Gallery 50 contains some good landscapes, but nothing that demands special attention aside from Sergeant Kendall's refined figure studies.
Gallery 51 is given over in general to the independents and extremists of American art. Here are canvases by Glackens, Sloan, and Breckenridge, rather disappointing to one who has watched hopefully the movement they represent. Certainly their exhibits are suggestive of a rather undisciplined vigor and freedom. On wall C the five canvases in the lower row are by Robert Henri. They are the experiments of a master, rather than his best works. The truly representative Henri picture is the "Lady in Black Velvet," on wall D. This has a wonderful synthetic quality, a suppression of detail and a spotting of interest at the important point. There is, too, a spiritual quality that is lacking in the other canvases. On the other side of the doorway is Gertrude Lambert's "Black and Green," a notably fine canvas.
The only other general rooms of the contemporary American section are those at the far north end of the building, beyond the foreign sections, numbered from 117 to 120.
Gallery 117 is a sort of catch-all room, in which are many things that never should have been admitted to the galleries. The really interesting feature is the series of canvases by Frieseke, full of light and freedom. Gallery 118 is less mediocre on the whole, but lacks any features of special appeal. Gallery 119 includes a surprising conglomeration of paintings and drawings in all mediums, wherein the extremists have their say. There is a wealth of interest here, but one must have time to separate the bad from the good. Gallery 120 is also marked generously by the newer tendencies. The important feature is the group of virile paintings by George Bellows, on wall C. These mark the most successful American attempt to grasp sanely the bigness and freedom of the post-Impressionist movements.
One-man Rooms. As a part of the plan to show the various influences on the course of American art, it was decided to give up a number of rooms to individual displays by leaders of the several well-marked tendencies. Galleries 75-79, 87-90, and 93, at the east side of the building on either side of the center, contain these "one-man shows."
Gallery 75-Sargent. Here are shown a number of canvases by the man generally considered the greatest living American painter-certainly the greatest of the portraitists. Though containing none of the really famous paintings, there are portraits which show the typical Sargent brilliancy-the swift sureness and the perfect balance of restraint and freedom. The James portrait is especially worthy of study.
Gallery 76-Mathews. In this room are shown a number of canvases by Arthur F. Mathews, most important of the California painters, as well as a few by Francis MacComas, another Californian. Mathews stands primarily for the decorative tendency. His canvases have a noble sense of repose that is too often lacking in contemporary work, and there is remarkable color harmony here.
Gallery 77-Melchers. Here are representative works by Gari Melchers, a famous American who has long lived abroad. Unmistakably these canvases are from a masterly brush; but the coloring is not always good, and the room is somewhat disappointing.
Gallery 78-Hassam. By common consent Childe Hassam is considered the greatest American follower of Impressionism. He is an innovator who has carved a sure place for himself by adding a new vigor to the methods of the original Impressionists. Such decorative canvases as 2033 on wall B, and such delicate ones as 2029 on wall D, should be compared with the Monets in room 61.
Gallery 79-Chase. This room is designed to show the work of an American who was greatly influenced by the Munich School of painters. William M. Chase, both in his portraits and in his remarkable still-life studies, shows the fine German thoroughness rather than French brilliancy. The four canvases that hold the places of honor on all four walls show clearly the influence of Whistler.