International studio (33.1907/1908(1908))

New York Heater-Color Club

The NEW YORK WATER-COLOR
CLUB
BY ARTHUR HOEBER
When the New York Water-Color
Club was organized some years ago, it .was, in a
way, a protest against the old society and there was
much young blood that, with the enthusiasm both
of youth and experience, hoped to encompass great
things. Certainly, considerable has been accom-
plished in the score of years during which this asso-
ciation has flourished, and it has at last the satis-
faction of knowing that its displays are quite the
best held in that medium in this city. As to large
progress in the art of water color through the way
of pure wash, the accomplishment is a matter open
to discussion. But at least new ideas have been
advanced, interesting experiments have been made,
and yearly the visitor has felt himself in the pres-
ence of novelty of ideas, of enthusiasm in- the way
of working, and there have been few contributors
content to paint along lines, either of tradition or
convention, and alas, the same may not be truth-
fully said of the more ancient society.
This year, as usual, finds much novelty, a fairly
high standard and no little snap and sparkle on the
walls. A number of the older men, it is true, repeat
previous successes, but that may be always looked
for in every art body. There are refreshing de-
partures, however, that attract and here and there
a new name, with work standing away out above
the commonplace. It may be mentioned in passing
that during the summer radical changes have taken
place in the gallery of the American Fine Arts So-
ciety in West Fifty-seventh Street, so that the center,
east and west rooms, hitherto so dark and gloomy
and referred to as “The Morgue,” have been
thrown into one spacious chamber, thoroughly well
lit, suggesting cheerfulness and hope, and at least
one cause of complaint against juries to come is
forever removed. Only contributors, perhaps,
fully appreciate how much this change means,
though the visitor will welcome the arrangement
heartily, for never were pictures hitherto placed
in these rooms properly or satisfactorily seen.
So it happens that we may start with a fair
slate and none of the drawings may take refuge be-
hind the excuse of indifferent placing, or absence
of sufficient light. And it is well to pay our respects
to a newcomer—at least a man whose name is un-
familiar—that of Charles Emile Heil, who comes
from Needham, Mass., and whose four contribu-
tions are original, varied and quite new in a crafts-
man’s way. Happily, though possessed of rare

dexterity, and a dexterity that fascinates one, Mr.
Heil has something to say, while he expresses this
something with an agreeable simplicity. As to his
methods, they are apparently flat washes over a
charcoal drawing, and he has a way of stopping out
his lights so that they tell amazingly well. Thus a
lady in The Golden Gown is dignified and the draw-
ing is full of suggestion, the design of the dress
being cunningly wrought out. This fanciful treat-
ment puzzles one as well in a child with turkeys,
wherein it is effective, while the sentiment in the
drawing of some laborers returning home, and a
monk, is quite personal. The note the man plays is
new and he is fortunately free from any freakish-
ness.
We must likewise note a modest contribution
from Hilda Belcher, The Checkered Dress, which
in its good drawing, its refinement of color and the
earnest, direct manner of attacking the theme, de-
serves much praise. It is only a picture of a young
woman seated, but it is full of human interest.
The Beal prize seems well bestowed on Luis
Mora’s Vacation Time, a group of young people
in a boat under brilliant sunlight. None is more
dextrous that Mr. Mora in the manipulation of his
medium, while his drawing and construction of his
figure are admirable. This is brushed in with cer-
tainty, with great freedom, and the color scheme
is alluring. The cleverness of Albert Herter permits
him to wander in any direction that his fancy
dictates; this time an Alma-Tadema theme has
appealed to him, where some figures linger under
The Almond Tree. One might well confuse his
work with that of the popular Dutch-Englishman,
for pictorially it is about as interesting and of no
more value artistically. It is more pleasant to turn
to such serious performances as Henry B. Snell’s
Gray Weather, of fishing boats in English waters;
Hobart Nichol’s sardine vessels at Concarneau,
or Otto Wiegand’s Early Spring landscape, which
are healthy, invigorating transcripts of the world
out of doors and seem worth the while. A large
pastel portrait by Hugh H. Breckenridge is ambi-
tious and successful, while Lydia Emmet has a num-
ber of small, sketchy portraits in this medium,
which not a few of the contributors have used with
a fair measure of success.
There are many names one might mention, E.
Mars, for example, with some block printings in
color; Arthur Schneider, with his Morocco themes;
Robert Arthur, with a snappy marine; Matilda
Browne, with cattle, and Albert Groll, fresh from
a trip in New Mexico, with brilliant sketch of sky
and sunlit plain.

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