The Mentor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Num. 9, Serial No. 157, June 15, 1918

by Sydney P. Noe

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

By SYDNEY P. NOE

MENTOR GRAVURES

PORTRAIT OF FEDERIGO GONZAGA

By Francia

OLD WOMAN CUTTING HER NAILS

By Rembrandt

JAMES STUART, DUKE OF LENNOX

By Van Dyck

MENTOR GRAVURES

YOUNG WOMAN WITH A WATER-JUG

By Vermeer

SALOME

By Regnault

GLEBE FARM, WITH THE TOWER OF LANGHAM CHURCH

By Constable

PORTRAIT OF HENRY G. MARQUAND. By John S. Sargent

Mr. Marquand was the second president of the Metropolitan Museum

Entered as second-class matter March 10, 1913, at the postoffice at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright, 1918, by The Mentor Association, Inc.

NOTE.—In choosing the illustrations for this number, we have selected, for the most part, pictures that have not been reproduced in The Mentor heretofore. The Mentor has drawn largely on the Metropolitan Museum for illustrations, many of the well-known masterpieces there having been reproduced in one number or another. A list of Metropolitan Museum pictures already published in The Mentor will be supplied on request.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among all the art collections in our country, undoubtedly has the best claim to first importance, and is becoming more and more a place of pilgrimage for the hosts that visit New York each year.

The Metropolitan Museum has grown so that it is no longer to be compassed in a morning visit. The pictures alone require more than that, many times more, and they form but one department. Much greater benefit will come from part of a day or a whole day spent with a single school of painting. As far as possible, this is the way in which the pictures are hung, but several bequests have been conditional upon their being kept intact, and a trip from one end of the building to the other is sometimes necessary to compare pictures by the same artist. The paintings now owned number about twelve hundred. Not all of these are on exhibition, but loaned pictures bring the total to about that figure.

TITUS, SON OF REMBRANDT. By Rembrandt

New York was founded by the Dutch, and it is a singular coincidence that the Dutch School is the strongest at the Metropolitan Museum. Both Hals and Rembrandt, the leaders of this school, are well represented, and in few European museums can Rembrandt and his school be studied to better purpose. Hals was born in 1584, Rembrandt in 1606. Rembrandt worked in Amsterdam, Hals at Haarlem, only fourteen miles away. There are several pictures attributed to Hals, the elder and younger, and the number is sometimes increased by loans. “The Merry Company,” in the Altman Collection, is more pretentious than the others, but if it could be hung between the two portraits in the Marquand Room at the head of the main stairway, it would seem garish alongside the masterly treatment of the blacks in the “Portrait of a Man,” or the wonderful drawing of the hands in the “Portrait of a Woman.”

WHEATFIELDS. By Jacob van Ruisdael

The pictures by Rembrandt and his school are the chief glories of the Museum—no less than sixteen pictures are attributed to his hand. In an earlier number of The Mentor, Rembrandt’s three styles have been clearly distinguished. It is to the first or “gray” period that the “Portrait of a Man” belongs, and most admirably does it represent the class. “The Man with a Steel Gorget” falls in the middle or “golden” period. The greater part of the pictures belong to the late period—the years in which fortune no longer smiled, and sorrow succeeded sorrow. The portrait of Titus, his son, while still a lad, must have come early in this period, and before troubles thickened. A few years later comes the “Old Woman Cutting Her Nails,” hailed by many as the finest of the Museum’s Rembrandts, but different from anything else by him there. Hanging beside it is the “Lady with a Pink”—a portrait with an overpowering sense of reserve force. What luminous shadows and what living color it has! So also with its companion piece, though to a lesser degree. Compare them with the two portraits of men in the Dutch Room at the other end of the building. They too come in the late period. What tremendous dignity and poise show forth from these canvases!

Gerard Dou (dow) worked under Rembrandt in the “gray” period. The small, crisp “Portrait of the Artist” shows his change of style after leaving the studio. Dou trimmed his sails to catch the wind of fashion, a thing that Rembrandt refused to do. Another pupil, Nicolaes Maes, worked with Rembrandt during the “golden” period. He gives us a brilliant piece of color, a “Young Girl Peeling Apples,” in which the glow of red warms all the panel. Aert de Gelder portrays a sturdy “Dutch Admiral,” and there is one of the far-stretching Dutch landscapes by Philip de Koninck.

A VISIT TO THE NURSERY. By Gabriel Metsu

Dutch Masters

The “Little Masters of Holland” are present in strength. Metsu’s “Visit to the Nursery,” which came from the Morgan Collection, is his masterpiece. It is an intimate glimpse of home life that attracts everyone, and is painted with a mastery that strengthens its human appeal. But Metsu is far surpassed by Vermeer. Less than two score of his pictures are known; the Metropolitan Museum already owns two of them, and of these, the “Young Woman with a Water-Jug,” is of first rank.

The landscape men should not be overlooked. Cuyp (koip) has three of his cattle pictures, filled with sunlight; and Hobbema, one of the rarest-met of the Dutchmen, has a view of a Dutch village. “Wheatfields,” by Jacob van Ruisdael (rize´-dale), shows him at the summit of his powers. It is superior to anything by him to be found in the European collections. With its low-lying horizon and broad sky, it is typical of the best in the Dutch treatment of landscape.

PORTRAIT OF A MAN. By Dirk Bouts

Next to the Dutch, the Flemish is the one best represented among the older schools. High finish and purity of color are the chief characteristics of these careful brushmen. There is a tiny fragment by Jan van Eyck (ike) (?-1440), usually identified as a portrait of Thomas à Becket. A monumental “Annunciation” is by Roger van der Weyden, with rich velvets and brocades and careful painting of details. In the Altman Collection there are four panels by Memling. All are of superior quality—in fact, the “Portrait of an Old Man” was for a long time attributed to Jan van Eyck. Another portrait, by Dirk Bouts, has the same directness and force, and is almost equally fine. This is portraiture of the highest order.

PORTRAIT OF AN OLD MAN. By Hans Memling

Rubens (1577-1640) brought a new spirit to the school. One may obtain at the Metropolitan a fairly clear idea of his power and of the influence of his style upon his fellow-artists, although there are none of his finest creations present. Rubens relied upon the help of his assistants more than most other artists. Indicating his intentions, whether by a small sketch or roughly on the canvas itself, he would leave the carrying out to his pupils, and afterwards correct or retouch the parts that did not satisfy him. The large “Wolf and Fox Hunt” was probably handled in some such way, as were a number of these hunting pictures. The “Holy Family,” nearby, is in his first style, and some of Rubens’ brushwork may still be recognized in the figure of the Christ-child. Rubens’ skill in another field is upheld by two good portraits of men. There are several school pieces[1] of merit, and an early copy of his “Susannah.”

[1] A school piece is a picture done by a pupil, closely following the style of his master.

THE ANNUNCIATION. By Roger van der Weyden

Van Dyck, Rubens’ best pupil, is even better represented than his master. We may trace his development in no less than eight portraits. Two in the Altman Collection were done during his visit to Genoa, and betray some of the influence of Italy. But Van Dyck hardly ever surpassed the full-length of James Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox.

Italian Masterpieces

Most of the masterpieces of the Italian School had been absorbed into Europe’s national collections before the Metropolitan Museum entered the field. It is quite remarkable that the present showing is possible, in view of the difficulties in the way. Most of the works of the “primitives”[2] are fixed on the walls of the palaces and churches of Italy, but there is a scattering of them here. In the case of Pollajuolo’s (polla-yoo-o´-lo) “St. Christopher,” the whole wall has been transported. It has great value for the study of fresco technic. An “Epiphany,” simple in its appeal, attributed to the School of Giotto (jot´-to), but possibly by Giotto himself, has great charm of color and composition.

[2] The pioneers of a nation’s art. In Italy, Giotto and Duccio are the two great primitives.

One of the most important possessions of the Museum is Raphael’s “Madonna of St. Anthony,” the gift of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. It was painted before the artist had fully developed, and lacks the spirit and brilliancy of his later productions. But study its composition. Note the dignity in the single figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. How exquisitely the adoring angels fill the lunette![3] The picture was intended for the high altar, and, in its original position, it would have been possible to see it only from a distance and from below, and not close at hand as now. The central group shows some of the promise so richly fulfilled in the years that followed.

[3] The upper, semi-circular portion. The word refers to the half-moon shape of the composition.

VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED WITH SAINTS. By Raphael

Also called “The Madonna of St. Anthony”

MADONNA AND CHILD. By Andrea del Verrocchio

GIRL WITH CHERRIES. By Ambrogio de Predis

Of the other Florentines, the pensive “Madonna” by Verrocchio (ver-roke´-kee-o) is very attractive, and the Fra Angelico panel and the circular composition by Mainardi should not be overlooked. Neither of the subjects by Botticelli (bot-tee-chel´-lee) conveys a fair conception of his artistic significance, although they are well authenticated. There is a highly finished portrait of Federigo Gonzaga (fed-er-ee-go gon-tha-ga) by Francia (fran´-cha), in perfect preservation. The “Girl with Cherries,” now assigned to Ambrogio de Predis, was for a long time thought to be by Leonardo da Vinci (vin´-chee).

ST. GEORGE. By Carlo Crivelli

There are several large and important altarpieces. One, by Correggio (kor-red´-jo), was painted early in his career. It is rich in coloring and is an important link in his artistic development. On the opposite wall there is an “Entombment” by Moretto of Brescia, a leader in the North Italian School. He is noted for the gray tone that pervades many of his canvases. A “Pieta” (pee-ay´-ta), by Crivelli (kree-vel´-lee), shows tragic power combined with great beauty of color and strength of drawing.

The late Venetian is the most satisfactorily represented of the Italian Schools. There is an early “Madonna” ascribed to Giovanni Bellini (jo-van´-nee bel-lee´-nee), firm in drawing and harmonious in color scheme, but failing to show the strength to which he attained later in his career. Titian’s (tish´-an) portrait of Filippo Archinto (fil-ee-po ar-keen´-to), Bishop of Milan, is fine as a study of character—we must hope that some of the more decorative pieces by Titian will some day be secured. Like most of the portraits painted by Giorgione (jor-jo´-nee), the one in the Altman Collection has suffered from restoration, but anything by this rare painter is priceless. Carpaccio’s (kar-patch´-o) mystic “Meditation on the Passion” is very important historically.

SCENE IN VENICE. By Antonio Canaletto

There are no less than three canvases by Tintoretto. “A Doge in Prayer Before the Redeemer” came from Ruskin’s collection. Though only a sketch, and therefore less finished than the pretentious “Miracle of the Loaves,” it is for that very reason the more convincingly Tintoretto’s own handling. Paolo Veronese’s (pah-o-lo vay-ro-naze´-ee) “Mars and Venus” shows what a late Venetian could do with a subject that gave full play to a love of color and gorgeous textiles. By Canaletto there is a “Scene in Venice” which is unsurpassed by anything that represents him elsewhere. The “Investiture of Bishop Harold” is the finest of several paintings by Tiepolo (tee-ay-po´-lo) in the Museum. There are excellent portraits by Torbido (tor-bee´-do) and Montagna (mon-tan´-yuh), who do not belong strictly to the Venetians. They are much finer in workmanship than pictures sometimes attributed to their more famous brethren.

Both of the great men of the German School are well represented. Dürer’s training as an engraver is very apparent in his “Madonna and Child with St. Anne”—the sleeping Christ-child is delightful. Of the three Holbeins, the early “Portrait of a Man” is perhaps the best. According to the inscription, it must have been painted when the artist was twenty years old. There are other fine portraits by Cranach (kran´-ack) the elder and Beham.

Early English Art

The early English School is strong in numbers—it was greatly strengthened by the Fletcher bequest. The large portrait group of The Honorable Henry Fane with his Guardians shows Sir Joshua Reynolds attempting a group on an ambitious scale. His half-lengths, especially that of Elizabeth Reynolds, are more pleasant—in that particular one he pays tribute to the style of Rembrandt. Gainsborough, Sir Joshua’s most successful rival, shows his ability in the portrait of “Miss Sparrow” and, in another field, in the “Landscape” in the Hearn Gallery. He used to paint these landscapes as relaxation from the portrait pieces. Romney and Opie (o´-pee) have attractively pictured Lady Hamilton for us. One of the best pictures that ever came from Lawrence’s brush is his portrait of the Reverend William Pennicott.

MARIE MARGUERITE LAMBERT DE THORIGNY. By Largillière

PORTRAIT OF A LADY. By François Boucher

There are some good canvases by the landscape men. Constable has an unusual portrait, as well as the gorgeous “Glebe Farm” in the Fletcher Collection. John Crome, in his “Hautbois Common,” shows the influence of the principles of the Dutch School. Wilson has an unusually rich “Italian Landscape.” Turner, the greatest of the English landscapists, is responsible for three pictures. The early “Saltash” is rich and luminous; the “Grand Canal, Venice,” is one of the best of his pictures of the island city, and the “Whale Ship” is in his late style. There are some wonderful water-colors by him on loan.

ARABS CROSSING A FORD. By Eugène Fromentin

The French School of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is represented by pictures few in number, but excellent in quality. Boucher (boo´-shay), Largillière (lar-geel´-yare), Nattier (nat´-ee-ay), Drouais (droo´-ay)—all these men show amazing strength on the decorative side, and, always, exquisite taste. Chardin (shar´-dahn) has a beautiful low-toned still-life, “Preparations for a Breakfast.” David’s portrait in the Fletcher Gallery is a marvel of directness. In the Morgan Wing there are eight decorative landscapes by Hubert Robert well worth looking up in this connection.

Modern French Artists

Some of the modern French artists were appreciated by Americans before their genius was recognized at home. Certainly the Modern French Section is one of the strongest in the Museum. Romanticism, realism and impressionism are all to be seen in the work of their chief exponents. An afternoon might profitably be spent with the men of Barbizon (bar´-bee-zong). Corot’s (kor´-ro) poetic outlook upon nature is plain in each of twelve landscapes. The “Lane Through the Trees,” with a sense of cool shadow after the heat of a dusty road, is perhaps the best of them.

ENGLISH LANDSCAPE. By Thomas Gainsborough

LANDSCAPE WITH FIGURES. By George Morland

Rousseau (roos-so) speaks a more rugged and direct language in the fifteen subjects by him. The sober “Gorges d’Apremont (gorge da´-pre-mong); Evening,” with a still luminous sky above the hills, is magnificent. Millet (mee´-yay) is represented by the famous “Sower,” with its rhythm and swing, an almost equally fine “Water-Carrier,” the impressive “Autumn” in the Fletcher Collection, and half a dozen others. Dupré (dyu´-pray) and Diaz (dee´-ath) have good pictures, and when has Troyon ever surpassed his superb “Holland Cattle”? Daubigny (daw-been´-yee), though he comes a bit later, is usually associated with these men. There are eight or nine of the subjects he used to find in punting about among the streams and back-waters of the Seine (sane) and Oise (wahz)—how intimate they seem!

LADY WILLIAMS. By Ralph Earle

BOY WITH A SWORD. By Edouard Manet

LANDSCAPE. By Charles François Daubigny

The Museum is fortunate in owning a number of pictures that are recognized as the masterpieces of their respective artists. Bastien-Lepage’s (bas-tee-en lah-pazsh´) “Joan of Arc” is one of these. Realism?—yes, but so combined with imagination that the result is gripping. Rosa Bonheur’s “Horse Fair” is one of the best-known pictures in the Museum. Many are familiar with it in black and white reproduction, in which it shows to good advantage. The original painting is somewhat disappointing in color. Meissonier’s (may-sone-yay) “Friedland, 1807” is an example of his careful brushwork, but is less successful than some of his smaller panels that are shown in the Museum. Regnault’s (rane´-yoe) “Salome,” a daring harmony in yellow, shows the dancer awaiting her reward from Herod. “Madame Charpentier (shar-pen´-tee-ay) and her Children,” by Renoir (ren´-wahr), is one of the most charming groups to be found anywhere. Renoir employed the methods of the impressionists, but he never allowed his subject to become secondary to the medium—a thing his brother-impressionists sometimes seemed to do. There are pictures by the other exponents of these principles to speak for themselves, and some of them speak very well. Manet (mah-nay) in the “Boy with a Sword” is following Velasquez to good advantage. A portrait by Fantin-Latour (fahn´-tang-la-toor´) depicts the wonderfully sensitive face of a lady in black. A turquoise brooch gives a piquant touch of color that is repeated in the other jewels she wears. There are many other pictures that one could ill afford to pass by—Couture’s “Day Dreams,” for example, and “Arabs Crossing a Ford” by Fromentin (fro-mahn-tang), or the pictures by Delacroix (del-lah-krwah), Courbet (koor-bay), Jacque (zshock), and Dagnan-Bouveret (dahn´-yahn-boo´-ver-ray), to mention only the more important. Last, but far from being least, is the group by Puvis de Chavannes (poo´-vee de sha-van´) to show the power of that great mural painter.

FORENOON, ADIRONDACKS. By Alexander H. Wyant

American Artists

Naturally, American artists are well represented in the Metropolitan Museum. Nine pictures stand sponsor for Gilbert Stuart’s skill, and several are surprisingly fine. Such work as John Singleton Copley’s “Mrs. Bowers” and Stuart’s “Mrs. Anthony” do not suffer from comparison with the productions of the English School of their time. Indeed, Ralph Earle’s “Lady Williams,” sometime previous to its purchase in London, masqued as a Gainsborough! Its simplicity and slightly awkward directness are captivating. Do not fail to observe, however, that the table accessories are exceedingly well painted. One of the most interesting of these early pictures is a group of pupils in the studio of Benjamin West. As president of the Royal Academy, his aid was sought by almost every American with any artistic ability who could obtain passage money to London. Matthew Pratt, one of those whom West helped, here shows him criticizing the sketch of one of a group. Prominent among the men of the next generation is Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, but also a painter of no mean order, and the author of good portraits of Henry Clay and De Witt Clinton. Sully, another man of exceptional taste for his time, has ten pictures, including the sketch for his portrait of Queen Victoria.

MARBLE QUARRY AT CARRARA. By John S. Sargent

Nowhere else can the “Hudson River School”[4] be studied so well. To our eyes these beginnings seem a bit hard and crude, but such canvases as F. E. Church’s “Heart of the Andes” and “Parthenon” are really impressive. But most of these men interest us today chiefly as the forbears of a later group. Inness, Wyant, Homer Martin and Blakelock have only a point of view in common, and yet they form a transition group that leads out of the “Hudson River School” to the landscape men of the present day. In no other gallery is the work of these four artists so well represented. In some of the canvases the inspiration of the Barbizon men is very apparent. Inness succeeds best, perhaps, in his oft-reproduced “Autumn Oaks” or his “Delaware Valley.” Wyant’s work is very even—“An Old Clearing” is the best of his ten pictures. Blakelock’s “Pipe Dance” is fine in a very different way. Homer Martin, perhaps the most interesting figure of them all, reached his highest level in the “View on the Seine,” or as his wife named it, “The Harp of the Winds.” That picture may fairly claim to be the best-known and most loved landscape by any American artist. His sight was almost gone when the last touches were added. No less impressive, to some, is his “Sand Dunes, Lake Ontario.” All the desertedness and barrenness of the dunes seem to have been caught and expressed on his canvas.

[4] The Hudson River School of Art is considered at length in Monograph Six, Mentor No. 136, “The Story of the Hudson.”

Sargent, Whistler, La Farge, Chase—all are here, and in many phases. Sargent’s portraits are fine, but do not miss his water-colors, or his “Marble Quarry at Carrara.” Winslow Homer was one of the first Americans to realize the possibilities of the sea as a subject, and there are eight paintings by him, as well as a dozen forceful water-colors. Carlsen, Dougherty (dock´-er-tee) and Waugh (wah) are sea-lovers too. And as for the figure-painters, Dannat’s (dan´-nah) “Quartette,” Abbey’s “Lear” and Mary Cassatt’s “Mother and Child” should not be omitted. Among the landscapists come Twachtman and Tryon, Groll with his Arizona mesa, Lie with “Culebra Cut” for his subject, and Ben Foster with a fine “Late Summer Moonrise.” Here is a rich assemblage of American art.

SAND DUNES, LAKE ONTARIO. By Homer Martin