Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-11-20
MRS. LANGTRY.
A Wide Picture Of tie English Beauty Gy
the Champion "-fss"-thete.
New York World.

1t is only in the best Greek gems. en-
the silver coins of Syracuse, Or among tie
marble figures of the Parthenon frieze
that one can find the ideal representations
of the marvellous beauty of that face which
laughed through the leaves last night as
Hester Grazebrook.
Pure Greek it is, with the grave low fore
head, the exquisitely arched brow, the
noble chiseling of the mouth, shaped as if
it were the mouthpiece of an instrument
of music, the supreme and splendid curve
of the cheek, the augustly pillared throat
which bears it all: it is Greek because the
lines which compose it are SO definite and
so strong. and yet so exquisitely harmon
lied that the effect is one of simple love-
Illness purely: Greek, because its essence
and Its quality, as is the quality of music
and of architecture, is that OF beauty
based on absolute mathen,ati laws.
But while art remains dumb and immo-
bile in its passionless serenity, with the
beauty of this face it is different; the gray
eyes tighten into blue or deepen into violet
as fancy succeeds fancy; the lips become
hOwer-like i'll laughter Or, tremulous as Il
birds wing, mold themselves at last into
the strong and bitter molds of pain or
scorn ;and then motion comes, and the statue
wakes into life; but the life is not the Or
binary life Of common days, it is life with
new value given to it, the value of art;
and the charm to me of Hester Craze
brooks acting in the first scene of the play
tonight was that mingling of classic grace
with absolute reality which is the secret of
all beautiful art, OF the plastic work of the
Greeks and of the pictures of Jean Fran
co.'s Millet equally. m
do not think that the sovereignty and
empire of women's beauty has at all
passed away, though we may no longer go
to war for them as the Greeks did for the
daughter of Leda; the greatest empire
still remains for them-the empire of art;
and, indeed, this wonderful face, seen to
night for the first time in America, has
filled and permeated with the pervading
image of its type the whole of our mod
ern art in England. Last century it was
the romantic type which dominated in art,
the type loved by Reynolds and Gainsbor-
ough, of wonderful contrasts of color, of
exquisite and varying charms of express
sion, but without that definite plas-
tic feeling which divides classic
from romantic work. This type de-
generated into more facile prettiness in
the hands of lesser masters, and in protest
against it was created by the hands of the
-Raphaelites a new type, with its rare
combination of Greek form with FIoren-
tine mysticism ;but this mysticism becomes
overstrained and burden rather than an
aid to expression, and desire for the
pure Hellenic joy and serenity came to its
place, in the paintings of such men as
Albert Moore and Leighton and Whistler,
we can trace the influence of this single
face giving new life and inspiration in the
form of new artistic ideal.
As regards Hester Grazebrook's dresses,
the first was dress whose grace depended
entirely on the grace of the person who
wore tit was merely the sim pie dress of
village girl in England. The second was
Il lovely combination of blue and creamy
lace, but the masterpiece was undoubtedly
the last, a symphony in silver-gray and
pink, pure melody of color which I feel
sure Whistler would call ''Scherzo," and
take as its visible motive the moonlight
wandering in silver mist through a rose
garden; unless, indeed, he saw this dress,
in which case he would paint it and moth
NY SiS0. lOT IL Is UTcSS SuCu DIS toldSQQeZ
only could paint, and Whistler very wisely
always paints those things which are only
within reach of Velasquez.
The scenery was, of course, prepared in
hurry, still much of it was very good in
deed, the first scene especially, with its
graceful trees and open forge and cottage
porch. though the roses were dreadfully
out of tone, and besides their crudity of
color, were curiously, badly grouped; the
last scene, too, was exceedingly clever and
true to nature as well, being that combina-
ton of lovely scenery and execrable archi-
lecture which is so specially characteristic
of German spa. AS for the drawing-room
scene, I cannot regard it as in any way a
success. The heavy ebony doors are en-
tirely out of keeping with the satin panels;
the silk hanglngs and festoons of velvet
and yellow are quite meaningless in their
position and consequently quite ugly; the
carpet is out of all color-reiation with the
rest of the room, and the table-cover is
mauve. Still, to have decorated ever SO
bad room in six days must of course be
subject of respectful wonder, though
should have fancied that Mr.. Wallack had
many very much better sets in his own
stock.
Obituary.
COLUMBUS, Ga, Nov. 19.-Dr. John E.