International studio (40.1910)

Mr. Steichens Paintings

With permission oj The Photo-Secession

BALCONY, NOCTURNE, LAKE GEORGE BY EDUARD J. STEICHEN

apparent effort, to keep the surface of the pigment his painting of a bowl of poppies—only partially

smooth, to balance masses in a decorative manner shaded from the intense midsummer sun which

—these are a few of the lessons Mr. Steichen has pours in through the window, making the large

learned from Velasquez and the Japanese, as fil- crimson petals transparent—and by a night view of

tered through the brain of Whistler. a great Colorado canyon, the violet dome above the

Another group of paintings, views across the val- mighty purple gorges alive with twinkling stars,
ley of the Morin, display an entirely different in- Mr. Steichen appreciates as much as did Whistler
fluence and mood. He is a pleinairist now and de- the importance of the relationship between frame
lights to paint vivid sunlight; here we have summer and picture. His frames are an integral part of the
and autumnal landscapes, the greens and yellows, whole composition, although he has not gone quite
oranges and reds, brilliant with vibrating light, or so far as did Whistler in sometimes actually paint-
charming little scenes of his cottage and garden— ing a pattern upon the frame; his moldings, com-
the latter a mass of gorgeous flowers. posed of narrow parallel ridges, painted a silver-

The artist's versatility is further illustrated by gray or a lemon-gold, serve to show the pictures as

xlie