Not all of the one-time “new movement” originated and died with these nine men. Dozens of painters became identified with American art just after the Centennial, and many of those who came back from Munich and Paris in the late seventies and the early eighties are still living and producing. But while the nine were by no means the whole count they were certainly representative of the movement, and their works speak for almost every phase of it. The value of the movement to American art can be rightly enough judged from them.
During their lives these nine did not lack for praise—some of it wise and some of it otherwise. They were much exploited in print. I myself joined in the chorus. I had more or less acquaintance with all of them, lived through the period with them, and from 1880 on wrote much about them. My opportunities for seeing and hearing were abundant, and perhaps such value as this book may possess comes from my having been a looker-on in Vienna during those years. To personal impressions I am now adding certain conclusions as to what the men on my list, taken as a body, have established. They wrought during a period of great material development—wrought in a common spirit, making an epoch in art history and leaving a tradition. The pathfinders in any period deserve well of their countrymen. And their trail is worth following, for eventually it may become a broad national highway.
J. C. V. D.
Rutgers College,
1919.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| [I.] | The Art Tradition in America | 1 |
| [II.] | George Inness | 19 |
| [III.] | Alexander H. Wyant | 43 |
| [IV.] | Homer Martin | 65 |
| [V.] | Winslow Homer | 89 |
| [VI.] | John La Farge | 115 |
| [VII.] | James Abbott McNeill Whistler | 147 |
| [VIII.] | William Merritt Chase | 185 |
| [IX.] | John W. Alexander | 217 |
| [X.] | John S. Sargent | 243 |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| FACING PAGE | |
| George Inness, “Evening at Medfield” | [32] |
| George Inness, “Sunset at Montclair” | [34] |
| Reproduced by the courtesy of F. F. Sherman, publisher of “George Inness,” by Elliott Daingerfield | |
| George Inness, “Hackensack Meadows” | [38] |
| Alexander H. Wyant, “Mohawk Valley” | [52] |
| Alexander H. Wyant, “Broad, Silent Valley” | [58] |
| Homer D. Martin, “View on the Seine” | [78] |
| Homer D. Martin, “Westchester Hills” | [84] |
| Reproduced by the courtesy of F. F. Sherman, publisher of “Homer Martin,” by Frank Jewett Mather | |
| Winslow Homer, “Undertow” | [102] |
| Winslow Homer, “Marine” | [104] |
| Winslow Homer, “Fox and Crows” | [108] |
| John La Farge, “Paradise Valley” | [130] |
| John La Farge, “The Muse” | [134] |
| John La Farge, “The Three Kings” | [138] |
| James A. McNeill Whistler, “Nocturne. Gray and Silver. Chelsea Embankment” | [158] |
| James A. McNeill Whistler, “The Princesse du Pays de la Porcelaine” | [162] |
| James A. McNeill Whistler, “The Yellow Buskin” | [168] |
| William Merritt Chase, “The Woman with the White Shawl” | [202] |
| William Merritt Chase, “Afternoon at Peconic” | [204] |
| William Merritt Chase, “Child Dancing” | [212] |
| John W. Alexander, “The Ring” | [230] |
| John W. Alexander, “Walt Whitman” | [236] |
| John S. Sargent, “Mrs. Pulitzer” | [256] |
| John S. Sargent, “Carnation Lily, Lily Rose” | [260] |
| John S. Sargent, “Carmencita” | [262] |
I