On the east wall of Room 48 hangs "Sleep," the best of the eight canvases shown by Frederic Carl Frieseke, distinguished above all other American painters in the palace by the Exposition's grand prize. Seven other pictures by Frieseke, interesting by reason of comparison with this masterpiece, hang in Room 117. In Gallery 48 are also some good landscapes,—Robert Vonnoh's "Bridge at Grez" and Cullen Yates' "November Snow." In No. 49, a better balanced room than most in this tier, three walls are made noteworthy by J. Alden Weir's luminous and Impressionist landscapes, and D. W. Tryon's more academic canvases. Weir was the chairman of the jury for oil paintings. No. 50 is dominated by Sergeant Kendall, in both painting and sculpture. In the first he won the gold medal, in the second the silver medal. Room 51 has been called the "Chamber of Horrors," because it shows several of the extremists; but it has some masterpieces. Staring things by John Sloan, William J. Glackens, Adolphe Borie, and Arthur B. Caries are relieved by H. H. Breckinridge's highly colored fruits and flowers, Gertrude Lampert's "Black and Green," Thomas Anshutz' two studies of women, and several of Robert Henri's strong figure pieces.
In the extreme northern end of the gallery, beyond the foreign sections, is a tier of four rooms, 117-120, ranging from the mediocre to the admirable. In No. 117 are seven interesting canvases by Frieseke, the grand-prize winner, already mentioned. These pictures show the artist's scope. No. 1816 and others are strikingly like Plinio Nomellini's No. 86 in the Italian section. No. 1811 is as different from these as "Sleep" is from all the rest. In the same room are Mora's "Vacation Time" (2645) and Tanner's "Christ at the Home of Lazarus" (3370), both winners of the gold medal. Room 118 holds the pictures of several gold-medal winners, the "Promenade" (1185) by Max Bohm; the noble "Lake Louise" (1246) by H. J. Breuer, whose pictures of the Canadian Rockies are also to be found in Rooms 56 and 58; the tender "Spring" (1972) by W. D. Hamilton, worthy of a better place; and H. L. Hoffman's clearlighted "A Mood of Spring" (2116), and his vivid "Savannah Market" (2115).
Room 119 is filled with water-colors, drawings, engravings and etchings. Room 120 holds George Bellows' Post-Impressionistic canvases, Myron Barlow's well-drawn figures, W. D. Hamilton's speaking likeness of Justice McKenna (1971), Charles H. Woodbury's "The Bark" (3692), and Waldo Murray's portrait of "Robert Fowler" (366), wrongly catalogued with the International section. All these painters won gold medals. This is perhaps the best room in this tier.
In the tier on the western wall devoted to the minor forms of art, Howard Pyle's illustrations occupy two small rooms, 41 and 42. The first contains ink sketches, the second his works in characteristic color. Room 40 is devoted to admirable miniatures and to water colors. Here on the east wall are Jules Guerin's vividly colored Oriental scenes, which won the gold medal. The walls of Room 39 are given up to a series of charming pastels by John McClure Hamilton. No. 39 also contains cases of medals, as does No. 38. Room 37 is devoted to miniatures, and 36 to drawings.
In the section known as the "Print Rooms," 29-34, along the west wall, are hundreds of famous etchings. This branch of art, old and respected through the examples offered by early masters like Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt, has still to be fully appreciated. It has come to the public slowly, the layman who likes and buys pictures more often holding aloof from the thing called an etching. That there is now a closer acquaintance than before is due in large measure to Joseph Pennell. Working through the practical, he allied his art years ago with such subjects as bridge and railroad building, and by giving the public an easier avenue of approach, has attracted it to the beauty of this method of art. The print rooms show dozens of Pennell's etchings, with those of Whistler and many others. Whistler's etchings, lithographs, and drawings are in No. 29, Pennell's in No. 31. Room 30 holds the work of Henry Wolf, winner of the grand prize. B. A. Wehrschmidt, an honor medallist, is represented in Room 119. J. Andre Smith, Herman A. Webster and Cadwallader Washburn are in Room 32, Allen Lewis and Gustav Baumann (gold medals) are in Room 34. Room 28 holds the loan collection of Whistler's works, already mentioned, chiefly from the National Gallery, Washington. Room 27 contains photographic reproductions of painting and sculpture. Room 26 is devoted to original drawings for illustration.
The Foreign Sections.—These are placed north and south of the United States collections. In the extreme south end, Japan occupies a large block of rooms, numbered from 1 to 10. With this abundant floor and wall space at her disposal, that country left nothing undone to make her art exhibit comprehensive and beautiful. The display stands alone for completeness. Japan's art is as old as her history; and now, with her advent among the modern nations, she has added Occidental art to her more ancient forms. The essayal, as shown here, is still beyond her, but the strides are noteworthy. In the wonderful display of her own art, she shows both the beauties of antiquity and the masterpieces of her present day artists. The paintings upon silk, landscape embroideries, porcelains, ink drawings, metal work, and scrolls will occupy the art lover many hours.
France adjoins Japan, filling a block of rooms from 12 to 18, and Italy follows, in Rooms 21 to 25. The intervening rooms, Nos. 19 and 20, are assigned respectively to Uruguay and Cuba.
The French and Italian exhibits had to wait for the arrival of the Jason. Now they are installed, and beautifully hung and set. Though France is the home of the Post-Impressionists, and Italy that of the Futurists, the flagrancy of neither of these schools is on view here. Both countries show their best balanced art since 1905. In the French exhibit, the mode of the day prevails, color, luminosity, richness of texture. All that differentiates the art of France to-day from that of other countries is her own inimitable, delicate, inherent taste and touch. The subject matters little; the French perception and execution are there. Where other canvases offer—say a beautiful glow—the French picture "vibrates." If other works are finished, these have finesse. There is similar spirit in the Italian galleries, with a variation due to national characteristics rather than to difference of opinion or method. The Italian pictures fully occupy the mind and eye; the French often fascinate by something more than skill and color. Both countries have placed their older art, and some of its best, in their official pavilions.
France.—In the French Section, Room 12 contains a diverse collection of water color, drawing, engraving, and painting, among the latter, Henry Grosjean's "The Bottoms" (365). Room 13, full of strongly contrasting work, is distinguished by Maurice Denis' daring decorative panels. Here also is Claude Monet's "Vetheuil" (452), the same scene, though not the same picture, as his No. 2634 in Room 61. Comparison is interesting for the difference in touch, though both were painted in the same year. Francois Flameng is represented here by "Paris" (346), not so compelling as his "Madame Letellier" (345), and "Fete Venetienne" (344), in Rooms 18 and 14. Room 14, containing a good many decorative canvases, has also, besides Flameng's "Fete," two of the extreme Impressionistic paintings of Henri Martin, "The Lovers" (432), and his own dim "Self Portrait" (433). Two colorful Breton scenes (302) by Darrieux, and (406) by Le Gout-Gerard stand out on the north wall. Room 15 shows some charming pieces,—Lucien Simon's strongly contrasting work in the spiritual "Communicants" (494) and his barbaric "Gondola" (495); Domergue's "The Frog" (324), Besnard's glowing "Gipsy" (255), and Lemordant's "The Wind" (409). These last give a strong color to the room, relieved by Leroux' calm "Lake" (416), and Maury's delicate young girls (440).
Room 16 is better balanced. Remembering "The Frog," Domergue's versatility appears in the portrait of Gina Mabille, the danseuse. A delicate bit of Impressionism in Le Sidanier's "The Harbor: Landernau" (418). Two canvases by Menard are hung here. His "Opal Sea" (445) is charming. Auburtin's decorative panels hang on the north wall. One of the most notable works of P. Franc Lamy, his golden "Venice: Morning" (393), will be found on the west wall.