The Boston Society of Water Color Painters is presenting pictures by contemporary and late 19th century artists which will be exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts until May 14. This collection, containing more than 400 separate pieces, is a sparkling example of the varied and divergent possibilities of the water-color medium. There are so many high-points of artistic value, so many outstanding examples of potential greatness, that it is neither just nor adequate to compress the exhibit within the rather arbitrary bounds of a brief review. However, one aspect of the collection which is surprisingly odd, yet quite pleasing is the fact that some of the better-known artists, Benson, Macknight, Homer, and even Sargent, lose the lustre of their fame when their paintings are compared with those of certain younger, more obscure men.

Lester Stevens' "Center of the Beach" is one of the most complete embodiments of decisive power and convincing color in the exhibit. His water, mountains, and buildings are handled in a manner which boldly but without exaggeration emphasizes the essential characteristics of each. Despite Stevens' clarity and firm solidity, his paintings seem very natural, in fact so natural that it is almost possible for you to feel your way into them. Nevertheless, he avoids the dangerous pitfall of travel-poster sensationalism which has in many cases been the Waterloo of other painters who have worked from the game point of view. Three paintings by Prescott Jones contain a delicate but virile just position of tones. Great technical facility can be readily seen in his "Indian Town," a fine example of the effect of the wants color medium when used in its proper sphere which is especially appropriate when an effect of many colored variations of light and dark is desired.

These men are not innovators. The sources of their methods and styles can be easily traced to the rapid-fire advances made during the 19th century. But they are of considerable value and should be highly praised because of the fresh and stimulating way in which they carry on a tradition, the beginnings of which are not far behind us. In the hands of the great majority of contemporary artists, the cubism of Cezanne, the effective grotesqueness of Van Gogh, and the myriad contributions of other men too numerous to mention, have taken on a prosaic and domestic dullness. A tradition, in order to thrive, must be continued in the spirit of its originators. Stevens and Jones, together with others whose paintings are on exhibit, are among those painting today who are suited to seize the baton from the hands of their predecessors and continue along the same track.