MEMORIAL EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS By HENRY GOLDEN DEARTH, N. A. HENRY GOLDEN DEARTH, N. A. Catalogue of A Memorial Exhibition of Paintings 3y Henry Golden Dearth, N.A. January 4th to 30th 1919 GALLERIES OF E. GIMPEL & WILDENSTE1N 647 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK Acknowledgment Messrs. E. Gimpel & Wildenstein wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to the following institutions, organizations and per¬ sons who have generously contributed paintings as loans to the present Exhibition : Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair, Chicago, Ill. George Cary, Esq., Buffalo, N. Y. Mrs. Stephen C. Clark, New York City. Mrs. Henry Golden Dearth, New York City. Mrs. Michael Dreicer, New York City. George Eastman, Esq., Rochester, N. Y. The Folsom Galleries, New York City. General Edmund Hayes, Buffalo, N. Y. Walter James, New York City. Walter Jennings, Esq., New York City. Mrs. Chauncey Keep, Chicago, Ill. Louis A. Lehmaier, Esq., New York City. Mrs. Stephen Pell, New York City. Mrs. Frederick B. Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island, N. Y. George Dupont Pratt, Esq., Glen Cove, Long Island, N. Y. F. K. N. Rehn, Esq., New York City. Mitchell Samuels, Esq., New York City. Mrs. Robert M. Thompson, Washington, D. C. M. Parish-Watson, Esq., New York City. Joseph Brummer, Esq., New York City. Henry L. Lawrence, New York City. 2 Announcement MEMORIAL EXHIBITION 1919-1920 This collection was organized by Mrs. Henry Golden Dearth, and Cornelia B. Sage-Quinton, Director of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, who will have it in charge during the entire circuit, throughout all of the mu¬ seums. The Exhibition comprises approximately one hundred paintings in oil and includes all of Mr. Dearth’s most important works, representing him at his best in every phase and during every period of his art. The Exhibition will be shown at the following museums: Gimpel and Wildenstein Galleries, New York City. The Detroit Museum of Art, Detroit, Mich. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa. City Art Museum. St. Louis, Mo. Hackley Gallery of Art, Muskegon, Mich. The Butler Art Gallery, Youngstown, Ohio. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, Wis. Des Moines Association of Fine Arts, Des Moines, Iowa. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio. The Minneapolis Art Institute, Minneapolis, Minn. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Mass. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R. I. R. C. and N. M. Vose, Boston, Mass. 3 Appreciation BY RENE GIMPEL Paris L ’HOMME cree sa vie. Henry Golden Dearth fit la sienne belle parce qu’il possedait jusqu’a l’ultime le sens de la beaute et qu’il ne laissa jamais, fut-ce meme une seconde, son ame inoccupee. Alors, cette ame, pliee a se mouvoir dans un exercice perpetuel, avait acquis une sensibilite qui lui faisait percevoir une quantite innombrable d’ondes, inconnues a la multitude, capable a peine, de temps en temps, de ressentir une emotion plus souvent produite par une brutalite que par la sensibilite. Henry Golden Dearth, avec la luddite de son ame, receptacle continu de ce que nous appelons, nous, par ignorance, l’insais- issable, avait pergu que pour une humanite superieure l’ideal deviendrait un monde tangible, et lui qui nous dominait y vivait comme dans la realite. Mais comme ces sensations n’ont point encore atteint les foules, elles n’ont done point cree les mots pour les expliquer; et Henry Golden Dearth devint peintre, non par l’effet d’un simple don de naissance, mais pour trouver un moyen d’exprimer ce qu’il ne voulait pas qu’on appelat l’inexprimable. Devant ce vaste monde, il n’eut pas l’intention de nous en faire saisir tout l’incompris. Ce modeste, lui meme, etait loin d’avoir conscience de sa haute personnalite spirituelle et il chercha tout simplement a nous eduquer quelque peu. L’homme cree sa vie. Henry Golden Dearth fit la sienne belle parce qu’il possedait jusqu’a l’ultime le sens de la beaute. Pour ces joies pourtant beaucoup de peines, mais pour ces peines beaucoup de joies. La lumiere fut pour lui un plaisir incessant. En elle il sentait le mouvement du monde et sa transformation continuelle. Ce ne fut pas surtout devant sa toile qu’il l’etudiait, mais a chaque instant de sa vie, et e’est ainsi qu’elle lui permit de considerer la solitude comme un etat d’ame inexistant. Tandis que le monde pour sa jouissance a besoin, dans un temps plus rapide que la realite ne peut le donner, d’une succes¬ sion ininterrompue d’images, ce qui explique le succes du roman populaire et du cinematographe, Henry Golden Dearth se com- plaisait a fixer en silence toute chose que son regard atteignait, et sur l’immobilite apparente de la nature il regardait glisser le mouvement de la lumiere. Cet homme, avec l’immensite de sa vision et devant l’etroitesse des moyens—un pinceau, un chassis et de la couleur—, ne se targuant pas de dominer la nature, mais admettant d’etre, dirige par elle, comme tous les autres etres humains, ne pretendit pas pouvoir la rendre toute entiere, mais l’exprimer avec le de- veloppement progressif et continuel de sa vision vers la per- 4 fection, but qu’il avait la haute intelligence de savoir insaisissable, puisqu’il n’y a pas d’arret vers le mieux. Et des juges inavertis qui ne considereraient que la rapide temps ecoule entre la date de sa naissance et celle de sa mort pour definir ses differentes manieres, se tromperaient sur son art. Son art fut une divination effroyablement rapide mais con¬ tinue vers un monde futur plus parfait; et si sa famille, si ses amis qui le pleurent se lamentent sur la brievete de sa vie. 1’avenir qui le comprendra mieux que nous, puisque lui, l’artiste, s’en est rapproche, mais qui n’en sera pas moins etonne, aura besoin de savoir pour expliquer une progression qui represente par son evolution un travail de plusieurs existences humaines, que dans sa courte vie, Henry Golden Dearth ne laissa pas une seconde son ame inoccupee. II allait chaque jour rajeunissant son art, comme le monde par sa cohesion et son progres acquiert chaque jour plus de force, et done aussi plus de jeunesse. Lorsque sans abandonner le paysage ou tout est lumiere, il se tourna vers la figure humaine comme nouveau moyen d’ex- pression, il crea une figure que nous n’avons point vue et qui sera celle de l’etre futur dans une societe polie et de haute tenue artistique, intellectuelle et philosophique. L’autre grande joie de sa vie, et qui se rattache a son art, fut son amour pour les belles oeuvres du passe que son esprit regardait comme des creations gigantesques. Et quoique se croyant toujours plus petit que les artistes des anciens ages, l’intensite de sa perception intensifiait sa force, creatrice d’ideal. Jamais il n’a separe son observation de l’ancien de celle de la nature; il en fit toujours une seule et meme etude. Il disait. avec justesse, que le travail des hommes qui avaient cree les oeuvres qu’il aimait, n’etait que le resultat de leur interpretation individuelle de la nature. Son gout le porta surtout vers l’exquise sentimentalite des petites vierges humaines des epoques gothiques, des saints et de tous les personnages si vivants de ce grand peuple de pierre, qui se nicha mouvant aux porches des eglises. Et la ou d’autres ne voyaient que le sentiment divin, lui, l’artiste, frere spirituel des anciens tailleurs d’images discernait ce qu’ils avaient emprunte a tous les sentiments de la vie quoti- dienne, et de sa comprehension son plaisir jaillissait decuple. Mais pour ces joies beaucoup de peines. Les obus allemands qui s’acharnaient aux murs des cathedrales labouraient les parois de son coeur, et tandis que les flammes d’enfer de ses ennemis calcinaient les paradis legues par les aieux pour le developpement des races futures, son coeur mar- tele s’epuisait chaque jour, et le Civilise, precurseur d’un ideal humain, est tombe avant son heure, dans la bataille, au champ d’honneur, victime des Barbares. 5 Biographical Sketch H ENRY GOLDEN DEARTH, without doubt, was one of the most distinguished figures in American Art. He was a fine draughtsman and a colorist of the highest order. His art may be divided into three periods. The earliest dated from his return to America after his Paris student days, about 1890, during which time he won a deserved reputation as a poetic, refined tonal painter. Spending most of his time in France, he was naturally fond of the picturesque country and many of his subjects were found near Boulogne and Montreuil- sur-Mer, where the artist had his summer home. The second period of Mr. Dearth’s work began about 1912 when he revo¬ lutionized his palette and technique and began painting brilliant essays in broken color. His work of this date included figures— both portraits and genre subjects, but more numerous were the exquisite pools produced by him, which were principally painted in Brittany. Nothing could be more charming than the way in which Mr. Dearth reproduced these rock-closed pools right down to their bottom sands without worrying over the chances that the canvas might not at first tell the eye what was seen above and what below. Naturally, the change in Mr. Dearth’s style attracted much attention. The new canvases were highly colored ; the pigment thickly applied, and one was at once im¬ pressed by the decorative effect of the composition. The art world while surprised at this change in Mr. Dearth’s art, knew, however, that he had not forgotten anything of the long accumu¬ lated observation of nature which formerly was of such great value to him and that he had not become hardened to the influence of beauty in its most classic forms. It realized that as long as he relied on the truth in nature and held the art of the old masters in remembrance he would still be able to experiment as boldly as he wished, without losing his integral and hard earned aesthetic appeal. The last and most important of Mr. Dearth’s works are very beautiful and utterly unlike his other two styles. These paint¬ ings are carried to the highest degree of refinement and aestheticism. They are usually arrangements of still life, Gothic and Renaissance subjects painted often from the gems of Mr. Dearth’s own great collection. Sometimes a portrait or figure is seen against a background of early textiles or wood carvings. The final pictures by Mr. Dearth were oriental in feeling; im¬ portant Japanese screens, early Chinese paintings and stone carvings of the Wei period were used in still life arrangements or as backgrounds for some finely modeled figure. Henry Golden Dearth, N. A., New York, was born Bristol, R. I., 1864; pupil of l’Ecole des Beaux Arts and Aime Morot, Paris : Webb Prize, Society of American Artists, 1893; bronze medal, Exposition-Universelle, Paris, 1900; silver medal, Pan- American Exposition, Buffalo, N. Y., 1901; silver medal, Charles¬ ton Exposition, 1902. Member of the National Academy, New York. Represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Lotos Club, New York; Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; 6 the Detroit Museum of Art; the City Art Museum, St. Louis; the Art Institute of Chicago; The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo; the National Gallery of Art, Washington; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Dearth is also represented in the private collections of George A. Hearn, Esq.; Dr. Alexander C. Humphreys; John Harsen Rhoades, Esq.; William H. Bliss, Esq.; Henry C. Lawrence, Esq.; Mrs. Stephen Pell; Mitchell Samuels, Esq.; M. Parish-Watson, Esq.; Michael Dreicer, Esq.; Louis A. Lehmaier, Esq.; Mrs. Stephen C. Clark; Mrs. Walter James; Walter Jennings, Esq.; F. K. N. Rehn, Esq.; Henry L. Lawrence, Esq.; Joseph Brummer, Esq., New York City; Frederick B. Pratt, Esq.; George Dupont Pratt, Esq., Brooklyn; Mrs. Robert M. Thompson, Washington; Mrs. Chauncey Keep; Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair, Chicago; George Eastman, Esq., Rochester; George Cary, Esq.; Ogden P. Letchworth, Esq., Buffalo. CORNELIA B. SAGE-QUINTON, 7 <1 Catalogue of the Paintings 1. A XII CENTURY VIRGIN. Lent by Mrs. Robert M. Thompson. 2. A XV CENTURY GROUP. Lent by Mrs. Michael Dreicer. 3. JAN. Lent by Mrs. Frederick B. Pratt. 4. A MEDIEVAL SAINT. Lent by Mrs. Frederick B. Pratt. 5. THE BUTTERFLY ORCHID. Lent by George Dupont Pratt, Esq. 6. THE WORSHIP OF BUDDHA. Lent by Mrs. Stephen C. Clark. 7. NINA. Lent by Mrs. Stephen C. Clark. 8. THE OFFERING TO BUDDHA. Lent by M. Parish-Watson, Esq. 9. THE GREEN ROBE. Lent by Mitchell Samuels, Esq. 10. TACHIBANA (Queen’s Flower). Lent by Mrs. Chauncey Keep. 11. MADONNA. Lent by the Art Institute of Chicago 12. A DAGHESTAN PLATE (Sketch). Lent by Walter Jennings, Esq. 9 14. THE RHODIAN JAR. Lent by Dr. Walter B. James. 15. A PORTRAIT. Lent by Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair. 16. STILL LIFE. Lent by Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair. 17. THE PERSIAN PLATE. Lent by Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair. 18. MILDRED. Lent by Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair. 19. A JAPANESE PRINT. Lent by Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair. 20. MAN O’ WAR BROOK FALLS. Lent by Mrs. Chauncey J. Blair. 21. THE BLUE COAT. Lent by Mrs. Stephen Pell. 22. FISHING BOATS AT ETAPLES. Lent by Mrs. Stephen Pell. 23. THE PERSIAN BOOK. Lent by Mrs. Henry Golden Dearth. 24. GARDENIAS. Lent from the Permanent Collection of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery. 25. ST. MATIN. Lent by Henry L. Lawrence, Esq. 26. ANEMONES AND FUCHSIAS. Lent by Joseph Brummer, Esq. 27. FIRE LILIES. 28. THE QUARRY. 29. SOMES SOUND. 30. PARADISE POINT. 10 31. THE WATERFALL. 32. WATERFALL AT AUBAZINE. 33. THE CASCADE. 34. THE BLUE SEA. 35. LIFTING OF THE FOG. 36. THE RED COAT. 37. THE PERSIAN JAR. 38. THE DISTANT SEA. 39. BRITTANY CLIFFS. 40. LAST PICTURE (Unfinished). 41. THE BLUE GLASS BOTTLE. 42. RUTH. 43. THE BRONZE BUDDHA. 44. PANSIES AND BUTTERFLIES. 45. THE IMPERIAL DRAGON. 46. A DAUGHTER OF THE NORTH. 47. THE LADY OF THE IRIS. 48. THE BLACK HAT. 49. THE FAN. 50. CONCARNEAU HARBOR. 51. TUNNY FISH BOATS, CONCARNEAU. 52. THE LEGEND OF ST. HUBERT. 53. BEGONIAS. 54. OUR LADY. 11 MARINES 55. AFTER THE STORM. Lent by F. K. N. Rehn, Esq. 56. DRIFTING FOG. % 57. THE SURF AFTER STORM. 58. CRANBERRY ROCKS. 59. STORMY SEAS. 60. THE BREAKERS. 61. BAKERS ISLAND. 62. SUNLIT ROCKS. 63. STORM ON THE BRITTANY COAST. 64. THE GREY CLIFF. 65. ON THE BEACH OF KEREROU. 66. THE GREY SEA. POOLS 67. THE PLACENTIA POOL. 68. THE SHELTERED POOL. 69. THE SAILBOAT. 70. RUSTY ROCKS. 71. THE BLACK OPAL. 72. GRAY POOL. 73. GRAY POOL NO. 2. 74. THE LIMPET POOL. 75. THE CLEAR POOL. 76. THE SHALLOW POOL. 12 77. THE BUTTERFLY POOL. 78. THE STARFISH POOL. 79. A SHELTERED NOOK. 80. POOL OF THE BLUE ROCK. EARLY PAINTINGS 81. EMERALD NIGHT. Lent by The Folsom Galleries. 82. THE LAST LOAD. Lent by The Folsom Galleries. 83. SUMMER NIGHT. Lent by The Folsom Galleries. 84. A SILVER DAY. Lent by The Folsom Galleries. 85. THE MARKET AT SAMER. Lent by The Folsom Galleries. 86. THE OLD WINDMILL. Lent by Louis A. Lehmaier, Esq. 87. CHURCH AT ARBONNE. Lent by Louis A. Lehmaier, Esq. 88. PICARDY MARSHLANDS. Lent by George Eastman, Esq. 89. EVENING GLOW. Lent by George Cary, Esq. 90. ROAD AND CANAL. Lent from the Permanent Collection of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery. 91. THE INNER BASIN, BOULOGNE-SUR-MER. 92. LANDING THE FISH. 13 93. GOLDEN GLOW. 94. BRATTLEBRORO. 95. THE HUDSON. 96. THE TEMPLE OF LOVE. 97. TWILIGHT, BOULOGNE HARBOR. 14 6&~ 63! GU ; y V ♦I