The Fine Arts Galleries



Do not visit the Fine Arts exhibits blindly, without knowing what they are aimed to show; and do not try to see the whole exhibition in one day. First understand the scope and arrangement of the displays, and then follow some definite system by which you are sure to get the best out of each individual section. It is better to see one part thoroughly than to carry away a confused impression of the whole.

The scope of the exhibit is limited to painting, sculpture and print-making, except in the Oriental sections. In painting the primary aim has been to make a representative display of contemporary work. Most of the galleries contain only canvases painted within the last ten years. But in order to correct the common misconception that American art is entirely a thing of today, without historical background, a few rooms are given up to historic works of the various early American schools, and to works of the foreign schools that have influenced the development of American art.

The arrangement of the galleries should be mastered before one starts to study. In general there are three divisions of exhibits. At each end is a group of foreign sections, and the great middle space is given up to American art. The accompanying diagram is designed primarily to make clear the location of the several divisions. The visitor will find it worth while to remember that a main central corridor runs the whole length of the United States Section. By continually referring to this corridor, one can keep one's bearings fairly well.

The method of seeing the galleries that is suggested in this guide is based on the official classification as far as possible: the foreign sections are taken in order, and the historical section is treated in that chronological sequence which the directors intended to show forth. But there is no system in the arrangement of the twenty-eight general rooms of contemporary American work, In treating these the guide aims to suggest tendencies and influences, rather than to point out this or that canvas as a good or bad one. Nevertheless it is believed that every really important picture or artist is individually mentioned - so that one who has used the manual consistently may be sure of having enjoyed the cream of the collection, at the same time gaining the wider knowledge of the main currents of development.

It is necessary to use to a certain extent the arbitrary subject-divisions, such as portrait, landscape, and figure painting; and to refer also to realistic painting, which tends to depict things as they are, as opposed to the academic, which recognizes the wisdom of conventionalization or idealization. But the most important distinction, for the student of contemporary tendencies, is that which concerns the term "Impressionism." This name in its original and technical sense applied to the works of the men who, instead of mixing shades, placed different colors side by side on their canvases to give the effect of the right shade at a distance. As the experiments of these artists were directed chiefly to the solution of problems of light, the term naturally was widened to include that whole division of painting which is concerned with atmospheric aspects and color harmonies rather than with subject-interest and line composition. Terms which express the same idea in general or in part, are "luminism" and "plein-air painting." Impressionism has had more effect on the current of art than has any other movement in history. Not only in the handling of light and in freshness of coloring has the whole of painting been profoundly changed, but there is a general tendency to paint the impression rather than the actuality, the harmonious effect rather than the literal fact - and these things are notably illustrated in the Exposition galleries.

For the sake of the visitor who comes to the gallery with practically no knowledge of art, a word may profitably be said about critical standards. First remember that there are many qualities which may make a painting worth while: pleasing design, beautiful color, a compelling expression of emotion or thought, or a poetic suggestion of a fleeting aspect or mood. It is necessary to judge each particular work by the artist's intention, and not by untrained personal tastes. Before passing judgment learn to know the picture well. You may find that you have been attracted by something superficial. On the other hand, you may find that the seemingly less attractive picture, which has been recommended by people of trained judgment, grows more and more pleasing with riper acquaintance. Go slowly, study thoroughly what you study, and keep an open mind-for that way leads to the widest enjoyment.

United States Section: Painting

The United States Section consists chiefly of contemporary work, but includes a small historical section, which is to be found to the left as one enters at the main doorway. It is in this part of the exhibit that one should start.

The Historical Section consists of two well-defined parts. The first contains examples of foreign schools of painting that have influenced American art. The second contains the works of American painters from the beginnings to the early Twentieth Century. The Foreign Historical Section occupies rooms 91-92 and 61-63.

Gallery 91 - Early Schools. A gallery of old paintings, chiefly of the Italian, Flemish and Dutch Schools, designed to suggest the earliest roots of American art. Practically all the canvases are mere echoes of the "old masters," and they may well be passed over hastily by all but the most thorough historical student.

Gallery 92 - French Influence. This gallery and the next two are designed to show works of those schools, chiefly French, that have had direct influence upon American art. On wall A is a painting by Courbet, interesting in the light of that artist's influence on Whistler's early work. But most important here are the examples of the Barbizon School, romantic landscape painters of the mid-Nineteenth Century, who had much to do with the development of the Inness-Wyant group in America. On wall B are two canvases by Corot, both badly placed, one of which (1486) is typically poetic and beautiful. The examples by Daubigny and Rousseau on wall C are not satisfying. On wall D the two Monticellis suggest the source of some of the rich qualities of the work of Keith and similar American painters.

Gallery 62, adjoining 92, shows the best example of Barbizon work, in Troyon's beautiful "Landscape and Cattle" on wall C. On wall A is a small painting, interesting but not characteristic, by Millet, who influenced the whole world of art toward sincerity. On wall B is Sir Laurens Alma-Tadema's "Among the Ruins," sole representative here of the English School of "polished" painters that strongly influenced a number of American artists. On wall D are two very interesting portrait studies by Franz von Lenbach, intended to suggest the influence of the Munich School on American art, before Americans began to flock to Paris to study.

Gallery 61 - Recent French Influence. On wall A is an uneven collection by Monet, the greatest apostle of Impressionism. This group, with the exception perhaps of the sea-shore scene, should be studied thoroughly, in regard to the technique that juxtaposes colors to give the right resultant tone at a distance; in regard to the general tendency to subordinate subject interest to the expression of fleeting aspects; and in regard to the masterly handling of light. No other group will be referred to so often in connection with the American galleries. On wall B is a typically joyous canvas by Gaston La Touche, who carries Impressionism into figure work. On walls C and D are other examples of the Impressionist School, by Pissarro and Renoir and the English Sisley. On wall C is a portrait by Eugene Carriere. On wall D is a panel by Puvis de Chavannes, who has influenced modern mural painting more than any other artist. This picture has the typical union of the classic feeling with very modern technique, but it is representative of de Chavannes' manner rather than of his whole art at its best.

Gallery 63 - English Influence. This is the richest of the historical rooms. Although there is a scattered collection including the names of Van Dyke, Guido Reni, Tiepolo, Ribera, Velasquez, Goya, and Turner, on walls A and B, the important thing is the fine collection of the English portraitists. Here are examples, many of them among the finest, by Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Romney, Lawrence, and Hoppner. It is hardly necessary to point out the close connection between the work of this English group and early American painting, since a visit to the adjoining gallery 60 will show how the first important development in the States grew out of the art of the mother country.

The American Historical Section covers the entire development of American painting from the beginning to the early years of the present century. To obtain the proper sequence, one should start in room 60, working gradually down to 57, then visiting 64 and 54.

Gallery 60 contains a profusion of fine examples of the early portrait school, which was so closely connected with English art of the time. Gilbert Stuart, the most important figure, is represented by an extensive collection on wall A. In this room, too, are canvases by West, Peale, Copley, and their followers well into the Nineteenth Century.

Gallery 59 contains chiefly the work of that barren mid-century period when portraiture and landscape painting alike became hard and labored. Insofar as any foreign influences can be detected here, they are of the "tight" schools of England and Germany.

Gallery 58 contains some interesting work of the latter half of the Nineteenth Century - notably the paintings by Eastman Johnson, an important figure of the time when American art was finding itself. Albert Bierstadt's two landscapes are typical of the so-called Hudson River School, the mechanical forerunner of the Inness-Wyant group. An interesting contrast is offered here by H. J. Breuer's "Santa Inez Mountains," a contemporary landscape that is full of the freshness and light of present-day American painting.

Gallery 57 shows another great step in advance. A generous portion of the space is given to Edwin A. Abbey, an American-born artist who really was more a part of English art. The exhibit shows clearly that Abbey was greater as illustrator than as painter, the finest things here being the exquisite pen drawings. Wall D has five paintings by John LaFarge, who by his work and by his theories greatly influenced American art at the end of the century. Worthy of study, too, are the more modern landscapes of Theodore Robinson.

From this room one should turn back into the central line of galleries.

Gallery 64 contains historical American paintings that range through the latter half of the last century and into this, with such well-known names as Parrish, Gifford, Hunt, Wylie, Martin, the Morans, Eakins, and even the more recent Frederic Remington. Such pictures as F. E. Church's "Niagara Falls" (wall A), J. G. Brown's "The Detective Story" (wall B), and Thomas Hovenden's "Breaking Home Ties" (wall D), are typical of what was accepted as the best work a generation or two ago.

Passing through room 65, one should next go to 54.

Gallery 54 is the most important in the American Historical Section, for it shows the work of the men who really emancipated American painting from the old hardness and tightness of technique, and from the old sentimentalism. Wall A is given up to the work of the late Winslow Homer, who has been called "the most American of painters." The seashore scenes alone of the things here are representative of this big man at his best. Wall B has a varied assortment by lesser painters, but ones of importance: Blakelock, Currier, William Morris Hunt, and Fuller. On walls C and D the very important canvases are those by Inness and Wyant, men who were deeply influenced by the French Barbizon School, but whose individual achievement marked the first great stride toward the bigness, freedom and lightness of present-day American landscape painting.

Contemporary American Painting. Leaving aside the one-man rooms for the present, it is just as well to turn from the last historical room, 54, into 55, and progress in natural order through 56, 65, 85, 66 (the central hall), and 80. The contemporary rooms north of the central hall can be best visited in three groups, each following the official room numbering: first, 67 to 74; then 43 to 51; and finally the detached section at the far north end of the building, 117 to 120.

Gallery 55 has a well assorted collection of contemporary canvases, but includes no outstanding features.

Gallery 56 is a typical modern American room, with good landscapes in the work of Breuer, Borg, Davol, and Stokes.

Gallery 65 contains some of the best American figure paintings in the building. The finest group is that by Cecilia Beaux on wall D, which well displays that remarkable artist's brilliant technique and "flair." It is notable how many of the really virile paintings here are by women - many of them of the younger groups. From Marion Pooke's polished but free "Silhouettes," and Alice Kent Stoddard's appealing "Sisters," to M. Jean McLane's joyously brilliant canvases on wall C, there is a wide range of achievement and promise.

Gallery 85. On walls A and B are five canvases by Horatio Walker that are worthy of attention. But finer are Charles W. Hawthorne's four paintings on walls B and D. Their bigness of conception, sincerity and soundness of technique mark a coming master. Wall C is given up to a display by Charles Walter Stetson, which shows, more strongly than any other in the American section, that tendency to the decorative and the idyllic which is to be noted as so strong in recent painting. On wall D are three works of George deForest Brush, a man who has been but little influenced by the more radical tendencies. "The Potter" is interesting for the painstaking and minute finish of varying surface textures.

Gallery 66 - Central Hall. Although the important places here are given to sculpture, there are a few very interesting paintings: some representative landscapes, and at the ends decorative panels by Alexander Harrison and by Howard Cushing.

Gallery 80 is notable for the work of painters who have followed rather closely the old academic traditions: for the smooth and polished canvases of W. M. Paxton and Philip Leslie Hale. There are also seven landscapes by Willard L. Metcalf, fresh attractive work of the "plein-air" school.

Gallery 67 is rich in fine landscapes, and contains the best of the exhibition's marines. Here are the only works of Charles H. Davis, a notable follower of the poetic Inness School, and of Leonard Ochtman and Ben Foster, who stand well to the fore among the more vigorous landscapists. Also worthy of attention are the landscapes of Braun, Borg, White, Wendt, J. F. Carlson, Rosen and Browne. The marines represent well a department of painting in which Americans have long excelled; on wall A are four by Paul Dougherty, on B and C three by Frederick J. Waugh, and on D one by Emil Carlsen. Of the other paintings the most interesting is the idyllic bit by Hugo Ballin on wall C, representative of the decorative tendency.

Gallery 68 contains as its most important exhibit three portraits by J. C. Johansen, on wall B, all typical of the brilliant fluency of this remarkable painter. Among the landscapes here the most important are the two Schofields on wall D, typical of the best and sanest phase of Impressionism in America. Very important too are the canvases by Daniel Garber on wall C.

Gallery 69 contains a mixed collection, with such different good things as Lawton Parker's polished figure studies (wall B) and J. Francis Murphy's poetic landscape (wall C). On wall C is a painting by John W. Alexander, one of the leaders in American art, which is typical of his method of subordinating subject interest to line arrangement and color composition.

Gallery 70 - Portrait Room. On wall C are three portraits by Irving R. Wiles, and on D two by Julian Story-both names long well-known in American art. But the surprising thing is that several of the canvases by less known men stand up with, or even surpass, these.

Gallery 71 is notable chiefly for some good landscapes.

Gallery 72 contains little to hold the attention, unless it is the group of canvases by Walter McEwen, who shows adherence to the older traditions, not only in smoothness of technique, but in sentimentalism and general prettiness.

Gallery 73 is given up chiefly to Alson Clark's over-sketchy and intemperately colored Panama pictures. The most interesting thing here is Ernest Lawson's "Beginning of Winter," on wall B, a representative work by one of the most successful American followers of Impressionism.

Gallery 74 is a room of good landscapes, with a few outstanding canvases like Will S. Robinson's "Group of White Birches" on wall C.


A new start should be made here by passing through rooms 70 and 71 to 43, from which the numerical order can be followed back to room 51, adjoining the central hall.

Galleries 43 and 44 have a range from many mediocre to a few really good things, lacking anything that demands special attention.

Gallery 45 is a room rich in comparative values. Note the delicacy of treatment and of color in William Sartain's three landscapes, on wall A, and in Birge Harrison's atmospheric paintings on wall D. Compare these with the heavily painted and richly colored canvases by Walter Griffin on wall C, and then with the more straightforward, vigorous work of Charles Morris Young on wall B. Harrison, Griffin and Young, at least, are of the distinctly modern school; but note how individually each has utilized his inheritance of vibrating color and light. On wall A are two fine figure studies by Robert Reid, an innovator and a really great painter, though he did not show it when he painted the panels for the Fine Arts rotunda.

Gallery 46. There is much poor material here; but on walls B and C are some paintings by Frank Vincent Dumond that are interesting for their fresh coloring and their solving of light problems.

Gallery 47 contains evidences of progress in varied lines, from E. L. Blumenschein's big Indian pictures, and Cohn Campbell Cooper's studies of American cities, to the experiment in painting flesh against a richly varied background, by Richard Miller, a gifted American who has long lived in Paris.

Gallery 48 contains much promising work of various tendencies, but no outstanding features.

Gallery 49 contains, on wall A, a splendid collection of the work of Dwight W. Tryon, one of the older school of landscapists, who helped to break the way for the moderns and has kept up with them to a great extent. With the exception of one canvas, the pictures on walls B and D are by J. Alden Weir, another roadbreaker, and an experimenter with new effects of light and atmosphere. In such canvases as "June" and "White Oak" one finds some of the best that American art has built on the theories of Monet.

Gallery 50 contains some good landscapes, but nothing that demands special attention aside from Sergeant Kendall's refined figure studies.

Gallery 51 is given over in general to the independents and extremists of American art. Here are canvases by Glackens, Sloan, and Breckenridge, rather disappointing to one who has watched hopefully the movement they represent. Certainly their exhibits are suggestive of a rather undisciplined vigor and freedom. On wall C the five canvases in the lower row are by Robert Henri. They are the experiments of a master, rather than his best works. The truly representative Henri picture is the "Lady in Black Velvet," on wall D. This has a wonderful synthetic quality, a suppression of detail and a spotting of interest at the important point. There is, too, a spiritual quality that is lacking in the other canvases. On the other side of the doorway is Gertrude Lambert's "Black and Green," a notably fine canvas.

The only other general rooms of the contemporary American section are those at the far north end of the building, beyond the foreign sections, numbered from 117 to 120.

Gallery 117 is a sort of catch-all room, in which are many things that never should have been admitted to the galleries. The really interesting feature is the series of canvases by Frieseke, full of light and freedom. Gallery 118 is less mediocre on the whole, but lacks any features of special appeal. Gallery 119 includes a surprising conglomeration of paintings and drawings in all mediums, wherein the extremists have their say. There is a wealth of interest here, but one must have time to separate the bad from the good. Gallery 120 is also marked generously by the newer tendencies. The important feature is the group of virile paintings by George Bellows, on wall C. These mark the most successful American attempt to grasp sanely the bigness and freedom of the post-Impressionist movements.


One-man Rooms. As a part of the plan to show the various influences on the course of American art, it was decided to give up a number of rooms to individual displays by leaders of the several well-marked tendencies. Galleries 75-79, 87-90, and 93, at the east side of the building on either side of the center, contain these "one-man shows."

Gallery 75 - Sargent. Here are shown a number of canvases by the man generally considered the greatest living American painter - certainly the greatest of the portraitists. Though containing none of the really famous paintings, there are portraits which show the typical Sargent brilliancy - the swift sureness and the perfect balance of restraint and freedom. The James portrait is especially worthy of study.

Gallery 76 - Mathews. In this room are shown a number of canvases by Arthur F. Mathews, most important of the California painters, as well as a few by Francis MacComas, another Californian. Mathews stands primarily for the decorative tendency. His canvases have a noble sense of repose that is too often lacking in contemporary work, and there is remarkable color harmony here.

Gallery 77 - Melchers. Here are representative works by Gari Melchers, a famous American who has long lived abroad. Unmistakably these canvases are from a masterly brush; but the coloring is not always good, and the room is somewhat disappointing.

Gallery 78 - Hassam. By common consent Childe Hassam is considered the greatest American follower of Impressionism. He is an innovator who has carved a sure place for himself by adding a new vigor to the methods of the original Impressionists. Such decorative canvases as 2033 on wall B, and such delicate ones as 2029 on wall D, should be compared with the Monets in room 61.

Gallery 79 - Chase. This room is designed to show the work of an American who was greatly influenced by the Munich School of painters. William M. Chase, both in his portraits and in his remarkable still-life studies, shows the fine German thoroughness rather than French brilliancy. The four canvases that hold the places of honor on all four walls show clearly the influence of Whistler.

Gallery 87 - Duveneck. Here are works by Frank Duveneck, who like Chase studied at Munich. Sound in draughtsmanship, steady, and well-thought out, they maintain a remarkable standard of excellence. It is instructive to step from here into the adjoining large gallery, where the French influence is predominant.

Gallery 88 - Redfield. In the winter scenes of E. W. Redfield one finds the sure touch of a master of the new and vigorous school of American landscapists. Redfield has modified Impressionism, clinging to a certain reality, and yet achieving the sparkling atmospheric effects of the luminists.

Gallery 89 - Tarbell. In contrast to Hassam and Redfield and Twachtman is Edmund C. Tarbell, who has taken but little from the Impressionist group. His most characteristic and most appealing work can be seen in the canvases on wall A, beautifully lighted interiors which show the academic tendency, but in a new and delightful way.

Gallery 90 - Keith. This collection of canvases, with its sameness of subject and arrangement, is hardly typical of the late William Keith at his best. He was the western representative of the Inness-Wyant school of the late Nineteenth Century, though he leaned more to the romantic than did the others.

Gallery 93 - Twachtman. Here are the works of a painter who is closer to Monet than to the more vigorous American school of modified Impressionism. It is well to study one wall, A perhaps, and then to go to the Redfield and Hassam rooms, and then to the group of Monets, to see the various ways in which Impressionism has spread.

Gallery 26 - Whistler. The Whistler room is quite appropriately placed with the foreign historical rooms, rather than with the other one-man galleries - as if Whistler should be grouped with the influences rather than the influenced. The room contains none of the artist's finest paintings, but is well representative of the several sides of his work. Wall D shows Whistler the portraitist, with "his faces and figures that emerge from a soft black background, very much as one sees a person in the gathering twilight." On walls A and B it is Whistler the colorist, and on wall B especially, Whistler the rediscoverer of Japanese color and figure composition. On wall D is the "Study of Jo," an uncharacteristic early work, which shows the influence of Courbet.


American Section: Prints

The American prints occupy rooms 29 to 34, along the west wall of the building just south of the central vestibule. The exhibit is very representative, and contains both historical and contemporary sections.

Gallery 29 - Prints by Whistler. Here is a collection of Whistler's etchings and lithographs, with a few drawings. The distinguishing quality is an exquisite delicacy.

Gallery 30 - Historical Prints. In this room one can trace the development of American engraving and etching from the beginnings to the present day. Starting on wall D one finds steel engraving illustrated from the days of Paul Revere to its decadence; then the history of wood-engraving to its flowering in Cole and Wolf; early and recent American etching; and a few modern copper engravings and lithographs.

Gallery 31 - Prints by Pennell. This room contains a splendid collection of prints from all of Joseph Pennell's important series, in etching, lithography and mezzotint - a remarkable display by one of the world's greatest etchers.

Galleries 32 and 33 - Contemporary Etchers. These two rooms contain a rich collection of contemporary American work that should be studied print by print. Even a superficial look will indicate that even without Pennell and Whistler the American etchers are doing work universally worth while.

Gallery 34 - Color Prints. Here is an interesting collection of color prints in both etching and wood engraving. It shows the achievement of the younger artists in mediums that were practically unknown in this country ten years ago.


American Section: Illustration

Galleries 41 and 42 are given up to drawings and paintings by Howard Pyle, who has been called "the father of modern American illustration."

Gallery 26, adjoining the Italian section, contains a small but fairly interesting group of original drawings for illustration. In the work of Wyeth, Schoonover, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Jessie Wilcox Smith, and others, there is very strong evidence of Howard Pyle's influence. On wall B of this room, and in the adjoining gallery 27, there is a collection of photographs of American sculpture and mural paintings.

Gallery 36, adjoining the main west vestibule, has a miscellaneous collection of drawings and paintings in all mediums, ranging from the most delicate and polished to caricature and sketchiness run riot. There is a great deal of interest, but little that is important in a big way.


American Section: Miniatures

Galleries 37 and 40 contain an excellent collection of miniatures, ranging from a work by Malbone, the first important American in this field, to that of such notable contemporaries as W. J. Baer, Laura C. Hills, and Lucia Fairchild Fuller.

In both miniature rooms there are a number of paintings and drawings, in various mediums, including, in room 40, a few oils by Jules Guerin, the color wizard of the Exposition.


American Section: Sculpture

Of the monumental sculpture of the American Section most of the finest examples are out-of-doors. The central hall of the gallery building contains a collection that is worth studying piece by piece, including such notable things as Daniel Chester French's "Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial," Karl Bitter's "Signing the Louisiana Purchase Treaty" and "Tappan Memorial," and Robert Aitken's "Mausoleum Door."

But by far the most notable thing about the sculpture display is the extensive collection of charming small bronzes, which is scattered through the many rooms. The visitor should especially make sure of seeing certain individual group exhibits, such as the very freely rendered figures by Paul Troubetzkoy in the International Room (108), Paul Manship's groups, with their touch of classic appeal, in gallery 93, and the cases of statuettes by Abastenia St. Leger Eberle and Bessie Potter Vonnoh, in gallery 65. Very rich in interest, too, is the collection of medals and plaques, shown in galleries 38 and 39


Foreign Sections

The foreign sections are in two groups, at the two ends of the building. There is no system in their arrangement, and they are treated here in the order in which they happen to be placed, beginning at the far south end.

The Japanese Section occupies galleries 1 to 10. To appreciate Japanese art it is necessary to become accustomed to the conventionalization of treatment - to understand what the artist was after, and to judge from that standpoint. It is well to begin by studying works that are more like Western art - such things as "Moving Clouds" (15) and "Evening: Nawa Harbor" (12) in room 1 - and then to progress to the works in which the conventions are more pronounced. Note, throughout the paintings in rooms 1, 2 and 3, the delicacy of tone, the color harmony, and the fine sense of composition and pattern.

In galleries 8 and 10 are collections of Japanese sculpture and painting, done in the Western manner. It is interesting to see what the Oriental artist can accomplish in an alien medium; but neither for the Japanese nor for the American can these works have the same genuine appeal as those in galleries 1 to 3. The other rooms contain a varied collection of porcelain, embroidery, wood and ivory carving, and prints.

The French Section is one of the most interesting, but is hardly representative of the best that country has achieved in art. The general average is such that it upholds France's traditional standing as the home of "good painting," but this is by no means a collection of masterpieces. The most noticeable tendency is that toward the decorative. The galleries of the French section have been re-numbered, beginning with 1.

Gallery 1 is a rather poor room on the whole, though it, contains two canvases on the north wall by Lucien Simon, typical of that artist's masterly breadth of treatment. On the west wall, beside the doorway, are two of Aman-Jean's portraits. The little landscape (429) under one of these, by Marcel-Clement, is notable, as are also Jean Domerque's decorative canvas on the south wall and Maury's three nude girls on the north.

Gallery 2 is most interesting for the group on the north wall, where the place of honor is given to Henri Martin's work. Here is an artist who has carried Impressionism to its limit of vibrating light and color. The large central canvas should be seen from the Japanese room. The self-portrait (433) is even more interesting. On this wall are pictures that offer a striking comparison of methods of painting.

Gallery 3 is made especially interesting by the domination of one man, Maurice Denis, who is the leader among the "advanced" decorators of France. There is much that is worthy of study in the simplicity and in the color of his panels here. The room contains also a number of examples of the new and ultra-new schools, from Monet and Degas to Redon and Puy.

Gallery 4 contains few outstanding features, the more conservative element predominating. There is charming color in Caro-Delvaille's canvas on the East wall (279), and there is a Lucien Simon on the south wall. Gallery 5 likewise is not very important.

Gallery 6 especially illustrates the decorative tendency. On the north wall are panels by Auburtin, a follower of de Chavannes, and by Devoux, which are pure decorations. On the south wall is a large canvas by the celebrated Menard; but his little seascape on the west wall (445) is more appealing, being one of the most attractive things in the section. Note how the decorative tendency characterizes not only these outdoor pictures, but the neighboring portraits as well. On the east wall is a canvas by le Sidaner, a leader of the plein-air school, which reminds one that good French landscapes are few in this exhibit.

The Italian Section is the best arranged in the galleries. There is a general feeling of orderliness and rest that is quite welcome as one comes from the overcrowded American rooms. The Italian paintings do not give the impression of an exhibition of masterpieces - indeed there are very few canvases that demand special notice - but they are well up to the average set in the other sections.

Gallery 21 is the most interesting. On the wall facing the main doorway are five pictures by Ettore Tito, perhaps the greatest and certainly the most popular, of Italian painters. All are strong, and they are painted with a bigness and a sureness of touch that are compelling. Very interesting too are the canvases on the adjoining wall by Camillo Innocenti, who has achieved the vibrating light and fresh coloring of the Impressionist School in an individual way.

Gallery 22 contains a varied collection, ranging from the academic to the radical. Here are two canvases by Arturo Noci, one of the leaders of the Italian Secession. Gallery 23 is given up mainly to sculpture. The most compelling thing is d'Orsi's realistic "Tired Peasant." With the exception of some of the small bronzes, the rest of the sculpture of the section is hardly notable.

Gallery 24 contains a very interesting canvas in Plinio Nomellini's picture of a woman and child in a boat drawn up under a tree. The thing is full of sunlight and sparkling color; and it strikes a good medium between the old tight painting and that which carries Impressionism too far - both of which extremes can be seen in plenty in this room. Gallery 25 is an average room, without special features.

The Cuban Section occupies gallery 20, next to the Italian section. There is hardly a picture here that does not seem labored in comparison with the freedom elsewhere.

The Uruguay Section, in the adjoining gallery 19, is just the opposite full of freshness and vigor, and brilliant in color. But the gift of brilliancy is rather undisciplined, and while there is unmistakable promise, one feels that the art of Uruguay has not yet found itself.

The Chinese Section occupies galleries 94 to 97, and is notable for the paintings on silk and paper, the cloisonne, and the lacquer. There is a wealth of interesting material in the display, but it really requires a great amount of study for full appreciation. The Chinese Commission has prepared a special catalogue, which can be had in the rooms if one is specially interested.

The Philippine Section, in the adjoining gallery 98, is almost negligible in a building where there is so much really worth seeing - though some of the paintings by Felix Hidalgo have a dramatic interest.

The Swedish Section, in galleries 99 to 107, is one of the most important in the building. One who likes a gentle, polished sort of art will not be at home here; but for virile, fresh and colorful painting there is no other section that achieves the same high standard. Many of the pictures are so strong and big that they never should have been put in these box-like little rooms, where a proper perspective is impossible. In the paintings there are traces of French and German training, and especially of Impressionism; but the exhibit shows more true national feeling and more individual independence than any other in the building.

The two featured groups are the remarkable paintings and tapestries of Gustav Adolf Fjaestad in gallery 107 - well worthy of long study - and the paintings and prints of Carl Larsson in gallery 101. But there are many other things quite as important: the brilliant and fresh canvases of Carlburg, the snow scenes touched with late sunlight, by Schultzberg, and the compelling autumn decorations by Osslund, all in gallery 102; the illustrations by Bauer in gallery 104; the big landscapes by Hesselborn in gallery 105; and the deep-toned studies by Anna Boberg, and the virile portraits, in gallery 106. If you doubt that these Swedish painters can do the polished, poetic thing, as well as the big vigorous sort, go back to gallery 103, and look at Bergstrom's atmospheric "Spring Day."

The Swedish sculpture is not so remarkable as the painting; but the print section in gallery 99 contains a number of very interesting etchings and wood engravings.

The Argentine Section, in gallery 112, shows much that is fresh, strong, and brilliant in color. It is interesting to see how much closer these South American painters are to Spain than to France and Germany. Here are many echoes, not only of Velasquez and Goya, but of the vital modern Spaniards like Zuloaga. The collection is very uneven; but in the work of men like Jorge Bermudez and Hector Nava there is a mighty promise if not any great achievement. The few sculptures are unusually strong and interesting.

The Portuguese Section, in galleries 109 to 111, has the appearance of belonging to an older period in the history of art than the present. One feels that the artists who show pictures here have not that mastery of light which marks the Nineteenth Century's greatest advance in painting. Certainly there is evidence of a general reliance on the older standards. Perhaps the best works are those of Columbano, in the central gallery. Here too, and in the next room, are some realistic works of Malhoa that compel attention.

The International Room, gallery 108, contains all that the Exposition has of German work. On wall C are such splendid things as Leo Putz' "The Shore" and Heinrich von Zugel's "In the Rhine Meadows;" and on wall A is Franz Stuck's "Summer Night" - by no means one of this decorator's best works, though characteristically rich and deep-toned. But one feels the lack of those others who have lately lifted Germany back among the greatest nations artistically: von Uhde, Liebermann, von Gebhardt, Klinger, Erler, and von Hofmann. In the same way the young and virile English group is not represented, though in this room is a passable portrait by the great John Lavery. On wall D are two Spanish works of Lopez-Mezquita, that are worthy of attention but nothing of Zuloaga or Sorolla.

The Holland Section, occupying galleries 113-116, contains a display that is well balanced but without outstanding features. There are echoes of many departed glories, of Rembrandt, of Hals, and even of the French Barbizon men, and a few typical beautifully lighted Dutch interiors. But there is none of the work of the men whom the art magazines have taught us to consider the representative Dutch painters of today: Israels, the Maris brothers, and Mauve. The print room is likewise good rather than splendid, unless one excepts M. A. J. Bauer's fine Rembrandtian etchings. Charles van Wyck's small bronzes are notable among the sculptures.