International studio (30.1906/1907(1907))

National Academy of Design

general effect one of much beauty, it is not near so
satisfactory as the dainty little landscape he sends
of green woods and nudes thereunder. Louis Loeb’s
Miranda can scarcely come under the head of por-
traiture, being a study of an attractive woman at
her toilet, in the act of arranging her hair. Of rich,
mellow tones, drawn with certainty and able in the
construction, the work reaches a high standard,
being one of his best recent productions.
A large allegorical composition by Hugo Ballin
occupies the centre of the wall in the Vanderbilt
gallery, and is an excellent piece of craftsmanship
that is, however, by no means appealing or moving,
and engenders the regret that so much effort was
put to so futile a performance, for all being done,
the raison d'etre is not immediately apparent. Of
its kind, though, it is able, disclosing academic
training of a high order. George DeForest Brush
sends another of his Mother and Child series, not

even a variation of his familiar theme, and though
this is about the last word in serious rendering, we
are beginning to wish the artist would give us some
novelty. John Lambert, in his The Tragic Actor,
seen at previous exhibitions, has secured feeling for
character and painted well the figure of a man in
costume, and Hugh Breckenridge, in his The Nau-
tilus, verges dangerously near a cloying sweetness
of colour in an otherwise dexterous performance
showing a female figure contemplating that which
gives the picture its title. There is serious inten-
tion and a study of difficult values in Granville
Smith’s The Arabian Nights, wherein is a young
girl reading against the light, on a porch, behind
her being some tiger lilies, all throwing their shad-
ows towards the spectator. It is delicately thought
out, skilful in the painting and makes a note on the
walls. Francis Day, in his The Light oj Love, gives
us a modern Madonna among the trees and misses
some of the sentiment by a realism
that is insistent, but he has in the
work excellent painting and serious
intention.
In a prominent place is Edwin A.
Abbey’s Sylvia, of Abbeyesque dex-
terity and clever composition, of
craftsmanship in the putting on of
the pigment and yet, somehow, in
the light of the present time, far
from impressive. One seems to feel
it a coloured illustration, as it were;
it leaves us unmoved while we ac-
knowledge to the full all its many
qualities of excellence. It has been
done before many times by Mr.
Abbey and as well; it seems without
inspiration, lacking spontaneity, and
as if the man could go on repeating
it indefinitely. By this we do not
mean to say it is below the Abbey
standard by any means, and it is an
able rendering of an interesting
theme in a literary way; yet, when
all is said, it conveys no enthusiasm,
engenders no particularly agreeable
sensations and altogether fails in
any message. It is the art of the
Baron Leys, whose pictures we pass
in the museums in these days, or if
we stop at all, it is largely out of
curiosity—not a lively curiosity,
either—but rather the listless inter-
est in an endeavour that might be
more worthily spent. Though we


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