The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 26, 1899, Page 20

NG Y Specia he gener: r yving public of New York, or at least that part of it which passe Broadway. near Madison is divided a certain picture in the window to th which b merit alone he painter is Frederic It is s a war picture: its of w any of the kground undergrowth, from road. Along this »me falling and | are a body of jeen fired upon ambuscaders, using | s, smokeless powder | a efr chief ad- loody eon- some s g face 1 by myste w d f a picture that some 1 ke to hang in their In some respects, the marked the great < ngin, the Russian I is wor exhib- is grewsome. It to contemplate not using their we hides them from vi They stand out clear and distinct in the wonderful tropical summer atmos phere. d dread are depicted on their faces as they meet these bullets, which come apparently from nowhere. It ie not the purpose of th to”eriti- Mr. Remington's pict merely ronicle its appearanc enty-five per cant of those W window daily stop and it. This would to indicat e pictorial side of | e war ngly to the pub- | ste. Indeed, the w ms to have a marked effect in stimulating Ameri- | artists ‘in the production of military | Spanish-Americ; r will | “The Arrest of the Spy.” At the outbreak of the war many fa- | mous artists went to Cuba. Among them e Lyell Remington, Zogbaum | Chapman, but by far the most fa- painter of war scenes, according to | critics, was disappointed by the | 1ortness of the conflict and was left at He is Gilbert Gaul, a distinguished National Academician. He was waiting for the fighting to begin around Havana | ving his busy'studio in this r ended with the Santiago cam- | palgn, he missed one of the great oppor- ies of his life. The public, however, | not feel this disappointment &s keen- | as Mr. Gaul does, as he has turned out | vas. arr, gince the beg! r a numberof | remark representing stirring scenes i on his mo; entitled “The Arrest | depicts a man stripped clothing, being searched | rs and of- th life and ranks | among the most meritorious of this great painter’s late canvases. | “] expected to go to Cuba,” Mr. Gaul explained to me, “but the war ended too | soon. 1 hawve, however, spent a large number of my years in making war stud- fes, and this conflict has given an added inspiration to my brush. My spy picture is one of my latest. I shall probably paint | other war pictures as I have been doing | for many years past, and 1 hope that the national feeling ‘of patriotism, now so | widespread, will stimulate the purchase | of this kind of painting. Heretofore, how- | ever, pictures of s, painted by American artists, attained the appreciation W eve they have deserved. They have pleased the public, but not the collectors and the dealers. A | man who has no collection may buy a important works of - the Spy It of most of his by a squad of war picture for his only painting, because | he likes it, but you find very few in our | large private collect] wil 1 do not believe | a single war painting in the Vanderbilt that you by an.A gal 1 find an ar «“The Wounded Soldier.” Among the most hopeful of American | as to the effect of the war upon | Johannes Gelert, the famous sculp- | tor of the Haymarket monument in.C! Mr. Gelert, who has recently moved art to this s e by atue of “Th Wounded Soldier,” which has alres won one gold medal and recently attrac sure of praise at the exhi- | ational Academy of De- T found the sculptor the other day | working upon a new war medal in his studio. “Do T think that the Spanish-American r has art? I should say that had most decidedly.” In my opinion it an inspiration such as art in this coun- has not had since the Civil War. In sculpture it will have a most beneficial {nfluence in the way of equestrian and | military statues. The public parks for a | cads to come will be decorated all ‘over | this country with the figures of the brave | men who gave up their lives for thelir na- | tion in the vear 1896.” | “IWhat feature appeals particularly to | you?" | Like the Greek. 1 w it 1 am giving only a sculptor’s idea, but I should say that it is the figure of the ‘American goldier. He is a different type from the soldier of any other nation in the world. He is something like the Greek, | e hartakes of the Goth and the Briton, | vet he differs from all three. To my mind he is the ideal soldier.” The sculptor looked across his studio to | this | American arms In a manner worthy of autiful marble and continued; “I had | 2 in view when I carved my “Wounded Soldier.” You notice that he Imost nude. This feature of the work | has ‘caused more comment, I suppose, an any other. I have received nearly 200 letters asking me why -he is not clothed. This is the story: You see that broken gun g on the ground at the soldier’s feet? That gun was broken upon | the soldier's head. He was left for dead | his comrades. During the period of ensibility produced by the shock of his wounds he was robbed of his clothing save his shirt by a band of marauders. When he came. to his senses he seized his shirt, drew it from his form and threw it across | his loins, where you see it in the statue, | and tore it into bandages which you see | him placing as best he can upon his arm. The strained condition of the muscles and the pose bring out posslbly better than nything else could the remarkable vigor and ruggedness of the figure.” Brancony’s Maine Monument. In & certain line of modeling, probably the best-known sculptor now in America is Leopold Brancony, a prize medalist of the Pe lon and the famous author of the bust of Pope Leo XIIL. Shortly after the destruction of the Maine, Sig. Bran- cony made a design for a monument to mark this national disaster. The signor also has decided views upon the question of the inspiring influence of the late war upon art. I believe,” he sald, “that the war is destined to mark a new epoch in art in this country. I have already produced a design for a Maine monument and have another In view of a Red Cross nurse. The feminine figure in this war appeals more strongly to me, perhaps, than that of the soldier. In mo other conflict have there been so many volunteers among women of family and wealth. The type of woman is unusual from a physicai, mental and spiritual standpoint. I have tried to bring the type out in the leading figure of the Maine monument, ‘the angel,’ but it can be even more forcibly expressed in that of the Red Cross nurse. There are great possibilities in the symbolic lessons of the feminine side of this struggle, and artists now in America more than the art- ists of any other nation understand the peculiar differences between the Ameri- can woman and the women of other lands. The war is sure, also, to bring out many military statues and innumerable fine busts and war medals. | “I certainly belfeve,” sald Mr. Carr to me the other day, *“that the war offers exceptional opportunities for great art work. I spent four months with the sol- diers In and near Santiago. My picture of the church at El Caney was the first one that 1 placed on exhibition, but I have material for many others. Iam now painting a large canvas illustrating the execution of the crew of the Virginfus. ] My El Caney picture has been criticized | for its fidelity to truth. It has been said that I was making a play to the galleries, but this is unjust. 1 painted war as it | {s—as I saw it—and If I had omitted some of the grewsome details 1 would have | been untrue to my profession.” | Views of the War in Art. | “If you want to find out the influence | last war will have upon art, you | must come to the dealers, and not to the artists,” sald one of the largest art men | to me. “We know the views of the artists | and the public as well, while the artist | can express only his own views. For my | part, I believe that the last war will have 2 marked influence upon art. I think that | we have painters who will find In this struggle an inspiration for some of the | greatest pictures that have been produced in the past twenty vears in America. The public is ripe for works of this'kind. This is evidenced by, the enormous sales of pic- tures of the navy, of the Maine, of Ha- | vana and of scenes in Cuba during the progress of hostilities. This demand has | Wworn off to a large degree, but I find that whenever we present to our customers a war picture of merit, whether it repre- sents a scene from the civil or any for- eign struggle, it attracts instant and widespread attention. “It is all g question.of the men. During | the Civil War we bad no very great paint Therefore there are no master- | pieces representing that conflict. But | now we have them, and I believe it will be a question of time only till some of our American painters produce work repre- nting this great achievement of the | preservation for all time.” | Still another phase of the effect of the | var upon art was described by a dealer | who traffics largely in decorative art. He | said that the military idea was permeat- | ing every branch of decorative art, so much so that other goods suffered great- ly. Plaques representing war scenes at | Santiago, Siboney and El Caney were In | demand; picture frames with designs in | different styles of arms had met with con- | derable popularity, and those bits of | atuary which form a part of cabinet furnishings - were- invariably selected to suit’ the idea of war. Some of the statu- | ettes made after the close of the civil war | ich had been useless and unsalable for years were now selling rapidly. espectally | deésigns of ““The Wounded Soldier,” *‘Let- ters I'rom Home,” and other famillar sub- jects. In engravings, particularly, he found a complete change in taste, the demand be- ing mainly for war subjects. ‘In this field the navy seemed to be the special favor- ite, every battle-ship and officer having been called for. | T diers' and Sailors’ Memorial Arch at the inain entrance to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and is attracting much atten- tion by reason of its artistic beauty. It is a colossal bronze group representing the triumph of American arms and the dignity of the nation. The figure standing in the quadriga (or w .« ® HE Quadriga of Frederick MacMon- nies. has_ been placed upon the Sol- | ing fact - THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1899. P s P ittt S + : Many Powerful New Pictures and Statues Based on the Con- { +* flict in Guba—Gilbert's « The Arrest of the Spy. % Lrss sttt tdt sttt bbb bbbttty BRONZE GROUP REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES ARMY. Designed by Frederick MacMonnies, and to Be Placed Upon the Soldiers’ and Sailors'’ Memorial Arch in Brooklyn, N. Y. four-horse Roman chariot) symbolizes Peace by noiuing a sword in its left hand instead of the right, and also represents | Victory by waving a large flag surmount- ed by a laurel wreath. On elther side heralds proclaim the approach of the chariot. On the front of ..e chariot is the American eagle with outstretched wings and the motto, The group is thirty-five feet to its high- est point, weighs twenty-five tons and the contract price was $50,000. Upon the pediments upon either side of the arch will be placed two bronze group also by MacMonnies, representing th United States army and navy. The army group has just been finished, and a photograph of it was received from Paris a short time ago by a relative of the sculptor. "This is reproduced else- where, and, it will be seen, is a beautiful plece of sculpture in relief. An interest- bout it is that the figure of the officer is a representation of MacMonnies himself, slightly idealized. BEvery one who knows the sculptor pronounces it a striking likeness. This group symbolizes the Genfus of | Patriotism urging American soldiers on to victory. yet completed, The navy group, which is not will” represent American sailors boarding a vessel at sea, urged on by another Genius of Patriotism. In or- der to secure a perfect representation of the proper naval weapons, Mr. Frank MacMonnies, a brother of the sculptor, obtained the loan from the Navy Depart- ment of pikes, cutlasses and pistols, which he forwarded to his brother in Paris. These two groups, when placed in posi- tion, will complete the memorial arch and its decorations. The two groups will cost $50,000 additional, and the completed arch and its adornments will represent a total cost of $206,000. It will, however, be an art work of which Brooklyn may well be proud, as it cannot be equaled in this country The other fine equestrian groups bronze by MacMonnies in are to face the | bicyelé path at the Coney Island gate to | Prospect Park. One of them has recently been placed on its pedestal. and the other will be put in position before very long. Each one represents a mounted youth en- deavoring to restrain two rearing. and plunging horses. The action of the groups is bold, spirited and realistic, and tHe workmanship is of the most finished char- acter. Frederick MacMonnies, the author of these notable works, was born in Brook- Iyn in 183, and evinced a natural talent for sculpture from his earliest childhood. At five years of age he stood by a kitchen table while his mother made bread, and modeled figures of men, women and ani- mals from the.dough. These were so natural that they soon attracted atten- tion. He seems to have ¢ome by his ge- nius by Inheritance, for, although his father was a plain Scotch business man, ‘E Pluribus Unum.” | | | | modeling. his mother was a descendant of Benja- min West, the famous painter. Wax was then given to the child and he modeled many figures in it. At the age of seven he made an equestrian flg- ure of Washington, which is still pre- served In his family and is quite a credi- table plece of work. When he was a few years older he would obtain a lump of clay from a brickyard near his home and model all kinds of figures from it. When he was 10 vears old he was taken to Bar- num’s circus, and as soon as he returned home he modeled an elephant in clay. As sdon as he left school his father put him to business, as he did his other sons, but Frederick was unable to retain a po- sition for any length of time. Instead of running errands he had a habit of lin- gering before art stores to gaze longingly upon the paintings and sculpture in the windows. i Finding that he could think of nothing else but sculpture, his father obtained a situation for him as a clay sifter in the studio of St. Gaudens, New York. It w understood that all the time he could from this duty he could devote to Here his father came to his a ance by Inventing a machine by which he could sift as much clay in one hour as formerly required a whole day. | By this means he had plenty of time for modeling, and at night he attended the dasses at the Academy of Design and the Art Students’ League. At 18 he made a bust of his father, which was an ex- cellent likeness. ¢ When he was 20' he took the first prize at the Academy of Design. His father | then agreed to send him to Paris, and he was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In his first vear there, when he was only 21, he was awarded the first prize by acclamation. The following year he received the same honor. His first important work was a statue of Young Pan, which has been much admired. This was followed by a statue of Diana. His largest commission after this Was his fa- mous fountain at the World’s Fair, In Chicago. This commission was refused by a number of prominent sculptors, as the contract required that the fountain should be. finished in eighteen months, and they claimed that the time was too short. MacMonnies submitted, his destgn, it was accépted and he took the commission. He worked night and day and nearly killed himself, but on the stipulated day his fountain was playing at_the head of the Court of Honor on the World's Fair grounds. He received $50,000 forythis, and it 18 understood spent that much'in mak- ing it. His statue of Mr. Stranahan. in Pros- pect Park, and his famous figure of Na- than Hale, in City Hall Park, were his next works. Then followed the Quad- riga, which he himself and all who have | words * fortune to lose his right eye when a child, and his left when somewhat older, by falling from a cherry tree upon a spike, which mutilated his nose and cheek. After the wound had healed he found that he could see through the | cavity of his nose not merely the day- | light, but the colors of the flowers around him. During the next five or six years he learned to distinguish ob- jects brought under his nose. M. E. beheld 1t consider his masterpiece, and one that will last for ages. Several authors at the end of the six- teenth and beginning of the seventeenth century mention a man who had lost both his eyes, but could see through his nos An account of him is given in the “‘Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus” of Joannis Zahn. It appears that he lived in the country and had the mis- STATES ) OFFICERS OF THE ANDMEN $QUABRONY ASIAYIC YNBER THE Obverse. Medal Commemorative of Admiral Dewey's Victory, to Be Presented From a photograph by A. B. Bogart. HE designs for the Dewey medal are at last ocmpleted. Daniel C. | nila Bay, May 1, 18%8,” 1s the figure of a | young sailor stripped to the waist who French, the sculptor, ha& done his | SitS upon a gun with the flag across his part well and turned over the de- |knees and one £oot resting upon a swing- slgns to the Tiffany Compdny of | TS 199P of rope. t o Y In this beautiful figure Mr. French has New York, who will cut the dies and|,qmiraply embodied the gentus of the epi- strike the medals in copper—163 in all. | gsode in its highest and purest aspect— Upon the obverse is a lifelike present- | the spirit of the fleet, such as one's im- ment of Commodore Dewey, with the fol- | agination may picture it on that memora- lowing inscription: “The gift of the peo- | ble’ morning, and also the spirit of the ple of the United States to the officers | country on ‘whose behalf it was going and men of the Aslatic Squadron under |into action. The chief character of the command of Commodore George Dewey.” | face is youth—the beauty, confidence and Upon tpe reverse, surrounded by the |pure intention of youth. 1In the pose of n memory of the victory of Ma- | the figure are alertness, fearless upright- Doutllot, a French physiologist, ex- plains the phenomenon by supposing that the membranes and particularly the retina at the base of the eye, were sound, and that an opening communi- cating with the nose permitted the light to reach the retina through the nose It is well known that if light enters a dark room by a narrow aperture it will form an image or picture on a screen there, and something of the kind happened in the case of the man Who saw with his nose.—Lippincotts. FEAST OF PURIM And What [t Means to the Jews HE Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it-should not fail, that they would keep these two days ac- cording to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year.—Es- ther ix:27. It is & long time since this writing was sot down In the sacred records of the Mosaic dispensation, yet with that won- derful fidelity to tradition which has ever characterized the race, the Jews have never falled to celebrate, by every kind of feasting and rejoicing, the annual feast of Purim. The event takes place annually on the 13th day of the month of ‘Adar, which carresponds to. our 234 ot February, and commemorates ane of the most remarkable escapes which the Jew- ish nation ever had from total destruc- tion. . It was in the vear of the wor];ll 3125‘; B.-C. 473, that Esther, the beautifu ish maiden, alded by the wily Mordec saved her race from the vengeance Haman. King Ahasuerusy whose moral: were not entirely above reproach. took a great fancy to Bsther, and her influence Was powerful enough not only to defeat the plans of Haman but to raise the Jews into & dominant position in the land of Persia.. Every one who has read his Blplo knows how Haman erected.a gallows fifty cubits g!gh. on which to hang Mordecal and his compatriots. If this measure- ment was correct, the gallows was as high as a large shi] 's mast, and it is dif- ficult to_see how Haman, with the lim- ited mechanical appliances of the day, ac- Complished this surprising feat. But there is no doubt about his having beéen heung up on his own_ scaffold, for the phrase, ‘“To hang as high as Haman, still survives as ad prn\]erh wherever the is known and read. B’}’!}lecre are several peculiarities abnutlthu feast of Purim which mark it as an event apart from all other Jewish celebrations 1t is_not a religious festival, like that of e Passover; it has no elaborate ritual or ceremonial about it. All that is re quired of the people is that they shall enjoy. themselves in every possible way, and see to it that all of thelr race. evef 1o the very poorest, are made happy Lo uree there is a religious service, -but Shat is only at the commencement of the or | o2 ival, and does not in any way inter- festivalin the merrymakers. The ortho- rocedure is more closely fol- P be than in America, As soofl | K the stars appear, that is after Suh: get, the congregation i8 redu synagogue, wher s {ge‘rhles r'cad.g.A peculidr feature about this e I Is that the rabbi does not read in oo ordinary, way. but intomes the yerses with dramatic effect. {J\q:‘;zlmisr%gbm: ctor he can brin o E00d e Ysteners as he recites this pa- Gox mode of lowed in Euro $hetle story of the nation's triumph over 5. Its op T emarkable feature about this Another ren gervice is that it is the only one at which on is taken up as a matter of :oucl?éle%c"}‘he Jews have a wholesome prec fodice against passing the plate atound B IRir synagogues, and mever do it eXoept I Some very special gause. But for somo reason, the ex;\lanani 'S¢ which is lost e ntiquity, it has corffe to be the custorm 10 S ass the plate round at Purim, and fof 10 nealthy to give liberally in aid of er_brethren. thelr pooTeT B e all ordinary notlons of religlous etiquette, the congregation is O owed to do some very peculiar things. W henever the name of the detested Ha- man is mentioned the worshipers stamp Heorously on the floor and exclaim in & 1oud voice, “‘Let his name be biotted out. Klso the rabbi, when reading these pas- sages, Tuns over them very rapidly, as {780 minimize their importance. - The hames of twelve sons of Haman, who Were hung with their father on the high gallows, are also treated with similar Signs of contempt, the congregation ex- claiming, “Blessed be the Israelites, A red bo Haman, blessed be Mordecal. Once this service is over the secular side | of the festival begins, and the people are i absolutely free to enjoy themselves with- Jout restraint. Masquerade balls, dinners, 2 Pheater parties, any form of fun and frolic, are all in order. It used to be the custom to perform. a kind. of miracle play | on this occasion, and the practice is still kept up in some remote parts, and in the | orphan asylums. -The whole dramatic story of Esther is performed by charac- ters dressed in female attire, and if the acting is good the play is bound to excite | the most thrilling interest. | "It 18 a moot question with the pundits | whether Christ did not himself observe | the feast of Purim, and it is also claimed | that, in the early days, the celebration was ‘identical with the feast of the Pass- | over. At any rate, the event has always | had 'a firm hold upon the minds of the people, and there is a proverb which say: “The temple may fall, but Purim never.' Reverse. to His Officers and Men. {ness and the unconscious grace and com. | posure of assured strength. The very | disposition of the flag 1s suggestive. ‘ Thé moment represented is not the one | of victory, but preparedness thereto.. The | flag is not a menace to the world, nor under- the pretext of its name is a policy | of aggrandizement foreshadowed. It is | safe in the keeping of young America, and when the cause is right it will be uplifted. Such seems to be the suggestion of this | beautiful figure. But its beauty, apart from its symbolism, is equally note- worthy. As a piece of decoration it is de. lightful.