Studio: international art (29.1903)

Reviews

Works worthy of extended notice, did space
permit, were those exhibited by Augusto Mussini,
Luigi Serra, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, H. Ziigel,
Sarolla, Antonio Rizzio, the late Professor C.
Kirchmayr, G. Nuli-Zanetti, Pietro Fragiacomo,
E. Tito, C. W. Furse, John Lavery, Byam Shaw,
and especially the portraits by Anders Zorn
and Peter Krayer, the wonderful series of eighteen
paintings by von Faber der Faur, and the
fourteen remarkable pictures contributed by Ignacio
Zuloaga.

ANTWERP.—Among the relatively large
number of exhibitions opened during the
first six months of the year in the old
artistic metropolis of Belgium, there are
five or six which specially demand that I should
give brief notice of them to readers of The Studio.

First and foremost must be mentioned the exhibi-
tion by Madame de Rudder, the widely-appreciated
artist in embroidery, together with her husband,
the sculptor, Mr. de Rudder, and their friend and
comrade, Philippe Wolfers, the jeweller and sculptor.
Rarely, if ever, has an artistic display proved
so completely successful. Madame de Rudder
showed, in addition to the embroidered screen,
Penelope, the property of Baron van Eetvelde, four
large panels representing The Seasons, and exe-
cuted "after" her husband's cartoons, and under
his direction. These panels are equally admirable
in point of colour, of modelling, and of technical
treatment. De Rudder himself sent a collection
of stoneware and porcelain, and a choice series of
decorative masks, also a tombstone figure, gravely
conceived and full of style. As for Wolfers, to
give any idea of the richness and the perfection of
his work, it would be necessary to devote thereto
as many pages as I have lines at my disposal.
Suffice it to say then, that not in Holland, nor in
Germany, nor in Belgium is to be found the equal
of the Brussels jewcl-makeras an inventor of appro-
priate motifs, or as an arranger of coloured en-
sembles of the utmost elegance.

Edgar Farasj'n succeeded the three artists just
referred to with a display of some fifty of his can-
.vases, mostly landscapes and sea-pieces, with a
few " interiors." He is a conscientious artist, who
excels in expressing the melancholy of the hazy
morn, the moon-lit night, and the pensive stream.
A moderate "luminist," he stands, perhaps, midway
between Claus and Baertsoen.

A very interesting display of pastels, water-
colours and etchings was that organised by the
Societe des Beaux Arts, whose intelligent activity
I am greatly pleased to record. Here one found
assembled all the most successful Belgian ex-
ponents of the particular branches of art just
named. There was evidence that the jury had
exercised a certain degree of severity, and the
Salon gained in interest thereby. Among the
most remarkable exhibits let me mention those
of Baertsoen, Buysse, Claus, Frantz Charlet, Alfred
Delannois, P. J. Dierckx, Donnay, Ensor, F.
Khnopff, Lynen, Heymans, Laermans, Mellery,
Meunier, Morren, Mertens, Rassenfosse, Jakob
Smits, Leo van Aken, van Leemputten, Wytsman,
and Theo Verstraete ; and, among the ladies,
Anna de Weert, Clara Voortman, M. Marcotte,
Ketty Gilson. A special word of admiration is
due to Khnopffs delightful water-colour, Une
Recluse, to Buysse's Le Dock a Gand, to Baertsoen's
series of powerful etchings, to Charlet's Le Veuj
(which has been acquired by the Musee), to the
church scenes by Delannois, to Morren's strongly
drawn studies, to the magnificent set of drawings
by Mertens, and to the superb portraits and
interiors by Smits.

Under the style of "Einigen" (a Few) certain
young artists got up a little salon in the Kiinstler-
bund—an interesting display, and one that pro-
voked much discussion. This exhibition tends to
prove once more that a renovating movement is
pending at Antwerp, and we may expect the
happiest results therefrom. The most notable
works were exhibited by Richard Bascler, De Laet,
Morren, Van Offel, Walter Vaes, Nykerk, Van
Mieghem, Van Aken, Jakob Smits, and Paul
Mertens.

P. de M,

REVIEWS.

Viltore Carpaccio et la Co?ifrerie de S.iinte Ursule
a Venise. By Pompeo Molmenti and Gustave
Ludwig. (Florence : R. Bemporad & Son).—The
joint work of two enthusiastic admirers of the
genius of Carpaccio, who have brought to their
self-imposed task many special qualifications for
dealing satisfactorily with it, this copiously illus-
trated monograph will appeal equally to the student
of art and to all who are interested in the state of
culture in Italy in the 15th century. It is, indeed,
no mere resume of the work of others, but a new
examination of the unique series of paintings
now in the Academy of Venice, with a complete

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