Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1930, Page 89

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. & TAPKNT"247 1930. More Character in Womanly B Harrison Fisher, famed illustrator, who started the “girl-on-the-magazine-cover” idea. BY ARRETTA L. WATTS. ITH the acquiring of new and more varied interests on the part of women there has evolved a new and distinctive style in : feminine beauty—one that is the result not only of women's more active and healthful living but also of their thinking and accomplishments in many fields, according to no less an authority than Harrison Fisher, who has drawn, sketched, posed and painted more lovely ladies during the last 25 years than any other man on the face of the globe. This famed painter and illustrator of beauti- ful women, who with bold, vigorous and appeal= ing strokes of pen and brush has been recording joveliness of face and form for almost three decades and who was th: first to pose them in “close-up”—the head and face alone—has gained some very definite ideas as to what really constitutes feminine beauty. During this time thousands of women have posed for him. He has long since lost count. But from all sec- tions and lands they have come and from all stations of life—rich and poor, high and low, women famous and women unknown, but always women beautiful. . “Ves, fashions in women do change, and a 1912 model, with its pompadour and ears, ain't what she used to be,” chuckled this genial and colorful artist as hz turned from an unfinished portrait on an easel in his magnificently fur- nished studio apartment overlooking Central ‘Park, New York City, and handed the writer an old scrapbook of some of his ladies of yes- ‘terday. THIS big, upstanding, athletic-looking wielder of the pen and brush continued with his .comparisons of the satin-clad, lace-swathed, diamond-tiaraed beauties of yesterday with the ‘happy, buoyant, out-of-doors girls of today. “It makes no difference,” said Mr. Fisher, “whether she be blonde or brunette or whether her zest and buoyancy be the result of golf, tennis, basket ball, skating, swimming, riding, walking or all. The big requirement is that her face radiate health. - Her dress may be very simnje, but her eyes must be bright and spark- lir-. *“¥omen are rapidly developing stronger characters, Note the marked change in the contour of the face., It is far more distinct than it used to be. The face of the girl of .esteraay was a succession of ripples and curves and dimples. We were not sure of where it b:gan and where it ended. It was not strongly marked, but soft, nebulous and indeterminate as the Milky Way. The face of the girl of tccéay is an uncompromising frame with less flesh and more firmness, no dimples, but many noble lines. It is more of the square face, cer- tainly not the top or oval shape. “In piace of the retreating forehead that meiricd the delicate feminine typs of yesterday we have today the forehead that is straight and clifflike above the eyebrows. And instead of the= little dimpled chin, formerly considered bezautiful, has come the chin strong, dfiant and pro.ruding. “he nose, too, has changed. It is shorter than the beak we used to look for in a beautiful face. It is shorter and stronger and with no resemblance to the long, repellant nose which some profess to like. “Big pop eyes, of course, are out of fashion. Instead eyes are deeper set and look smaller, but refizct more intelligence. They no longer stare you out of countenance. In fact, today we seldom see the big calf eyes that used to look at us out of weak faces—eyes that looked like heavy bluz imitation china and meant as little.” ‘BUT the greatest and most apparent change in feminine beauty, according to Mr. Fisher, is the mouth, which he says is lovelier today than ever before. He is glad that the small mouth of yesterday has given way to one of firmer lines. ”. “Since women have growf more reasonable and less willful,” said the artist, smiling, “the pouting mouth has gone. The Cupid’s bow that has been admired for thousands of years is still with us, but its lines, too, are much firmer. ‘The mouth cf today seems better proportioned New Expression, New Figure, More Intel- ligence and Less of the Old-Time Doll- Face, Insipid Style of Beauty in Women Today, Says Harrison I isher, Noted Artist, Who Has Been Painting Pulchritude for Three Decades. Miss Catherine Clement, an American girl of French and Irish parentage, - became famous as the “Harrison Fisher Girl” some 20 years ago, and since * that time has been the inspiration of many of this artist’s drawings. to the face, especially to the eyes and nose. It seems to belong to the face instead of just having been thrown in.” As to ears, which, along with hair, may be considered as decorations of the face, Mr. * Fisher notes they are finer than they used to be and are set back firmer against the head. While of no particular size, they accord with the shape of the head and character of the face. If not, modern women are wise enough to dress their hair to hide them. “Another striking difference between the girl of today and yesterday,” said Mr. Fisher, “is in the neck. Something has gone from the neck of the past—the neck that had the effect of a huge muscle from the ear and extending down along the shoulder to the arm. That muscle seems to have been cut straight off, leaving the shoulders straight or nearly square and im- mensely more attractive. Perhaps athletics has done it; at any rate, it is a decided improve- ment. “This newer fashion in beauty has extended tc the hands, which today have far more character than formerly. Today we like hands that are capable rather than just soft. We have learned that tapering fingers are not always a true sign of the artistic. Just as often they are signs of incompetency. We are now seeing beauty in blunter fingers. Hands, like faces, are growing less fat and more firm. © “Of course, spreading hips and other mon- strosities that we usedigy -<msider in the sum total of feminine beauty nhe«ve gone. The fem- inine figure still has® softness of outline and looks well covered with flesh, but it has lost its appearance of non-resistance and billowy- ness. There is the impression of less softness and more strength.” As to height and its rélation to, beauty, Mr. Fisher says he has always drawn his women tall because the public likes them so. Per- sonally, he prefers them not more than 5 feet 5 inches. That, however, he insists, is a per- sonal matter. The thing that does matter, he declares, is that the figure express vitality and radiate health. In no detail is character more emphatically registered than in the smile, according to Mr. Fisher, who rejoices that the smile that ap- peared as a gash in the face is gone. The smile, he says, has become a fine art in ex- pression. Lips frame themselves more pret- tily over the teeth than they once did. Smiles, he is convinced, are less studied. Also, there are fewer tightly drawn mouths, which he at- tributes to the fact that women are thinking more deeply and have become less obstinate. “As to coloring,” continued this authority on feminine beauty, “there is still the same de- lightful variety. Some are very decided in their taste for blondes, while others can see only brunettes. Personally, I don't care. I think the mixed types are beautiful—the Irish type, for example, with dark hair and blue or gray eyes, or the French blonde, with light hair and dark eyes. Chbloring has always seemed less important to me. The chief beauty of the face is in its proportions.” It was this Irish type, as exemplified by Miss Catherine Clement, an American girl of French and Irish parents, who posed some 20 years ago for the famous ‘‘Harrison Fisher Girl,” which circled the globe, causing thousands of girls the world over to attempt to fashion their beauty accordingly. Miss Clement has continued as the chief in- spiration for the majority of the Harrison Fisher drawings through the years since. With an almost perfect head, sitting well on her shoulders, classic and serene features and at the same time vivacious and suited for poses of action and merriment, she has posed for more of Mr. Fisher's drawings than any other person, and he considers her among the first of the world’s most beautiful women. “Of course,” said Mr. Fisher, as he thought- fully looked at the unfinished portrait on the easel, “it takes something more than mere physical charm to make ideal beauty. The old saying that beauty is only skin deep is trud. A woman is only as beautiful as her expres- sion, and she can make that. For example, take the woman who holds her head high and stretches her neck. One gets immediately the feeling of mettlesome vivaciousness. The head that droops in & pensive mood expresses & con- templative nature. Tt is more likely to be the One of Harrison Fisher’s typical heads. pose of the thinker, the poet, the philosopher. The head “With chin seeking thé hollow of the neck is a quiet, gentle posture, suggesting a thoughtful nature, while the head with chin jutting straight out, neither drooping nor up- turned, suggests a nature simple, natural and direct. 3 “There are no fixed rules for beauty. It may all be summed up in the word ‘harmony.’ You can't measure it by tape measure or the ruler. If the face gives the impression of bal- ance, of harmony, it should be attractive, but if one feature is out of harmony it spoils the balance and therefore misses beauty. The same is true of the figure. It may be thin or plump; tall or short. It matters not so much what the plan of the building, provided it has correct proportions. I like a face that is firm and strong as well as beautiful—a girl with a brain and heart. An expression of latent energy to meet any demand is the great charm of tlie American face. It is a mixture of swesiness and power, femininity and intelligence. Giye me the girl with her head up and shoulders squared: < “Furthermore, beauty is not a cornered quality found only here and there. It is found wherever the eye searches and is as apt to be found be- hind the ribbon counter or on the crowded street car as set off in jewels on a ball room floor. I have found it on the crowded trams of London, in a Parisian flower stall, on an Oak- land street corner and in New York's jostling throngs. = “Of course, every woman sees in beauty a glorified picture of herself. It is the natural desire of every woman to want to be beautiful. It is her birthright. And in the proportion to which she surrounds herself with beauty and thinks loveliness she will bring these things into her experience. Beautiful thoughts are worth more in the attainment of good looks than a whole trunkful of cosmetics. Like the Blue Bird in Maeterlinck’s great drama, beauty is at home. It is in the heart of every woman, but the secret is so simple that it often goes unnoticed.” ARRISON FISHER came by his love of beauty honestly, for his father and gnmd; father were artists before him. He was born in Brooklyn, which was named for his great- great-grandfather, Van Brucklin. As a child be was so frail that a change of climate was advised. So, when he was only 6 years old, his father took him with the rest of the family tg California, settling in Alameda, where his boy- hood days were spent. San Francisco in the eighties made a vivid and lasting impression on the boyish mind of the future illustrator, for it was, indeed. picturesque. Notable vigilantes were pointed out on the streets. Men wore broad-brimmed hats and tucked their trousers into their boot tops. Things were bought with gold dust and gold nuggets. Miners came through the streets driving burros. Gambling houses were wide open. In the open air young Fisher grew up well and strong and at the age of 18, with consid- erable knowledge of art gained in study under_ his father, he got his first job as a newspaper artist on a San Francisco newspaper. He was given the task of drawing murder scenes (there were many in San Francisco in those days), fires, prize fights and all the hectic affairs that lent themselves to picturizaticn. Suicides, too, were in vogue and the future portrayer of pretty girls had to visit the morgue every day and draw pictures of those who had destroyed themselves by pistol, poison or drowning: Young Fisher grew tired of this job and longed for something of more beauty. So he set out for New York and got a job as artist on one of the New York newspapers. PRE'I'I'Y girls were at that time just coming in vogue for magazine covers. One day, in’ the studio of A. B. Wenrel, the young artist had his first opportunity to sketch a real, live, pretty girl model. Wenzel congratulated him and advised him to stick to it and he’s been at it ever since. Young Fisher was so encouraged by the re- marks of the older artist that in a few days he took a few sketches around to W. C. (Pop) Gibson, then art editor of Puck. With a merry. maliciousness ihe old gentleman asked: “From whom did you copy these?” He knew, however, that they were original and bought two. The next week he bought two more and neon was buying all he could get.’