Carl, 134.
Solomon, Solomon J , 256.
Spagnoletto (see Ribera).
Spitzweg, Carl, 135-136.
Stahl, Frederick, 269.
Steen, Jan, 82, 246, 274.
Stevens, Alfred, 148, 187-188, 241.
Stevenson, R. A. M., 262.
Stewart, Jules L., 240, 249-250.
Stone, Marcus, 224.
Stott, William, 263.
Strudwick, J. M., 237.
Stuart, Gilbert, 92, 99, 104, 115.
Stiick, Frans, 257, 269.
Sully, Thomas, 118.
Swan, John Macallan, 230-231.
Tadema (see Alma-Tadema) .
Tanner, H. O., 266.
Teniers, David the Elder, 71.
Teniers, David the Younger, 71, 85, 274,
275 Terburg, Gerard, 69-70, 73, 83. Thaulow, Fritz, 219, 230. Thayer, Abbott Henderson, 219, 238. Tidemand, Adolf, 1 37. Tiffany, Louis, 219, 235-236. Tintoretto (see Robusti). Titian (see Vecello). Toorop, Jan, 255-256. Troyon, Constant, 136-137 179. Trumbull, Benjamin, 92, 105. Tryon, D wight W., 238-239. Tura, Cosimo, 272.
INDEX
287
Turner, William Joseph Mallord, 59, 99, 109-1 12, 113, 131, 154, 182, 183, 185, 213, 223.
Uccello, Paolo, 271.
Uhde, Fritz von, 232, 237.
Urrabita, Daniel (Vierge), 231, 247.
Van Beers, Jan, 244.
Van Dyck, Antony, 39, 43, 49, 50, 53, 57, 62, 65-66, 67, 69, 71, 78, 84, 88, 203, 228, 274.
Van der Weyden, Roger, 273.
Van Eyck, Hubert, 4-5, 13, 34, 53, 273.
Van Eyck, Jan, I, II, 4-5, 6, 13, 34, 53,
■ 273.
Van Leyden, Lucas, 273.
Van Loo, Charles Andre (Carle), 89.
Van Marcke, Emile, 176, 179.
Van Noort, 50.
Van Ostade, Adrian, 70, 85, 274.
Van Veen, 50.
Varwee, Alfred, 214.
Vautier, Benjamin, 189-190, 277.
Vecello, Tiziano (Titian), 1, 6,7,8, 14-I9_ 27, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44, 54,' 62, 66, 78, 91, 114, 167, 171, 243, 272, 273, 274.
Vecchio (see Palma).
Vedder, Elihu, 211.
Veit, Philip, 121, 276.
Velasquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y, 15, 35, 39, 43, 46, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 57, 61-64, 65, 66, 69, 78, 79, 101, 102, 103, 142, 203, 215, 241, 251, 274.
Velde, William Van de, 70.
Venezianov, Alexei, 108.
Verboeckhoven, Eugene, 55, 129, 214.
Verestchagin, Vassili, 225. 226, 269.
Verhas, Frans, 179.
Verhas, Jan, 179.
Vermehren, 159.
Vernet, Claude Joseph, 89-90, 121.
Vernet, Emil Jean Horace, 90, 99, 118,
121. Veronese, Paolo (Paolo Cagliari), 32, 35,
38-41, 42, 119, 273. Verrocchio, 271. Verstappen, Martinus, 108, 134. Vibert, Jean Georges, 219, 222-223 Vierge (see Urrabita). VignalU, Jacopo, 76. Villegas, Jose, 232. Vogel, Hugo, 269. Vollon, Antoine, 241, 242. Vonnoh, Robert W., 266. Vouet, Simon, 55-56, 60.
Wagner, 217.
Walberg, Alfred, 207.
Walker, Frederick, 219, 223.
Walker, Horatio, 255.
Wappers, Gustav, 133.
Warenskiold, Erick, 249.
Waterhouse, John W., 237.
Waterlow, Ernest A., 243.
Watteau, Antoine, 84-85, 88, 89, 94, 101,
275. Watts, George Frederick, 143, 156. Wauters, Emile, 236. Weeks, Edwin Lord, 238. Weissenbruoh, Johannes Hendrick, 159. Wenzel, Nils Gustav, 255. Werner, Anton von, 227. West, Benjamin, 92, 95-96, 98, 104, 105,
114, 115, 118, 120. Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, 102,
103, 188, 199, 202-206, 241, 246, 260,
261, 262. Wiertz, Anton, 134. Wilkie, Sir David, 119-120. Wilson, Richard, 90.
288
INDEX
Wolgemuth, 7, 273. Wouvermans, Philip, 80. Wyant, A. H., 266. Wyllie, W. L., 254.
Zacho, Christian, 227. Zahrtmann, Christian, 227. Zamacois, Edoardo, 217-218.
Zampieri, Domenico (Domenichino), 43,
47, 48-49, 77, 273. Ziem, Felix, 158, 276. Zorn, Anders, 240, 256. Zucatti, 16. Zuechi, 97. Zugel, Heinrich, 243. Zurbaran, Francisco, 64, 274.