The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-08-03

Il
as warm ss 1t is now, and when they have com
Portable homes in New York City to stay In.
| STRIKING work OF; ART
Valentines Bust OF Lee.
II The Richmond Dispatch prints the following
careful criticism Of the bust of General R. E
Lee, the work OF Mr.. Edward Valentine, /,
young and promising Virginia sculptor, Whose
studio in Richmond, Va, is well worth visit
ing: c:,,.
Amid the clash of contested elections, rail
road consultations, &C., &C., with which oul
/ minds have Of late been so constantly filed
we have scarcely had either the leisure or the
\ space in our columns to turn our thouShts
| from the severe materlality of poeltiyism tc
j the more tranquil and perhaps none the less
enduring studies of art and literature.
| In the studio of Edward Valentine. however.
4 we have recently seen the image of one on
on whom fortune has not of late smiled, but
4 who amid the general wreck around him, has
\ stood as erect as ever, and borne the same
\ serene, god-like aspect, whether crowned with
); success or overshadowed by defeat
i The life and character Of Robert E:Lee need
II no comment at our hands. They are written
| in golden letters, not OF this earth. We would
] simply call the attention of our readers to the
bust Of him, in plaster, recently executed by
| Valentine In Lexington, and brought thence to
| this city. Without hesitation We pronounce il
1 to be one OF the noblest busts of modern sculp.
ture, worthy of the highest niche in our na-
tional temple-our Pantheon-hereafter to be
/ built-and to hold an equal place with Hou.
! don's Washington or Calls Jefferson:
The keen, penetrating, eye, quick to COM
m xyot Gu ft,tI
eagle beak; the full and yet finely cut rostril;
the firm, determined mouth; the nobly-poiscd
head; the strong, manly neck and massive
shoulders-such as even the son OF lebanon
might have envied; the well developed fore
hesdAstrong In the bold outlines Of deep
thought, and not enervated by too heightened
an Imagination; mark we'll and most truthful
" the man whose whole life has been sub
lime sacrifice to principlc-who has ever been
the same, whether at the head Of his vlctori-
Gus leSions, or among the mountains OF his
native State teaching the children of his be-
loved South
because right Is right, to follow right
Were wisdom in the scorn Of consequence
In this bust of Lee, Valentine has, We think,
excelled anyOf his former works, and shows
himself higher and more correct master OF
his art than In any of his other busts, five ex-
cept Mosby and one or two others in his studio.
He has not here dwarfed his subject by TOO
much minuteness. The bust Of Lee, like those
by all the great masters OF old, stands out IN
all its mighty and godike proportions. Greek
and Roman statuary was like the Greek drama.
The gods were eye-wItnesses Of both. The
Greek theatres were expressly lett uncovered
that the gods might be spectators Of the scene:
for great man struggling with adversely
was considered sight worthy OF the gods.
In their temples. and their theatres alike
tr 1f,rn f1fy in
their tragedy are protrayed bold, prominent
superhuman, and overiowerlng passions (;
and in their statuary strong and commanding
features that overawe all Interiors. In trage-
5dy they never attempted to deline&te the nne,
delicate, ephemeral fancies of everyday life;
nor in their statuary did they ever attempt
that particular study Of detail which may be
examined with q microscope In painting
These two kindred arts scarcely belong to the
same province. The all-embraclng field Of the
one, and the sublime solitude Of the other,
can rarely, if ever, meet, IN painting within
q narrow canvas We can at the same time
look at the sublime and the beautiful. BY its
unlimited lights and shadows we can see in .
small compass that .''dread and silent mount,s
rising forth from its silent sea of pines, within
sight of the Swiss chalet, covered with
eSlantine and the wild clematis. Not so in
sculpture. But one thought, at one time,
coon, the Niobe, the Falln OF the capitol, or
Cats Bacchante. Il can never unite the diff
ferent conceptions in one. Among the Greeks
the first two were considered the more pecu-
liar province of statuary. It is rare that we
see in the Uffizzi, the Vatican, or the Louvre
examples OF the two last. With the Greek
and earlier Romans, statuary always partook
of deity. That fixed, never-changing aspect,
forever sealed in stone, must be above this
sublunary, changeful world. 1t must be one
grand, sublime thought, not divided or lost
in minutiR.: Even the young Augustus, at
the age of twelve years, has upon his brow
the stamp Of deity. The twelve Caesars, with
all their crimes, Still command in their pres
ence an awful silence, and the spectator recog-
nizes In them the majesty of imperial Rome
I This oneness in statuary must always be re-
cognized and pursued if the artist ever hopes
for success. II his concept is noule, grand,
and mighty, he must not divide up into a
thousand minutia to attain what the vulgar
would call accuracy. Modern sculptors too
often sacrifice their first great ideal to this
common taste. How often have we seen q
noble bust rendered almost contemplate by
the Parisian care With which the hair and the
beard are combed out? We are glad Mr. Val.
entine has avoided this error in his bust OF
Lee, and we trust that if he ever idealizes it
he will never take aught from 1t present maj
esty. Sculpture cannot, like painting, repre-
sent the hair in its light, waving, f1eecy
strands; it can only represent 1t in masses;
and II 1t attempts to give 1t only Its natural
thickness 1t will anrear to lie clCSsee.y pressed
to the head instead of being raised, and will
proportionately shorten the length of the head.
The old sculptors knew we'll this error, and
avoided it. We repeat we are glad Mr.. Vslen-
tine has done the same.
We have been thus lengthy in our remarks
on this bust Of Lee as we regard 1t as noble
work that belongs to the nation. we under
stand It has given universal satisfaction in
Lexington, and that General Lee himself
spared no time or trouble to render the artists
work successful. He knew that posterity
would ask for an accurate and truthful repre-
-sentation OF himself, and, like CROMWELL he
wished to be known as he really was. 1t was
but lust to his country that Lee should leave
to them as accurate representation OF him
self as possible.
This bust is still in plaster, but we trust it
will soon be In marble. We would ask of Mr.
Valentine as particular favor that he would
allow his cast Just as 1t Is, In all its primary
roughness, to be exhibited in some store or
room more accessible TO the pubic than MS
present studio, as It is work with which the
public should become well acquainted; anu we
feel assured it will meet with the admiration
of all. Such bust of such man Is a nations
ward, and should be nations monument.
ANECDOTES OF DICKENS.
Mr.. Fields's Atlantic ArticIe--The Wit,