DOI Artikel:
Wood, T. Martin: The Grosvenor House exhibition of French art
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43457#0025
THE STUDIO
9
THE GROSVENOR HOUSE EX¬
HIBITION OF FRENCH ART.
BY T. MARTIN WOOD.
and the opportunity for becoming familiar with all
the most significant developments of art be some-
thing more than the exquisite privilege of the very
rich.
This Exhibition, which was perhaps the most
important feature of this year’s London art season,
was advertised as one of “Modern French Art,”
and further described as “From Ingres to Manet.”
Neither title seemed to suit it quite, for no attempt
was made to bring the collection right up to date
or to represent some of the most outstanding
events of the period from Ingres to Manet.
But if the description of the collection seemed
at fault, it is of the description alone that we
complain. The exhibition itself was organised
entirely on the right principle. It aimed solely
at making the strongest
possible aesthetic appeal,
concentrating chiefly on
the salient moment of Im¬
pressionism.
The Comtesse Greffulhe,
to whose genius we owe
the organisation of the ex¬
hibition, is certainly the
type of patron which the
world is seeking at the
present time. Pictures
amassed in private collec¬
tions do not exist for the
general public. Up to the
present in England the
most educated and eager
person has not been able
to see representative can¬
vases of the phase of art
exhibited at Grosvenor
House, so unconscious ap¬
parently of its significance
have been those who are
elected to watch over our
interests in these things.
At present it is only
through loan exhibitions—
though they are attended
by the evil that they tempt
those who take our treasures
from the country—that the
omissions of our public
galleries can be corrected,
LIV. No. 213.—November 1914
At this distance of time it is possible to estimate
to some extent the immense importance of Im-
pressionism and the movements contemporary with
it in France. In reviewing the work of Manet and
Degas, especially, we cannot fail to be impressed
by the evidence of the greatness of that period.
To view the craft of these artists even upon the
surface is to be compelled to admiration of their
miraculous skill and subtlety of observation. But
when we reflect how much sympathy with life is
betrayed in their strife for refinement of truth and
how great the enthusiasm that made their close
PORTRAIT DE M. DEVILLERS
BY J. A. D. INGRES
9
THE GROSVENOR HOUSE EX¬
HIBITION OF FRENCH ART.
BY T. MARTIN WOOD.
and the opportunity for becoming familiar with all
the most significant developments of art be some-
thing more than the exquisite privilege of the very
rich.
This Exhibition, which was perhaps the most
important feature of this year’s London art season,
was advertised as one of “Modern French Art,”
and further described as “From Ingres to Manet.”
Neither title seemed to suit it quite, for no attempt
was made to bring the collection right up to date
or to represent some of the most outstanding
events of the period from Ingres to Manet.
But if the description of the collection seemed
at fault, it is of the description alone that we
complain. The exhibition itself was organised
entirely on the right principle. It aimed solely
at making the strongest
possible aesthetic appeal,
concentrating chiefly on
the salient moment of Im¬
pressionism.
The Comtesse Greffulhe,
to whose genius we owe
the organisation of the ex¬
hibition, is certainly the
type of patron which the
world is seeking at the
present time. Pictures
amassed in private collec¬
tions do not exist for the
general public. Up to the
present in England the
most educated and eager
person has not been able
to see representative can¬
vases of the phase of art
exhibited at Grosvenor
House, so unconscious ap¬
parently of its significance
have been those who are
elected to watch over our
interests in these things.
At present it is only
through loan exhibitions—
though they are attended
by the evil that they tempt
those who take our treasures
from the country—that the
omissions of our public
galleries can be corrected,
LIV. No. 213.—November 1914
At this distance of time it is possible to estimate
to some extent the immense importance of Im-
pressionism and the movements contemporary with
it in France. In reviewing the work of Manet and
Degas, especially, we cannot fail to be impressed
by the evidence of the greatness of that period.
To view the craft of these artists even upon the
surface is to be compelled to admiration of their
miraculous skill and subtlety of observation. But
when we reflect how much sympathy with life is
betrayed in their strife for refinement of truth and
how great the enthusiasm that made their close
PORTRAIT DE M. DEVILLERS
BY J. A. D. INGRES