Studio: international art (26.1902)

Studio- Talk

of the Indian exhibits, many ot which are of
remarkable beauty, both as regards colour and
design.

AMSTERDAM.—The annual Spring Ex-
hibition of Dutch Painters shows neither
lack of numbers (about 425) nor of
talent, although the greatest masters
are not represented. Portraits claim more space
this year than usual, quantity somewhat sur-
passing quality. F. Salberg (Amsterdam) shows
promise and talent, characterised by a peculiar
severity and harshness of perception. Therese
Schwartze may be congratulated on her adoption of
a new style; her portrait of ex-President Kruger
is now well known. More interesting as a per-
sonality than as a work of art is the portrait
of one of the Boer delegates, Wessels, by
Roelofs. Very carefully done and tastefully framed
is a stippled drawing by Breman. Masten-
broek (Rotterdam) exhibits a truly characteristic
view of a Dutch town. His colouring is a little
too rich, perhaps, but not obtrusive (the snow
is slightly glaring), yet his strength and correct
composition is undeniable. Full of life is A
Ship Leaving Dock, by Jansen (Haarlem). His
work attracts by reason of a certain roughness
of brush, entirely in keeping with his firm mode
of drawing; the perspective is brilliantly suggested,
and the yellow tones have a fascinating charm.
Very warm and honest in expression is a painting
by P. Franken (Den Haag). Ritsema's land-
scapes display a certain simplicity, which is,
perhaps, not entirely genuine; those of Gorter
show the painter to be an intimate friend of
Nature. As usual, this artist has been par-
ticularly successful in his birch-trees and in
his suggestion of the limpidness of water.
He sees Nature in her most lovely aspect.
W. Sluiter figures as an excellent designer. He
is modest in the size of his works, but his
methods are so facile, and his types so full of
vitality, that we cannot but return to admire
his fine gifts. N. Bastert has had the royal
gold medal bestowed on him. Nevertheless, we
must confess that it seems as if, in this instance,
the name had triumphed over the work.

Sculpture has been very generously treated.
Ch. van Wijk claims our respect by reason
of his grand and simple lines, which confirm
us in our opinion that he is an ardent admirer
of the great Belgian sculptor C. Meunier.

In conjunction with the exhibition of paintings
is a series of "Batik" work (Lebeau, Haarlem),
and some bookbindings and models of furniture..

H. N.-L.

MULHAUSEN.—Every three years, with
hardly a break, the French painters
have held an exhibition in Miilhausen.
In spite of their really Teutonic origin,
the Alsatians are still largely French in character
and taste. The permanent gallery of the town can
boast of important works, periodically increasing
by local donations. Of the exhibition now on
view I propose here to convey the general impres-
sion, rather than point out individual efforts.
Consequently, I note first the surprising beauty of
many of the water-colours. The greatest, perhaps,
is by the Italian, De Scevola; but the French have
of late developed wonderfully in this medium,
showing a wide technical range from Jean Charles
Meissonier's elaborated gouache and Regamey's
decisive crispness, to Checa's broad blots.

Why demand a higher technical training for the
musician than the painter ? Some people can wax
rapturous over crude plagiarisms of Japanese art,
yet require technical virtuosity from the musician.
Perhaps it is the painter of pictures who is most
sensitive to the blase demand of novelty at all
costs, without the restraint of reason.

Here in Miilhausen the fact is strongly emphasised
that in all that goes to fit the workman in training,
the French show overwhelming superiority to other
nations. There is not, in technique at all events,
that amazing difference between highest and lowest
seen in England or Germany. A Frenchman
paints with grace, vivacity, elegance, fluency of
expression; he has the sense to leave a work half
or partly finished if it conveys his meaning, just as
he can replace his speech by a gesture.

The Exhibition is valuable and interesting from
the individual methods adopted, and one of its
main charms is its variety of aims and points of
view. The evident drawbacks which collectivism
in art has are absent here. The collective works of
a society united by similarity of aims are often
monotonous and wearisome; the leaders may work
towards the beautiful, but the followers imitate by
formula. They insist on " the personal note," on