American art and American art collections; essays on artistic subjects (1889) (14783076405)

Identifier: americanartamer01mont (find matches)
Title: American art and American art collections; essays on artistic subjects
Year: 1889 (1880s)
Authors: Montgomery, Walter
Subjects: Art Artists Art
Publisher: Boston, E.W. Walker & co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries



Text Appearing Before Image:
e, — one,The Transfiguration, executed es-pecially for the Blodgett collection,and the other a commission directfrom Mr. Coale, a scene from VictorFrom the Original by A. de Neuville. Hugos Toilers of the Sea; the • drawn by h. Chase. original of the popular engraving of Ittenbachs Holy Family, a crayon drawing of wonderful delicacy and finish; and two pencildrawings by Klimsch as fine in texture as the most elaborate steel-plate engraving. In additionto these are scores of the greatest names of the French and Spanish Roman schools. Among the latest additions to Mr. Coales gallery I must not omit to mention a very strongand characteristic work by Gabriel Max, entitled the Christian Martyr. It is the head of acondemned girl, out of whose face has died all hope of human aid, but which is illumined bya radiant vision of the martyrs crown. Mr. Coale has also received a fine example by Constant.It is Messalina, the supreme type of the most corrupt period in the history of the race. She
Text Appearing After Image:
280 AMERICAN ART is descending a broad staircase, her form the perfection of sensual grace, and in her personcombining the beauty and ferocity of the leopard with such detestable qualities as only thehuman family is capable of developing. Of other good purchases there is furthermore to benoted Mersons Flight into Egypt, with the novel motive of the Virgin asleep between the forepaws of the Sphinx. This picture symbolizes the dawn of a new era. The philosophical pan-theism of Egypt is to give place to the new system to be promulgated by the wonderful childreposing in its mothers arms, in the shadow of that mysterious figure, representing the domi-nant idea of the age, — intellect and force. I have described merely a few of the leading pictures in Mr. Coales possession, and theseselected mainly from the schools which are at present most conspicuously before the public.But the collection is much broader in its composition, and contains very many good examplesalso of other schools, the