File:American painting and its tradition - as represented by Inness, Wyant, Martin, Homer, La Farge, Whistler, Chase, Alexander, Sargent (1920) (14774040464).jpg

Identifier: ameng00vand (find matches)
Title: American painting and its tradition : as represented by Inness, Wyant, Martin, Homer, La Farge, Whistler, Chase, Alexander, Sargent
Year: 1920 (1920s)
Authors: Van Dyke, John Charles
Subjects: American Painting
Publisher: Charles Schribner's Sons
Contributing Library: Whitney Museum of American Art, Frances Mulhall Achilles Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Metropolitan New York Library Council - METRO

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s loveliness outof his inner consciousness and infuses it into hiscanvases. It is doubtful if he has even Indulged toany great extent in that elevation of the tech-nical problem by long reflection which HenryJames refers to. From sheer truth of observa-tion his children, as in the Carnation LilyLily Rose or the Beatrice, are childlike,and perhaps shy, his young women graceful andpossibly nervous or affected, his men forceful,mentally alert, occasionally posing for posterity.He tells the truth and knows not how to dootherwise. How radically different in result arethe portraits of Lady Ian Hamilton, Mrs.Pulitzer, Mrs. Marquand, of Colonel Bruce,Mr. Chase, and Mr. Rockefeller! Yet who thathas known the originals will say that they arenot true to the originals ! A limitation! Yes, but what artist has notlimited his endeavors! It is by not trying to doeverything that occasionally one succeeds indoing something. And if in painting one choosesto be a recorder of facts rather than a concocter
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Carmencita, by John S. Sargent. In the Luxembourg, Paris. JOHN S. SARGENT 263 of fiction, why should we grieve ! How very littleSargent can concoct anything, even composi-tion, is apparent in his group-portraits of two orthree people—the Misses Hunter, for an exam-ple. The pattern bothered him, he could not *ar-range the sitters satisfactoril3^ and, finallyhaving crowded them into the canvas, hepainted them as he saw them, with the resultthat they look crowded. The fresco at Bostonis decorative, to be sure, by virtue of its color-ing and gilding, but as a composition it willhardly pass muster. It is a curious gathering ofjewel-like hues, but it can make small pretenseto a satisfactory mural composition. Sargenthas never demonstrated great ability in arrange-ment, and so far as the public knows has nevertried for historical composition. The portrait of the single figure is his greatestsuccess. Placing it upon the canvas calls for nogreat imagination or change in the model;and the opp

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