The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-03-11

urus, which mAnN Acknowledge W lr /
completely lnoOniprehenslblf, u rlNdle /
they are unable ~ solve bu, whatever
the subject, there Is always something
peculiar, bitter, dismal about ", "lho |
devils looking glass; displays a eq' |
1uelte richly allirod, overloaded WI va |
ornaments looking ut herself IN u mr.
ror which reflects back her naked body, /
"lhe last hours Is the portrayal Of
the thoughts Of man condemned
to death upon the scallull durlnB |
tho hours proceeding ms death |
lie sta with bend resting upon
his hands, whl!en fearful vision passes
before biz eyes, lie secs the angelic
faces OF his children smiling at hlhi
through the darkness, and Then ~
fancy he follows himself TO The scalluld
accompanied by locrlng rNbhlei he
sees his body upon The dlssecrlng table,
the muscles being laid bare under the
knife Of the physician; he sees his own
corpse undergoing decomposition ana
emitting a ph0sph0rcscent light, ms
spirit seems writing IN sen OF blood
aud rc,l aud then comes chaos ana
oblivion.
\ scene which once occurred In
Brussels, he dellncates and calls II the
'Belglan lady's hos IN the ear" An
army officer attempted To curry oil W
force, n beautiful woman lor Wh0m
he had conceived n passion. Ana
she, TO relieve herself from his bru-
tai grasp, fires pistol n ms
ear. Ills arms have not relaxed their
hold, though he stands there II head
! less trunk, while brains aud blood are
scattered around and the smoke sun
pOurs from the muH2lc Of the pistol.
\ similar picture II one representing n
man committing suicide by blowing
his brains out in the presence of his
wife aud children.
When Napoleon /. turned hisgrecdy
eyes upon Belgium, WiertH painted Il
picture showing Napoleon |. In hell,
surrounded by the wives, mothers and
sisters of men murdered by him, each
holding out towards him the mangled
limbs of her loved one ana calling
down the vengeance Of heaven upon
the murderer
"lhc Last Cannon depicts the ter.
rors OF war, mutilated cOrpses and all
! the imaginable horrors of battle
field, but above this scene scars the
genius Of civilization, The genius OF
| progress holds in her hands an cnor-
nous cannon which she has just hr0k-
en- in two, while i'reemen, poets, artists
and philosophers are holding aiolt the
instruments of peace and civilizations
! hammer, chisel and books and palm
/ branches.
or the numerous pictures in the gal
lery, recall but three that did not
have an element Of horror in them,
One, II doorIeeper sleeping ut his post
the second, lively young girl looking
ont Of Il win low, or, rather ~ 1t seems
to the spectator, looking through Il
window into the gallery and smiling
at you; and third, watch dog In cor
ncr 50 natural that for moment was
convinced that heard him breathe,
and instinctlvely avoided that corner
Of the room for fear of awakening
him.
"'rhe Greeks and Troans contend
ing for the body of Patr0clus,n Is col
ossal picture, aud Is the one which Is
considered by many to be his master-
piece, 1t was first established in Rome
saw il and said "this young man Is II
giant" The work which contends
with this for the superiority is entitled
the "'lriunph of Christi 1t was paint
cd in an abandoned factory, and as
soon as exhibited commanded great
admiration. He refused Il sum equal
TO sixty thousand dollars for it, He
knew that, with his aspirations and
, his love for the gigantic, there was but
| two ways hy which he could reach
fame and these were either through the
church or the state. But the first way
| he refused to follow, and would not sell
his works TO churches any sooner than
to individuals, so that there remained
only one path, and how should he find
means to entert that" This picture, "thc
triumph of Christi proved the "opcn
sesame" Ii placed him in the first
rank among artists of the present day,
and Induced the government to build
for him n studio, upon the conditions
that his paintings should remain tor
over IN the possession of Belgium, II
condition that he himself desired, and
therefore gladly complied with.
Having now reached the goal Of his
ambition he did not stop to rest, but Ia
bored necessarily, refusing to indulge
himself in luXurics, Indifferent even
to comfort, painting portraits oc-
casionally for "bread and butter"
but refusing to acknowledge them AZ
his work. They We're only copies of
ordinary faces, made with mercen-
AIRY purpose. His own lnncics must
have u nohler source. He wrote, ain
an epoch when mechanism is prefer
red to expression, one must have cour-
age enough to paint for posierity and
know how to remain poor in order to
remain great artist" As an artist,
Wiertz is great among artists, but to
the world mt large he is little known,
his fame spreads SLOWLY, but still il
spreads. Wise men discuss gravely
the question why, ambitious and in-
dustrous rs he was, that he has not
received more widespread renown.
But how could he be widely known in
so short Il time, when his paint
ingS were all concentrated in one room
waiting for the world to come to them?
Perhaps had he been more worldly
wise and had cared only for present
istliVi NbNiN iluNC Spiu MS Ilulul-
ings and received wider and more i'm
mediate rcnown; but while he could
afford to live in poverty and privation
during life, scorning wealth and the
patronage of crown heads, perhaps he
also felt that he could wait until the
posterity for which he painted should
grant him the need OF praise which
his works merit. Personally, he was
genial and social, but no tlattercr of
kings. When royal or aristocratic
perSonages visited his studio he was
never to be seen, but the true lover of
art, however humble, received always
a genial welcome from him, and found
him an instructive guide through the
world of his creations In the words
of n brother artist, ''no orders decora-
ted his breast, no monarch gave him n
title. He could dispense with bo.h.