International studio (48.1913)

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INTERNATIONAL

VOL. XLVIII.

JANUARY. 1913

• STUDIO
No. 191 Copyright, 1913, by John Lane Company

The progressive spirit in
SCANDINAVIAN PAINTING
BY CHRISTIAN BRINTON
Much has lately been said in club
and studio circles concerning the existence in this
country, and more specifically in New York City,
of a so-called “Art Trust.” Its inception is sup-
posed to have been a logical outcome of the
unprecedented financial success of the recent
Sorolla Exhibition at the Hispanic Society.
Directly following this particular event certain
elements were supposed to have banded together
in a spirit of self-protection and unanimously to
have decreed that nothing of the kind must ever
happen again—that, in short, American art and
artists must be safeguarded from future foreign
incursions. It has even been darkly hinted that
the sinister machinations of this organization were
mainly responsible for the non-appearance here
last season of the notable exhibition by members
of the Societe Nouvelle, so ably arranged by Miss
Sage, of the Albright Gallery, Buffalo. It was
furthermore subtly insinuated that those responsi-
ble for the present display of contemporary Scan-
dinavian painting at the American Art Galleries
would likewise be unable to obtain a foothold in
New York. While such savory hearsay may or
may not have any foundation in actual fact, it
nevertheless affords opportunity for a fruitful fund
of speculation. There are, however, in this con-
nection, two points which cannot be overlooked,
one of them being that, despite definite efforts to
that end, the exhibition of the Societe Nouvelle
did not succeed in making its metropolitan appear-
ance, and the other being that the current exhibi-
tion of Scandinavian art has come to us largely
owing to educational and patriotic initiative, and
not because of a specific desire upon the part of
any of our leading institutions or art societies to
extend it their welcome.
While there had been for some time since a

desire on the part of those Scandinavian-Ameri-
cans who were familiar with the work of their
countrymen at home to hold an exhibition of this
character in America, it was not until the arrival
in this country of the distinguished Norwegian
painter Mr. Henrik Lund that the movement
took definite shape. It was he who proved
the guiding spirit of the undertaking, the success
of which from thence onward was assured. The
idea itself was a thoroughly praiseworthy one and,
fortunately in this case, patriotism was more than
justified by the actual esthetic importance of the
work of these sturdy, clear-eyed Northmen, whose
efforts had already been frequently acclaimed on
the Continent and, on not less than three different
occasions, in England, also.
Apart from the strictly limited showing of con-
temporary Scandinavian painting at Chicago just
a score of years ago, and the small itinerant dis-
play of two years later, it was not until the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 that the
American public was able to form a first-hand
acquaintance with this essentially vigorous and
individual artistic expression. Both the Chicago
and St. Louis exhibitions were, however, official
affairs, the organization of each being confined to
strictly Government channels. In the case of the
itinerant venture already referred to, which toured
the leading provincial cities during 1895-96, the
selection was exclusively Swedish, while the still
more limited showing of Scandinavian art held
under the auspices of the Copley Society of Bos-
ton, in 1907, included the work of Norwegian paint-
ers only. If it was the Swede, Carl Larsson, who
won chief honors at Chicago in 1893, with his
ever-spirited and delightful My Family, now in
the possession of Mr. Thorsten Laurin, of Stock-
holm, it was the masterful painter of animal por-
traits, Bruno Liljefors, also a Swede, whose
splendid group of canvases was the sensation of
his country’s offering at St. Louis.
It will be readily inferred from this brief resume

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