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'flff perhaps . of, the thousands who
: ' visit Boston everv ear conclude
' their pilgrimare without a tour of
' the galleries of : the Boston Museum,
henceforward all those pilgrims will be
privileged to gaze upon an unusual evi
dence of appreciation for an unusual move-
. 'ment in American art.
Hanging in the museum now, and
purchased only this summer, are three no
table paintings "Eleanor," by Frank W.
Benson; "The Guitar Player," by Joseph de
' Camp, and "A May Pastoral," by Mil
iar d L. Metcalf.
'H fMIEY - never had any othet name. From
the beginning. . they were,3merely "Ten
American Artists." Those ten men now
i -1, ft'
are: '
Frank W. Benson, born In Salem, Mans., In 1862,
" and pupil of the Museum of Flwe Arts. Boston, and
.the Julian Academy, . in Paris, and subsequently
. , 'instructor in drawing-and palntlnf In the museum.
William M. Chase" born in Indiana. 1849, studied,
' at r the National Academy of Design in New York,
and also. In Munich, -formerly president of the So
ciety of American-Artists.
Joseph de Camp, born In Cincinnati. 1858,' pupil
t the Jloyal 'Academy, at Municjv and, like Messrs.
Pension and Chase, .holding;, besides other medals,
the Temple-medal from -the Pennsylvania Academy
ef the Fine Arts. t -. j- ..;..
' Thomas AVilmer'Dewlnjr, bom In Boston, mem
ber of the National Academy of Ieslg-n, and re
cipient of numerous '"medals. '
Chllde Hassam, born ' In JJostoa, In 1S,"' mem
jer of several aocletlel and represented, In-' the-
Pennsylvania Academy-and ' many other permanent
: Wlllard L. Metcalf. born In Lowell,-Mass, 185S,
ftu1tl here arr,j abroad.' and holds various medals.
Inchidlrs; the Temple Gold Medal. -
ivoppr, neio. botb In Etockbridge, Masa, 18(2.
' HtHlied her and iaT rsjicerreDresented In manr -r
tt riMMM. collections, honored wfth medals, and
ML , A
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NOT 0I1LV IN ART EXHIBITIONS BUT IN AN ORCAIIIZATION
b a l' JvmiOUT IAVS OROFnCERS.
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Those three pictures, in visible and
beautiful form, mark discriminating Bos
ton's formal commendation of a move
ment unique in American painting. They
announce that, at the close of the tenth year
of their lonely yet happy hegira from the
tenting piece of former associations, the
Ten American Artists behold themselves,
cheerful and cheered, one of the most
unique organizations in existence an or
ganization that from pure love of art
hangs together without officers, constitution
or bylaws.
painter of mural decorations for a number of Ira-,
portant- pubHo bAiildlngs. Including: the Congres
sional Library. -
Edward Simmons.-born in Concord, Mass.. 1S52,
a pupil of Lefebvre and Boulanger, recipient of
numerous medals.'
Edmund C. Tarbell, born In Orotoh, Mass " 1862.
studied under Boulanger, Lefebvre and Donnat, In
Paris, instructor of painting at the Boston Mu
seum, frequently medaled and represented In many
permanent collections. '
3. Alden Weir, born at West Point, 18B2. honored
with many medals, and member of leading socle-
XlCel 0 sali,l8v 4
The ten of the list r Tntlia si;;.,.! vnr 5
score. Mr. Chase is the new member, admitted
after the death of John II. Twanhtrnon ; iqao 1
- -. rt hvu awau AvVsVa
nad left a vacancy. ,
The Society of American Artists. survJ-nno. .
aew only m form, had a rery large-membership
a generation ago so large that il included many x
conflietmg elements, whose conceptions of beau-
tyasanend, or as no end tat all. and nf rr k 1
taeani .to whatever ends they spughV had aU th. -
t J- j
Elements of dlSeord.
oi oi. aisoerd. ..
In the eprimr of '898 ''. W of It. w;!
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members, then including John TwachtmanJ re-
signed. They felt sure they could work in com
plete harmony among themselves, ' without any
more onerous organization than an annual, 'din
ner, and that their year's work, assembled in any -exhibition
they might arrange, would command
all the public attention requisite for practical
purposes.
This year, more, ambitiously, they held ftheir -exhibition
in the Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts, scrupulously stipulating that "Sailing
in the Mist," a canvas by the dead comrade,
Twachtman, be accorded an honorable placej'for
old Tsake's sake, There, among -the others,-the
three pictures were shown which have been ac
quired by the Boston institution. Two,? by
Messrs. de Camp and 3enson, are reproduced to
day, with another by Mr. Tarbell, which adapts
itself readily to illustration where Mr.- Met
calf 's "May Pastoral," by its nature, could, hot
receive justice. The photographic reproductions
were made by Haeseler, of Philadelphia, .who
does this work for them. ' - .
The Ten stand for a very distinct thing in
American arte although students of their Work
might declare, on the one hand, that they are
distinct exponents of impression and, on 'the
other, that they are as distinctly identified with
realism. i . -' r
Perhaps the fairest criticsuch a critio he
-wou4 J3 .ho was iinjajelf the capable aftist
would decide that they stand for th thine" whirh
,4 . -- CD .
w the i quintesspnee- of the modem-movement
PamtinS- Their effort is always to present
. jfSr Bl- t thl1-,-14 - -'
1 sense, Mther than in the scientifia
' . , XtenV impressionism
J-be movement they embody is esthetic father'
lflanS ii.
-ri xw , "-"t--- cienunc, so lar as.tnS
aJ Bly5s of color is concerned.- The ;Tea
i-iU It -J1- ' V .i'B ' - 111
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the United States, tain rallv digested the les
v'on of the French impressionists.
They are not the only Americans who hate
done', that, although the number is limited. There
. are, besides, -Howard Cushing, Ernest Lawson
and Hugh Breckenridge, theatter so known'for
portraiture t that few would lass him at all as a
follower of the impressionist school. But when
Breckenridge paints ny canvas of which the
prime object is the attainment of abstract beau
ty, he concerns himself almost exclusijely with
j his color problem. .: ::::-il:-'J',-"-. : : '., '
Painters -have eternally souKht to translate -
r nature into terms, of pigment with as little loss
' of the real color value of things as was me
chanically possible. Monet, leader of the school ?
which evolved the. Use of pure color to produce
. half-tones, conceived .the theory that a truer re
sult might be produced by the use of primary
colors in juxtaposition than by the attempt to
blend.-the primary colors on the pajette.
lie" relied upon the spectator's eye, ' View
ing the canvas at the proper distance, 'for th
blending of the juxtaposed . primary colors into
the hues they had originally assumed -in nature.
Impressionism has become-now hit study of
atmospheric conditions, either ' iri or out of
doors, presented with purity of color as the
prima'ry purpose. The individuals . among the
Ten.t understanding, thoroughly the theory of
Monet, have learneTto utilize the means which
he used whenever they deem it necessary; but,"'
the t.hoory not having originated with them, none
among the group has been tied hand and foot to
its persistent exposition.- ' , vi .
They set the attainment of reaf beauty as
their necessary goal. If;, to attain it. the im
pressionistic method afforded the most direct
means, they employed the impressionistic
method; if it didn't, they let it-ealmly alone. If;
a little of h would go a long way, for the par
ticular task they had in hand, a little waswhat
they indulged in; 'and if any modification of the
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IX:
faith that was in Monet seemed suitable, they
modified unhesitatingly! .
So it tias come to pass that, after ten years,
they can give a joint exhibition to which many
will come to admire and plenty will come to buy.
And such-prized "permanent collections" as that
of the Boston Museum are prone to dip into
their exhibitions and lift out a few of the can
vases for preservation down to the distant gen
erations. Ziyi? ftrrAmZr
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