International studio (49.1913)

Current Art, Native and Foreign

takablv did at the Academy. While their united
presence may have been a mere coincidence, there
was no gainsaying the importance of the work
contributed by Miss Beaux, Mrs. McLane-
Johansen, Miss Lillian Genth, Miss Martha
Walter, Miss Helen M. Turner, and the talented
newcomer, Miss Josephine Paddock, whose viva-
cious and broadly conceived Miss Trelawney was,
all things considered, the chief delight of the
exhibition.
More sympathetic than fundamental, the
changes noted in the Spring Academy merit every
recognition and encouragement. Despite the im-
petuous appeal of bolder tendencies, we have no
right to demand that a painter precipitately alter
his choice of theme or manner of treatment. We
do not so much need revolutionary pictures as a
liberal and wholesome response to constantly vary-
ing tendencies. Let the Academy stand ready to
foster real merit and individuality in whatever
form, pictorial or plastic, they may present them-
selves, and it will go far toward fulfilling its mis-
sion. We must not fail to cultivate flexibility of
temper in matters artistic. Oncoming genera-
tions are ever knocking at the door, and it is our
privilege to see that the door is periodically
opened.
II. The Ten. It is spring. It is the Sixteenth


Courtesy of Monlross Gallery Exhibition of “The Ten"

Annual Exhibition of a significant body of men
who, in the flush of enthusiasm and earnest en-
deavor, once seceded from the ranks of the since
defunct Society of American Artists and estab-
lished themselves as an independent organization.
Year after year this valiant little group has sung
the joy of vernal sunshine, the shimmering beauty
of surfaces, and the general supremacy of technical
accomplishment. Their work has marked some-
thing of an epoch in the gradual clarification of the
palette and the vivifying of public vision. While
Chase and De Camp hark back to Munich manner
and methods, and Metcalf reverts to our early
apostles of native landscape, the majority are ex-
ponents of French Impressionism and French
academic influences modified by the study of light
and atmosphere. It is the language of Monet or
of Besnard which they have adapted to local needs
and conditions, and no one can say that it has not
been done with welcome cleverness and dexterity.
A generation has however passed since these
ideas were new to the world of artistic expression,
yet still the members of The Ten are apparently
content with their original programme. Scant
change has marked their production from season
to season. There has been a decided tendency
toward the interchange of ideas among them-
selves, but during this entire interval little or
nothing has come from without. Tarbell
turns from his interiors to portraiture, and
Benson devotes himself with kindred assidu-
ity to interiors a la Tarbell. Hassam dis-
plays no little esthetic vivacity and diversity
of theme, still it is mainly the same problem
' which presents itself for solution, while De-
wing evinces typical satisfaction with his
minute panels wherein he poses with meti-
culous care the same super-refined and static
figurines. Quite frankly, these men move
within too restricted a circle. They are not
responsive enough to external influences. In
certain instances they are positively unsym-
pathetic, not to say hostile,to the more re-
cent manifestations of contemporary en-
deavor, and this attitude has not been devoid
of influence upon their development.
It is spring. It is the sixteenth birthday of
The Ten, and one should experience a sense
of joyous exaltation on viewing their offering
at the Montross Gallery, yet in truth the
occasion makes for sadness and retrospection.
The years have slipped by and they have not
discovered the secret of youth nor taken to

PORTRAIT

BY J. ALDEN WEIR

heart the deeper significance of nature—na-

LII