DOI issue:
No. 153 (December, 1905)
DOI article:Halton, Ernest G.: The Staats Forbes collection, [3]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20713#0245
The Staats Forbes Collection
“by the river” (By permission of Messrs. Thos. Agnew <5j° Sons) by h. harpignies
The mysterious and almost chaotic works he
created during his later period reveal him as
a painter whose one and only creed was colour.
To attempt to describe one of these weird
fantasies is almost impossible. They have been
called “ orchestral explosions of colour ” and
“volleys of paint.” The figures are only suggested ;
they are grouped together to form a veritable feast
of colour, each one intensifying the other. The
Staats Forbes collection contains a few examples of
Monticelli’s art, The Banquet being the most
important. Here the rich, luscious tones of
bronze, gold, and red are intermingled with almost
reckless yet masterly freedom until the canvas
flashes like a jewel. In looking at such a work as
this the idea is forced upon one that had the artist
turned his mind to decorative painting he might
have attained great results. His Carnival de
Venise is another work of rare beauty, though not
of such brilliant colour.
The great French realist Gustave Courbet is
represented in the collection by two landscapes.
A painter of remarkable force and vitality, he shows
in his Silent Pool that he could instil into his work
a sentiment of poetry. In its brilliancy and fresh-
ness of colouring and breadth of handling it is a
fine achievement, yet though it excites admiration
it does not satisfy. It has not the rhythm of a
Corot nor the lofty conception of a Rousseau, but
it appeals by its absolute directness and impressive
stillness. The Stream in the Doubs is not such a
fine work; it has a hardness due to the fact that it
lacks atmosphere, a fault to be found in many of
Courbet’s landscapes. It nevertheless displays all
the strength and solidity which characterise
his work. His robust and virile nature is
reflected in all his pictures; he was determined to
stamp them with an independent sense of his own
individuality, and in this particular canvas it is
felt to the full. Bluff and forcible as he was, the
rugged cliffs in the background, lifting themselves
above the masses of wild foliage, help to form a
227
“by the river” (By permission of Messrs. Thos. Agnew <5j° Sons) by h. harpignies
The mysterious and almost chaotic works he
created during his later period reveal him as
a painter whose one and only creed was colour.
To attempt to describe one of these weird
fantasies is almost impossible. They have been
called “ orchestral explosions of colour ” and
“volleys of paint.” The figures are only suggested ;
they are grouped together to form a veritable feast
of colour, each one intensifying the other. The
Staats Forbes collection contains a few examples of
Monticelli’s art, The Banquet being the most
important. Here the rich, luscious tones of
bronze, gold, and red are intermingled with almost
reckless yet masterly freedom until the canvas
flashes like a jewel. In looking at such a work as
this the idea is forced upon one that had the artist
turned his mind to decorative painting he might
have attained great results. His Carnival de
Venise is another work of rare beauty, though not
of such brilliant colour.
The great French realist Gustave Courbet is
represented in the collection by two landscapes.
A painter of remarkable force and vitality, he shows
in his Silent Pool that he could instil into his work
a sentiment of poetry. In its brilliancy and fresh-
ness of colouring and breadth of handling it is a
fine achievement, yet though it excites admiration
it does not satisfy. It has not the rhythm of a
Corot nor the lofty conception of a Rousseau, but
it appeals by its absolute directness and impressive
stillness. The Stream in the Doubs is not such a
fine work; it has a hardness due to the fact that it
lacks atmosphere, a fault to be found in many of
Courbet’s landscapes. It nevertheless displays all
the strength and solidity which characterise
his work. His robust and virile nature is
reflected in all his pictures; he was determined to
stamp them with an independent sense of his own
individuality, and in this particular canvas it is
felt to the full. Bluff and forcible as he was, the
rugged cliffs in the background, lifting themselves
above the masses of wild foliage, help to form a
227