Page:Harper's New Monthly Magazine - v109.djvu/862



INCE Irving Wiles first entered the art arena he has devoted himself to the portrayal of American womanhood, and as its recording knight has won honors and lasting renown. Whether it be a pictorial composition like "The Sonata," with which he won the Clarke Prize in 1889, or the widely known "Portrait of Miss Marlowe," or this latest example, while fixing the personality of the individual before him he also sets forth his impression of the dominant qualities of American womanhood as something attractive and lovable. He knows the type thoroughly, and in no case could his sitter be taken for a French or English woman. While distinctly American, she is representative of a class and expresses her race, as the portraits of Franz Hals or Titian or Reynolds expressed theirs.

Mr. Wiles has always been classed among the rebels against academic convention, but his unorthodoxy gives no offence. He sees women as they appear to other men, and presents his personal view free from eccentricity, and without a suggestion of that disillusionment of life which characterizes much modern art. While he shows fidelity to facts, he is not enslaved by that excessive detail which is a result of all-pervading photography. His portraits are a mixture of truth and style. His truth, while insistent, is never bald; one always feels his gracious intention toward his sitter. With preference for a light scheme of color, he shows no timidity; in fact, he brushes his canvas so facilely that his color always retains its vibrancy, but beneath this ardor and assurance of technique we feel his perception and appreciation of character.