International studio (46.1912)

National Association

of Portrait Painters


XHIBITION OF THE NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF PORTRAIT
PAINTERS
BY ALICE T. SEARLE

The recently organized National Association of
Portrait Painters is the latest evidence that the
so-called “specialist exhibition” has come to stay
in New York. As the “Pastellists,” one of the
latest ventures in this line, has been well received
by the public, that of the “Portraitists” promises
equal success. There are no officers of the new
society, but the members forming the executive
committee this year are S. Montgomery Roose-
velt, DeWitt M. Lockman, Earl Stetson Craw-
ford, Robert W. Vonnoh and Ben Ali Haggin.
The first exhibition opened at the Reinhardt Gal-
leries on March 18, and remained on view for
three weeks. Fifteen pictures only were hung and
these on a single line with adequate spacing,
giving an effect of distinction and reserve to
the collection as a whole and securing importance
and dignity for each separate canvas.
The full-length whimsical character portrait of
Otis Skinner in the part of “Colonel Brideau,”
painted by Victor D. Hecht, was happily placed at
the entrance to the galleries. William M. Chase
followed with a charmingly composed portrait of a


MRS. L. AND SON

BY DE WITT M. LOCKMAN


CLIFFORD PROVOST
GRAYSON, ESQ.

BY ROBERT W.
VONNOH

child, Alice Dieudonnee, in which the undue im-
portance given accessories and setting detracted
unfortunately from interest in the small subject.
However, the gratification of seeing once more
Mr. Chase’s admirable characterization of
Edouard Steichen, with its strongly marked indi-
viduality and charm, wholly compensated. Ben
Ali Haggin contributed the decorative portrait of
Miss Marjorie Curtis, so much praised at the
Academy display, also an artificially lighted por-
trait of Mrs. Wilfred Buckland, and Howard Gard-
ner Cushing a full-length portrait of his wife with
a suggestion of Japanese line and color. An alto-
gether novel and cleverly conceived conceit was by
George Luks, entitled Russell and Jack Burke,
Hallowe'en, 1911. The hobgoblin effect of the
bright-eyed children’s faces caught from the glow
of the pumpkin lantern and the predominance of
orange color throughout made it a quaintly gro-
tesque and entertaining performance.
One of the distinctive aims and principles of the
new society would appear to be the endeavor to
express in modern portraiture more natural pic-
torial interest and to eliminate as much as possible
the tiresomely conventional and perfunctory por-
trait which is so marked a feature of our current
exhibitions. One of the pictures emphasizing this
was Earl Stetson Crawford’s inspiring and finely

LXIII