Going over into the Italian galleries, the first impression is that
while there are certain groups of pictures of a very high order, the
general standard of this section is not quite so high as in the French
Department. The Italians seem to have the advantage over the French in
regard to the selection of a background for their galleries. They made
no such mistake as putting a Pullman car floor pattern on the wall, and
the general effect is one of calmness. As in the French section, the
work of the modern painter seems superior to sculptured work of the same
period. The work of Tito and of Mancini, among the painters, stands out
in this Italian collection.
Gallery 21.
Tito, whose work can be found in a group of five pictures in this
gallery, has a very pronounced decorative sense, which he employs with
great ease in a group of five most excellent pictures. To students of
technical procedure his work is worthy of study. His under-painting is
done in tempera, and sometimes the complete work, as in the cattle
picture, is done in this medium, which, by an application of varnish, is
then transformed into an oil. The most interesting pictures in his group
of five are the two on the right of his wall. The mythological subjects
underlying both canvases have a classic note, but their refreshing
colour scheme removes these pictures from any classic affiliation. The
woodland scene, enlivened by a few hilarious centaurs pursuing nymphs,
is tremendously sure in handling and very gorgeous in the many golden
browns and greens which control the colour scheme. The kneeling Venus
alongside is unusually alluring in its blue and gold tones, and is one
of the really fine pictures in the exhibition. While the Venus and the
Centaurs are the backbone of the Italian section, Tito's "Blue Lady" is
very chic and, as a colour arrangement of blue-blacks and flesh colour,
most decorative. The canvas in the center, evidently belonging to an
older period of the artist, has nothing of the direct method of the
accomplished master, although in composition it has a certain bigness.
Tito's art has the full and rich expression of an original personality.
The landscapes in this gallery, of which there are a goodly number, are
all typically Italian in their artificiality of colour and in a certain
sweetness which makes them lose in one's estimation the longer one
studies them. Clever as they are technically, they do not convince and
they do not reflect a thorough knowledge of the spirit of outdoors. All
one admires in the Barbizon men - the lyric feeling of a Corot or the
more dramatic note of a Rousseau - is missing in the modern Italian
landscape as seen in these pictures. They are flippant in their catchy
technique and in the absence of any thought.
Gallery 22.
This room is dominated by three portraits by Antonio Mancini, of unusual
cleverness and very fine psychological characterization. Mancini's work
grows on one. While seeming at first rather loose and superficial, these
portraits disclose on more intimate study a fine constructive quality.
They are not particularly interesting in colour; as a matter of fact
they are very monochromatic. Their appeal is based on an intensely
serious quality of studious experimentation, which a very sketchy
technique cannot hide. To the left of the three Mancinis hangs a simple
picture of large proportions called "Maternity," by Pietro Gaudenzi.
This is one of those modern interpretations of the birth of Jesus which
appeals by the individualistic note. The picture is sympathetic by
reason of its restriction to a few simple facts. No doubt it will fail
to receive a wide appreciation, since sociologically any picture of its
type disclosing human life under poverty-stricken conditions is rarely
approved by the public. Nevertheless one of the greatest of all stories
is, with feeling and restraint alike, well rendered on this canvas.
On the opposite wall Arturo Noci has a very striking interior. There is
nothing tricky about this most effective canvas. The result is simply
and directly attained by good, sound painting. The red curtain in the
distant room is a trifle raw and refuses somewhat to take its place in
the picture. Two landscapes on this wall deserve mention for their fine
skies and their decorative note. Giuseppe Carosi's little landscape with
the oxen is so much better than the one below by the same artist that it
is hard to believe both were done by the same man. "La Valle dell'
Aniene," by Dante Ricci, is big in feeling, well painted, and
unquestionably one of the best landscapes in the Italian section.
Gallery 23.
The east gallery is almost entirely given over to sculpture, with one
exception which is notable so far as the dear public is concerned - a
painting, "The Arch of Septimius Severus," by Luigi Bazzani. I cannot
fathom why Luigi Bazzani should go to all this trouble in trying to
imitate a photograph when the result over which he so painfully laboured
could be done by any good photographer for less than five dollars. It
seems to me an absolutely futile thing to try to represent something in
a medium very badly chosen for this particular stunt. A stunt it is, and
always will be, no matter how much we admire the painstaking drawing and
the infinite care involved. Texturally the canvas is all wrong, because
the sky, the stone, everything in the picture, looks like glass and not
like the various things it is intended to represent. However, it is a
wonderful piece of patience - so much should be said for it.
Millet's man with the hoe sitting down is the strongest piece of
sculpture in this gallery. The figure doubtless belongs to an older
school, as its discolorations as well as its technical treatment
indicate. Alongside the rest of the things in this small room it is, in
spite of being carried somewhat too far, very forceful and convincing.
No matter whether the man succumbed to the dreariness of work or to the
malarial fever of the Pontine swamps, all that has ever been said about
Millet's man and the terrible fatalism of his facial expression is found
in this piece of sculpture.
Rodin's influence is making itself felt in most of the other pieces in
this room, as in the Vedani kissing pair. The beautiful colour in the
marble in this group puts much life into it. Nicolini's work shows much
breadth and a fine mastery of form. A frame of animal plaques by Brozzi
adds considerably to the artistic merit of the sculpture. A certain
muscular mannerism is evident in all of them, though not in the least
disturbing.
Gallery 24.
Two portraits by Enrico Lionne of very repulsive colour are prominently
hung in the east gallery, without convincing one in the least of this
artist's high standing at home. Cold and artificial, they are not
deserving of the prominent place they occupy. Near the door on the
opposite wall Vincenzo Yrolli presents a street musician and his
audience in a canvas riotous with good colour. The composition and the
literal technical treatment of this work commend themselves highly by
good judgment and spontaneous handling. The two figure pictures by
Pietro Chiesa, on an adjoining wall to the right, ought to be
remembered, and also an interior on the opposite wall by Vianello.
Gallery 25.
In the last of the Italian galleries, on the west wall, we observe the
unusual spectacle of a whole family of artists distinguishing itself in
a group of pictures. There is Beppe Ciardi, the father; Guglielmo, the
son; and Emma, the daughter. All of their pictures are conspicuous for
their saneness and big feeling. The father, Beppe, with the center
canvas, has not the breadth and bigness that is so typical of both the
son's pictures of similar subjects. The skies in the younger man's
pictures are particularly fine. The daughter's single canvas, on the
left, to me seems even better than those of both father and brother. A
certain imaginative quality, shown in this big formal garden,
constitutes Emma Ciardi's superiority over the rest of the family. On
the whole the showing of this family is excellent in every way.
The landscapes in this gallery are far above those mentioned in the Tito
gallery. In fact there are so many other good pictures that a mere
mention of names must suffice. From the Ciardi group on toward the
right, Guido Marussig's "Walled City", Italico Brass' "Pontoon Bridge",
and particularly Scattola's "Venice" are all worthy of comment.
Scattola's picture is very sensitively studied, discreetly painted and
full of the poetry of a summer night. Before leaving the Italian
section, Mentessi's big imaginative architectural study should be
appreciated. It will crystallize the visitor's opinion of the general
excellence of Italy's contribution to the exhibition.
As a matter of racial tradition, and not so much because of similarity
of standards, we are almost obliged to continue our investigations into
the other nations most closely allied with the Latin people, of Southern
Europe and elsewhere. There is much room to believe that in a
contemporaneous art exhibition the Paris influence should make itself
felt in more than one way. Paris, after all, is the Mecca of all art
students, particularly of the foreign Latin countries. The technical
superiority of the French school of painting has for years caused an
influx of foreign students into Paris, who are now giving us, in such
national sections as those of Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, and
the Philippine Islands, the result of this contact. It will easily be
seen that unless a distinct national outlook, based on scenery, climate,
history, and tradition generally, is added to the mere technical
performance, no matter how clever, a national art can hardly develop. So
we find that with all the good intentions in the art of any of the
countries mentioned, very little typical national expression is brought
out. In choice of subject and colour scheme the art of all of these
countries is very much alike.