AHRnet-Other-find_article-ReView-

1 of

You are browsing the full text of the article: Dutch Applied Art

Click here to go back to the list of articles for Issue: Volume: 1 of Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 19

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART Exhibitions of the Societies: THE HOME, THE HOUSE and ARTS & CRAFTS

SINCE the Turin exhibition, we have become so well-known in foreign parts, that even the most phlegmatic Dutchman, who never used to trouble about the shape of his tables, chairs, and china, feels a kind of patriotic thrill, whenever foreigners are mentioning and praising our productions. Praise, well deserved praise from foreigners, is always sweet to the heart of Dutchmen, who have but a poor opinion of the work of their fellow countrymen, before it has been hallmarked abroad. But now, while the first glow of delight is past, and our ambition, for some time at least, satisfied, the time has come for sifting the visiting cards attached to the laurel wreaths, which were so abundantly thrown at our feet; and this process of sifting shows us, that some foreign, and particularly some German critics, who often broke out into bursts of patriotism, and wanted to gather the beloved Dutch brethren, as well as their art, into one spiritual embrace, saw little or no difference between the various shapes, in which Applied Art, revealed itself in Holland. All the visiting cards were of a size, and one wreath no bigger than the other. And this is not to he wondered at, when we know, that this is also the case with our painting. The larger part of the German public know the modern Dutch painters, in no other light, than as a fixed group — one happy family of spiritual brethren, where Maris and Apol, Israëls and Mesdag, Klinkenberg and Breitner are all sitting in a row. And though other countries may have shown a little more discrimination in their judgement, I have never yet met with a criticism, which made proper distinction between our exhibits. This however must never be allowed to influence our unbiassed opinion. For this, the exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Company, in the

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 20

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Footnotes:

¹Streets in Amsterdam where these exhibitions were held.

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

building of the Society for Promotiny Architecture, (Maatschappij tot Bevordering van Bouwkunst), The House (De Woniny) in Odeon, and the permanent exhibition in the rooms of The Home (Het Binnenhuis), offer us the most favourable opportunity. All three, The Home, Arts and Crafts, and The House, have been exhibiting single pieces, as well as sets of furniture; objects in metal, chiefly in iron, Britannia metal, copper and brass; also silk, cotton and woollen materials. The Home has sent in some Amstelhoek china. The Home is pretty stable in its tendencies; its programme remains unaltered: the making, in all purity and sincerity, of beautiful things, for daily use, with the avoidance of all superfluous ornament. By walking from the Rokin to the Singel, and from the Singel to the Marnix-Straat¹, we get a fairly good general idea, and arrive at conclusions, widely different from those of foreign art-critics. Generally speaking, one may say that the present exhibits satisfy all our demands, and that the usefulness and finish of the articles are on the increase. There is a great deal of solidity in the straight lines of the cupboards, wardrobes and chests, standing so firmly on their feet, and formed by the continuation of the corner posts. Those simple cupboard doors, with no more than the strictly necessary framework, show a great amount of earnestness and sincerity. The same may be said for the chairs and tables; their capacious squares of beautifully worked wood, standing so solidly on their legs, irreproachably pure in outline, and serviceable in their perfect dimensions and practicable upholstery. The craftsmen have begun with nothing but the strictly necessary, — the primitive construction of things; and by means of trying and experimenting again and again, upon some pieces of furniture, upon the chair for instance, they have arrived at a satisfactory result. The crapeauds by Jac. van den Bosch, and the lighter armchairs by Berlage, are really as comfortable as they make them. There is a kind of gradual development as it were of the Home chair, which would have led to even better results, if only one shape had been gradually perfected, instead of experimenting with entirely new designs, for which, no doubt we must blame a public constantly craving for novelties. More than any other, Applied Art depends on experience and tradition, and this always reminds me of the funny tale, Lichtwark once related in one of his chats, when, delighted as he had been with a most comfortable easy-chair in a house in Hamburg, he was told by the

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 21

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

JAN NAGELVOORT: Drawing room suite (The Home)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

family that Grandfather had discarded eight former shapes, before he had fixed on this particular piece of furniture. The greatest forethought is no good long as experience is wanting. I have heard people declare that the easiest chair has long ago been invented in England! One may save oneself trouble by simply copying it! Yes, but do not forget that the modern easy-chair sacrifices shape to comfort, has lost all shape in fact, and is nothing but a lumbering receptacle of leather, a compilation of cushions, round all kinds of wooden abominations. The combination of a wooden framework, with elastic cushions, which shall be comfortable as a seat, as well as pleasing to the eye, is rather a difficult problem, and I really think it is going to he solved in Holland. On the other hand, this kind of programme, when adhered to too closely, has sometimes led to mistaken notions. It has become difficult always to remain honest in their construction. I can imagine that the pegs, which were to hold the parts together, have been meant at first, for a very quaint and original kind of ornament. They were made in ebony, and those small black dots, when applied in the right place, had a very nice effect, logical as well as piquant, against the brighter colours of the wood. But a good principle is apt to get rusty, and may become a hobby. Whether these black dots, which in quite an obtrusive way, often drew the attention from the general outline of the thing, were always put into the place where they were really wanted, and whether they might not have been made from some less

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 22

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

JAC. VAN DEN BOSCH: Cupboard, (The Home)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

glaring material, is another question, tho’ I fancy that those who invented them, have already come to this conclusion themselves. Strict logic is often coupled with a kind of dry simplicity, which in its turn may degenerate into barren lack of imagination. Sometimes I have felt this, when looking at things of Berlage’s, Bosch’s or Nagelvoort's. I do not mean to say I want that exuberant imagination, which, abroad has often led to the most snobbish abuse of material, but that inexhaustible fund of invention, which generally leads to one logical result alter the other. I sometimes get tired of cupboards and chests of drawers, because there seems to he only one way of covering them on the top. As if it were written somewhere: “A cupboard is a thing between two corner posts which ought to form its legs, and covered as follows: — “a. With a horizontal plank, sticking out at the front, and at the sides”. “b. With a horizontal plank, fixed between the four corner posts, which ought to stick out on the top of it, in the shape of four ugly little stumps”. Both solutions are clear! Nothing is wanting. But in the long run these solutions are a little too primitive to my taste, and the cutting out of some ornament in the above mentioned stumps, does not even improve them. I do not find sufficiently expressed what I expect of the covering at the top of a piece of furniture: In a I miss the connexion, the gradual transition between the

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 23

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

JAC. VAN DEN BOSCH: Iron fire place

(The Home)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

frame of the cupboard and the top, that covers it, in 'b' the firmness, which can only he suggested by a line, standing out in hold relief. Like the pegs, the innumerable wedges driven into the spindle-tops of chairs and tables, are often not necessary for its construction, and not more than a kind of ornament. When loose, they often offer the same delight to their unhappy owner, as the queer little ornaments of old, in the shapes of balls, urns, and onions, which, on the top of chairs and cupboards, where nobody wanted them, used to come off, when least expected, and frighten everybody. Very pleasing and effective was Berlage’s design of a set of bedroom furniture. Suitable colouring, with small red stars in lacquer discreetly adorned, well supports the solidity of the powerful form, and the washstand, with its fresh marble slab, are notwithstanding the robust details, without heaviness. But I doubt whether the sharp corners and angles, which Berlage, the architect, also often gives to his furniture are pleasant to use. I will just mention in passing, with all due respect for Berlage’s taste and energy, the old question, whether houses and furniture ought to he built by one and the same man! In very novel and charming colour was the bedroom suite in ash, after Jan Nagelvoort’s design. The beautiful tone of the wood gives such a charming look of brightness to the room, that it must be quite a pleasure to go to bed and get up in it. The solid legs of the tables only are a trifle heavy, a gentle curve towards the bottom would have done them no harm in my eyes. The articles in metal: teapots, inkstands, lamps etc., since some very clever craftsmen have left The Home, have very nearly been exclusively designed by Berlage and Jac van den Bosch. The latter had already made some very good things of this kind. His sunshade lamp is

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 24

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

H. P. BERLAGE Nz.: Umbrella-stand (brass)

(The Home)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

sufficiently well known. This kind of work will do for every day use. The little hoods of the lamps, to prevent their smoking, that used to be fixed to the glass and difficult to clean, are now attached again by small hooks, as they were in olden times; they are excellent and wear again more of an every day look. The stoves and mantelpieces are also in better style. In the beginning,when they had first thrown off their glittering cloak of cast iron and nickel, they did look a little too much like iron pots, but during the last months, by a happy combination of brass, black and polished iron, van den Bosch has been putting together some very nice fireplaces and stoves, that look cosy, even when they are not lighted, a quality which our overloaded elaborate heating apparatuses had lost long ago. As a sample of a piece of work, entirely free from affectation, I will draw attention to an umbrella-stand, after Berlage’s design. A small brass clock, however attractive in outline, is too cumbrously clad in iron, for such a tiny, inoffensive looking thing. The pottery articles are becoming more varied, and show rapid signs of progress. Their enamel and glazing is richer and fuller, their ornamentation in better harmony with their general style. But every now and then, one would like to see a more daring touch, from some mightier talent. How we should enjoy the gift of one, who with a delicately pointed brush, could sketch some more naturally flowing ornaments on vases and dishes. For with all its admirable taste, and discreet accuracy, these things cannot hold a candle to our old Delft. These serious patterns, drily outlined as they are, seem really too harsh for china; they have a look as if they had been drawn by a vixenish pen, along an iron ruler. But let us be thankful that we have got so far, that we have outgrown the flowery patterns, that we are no longer obliged to buy our small household articles for daily use in cheap Bazaars. The

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 25

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

W. PENAAT: Buffet, (The House)

--

W. PENAAT: Buffet, detail, (The House)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

Amstelhoek potteries have given us a push in the right direction, and critics ought not to forget that ceramic art, unlike many others, does not entirely lie in the hands of its makers, but that it requires the experience of centuries, to arrive at the desired result. After a long period of inaction, which had broken off all our old traditions, we are only now beginning afresh, and ought not to marvel at the fact that a simple blue penny ginger-pot heats us hollow, both in colouring and glazing. The best of the Amstelhoek productions were the white things, whose slender pale orange and green ornaments, had a very distinguished effect in the mellow, cream-white ground. The Batiks, printed cottons, and other materials tell us nothing new, but the colours, in which Miss Leur has embroidered her silk cushion, in the open designs, which this kind of technique requires, are very remarkable, chiefly because they form such a striking contrast to all conventionally modern colour combinations. Nobody can say that the things we have been mentioning are a contrast to The House exhibition in the dimly lighted Odeon room. Evidently the workers for the “Home Sezession” as the new society has already been called in Germany, are the same as those who have helped to build up the reputation of The House. Their tendencies are the same, but,

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 26

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

nevertheless, there is a slight difference. My general impression was that Penaat and Moll show in their furniture more elegant proportions. In carefully studied finish of the whole and its details, they sometimes form a happy contrast to the massive work of The Home. As a very fair specimen, I beg to mention a small sideboard by Penaat, which solves in a rather satisfactory way, the above mentioned question of the closing of the top-part of the cupboard. This shape may he a little more expensive in its execution, but its construction is so simple that a once existing model might perhaps easily be copied by machinery. I also felt great interest in a set of mahogany chairs and tables; they pleased me better than those of the Home, because they answer better to the demands of modern life, which fights shy of anything lumbering and cumbrous. It is impossible to mention all the various exhibits, but I remember one particularly comfortable armchair, in oak, with seat in yellow gold brocade, and a high hack, though the latter with its grand-fatherly pretences, satisfied our aesthetic demands better than the equally just ones of our hacks. And in any case, I object to the chair hacks being covered by any kind of material. Will they not be a pretext for the reintroduction of that abomination of abominations, the antimacassar? unless some expedient might be discovered, for occasionally renewing that part of the chair, against which the contaminating hacks of our heads are rubbing. The House also has not quite abolished joining pegs and often uses them as simple ornaments. When in one and the same row, their number is alternately varied, we know that they are meant for a kind of marquetry in their placings. Particularly interesting is the collection of objects in metal, which Jan Eisenloeffel has been exhibiting; they are chiefly things of daily use: coffee and tea-sets, hot-water jugs, etc. but also a lovely small glass case, with, on white velvet, a delightful collection of various ornaments: clasps and buckles, necklaces, rings and bracelets, hairpins, and knobs for walking-sticks. The starting point here is the same as in the rest of his work, Severe simplicity: the lovely effects of the ground material, would with too much ornamentation, he spoilt. The beaten clasp in silver and gold, — the dull glow of the metal being only relieved by one single amethyst or topaz, and a little enamelling, have in their very solidity such a delightfully natural effect, and hold the end of a tight belt, or the slips of a heavy cape, so well together, that I had rather see a woman adorned with one of those, than with the wonderfully intricate bijoux of a Lalique.

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 27

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

JAN EISENLOEFFEL[JAN EISENLÖFFEL]: Jewelry, (The House)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

There is something barbaric in these gems, and it is easy to see where Eisenlöffel has made his studies, and how he has learnt more from the prehistorical spirales and twisted pins, and from the treasures of Mykene, than from the Gothic Syndicate chains, or the over-loaded brooches and clasps of the Austrian Rudolphine period. Nevertheless, he has avoided all imitation, and this first sample is very promising indeed. When we compare his work with that of foreign artists, for instance with that of Morave, who has tried to adapt Egyptian motives to the present needs of our modern beauties, we are

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 28

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Footnotes:

¹In Holland, where the cosy is a recent English innovation, we draw our tea over a little lamp, called a komfoortje (little comfort).

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

struck by his taste, so much more refined than theirs, which prevented his making his ornaments of such enormous size. For when should a Parure ever be allowed to outshine the general effect of the dress? And why look for motives among the decadent culture of the later Egyptians? Eisenloffel’s ideas are much purer than theirs, and a very Dutch horror of exaggeration and outward show has kept him here in the right path. But his enamelling is not always so good as when he was employed by the Hoeker firm, showing unevenness of surface; small bubbles, etc., tho’ the handle of a seal is ornamented in this way with regal colours, and flawless pate. Only a very discreet use has been made of precious stones, though now and then he might have reached a grander effect with the deeper glow of a ruby or the weird green lustre of an emerald, than with cornelian or turquoise. But this, after all, is nothing but a money question. Diamonds are avoided, and not missed. A ridiculous parvenu-fashon has adopted these, not for the sake of their beauty, but because they are expensive. The real beauty of the white stone is no longer known to us. The secret of these frozen drops of sunlight, is left with the Hindoo, who has no diamond industry. Cutting renders diamonds brilliant, but pasty and cold. The exhibits in cheaper metal are equally important, as important as those of the glass cases with jewels. In them also, we notice the old influences of The Home, for which Eisenlöffel has been working a good deal, but the shape here is even more characteristic. The spouts grow, in a still more natural way, from the wide bodies of water-kettles and teapots. The coffee-pot, quite a complicated piece of machinery, has a presentable shape, and the little stands, and teapot-lights: komfoortjes¹ have overcome their shakiness and keep their footing firmly for the first time. The articles in Britannia metal, whose hideousness was hitherto deemed unavoidable, the world was getting used to it, have advanced a step in the right direction; the kettle with stand in particular, is a treasure trove. In the matter of execution, these are not all equally perfect. One sees that The House is still in want of technically perfect workmen; this is a drawback easily to he remedied. But it is to he regretted that two companies, working in the same direction, aiming at the same results, should he divided, by reasons of a mercantile nature, in the future, and both of them will probably feel this division to

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 29

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

JAN EISSENLOEFFEL: Jewelry, (The House)

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

their own disadvantage. But I will not judge of a matter, which, after all, and in a wider sense, is nothing but the unavoidable result of a false economical system; any more than I am the man to foresee whether The House, with its very reasonable prices, will he capable of holding out, and beating down competition. The improvement in its machinery is to he seen too, by its regular contributors. There is a great deal of good in the batiked materials of the ladies Lebeau-Leverington, Ghr. Lebeau and Mesquita. Why, with taste and painstaking, should not something lovely he made, by means of some

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 30

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Footnotes:

¹ Garments worn in the Dutch East Indies

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

well-known system? and who would not like to have one of these pretty, tasteful things about one? But, on the other hand, the Batik home industry ought to he condemned, because it no longer fits in with the spirit of the period. One capable foreman in the dye-room of a large textile manufactory, would he of more material use to us. A clever designer of patterns, who would be a weaver at the same time, and who, by his influence and energy, could deliver us from a lot of hideousness, is eagerly looked for, but not found. I believe that Duco Crop, who died too young, had the best plans after all! Our present contempt for machinery is entirely wrong, and neither batiking, nor hand-looms, nor printing with tiny blocks, one fitting into the other, will ever succeed in giving hack to our textile industry, the qualities which in the nineteenth century it has lost: style, connection with the other forms, in which art and life have revealed themselves to us. That is the reason why in this sort of work, we can see nothing but a kind of pretty, and sometimes valuable, fancywork. A passing token of wealthy luxury, which occupies undoubtedly a high place, nevertheless, I for my part prefer an old sarong or slendang¹. When, with these thoughts in our mind, and the praises of the foreign press still buzzing in our ears, we enter the exhibition of Arts & Crafts, there is no help for it, we feel disappointed. How is it possible that almost all Europeans reviews, have described and reproduced these shallow, shambling things, side by side with the serious work of those other earnest “Seekers” which we have just been mentioning! Does this look anything but serious work? What do you think of this sofa with three semicircular looking glasses at the back of it? Are we the study to backs of our guests, heads in them? And what are we to think of this small brass clock, which looks like a modern-style cat’s head with a very long neck? Another larger kind of clock, in copper, has the shape of an oval box, placed sideways on two crossed legs, which are supported, in their turn by a flabby brass pudding in the act of collapsing. By what sea-monster has this lovely work of art been inspired, by a whale?. Ah: if I had not neglected my zoological studies! No; I want to he just, and have no reason for exaggeration, but this really cannot be excused. After a most careful examination, I have found nothing, except of course, the Batiks which made me hesitate. Often, though the shape was not new, the whole thing was stupidly arranged; for instance those kettles and teapots, with clumsy

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 31

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Captions:

Joh. Thorn Prikker: Batiked Bookbinding, (Arts & Crafts)

Footnotes:

¹Silver coin.

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

brass handles, and the hinge so near the lid, that one is bound to hurt and burn one’s fingers. Sometimes the shape of the things is new, but so queer and fantastic that one would sooner expect them in a waxwork-show, than in a drawing room. I have seen a brass chandelier, which reminded me of a pliable Elzevir globe. Other things are in the Van de Velde style, we might think so at first sight at least, but there is really only a very vague resemblance. Even the chairs and tables are no better; eccentric, bizarre, would-he artistic, unpractical in shape. One set of straight chairs and a table are adorned by an amount of ebony marquetry and unnecessary spikes and spindles, but such overloading does not exactly show the wholesome and sober conception, which according to a favourable notice written by Mr Netscher, characterises all the productions of Arts & Crafts. No, this work is neither wholesome nor chic, but too wooden and too stiff. A writing-table in semicircular shape, not exactly unpractical, but not original either, has been constructed in such a very clumsy and stupid way, out of so many planks and slips of wood, that it reminds us of our early efforts in the carpentering line, when our entire stock-in-trade consisted of cigar-boxes. While in a lady’s bureau, the well known flabby S-line is so conspicuous, that the best tempered critic could not discover anything whatever in it that is strikingly Dutch. I readily believe the statement, printed in large type, by the firm, in its circulars, that Dutch workmen, Dutch draughtsmen, and Dutch Rijksdaalders¹ have been employed by the Dutch firm in the works, but I utterly deny that its production has a specific Dutch character, Dutch severity and simplicity, all the characteristics of the race, are utterly wanting. Do not mistake my meaning, I am only judging of

Art: A Monthly Record of Ancient and Modern Art Volume 1 Issue: 1 April 1903 Page: 32

Dutch Applied Art By W. Vogelsang

Zoom:	100%	200%	Full Size
Brightness:
Contrast:
Saturation:

DUTCH APPLIED ART

what I have seen, and not of what they may have now got in their showrooms at the Hague A little less pretentious is the mantelpiece in copper and brass, when nailed one on to the other. I do not call this a happy combination, but why the rusty dirty stove is to show itself through the wide open iron grating is beyond me; a less expensive grate would have served the purpose better. If I am not mistaken, the whole undertaking is founded on an error. They have been trying to find a compromise between the style Van de Velde, and our Dutch tendencies towards quiet refinement, but they have not succeeded. Even the Batiks, for which Job. Thorn Prikker has done a great deal, and which in the choice of material and colour, often denote a refined mind and almost feminine taste, are loud in their ornamentation. Involuntarily one is reminded of that coachman who could outline the entire coat of arms of England with a lash of his whip in the air; the flowing lines of these patterns are no less complicated. But this will do. My object is not to find amusing similes, as I feel more annoyed than pleased, when reminded of the fact that the public, a large part of it at least, seem to be misled by all this; it does not tend to make one hopeful of the future. Undertakings like those of Arts & Crafts, with their dangerous influences are acting on a deluded and bewildered public, like a Remington, and undo all the good of a movement, like the one which was started by The House, and The Home, entirely owing to the influence of some clever and capable men. I could not tell however, whether their intentions were originally pure, but their powers of execution wanting; or whether the whole thing has been conducted from the first, simply from a commercial starting point, to please the degenerated taste of an overcredulous public, instead of serving the pure principles of art. I will however admit, that during former visits to the showrooms of Arts & Crafts at the Hague, I have been more favourably impressed by their work. At the present moment the three exhibitions demand a sharp distinction.