Pennsylvania Academy, 1917
BUST OF THEODORE N. ELY
BY ALBIN POLASEK
Perhaps the swing of the pendulum was best
exemplified in the large—much too large—display
of purple and orange phantasies by Hugh C.
Breckenridge and the colourless but splendidly
constructed portraits of Thomas Eakins. Ex-
cellent portraiture too is shown in the self-portrait
of Wm. Merritt Chase and Mrs. K. by John S.
Sargent, where especially noticeable are the beau-
tifully painted hands. Adolphe Borie is well repre-
sented with his portrait of Miss Iris Tree which is
very spontaneous and pleasing in tone, greys and
blues intermingling in very delicate harmony.
Sidney Dickinson showed The Beggar, well ob-
served and well executed but lacking in inter-
est; nearby an excellent still life by Ritten-
berg was rendered negligible through unfavour-
able hanging. Martha Walter is often super-
ficial and careless in her slapdash, bing bang
methods, but in A Breezy Day she has given
us something of exquisite abandon and grace.
A young girl out-of-doors is one of the most emo-
tionalizing canvases in the exhibition. We should
have liked to have seen Jonas Lie receive a prize
for Winter Morning with its silver lights and frosty
atmosphere. His turn will come. Somewhat
too architectural, but delightful, in colour and
arrangement, is Frederic Clay Bartlett’s Studio.
Theresa Bernstein has much more imagination
and humour than the average painter, which prob-
ably accounts for hanging committees so often
selecting her canvases to conceal top windows
or portions of ceiling. The well-drawn nude by
Arthur B. Carles looks as if it had been half
baked, then hammered. Nancy Ferguson amuses
with her clever presentation of stiff New England
types. Most people imagine that A. L. Groll
was born in a desert and has resided there
ever since. Before very long it will be seen that
Groll knows and paints many subjects bearing no
kinship with Arizona deserts. Emil Fuchs shows a
good portrait of Mrs. Frances L. Wellman, whilst
Cartaino Scarpitta is well represented by a strong
well modelled bust of Emil Carlsen, thus adding
another famous painter scalp to his belt. There
is a fine swing and swish to Lentelli’s Water Sprite.
Other memorable pieces of sculpture are Mahonri
Young’s Alcmene, d’B. Howard’s Afternoon of a
Faun, Tonetti’s Dr. Carrel; subtle in charac-
ter and immensely alive, Konti’s excellent bust
of Elliott Daingerfield and Albin Polasek’s Nymph.
A BREEZY DAY
BY MARTHA WALTER
XXVII
BUST OF THEODORE N. ELY
BY ALBIN POLASEK
Perhaps the swing of the pendulum was best
exemplified in the large—much too large—display
of purple and orange phantasies by Hugh C.
Breckenridge and the colourless but splendidly
constructed portraits of Thomas Eakins. Ex-
cellent portraiture too is shown in the self-portrait
of Wm. Merritt Chase and Mrs. K. by John S.
Sargent, where especially noticeable are the beau-
tifully painted hands. Adolphe Borie is well repre-
sented with his portrait of Miss Iris Tree which is
very spontaneous and pleasing in tone, greys and
blues intermingling in very delicate harmony.
Sidney Dickinson showed The Beggar, well ob-
served and well executed but lacking in inter-
est; nearby an excellent still life by Ritten-
berg was rendered negligible through unfavour-
able hanging. Martha Walter is often super-
ficial and careless in her slapdash, bing bang
methods, but in A Breezy Day she has given
us something of exquisite abandon and grace.
A young girl out-of-doors is one of the most emo-
tionalizing canvases in the exhibition. We should
have liked to have seen Jonas Lie receive a prize
for Winter Morning with its silver lights and frosty
atmosphere. His turn will come. Somewhat
too architectural, but delightful, in colour and
arrangement, is Frederic Clay Bartlett’s Studio.
Theresa Bernstein has much more imagination
and humour than the average painter, which prob-
ably accounts for hanging committees so often
selecting her canvases to conceal top windows
or portions of ceiling. The well-drawn nude by
Arthur B. Carles looks as if it had been half
baked, then hammered. Nancy Ferguson amuses
with her clever presentation of stiff New England
types. Most people imagine that A. L. Groll
was born in a desert and has resided there
ever since. Before very long it will be seen that
Groll knows and paints many subjects bearing no
kinship with Arizona deserts. Emil Fuchs shows a
good portrait of Mrs. Frances L. Wellman, whilst
Cartaino Scarpitta is well represented by a strong
well modelled bust of Emil Carlsen, thus adding
another famous painter scalp to his belt. There
is a fine swing and swish to Lentelli’s Water Sprite.
Other memorable pieces of sculpture are Mahonri
Young’s Alcmene, d’B. Howard’s Afternoon of a
Faun, Tonetti’s Dr. Carrel; subtle in charac-
ter and immensely alive, Konti’s excellent bust
of Elliott Daingerfield and Albin Polasek’s Nymph.
A BREEZY DAY
BY MARTHA WALTER
XXVII