from etchings and engravings.
Altschweizensche Baukunst. Neue Folge. Von
Dr. Roland Anheisser. (Berne: A. Francke.)
Mks. 28. — In his first series of drawings illustrating
the picturesque old architecture of Switzerland, pub-
lished some three or four years ago. Dr. Anheisser
gave prominence to the old Bernese type as being the
most specifically Swiss among the various types
of building to be met with in this country of
ethnological diversity. In this new series, con-
sisting of a hundred plates, further examples are
given of the same type, but numerous illustrations
are also given of other types which have less claim
to be considered indigenous, such as the Rhaetian
on the Austrian border, the Burgundian in the
west, and the Italian in the Rhone Valley. Besides
having an extensive knowledge of the subject,
the author possesses marked talent as a draughts-
man, his drawings (all executed with the pen)
having a distinctly pictorial quality, at the same
time that they are sufficiently precise to be
of service to the student of architecture, to
whom also the numerous drawings of details
will prove useful. Ample information concern-
ing the buildings illustrated is given in the letter-
press.
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Reviews and Notices
The French Pastellists of the Eighteenth Century.
By Haldane MacFall. Edited by T. Leman
Hare. (London: Macmillan.) 42J. net — It is
significant that the dainty ephemeral craft of pastel
should have been introduced into France at a time
when the whole country was seething with unrest,
and those whose grace and beauty were to be
immortalised by it were aiding in bringing about
the upheaval that was to bring ruin to the monarchy
and the old noblesse, " Pastels," says Mr. MacFall
— " the very word raises the rustle of silk and satin
and brocade from the dead past . . . and to under-
stand the significance of pastels and of those that
wrought in them to such consummate purpose, we
must know the significance of France in the age
that employed it." He therefore begins his
review of the masterpieces produced by La Tour,
Perronneau, Chardin, and their less celebrated
contemporaries, with a brief but able essay on
France as it was when Louis Quatorze passed
away, describing particularly the environment in
which the great pastellists first saw the light.
He then traces the fortunes of each, repro-
ducing in colour more than fifty examples of
their work, and devoting, as is but fitting, the
greater portion of his space to Quentin La Tour,
greatest of all French pastellists. Chardin, too,
though he but rarely used pastel, is considered at
length, and his exceptional position recognised as
the one artist who, in an age devoted to frivolity
and superficiality, upheld the simple truths of
every day. Incidentally Mr. MacFall brings out
the personalities of those who sat to the pastellists,
noting some saving grace in the most depraved,
some touch of weakness in the most cynical, and
lighting up his narrative with many a characteristic
anecdote.
London, By Alvin Langdon Coburn. Intro-
duction by HiLAiRE Belloc, M.P. (London :
Duckworth & Co.) 255. net.— Is photography
worthy to be ranked among the arts ? The question
has been raised a thousand times during the past
few years and has been answered now with an
emphatic Yes, and just as often with an equally
decided No. For our own part we should answer
with both Yes and No. We should certainly deny
the appellation of art to a very large proportion of
the pictures produced by the camera, just as we
should to a great many that are produced by the
brush and pencil. But if it be true that art is
"nature seen through a temperament," then it
becomes not so much a question of the means or
the instrument employed as the mind which
controls the means or the instrument. Ji such a
contention holds good, then there can be no
question that the impressions of London which
Mr. Coburn has recorded with his camera and
reproduced in the photogravure plates of this
volume are entitled to be ranked as art. Mr.
Coburn has given us in all 20 plates (printed from
plates produced by himself in his studio) which,
collectively are a revelation as to the possi-
bilities of the camera when controlled by an
artistic mind. Each print is mounted on a stiff"
grey paper which sets it off to advantage.
In the Canaries with a Camera, By Margaret
D'EsTE. With Photographs by Mrs. R. M. King.
(London : Methuen.) yx. 6^. net. — Formerly such
a book as this would have been written in the form
of a Journal to be handed round among and
perused by relations and friends alone, but
nowadays it is become the fashion to give our
impressions of countries we visit to the world at
large through the medium of a published book.
The authoress has succeeded in justifying her
contribution to the large stdre of literature of this
nature, by writing an exceedingly entertaining
account of a six months' stay in the Canaries, and
with the excellent photographs by Mrs. R. M. King
her narrative forms an interesting and informing
record.
Pure Folly ; the Story of those remarkable People^
The Follies, By Fitzrov Gardner. (London:
Mills & Boon). 2s, 6d. net — Mr. Pelissier and his
delightful company have deservedly attracted a
great deal of public attention and have now estab-
lished themselves as popular favourites. Mr.
Fitzroy Gardner's book will therefore be a source
of delight to the very large following of these
clever people, and his amusing history of the troupe
and of their " great " chief, Pelissier, embellished
as it is with many drawings by Geoffrey Holme,
Norman Morrow, Arthur Wimperis and John Bull
and several photographs, should be in the hands
of all " the Follies' " numerous admirers.
Messrs. L. & C. Hardtmuth, the makers of the
celebrated "Koh-i-Noor" pencils, have entrusted
Mr. J. S. Gibson, architect, of Old Bond Street,
with the designs for a building which they are
putting up in Kingsway, London. This building
is to be on a scale worthy of the magnitude of the
firm's business and when finished will bear the
appropriate title of " Koh-i-Noor" house. Messrs.
Hardtmuth are also the sole European representa-
tives for the famous Waterman Ideal Fountain
Pens, the signal merits of which have secured for
them universal favour.
339
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T
The Lay Figure
HE LAY FIGURE: ON USING
A FALSE STANDARD.
"I HAVE been getting a good deal of
amusement lately out of the controversy over the
Da Vinci bust," laughed the Man with the Red
Tie. " What a stir it has made 1 "
"No wonder,' returned the Collector. "The
discussion is one in which every buyer of works of
art cannot fail to be interested, for it opens up all
sorts of serious questions and involves what can
be called the vital principles of collecting."
" Ah ! you take it seriously," cried the Man
with the Red Tie; "now I see the humorous
side. I do not care in the least who may be right,
it seems to me sufficiently comic that such a
conflict of opinion should be possible."
" That is not quite the right way to look at it,"
broke in the Art Critic. "The matter must be
taken seriously, and it does involve principles that
are vital beyond all question. There may be
humour in it, but it is too grim to appeal to me."
"Then do you agree with me," asked the
Collector, " that this controversy is likely to cause
a feeling of insecurity among collectors, and there-
fore to diminish the demand for fine things ? "
" No, say you are on my side," pleaded the Man
with the Red Tie, "and that a silly fuss is being
made about a matter of little importance."
" I agree with neither of you," replied the Critic.
" For one thing, I do not care whether or not this
discussion alarms collectors, and for another I do
not think that the matter is of small importance.
But it is not with the facts of this particular case
that I am concerned ; it is the moral of the affair
that is exercising my mind."
" Some mixed emotions, and a moral," laughed
the Man with the Red Tie. " Is that the text on
which you propose to preach your sermon ? "
" Mixed emotions, indeed ! " said the Critic.
"What are the emotions by which the average
buyer of works of art is ordinarily swayed? Or
has he no emotion at all beyond a desire to get
the better of a competitor? "
" I can answer that," cried the Collector. " He
has a real emotion, the desire to own things which
are beautiful in themselves and sanctified by the
worship of many generations."
" Which is to him of greater importance, that the
things he buys should be beautiful, or that they
should have been held in some sort of estimation
for several centuries ? " asked the Critic.
" Surely the answer to that is obvious,'* argued
the Collector ; " a thing which has been admired
340
for centuries must be beautiful — therefore it is by
its beauty that he is attracted."
"Then if his emotion is simply a love of
beauty, why does he limit his desire only to things
that are old ? " enquired the Critic. " What has
the date of a work of art got to do with its power
of appeal to a beauty lover? Why must he have
the verdict of many generations before he can
make up his mind ? "
" Because, good prudent man, he does not like
to go to the expense of gratifying his emotions
unless he is sure his affections are set upon a
valuable object," interrupted the Man with the
Red Tie. " He wants to make a profitable invest-
ment of his money even when he is satisfying his
desires."
"I fear that is so," returned the Critic. "His
love of beauty is not the pure, unselfish passion
which it professes to be. There is a taint in it,
the taint of self-interest. The collector pretends
that he is swayed by aesthetic emotions when all
the time he is only thinking of the best way in
which he can bring off a successful piece of
speculation."
"No, no!" protested the Collector. "That is
not true ! Look at the prices which men will pay
for the works of art which appeal to them. Only
an enthusiast would be so generous."
"Oh, that question of price!" sighed the
Man with the Red Tie; "must that always be
dragged in?"
"Unfortunately, yes," replied the Critic; "and
in this instance it has some bearing upon the
question. The contention, I thinks is that the
greater the beauty of a work of art the higher the
price that the enthusiastic collector will pay for it
Yet in this matter that we have been discussing
we have a curious illustration of the insincerity of
this contention and of the falsity of the standard
which most buyers of works of art are accustomed
to set up. This bust as the work of a famous
old master is valued at thousands of pounds ; as a
modern production what would it be worth?
Perhaps a hundredth part of its present price.
But it has beauty so great and so distinguished
that it is worthy to be counted among the notable
achievements of the master to whom it is credited.
Why should its date or its authorship come into the
discussion at all ? It is beautiful— that should be
sufficient to make collectors compete for it and
even to enhance its price. Why should they ask
who did it, or when it was done, as it has such a
power of appealing to their emotions ? Does not
that suffice?" The Lay Figure.
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Automobile in Louis XVI Style
A
AUTOMOBILE DECORATED
LOUIS XVI STYLE
IN
The sedan chair, though still in use
in quaint formal survivals in Germany,
has passed into romance and into museums. The
fact that should be remembered, however, is that in
this retirement it finds itself in museums of art.
And the reason, of course (which needs no bewigged
and powdered ghost come from the grave to tell us),
is that the sedan chair in its heyday was made a
work of art. Now the motor car has reached a
point of development where attention is being given
to the opportunity of making it a thing of beauty.
The car of which views are reproduced herewith is
interesting as being the
first attempt, and a note-
worthy one, to carry out
the decoration of an au-
tomobile in a period
style. The Pierce Arrow
Motor Car Co., of Buf-
falo, deserves credit for
turning out this piece of
work, worthy of serious
consideration on artistic
grounds.
The outside color
scheme of this car is
green and gold. Satin-
wood, toned to a soft,
golden yellow, has been
used for all the exterior
woodwork, including
the dash boxes, steering
wheel and the roof of
the chauffeur's deck.
The handles of the
doors, the outside side
lamps, the escutcheon
covering the locks and
even the tiny head of the
door keys are authenti-
cally Louis XVI in de-
sign and treatment. All
of the metal mounts are
in brass, chased and
heavily gold plated, and
finished in the tradi-
tional ormolu style.
The ceiling shows an
encircling ornament of
ormolu and running de-
sign of slender acanthus
entwined with garlands of flowers, painted in colors
on a ground of soft gray enamel. The central por-
tion of the ceiling is enriched with an ormolu dome
lamp of the acanthus motif.
A frieze of separate panels, each one falling just
above a window, forms a pleasing accessory to the
ceiling. The center panel of each bears a painted
decoration complete in itself, yet united to its com-
panions by the balance of mass and tone, although
the motif is changed in every instance, in this man-
ner bearing out both example and tradition of the
Louis XVI period. This frieze is supported by a
row of slender pilasters that also serve as a separa-
tion and guide for the window frames.
The upholstery is a silk stripe of gray and yello w
MOTOR CAR IN LOUIS XVI STYLE, EXTERIOR IN GREEN AND GOLD
LXXXIX
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Automobile in Louis XVI Style
enhanced with long garlands of roses through the
center of the gray stripe. It extends to the ceiling
just back of the rear seat, and forms the decoration
for all the lower portion of the car below the line of
windows. The under portion of the front panel
bears a gracefully fashioned toilet box, containing a
set of dainty toilet articles, decorated in pure Louis
XVI style.
Another interesting experiment has been made by
the same builders in their marquetry car. This car
SATINWOOD, TONED TO SOFT GOLDEN YELLOW, HAS BEEN
USED FOR EXTERIOR WOODWORK
is a striking example of the possibility of marquetry
work as applied to the interior of enclosed bodies.
It is finished in Circassian walnut, with inlays of
colored and stained woods. Just below the front
windows is an innovation in automobile fittings in
the shape of a large walrus-skin bag, fitted not only
to hold packages that may have been gathered in
DETAIL OF coRoovAx LEATHER SEAT co\TRiNG shopping, but to act as a reccptacle for the special
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Automobile in Louis XVI Style
INTERIOR OF MOTOR CAR IN LOUIS XVT STYLE—THE PREVAILING TONES IN GRAY AND YELLOW
toilet articles made to match the body design as
well.
Taken together, the two cars represent almost
the two extremes of the possibilities of [interior deco-
rations for motor cars. Between them is a large
field in which the lover of things beautiful might
range in his desire to suit the individual taste.
In period decoration there is the widest field of
all. Among those that could be utilized are those
of Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, the First and
Second Empire, the Elizabethan, that to which
Vemis Martin gave his stamp and individuality, the
Georgian, the Colonial, the Renaissance and the
Mission. It would even be possible to go back to
the earlier Greek and Roman periods for inspira-
tion and example, but this would scarcely be neces-
sary, since practically all that was beautiful and
characteristic in them has been found in a modified
form in the later French periods.
The fourteenth annual exhibition of the Car-
negie Institute at Pittsburgh will open on April 28
and close June 30. Contributions from New York
City will be collected March 15-17 by W. S. Bud-
worth & Son, 424 West Fifty-second Street. En-
trance blanks must be sent in before March 14.
The work is to be in oil. The jury will meet in
Pittsburgh on April 7. Any further particulars
may be had by addressing Dr. John W. Beatty at
Pittsburgh.
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Miss Welch's Miniatures
M
INIATURES BY MABEL WELCH
BY F. A. KING
It is one of the signs of the times
that the art of the miniaturist is looked
upon as something of an anachronism. Something
has gone out of our lives that is needed to harmonize
with the delicacy and jewel-like refinement of this
art. Miniatures are no longer ornaments to be
worn, though this was one of their earlier uses.
They are still jewels to be held in the hand and
looked at, but there are so many competitors with
them in the field of portraiture that we are apt to
grow impatient of the conventions that necessarily
hem them about and limit their range of expression.
Time was, of course, when no one who made a pre-
tense to taste forwent the possession of these in-
tensely personal mementoes ; but then, of course, the
art of photography was not thought of ; now that the
ordinary portrait photograph is in everybody's way
we accept its compromise with beauty, its falsifica-
PORTRAIT OF MRS. H.
BY MISS WELCH
PORTRAIT OF MRS. CALKINS
xcn
BY MISS WELCH
tion of essential truth, and multiply its records of
objective fact whose interest passes with the passing
day. That is what the majority of us do. Yet the
art of the miniaturist still flourishes in a way, and
we, no doubt, should assist its flourishing if once we
realized its immense capacity for furnishing a cer-
tain intimate satisfaction.
An old friend of mine, a portrait painter, is fond
of pointing out the difference. He says, take an old
photograph of a person and a sketch of the same
person done at the same time. No matter what the
skill of the photographer or the lack of skill of the
artist, the photograph, he says, will always be a
dead thing and the sketch will be alive. And that
is because the sketch is the record of an impression ;
it had its origin in something that awoke in the
artist in response to a stimulus he received from the
sitter. At the time they were done the photograph
probably gave the greater pleasure because it told so
much that was temporary. We supply the impres-
sion, which was all the sketch gave us then. But
after the lapse of time nothing has remained to us
but the impression, and this the sketch still supplies
us, while the photograph is the record of things
wholly dead.
It is not true, of course, that photography has
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Miss JVelch's Miniatures
STUDY OF A CHILD
BY MISS WELCH
absolutely usurped the field ; the annual exhibition
of the Society of Miniature Painters confutes that
assertion. What is to be desired, perhaps, is more
discretion and culture on the part of the public, to
be answered by a corresponding robustness and in-
dividuality on the part of the painters themselves.
The exhibitions of recent years have not failed to
bring forward one or two specimens of the work of
Miss Mabel Welch, in each case possessing much
charm of color, much judicious placing of the sub-
ject within the frame and no inconsiderable excel-
lence of technical treatment. The few that she has
shown have always been so satisfactory as to lead
one to speculate on the reasons which have limited
their number. It can only be that she, with her
fellow craftsmen, feel the weight of an indifferent
public. When so comparatively few people of
means seek to possess their own likeness in minia-
ture it sounds like a fairy tale that Cosway, even in
the days of great painters in oil, could boast at din-
ner that he had finished oflF a dozen or more sitters
in a working day. Such a clamorous procession is
nowadays only recorded of Mr. Sargent, working in
another field.
Aside from the color, the interesting quality of
Miss Welches miniatures is their breadth of treat-
ment. Breadth is easy of achievement, given the
artist to do it, on a five-foot canvas; but breadth
which has to compromise with refinement on less
than a five-inch ivory is another matter. Ardent
realists are known to sacrifice every other condition-
ing quality to achieve breadth, even in the limited
compass of a miniature. The result gives you the
feeling of looking at portraiture through the wrong
end of an opera glass. The intimate quality which
is the essential thing about this art has actually fled ;
your instinctive effort is to get away in order to get
the proper distance for viewing ; when that is gained
the object is so remote as to forfeit your interest.
Why a portrait in little, something for affectionate
handling, if the instinctive motion is to put it from
you? The problem of dealing with breadth is
solved by Miss Welch without even suggesting the
opposite of minute niggling. By strokes that count
for strokes, yet conform to the compass of the whole
surface ; that avoid fussiness and serve their utility
for nuance ; that also tell their story of texture, she
has the control of a method that satisfies all the re-
quirements of limited space and lifelike representa-
tion. Such a method, of course, has its constant
dangers. It can, no less than stipple, degenerate
into dulness. It succeeds when its use is judicious—
for example, in giving the value of lace or of such
difficult materials that arrogantly obtrude their sur-
PORTRAIT OF MRS. HOLDEN
BY MISS WELCH
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Miss IVelch's Miniatures
faces into unwarrantable emphasis. To escape
their dangers the older miniaturists made a mon-
otonous use of filmy draperies. The same thing is
done by the artist we are examining, in several
examples. Here she achieves an adequate sim-
plicity, but at the same time shows also a certain
timorousness.
After all, the main things are not the abstract
questions of technique. Does the portrait live ? Is
it a truthful representation? That is, does it con-
vict the artist of interest, clairvoyance, vital reci-
procity between himself and the sitter ? There is no
doubt of these questions in the case of the Portrait
o] Mrs. H. Here is a personality full of vitality ;
one that asserts the artist's interest in her task
and the sure and swift achievement, devoid of
doubt or hesitation. The same subject is treated
in the Portrait of Mrs. Holden, with a difference
of mood, though with interesting qualities of tech-
nique. '
The Study oj a Child is a delightful rendering of
sweetness and innocence. The extremely simple
arrangement of the hair makes a charming pattern
in the darks. The whole impression is one of un-
premeditativeness, yet the resultant composition is
the most marked as an effort for effect of any among
the specimens here shown. This, with several
PORTRAIT OF
EARNEST ELMO CALKINS
BY MISS WELCH
others, notably the Portrait oj Mrs. Calkins and
Elizabethy shows Miss Welch's admirable instinct for
placing her figures with a mii^imum sense of studied
arrangement, yet with the result of adequately filling
the space.
ELISABETH
xav
BY MISS WELCH
WILLIAM M. CHASE, whose work
was reviewed in the December issue
of this magazine, held a retrospec-
tive exhibition at the National Arts
Club, Gramercy Park, New York
City, last month. The collection comprised a re-
markably interesting group of portraits, landscapes,
still life and interiors, and represented various stages
of the artist's splendid craftsmanship. One of the
most captivating of the earlier works was the canvas
called Ready for the Ride, painted shortly after Mr.
Chase had left the schools of Piloty and Wagner.
This was loaned by the Union League Club. The
subject is a fair-haired young woman standing in
profile. She is dressed in a costume of black and
wears a high peaked hat and a small niflf through
which the pink flesh of the neck is seen. She car-
ries a whip and is drawing on a glove. The face is
pale. Interesting portraits also were those of
Eduard Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz.
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Art Gallery by Frank Lloyd Wright
Thurber GaUerUs, Chicago frank Lloyd Wright, ArchiUct
THE DESIGN SHOWS TRACES OF A STUDY OF JAPANESE WORK AND OF THE VIENNA SECESSION
A
RT GALLERY DESIGNED BY
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, AR-
CHITECT
The new art galleries of W. Scott
Thurber, in Chicago, show the fortunate result of
treating the housing problem involved with serious
attention to the architectural requirements, and of