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