The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-07-02
A Blind Sculptor.

culties with which the blind have to con-
tend When they devote themselves to
music, piano-forte-tun1ng, or ordinary
hand labor, it IS easy to understand that
they may attain to certain amount Of
proficiency. But when the question Of
art is concerned the want of sight would
appear to be an almost insurmountable
obstacle to success, rarely to be overcome
except by the inspiration of genius.
NJ. Louis Vidal, the blind sculptor to
whom we alude, was born in Nismes in
1881, and when a young man came to
Paris, where he commenced his artistic
studies under the direction of M. Barge
and Rouillard. He was then, and has
ever been, true lover Of art in every
sense, but at the very early age of 81 he
was quite suddenly attacked with paral-
ysis of the eyes and became completely
blind. ~ ......... ..Jl.I. -I.g.0
Having cultivated up to that time the
excellent notions he had received from
such men of talent as Barge, Pradier and
others, he did not allow the great calami:
ty which had befallen him to turn him
from the career he had chosen, and he
determined that his fingers should place
his eyes in the execution Of his artistic
conceptions. In the course of time his
sense of feeling acquired an increase Of
power to such an extent as almost to
compensate for the. loss of sight, and it
was by the careful manipulation of living
subjects and of the works his colleagues
kindly placed at his disposal that he
charged his memory with the forms and
outlines which his fneness of touch en-
abled him to reproduce at first in the
plastic clay and afterward in the block
of marble. -. 44.- i /
The writer Of this notice we'll remem-
bers poor Vidal from 1866 to 1865. Dur
ing that time the blind sculptor used to
frequently walk in the beautiful gardens
Of the Luxembourg palace, not then dis
figured by intersections; and he walked
with such assurance that persons who did
not know him would never have supposed
that he was blind. When his promenade
was finished, he was in the habit of going
to the cafe du theatre du Luxembourg,
which he entered with as much confidence
as any other person, to sit down quite
calmly to coffee and game Of dominoes,
that he won more often than he lost
When once he had felt the dots on the
dominocs he knew how to play, and never
made Il mistake. He has never Quilted
the neighborhood of the Luxembourg
where he still lives IN the Rue Denfert.
Rochereau. !. %. -. "45 $.H.
Unlike many of his blind predecessors
Vidal has produced several original crea.
| tions. He has exhibited for more thar
twenty years in succession, and re-
| ceived a medal in 1861. Lions, panthers
dying stays, goats, COWS, horses, asses
tigers, bulls and dc gs are his SUBJ ects O.
prediction. Many of his rorks, though
produced slowly, have been purchased by
the State on account of their real merit
and the Empress Eugene made the acqui
sitlon of one of his productions during
the reign Of the late Emperor, Napole
on III. ... .:.. III ~ i,a#3Ans ts,.
Vidal works at any hour of the day O.
night, but prefers night time on accoun
of being able to work alone and il
silence. He has been known to invite !:
friend to his humble studio after night
fall, and to forget that his snvite was no
blind and could not see in the dark
| w utu TCluluuCu VI CuC 1dCC, lie WOult
jocularly stimulate great haste, go to thu
mantelpiece for matches, and light wal
candle without difficulty, as he would
also cigar. -, -- . slid. a-n - .
NJ. Vidal never says: 81 feel" or g:
touch," but II see," and he is terribl!
averse to being pitied for his calamity, o
which he does not even like to be remind
ed. He is an art critic, and may be seer
at all the exhibitions manipulating tn,
pieces Of sculpture in the minutcst man
ner previous to passing his opinion upol
them, which he generally does most ju
dlciously and without any prejudice. Hi
own love Of art is so rooted in himsel
that he is deligted when he encounters
work of NEXT which he can cordial,
praise. Although only 4S years of age
he has already produced enough to insur'
his reputation as a man Of genius, and t,
give birth to the regret on the part of hi
admirers that he lost the estimabl,
blessing Of sight, which might have en-
abled him to arrive at the very pinnacle
of sculptural art. .... ~ -r r