THE FREER COLLECTION OF ART 
367 
tist; circular bronze mirrors, decorated 
in low-relief, and lacquered inros, in¬ 
teresting in design. 
From these we pass to a consideration 
of the works of the modern Americans, 
—-Tryon, Dewing and Thayer,—per¬ 
haps with some abruptness, but not with¬ 
out continuity and reason. They, too, 
accommodate themselves to the general 
scheme, and though last chronologically, 
looking to the future, are of most sig¬ 
nificant importance. It is they, in fact, 
which, according to the present arrange¬ 
ment, are first met upon crossing Mr. 
Freer’s threshold ; they which are made 
a fixed portion of his home. This home, 
designed by Mr. Wilson Eyre, is ex¬ 
tremely simple and unpretentious, but in 
its spirit and treatment may be taken as 
a prototype of the collection’s future 
abode—a prototype inasmuch as the 
thought of harmony has found in it ade¬ 
quate expression, and each and every 
work has been provided with a congenial 
environment. Thus, to Mr. Tryon was 
entrusted the decoration of the hall in 
which his paintings are displayed, and 
to Mr. Dewing that of the reception- 
room in which his are found. 
There are nineteen oils, two water 
colors, and nine pastels, by Mr. 
Tryon, in this collection, or one 
picture, and sometimes two or three, 
for every year from 1887 to 1906. 
In this way the development of the artist, 
as well as his present strength, is mani¬ 
fested while his individuality and temper¬ 
amental qualities are made patent as they 
could be in no other way. Four moder¬ 
ate-sized canvases representing the sea¬ 
sons, giving them unique and subtle in¬ 
terpretation, were painted by Mr. Tryon 
especially as mural decorations for Mr. 
Freer’s hall, and to them have now been 
added two of his most notable marines, 
“Night” and “Morning.” One of the 
pictures which went far toward establish¬ 
ing Mr. Tryon’s enviable reputation, 
both in this country and abroad, is here, 
with several that have been given honor¬ 
able place in well-remembered public 
exhibitions, besides a number which have 
passed directly from the painter’s studio 
to their present home. Mr. Tryon, like 
the Japanese, has learned nature by heart, 
and has typified it. He has rendered 
transient effects with consummate skill; 
he has reproduced most perfectly the il¬ 
lusion of subdued light and atmosphere; 
he has reduced his compositions to suc¬ 
cessive planes; and he has been at the 
same time both virile and poetic. 
So, too, Mr. Dewing lias painted not 
merely well, but beautifully. His sub¬ 
jects are not always lovely in themselves, 
but are made so by the exquisite refine¬ 
ment of the artist’s interpretation. Wit¬ 
ness, for example, the “Lute-Player,” 
loaned by Mr. Freer to the Society of 
American Artists’ last exhibition; “The 
Piano,” “The Blue Dress,” or “The Car¬ 
nation,” seen in previous picture-shows 
and still pleasantly familiar. These, 
and probably a dozen more works by 
Mr. Dewing, are included in the Freer 
collection. They are distinctive and 
distinguished, and they help to prove 
that impressionism does not mean trick¬ 
ery nor require inevitably the elimination 
of detail. Over the mantel in Mr. 
Freer’s reception room, painted expressly 
for that place, is a lunette, picturing Mr. 
Dewing’s daughter when a small lass 
standing with her two pet cats clasped 
affectionately in her arms, while nearby, 
among the most recent acquisitions, is a 
portrait of the same little lady, painted 
likewise by her father, in which she is 
seen to have grown into thoughtful, gra¬ 
cious womanhood. 
Portraits of Mr. Thayer’s three chil¬ 
dren are also numbered in the catalogue 
of this collection—canvases which, aside 
from personal interest, are of special 
value. His “Virgin,” moreover, is here, 
the first and possibly the best of His most 
successful series—a beautiful conception 
(the motherly elder sister leading her 
little charges out confidently into the 
great, unknown world) set forth with fer¬ 
vor and unfaltering strength. Less fa¬ 
miliar, but scarcely less engaging, are 
Mr. '1 Layer’s landscapes; his “Monad- 
nock in Winter,” his “Sketch of Cornish 
Headlands,” and his “Capri,” all faith¬ 
ful reproductions of the scenes, but 
frankly decorative, and delightfully color¬ 
ful. 
On account of their peculiar appropri¬ 
ateness, a word should be said of the 
frames in which these pictures are set 
forth. Those on Whistler’s paintings 
were of the artist’s own choosing, and the 
majority of the others were designed by 
