Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-08

u
| ancient civilization but must refer to it
| as an important agent in the maintenance
I OF religion among all peoples, and espe-
/ cially to the part displayed by it in the
diffusion Of Christianity in the Middle
| Ages, when the painter preached to the
eye as the musician TO the ear, and the
| priest 10 the cOnsciences Of the ignorant
masses around him. But at the same time
J the Drush and the chisel were freely used
| TO feed luxury and pander to the sensu-
| ailty OF an intellectual class at a time
when the dedication of the Virgin Mother
( OF christ was deemed necessary to cOun-
! teract the influence of the Paphian Venus
as 1rst step towards the elevation of
woman to her proper place in society, and
the sanctlficatiOn OF the marriage relation
10 the firm foundation of the family as the
| cornerstone Of Christian civilization.
These things kept IN view, we are pre-
| pared to look understandingly on the dit
( ferent schools Of art, as shown in the
[ products Of the pencil and the chisel-to
I comment on very few of them, and to
| touch lightly on the lives and characters
/ OF the artists themselves. At some fu-
| ture time Mir. Brandt will supply a s'Cat-
| aloSue RaisOnne' of the whole collection
as soon as completed, but it will require
! an amount Of knowledge, research and
! labor that cannot now be commanded. For
I u we must wait till the works of art are
I In their proper places, numbered and ar
: ranged in their proper order. Then such
! catalogue will be a practical and Illus
/ trated primer TO the student and a useful
! reminder to the initiated.
! Before entering on even a very superb
! clal exposition of art and artist work we
! must premise that, as in ethnOlOgy, so in
art there is a ''missing link" which fu-
! ture discoveries may restore in what |
call the Atlantean art, or the arts Of the
Lost Atlantis" beginning with the
statues Of Easter Island, in the Pacific
Ocean, traced through the cities and
statues of Yucatan, to the "CyclOpean
wallis of the Pelasgi, the wandering
MasOns, the lake dwellings, etc, to be
possibly hereafter developed by deep sea
6OundlngS and dredglngs between the
/ West Indies and the shores of Spain and
Morocco. of these lost lands the acade-
my possesses no specimens, unless the
stone chair found on the top of a noun
tain in Ecuador be one. Doubtless at
some future time specimens of the statues
and inscriptions OF PalenQue and other
places of Central America will find their
place on its walls side by side with those
of Egypt and Nineveh.
AS soon as men ceased to find their
dwelling in the forest and in caves, they
were determined IN the form of their
houses by the character Of their country.
The rowing tribes of the East, whose riches
were in their tiOcks and herds, necessarily
lived in tents, and their architecture. like
that CT the Chinese, assumed the tent form
as soon as they became settled. So the
first Greek houses took the form of timber
supports for cross beams and a slanting
roof. These posts became columns. with
their entablature Of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
projecting through the frieze and the cor
nice. The arch does not appear till long
after the construction OF some OF the most
famous temples. OF these, both ancient
and modern, we have on the walls of the
present building a few specimens, the
perfected work Of eXtant buildings being
IN close juXtap0sitiOn with the ruins OF
the past.
These ruins are fun Of beauty. and in
their decay or destruction suggest deep
regret, while they do not cease to charm.
And this suggests that, in justice to Dir.
Brandt, il must be remembered that these
specimens OF true architectural art have
a value Of the highest kind even in their
ruins, since true art does not address itself
to the eye only, but through the eye to the
imagination and the softer sentiments and
sympathies. Mere imitation is necessary
to bring natural and artificial objects be-
fore the eye, but an artist may excel in
the use line. color, and light and shade,
yet, If he t3ke an imperfect view of ma
ture, his work, excellent as it may be in
technical execution, NAV fall far short in
artistic value and please the cultivated
taste far less than mere outline, sketch
or preparatory study of a master who
takes a deeper view into the subject be-
fore him. SO, those ugly masks of bronze,
bone, human skulls and wood, together
with the specimens Of the preparatory
sketches OF Raphael, Leouardo da Vinci,
Michel Angelo and Albert Durer, Tsst'ch
MT brandt has secured, are far from being
Ine least valuable and attractive objects
exn,o.' 'Hi to the pUPlceye. They instruct
the artist and delight tie 66nnGisSeur.
Titan in richness of color; Leonardo da
Vinci in light and shade, and Michel
Angelo and Albert Durer in drawing excel
all other artists, while the trough work"
In popular paTlance of other painters is
added to theirs as of esnoc. vaIrA in an
acaueniy OF arts as distinguished from an
art g2!iery. l may seem to be too enthu-
slastic in this matter, but if next to
genius be the power to appreciate the
works of genius, then the trustees Of the
Telfair Academy and their agent, Mr..
Brandt, will deserve to have their names
inscribed on tablet Of bronze placed In
a conspicuous nOsitiOn on its walls.
Whv? Because if men arc willing to
pay the highest price for new vice that
would add TO their capacity for enjoying
the lust OF the flesh, the lust of the eye,
and the pride of life, they should certain
" do honor to those who put in their
reach more pure and elevating source
of enjoyment, provided they are willing to
take advantage of it. Even if not pre-
pared to rise on the wings of art to a
contemplation Of the true and the beauti-
full (the true mission OF high art if
gratitude be, as it has been defined to be,
a lively perception of benefits to be re-
ceived, they should be most grateful,
since tie benefits TO them and their chill
dren viii be progressive if not immediate.
AFTER THE ART PRODUCTS OF THE
Gave DWELLERS,"
in which we find that the desire to imi-
tate so strong in children) existed al
ways in man, we find some unmistakable
evidence of attempts at drawing and
sculpture in the lowest races. This l
consider conclusive evidence of the break
in the chain of evolution, since, While the
Bushman of Africa has his bow and ar
row. we know of no anthrOpoidal animal
ever having advanced farther in inVen-
ton than using the branch Of a tree as
a walking stick. But in the
weapons. canoes and ornaments
of the Oceanic islanders. and especially OF
the natives of New Zealand, we find
beauty and originality of design which
Greece. Assyria and Egypt, much less
our modern artists, have not eXcelled,
although in some panels of carved wood
by a FlOrentine carver in WoOd-MarlanO
COppede-Mr. Brandt has secured some
work as remarkable for beauty of design
as for the exquisite delicacy OF finish.
There are a few specimens OF Assyrlan
and Egyptian art, which, though unlike
IN detail in their general character, have
a certain resemblance to the sculptures
of Yucatan. On this subject the lectures
of the Rev. Mr.. Strong will be found most
interesting and instructive.
But though Dedalus is considered by
the Greek writers as the father Of Greek
art. we cannot understand the rapidity
with which the arts both of painting and
sculpture rose among them to the highest
point ever attained, unless we suppose
some great superiority and natural apti-
tude for the appreciation Of grace and
beauty in the Hellenes. 1t is true that
the simple life in 4 healthy climate, and
the athletic games of the Greeks, may
have given them the most excellent mod
els OF male and female beauty, but to
take advantage of these required higher
order of mind in the artist.
Greek architecture kept pace with
sculpture and painting, or more probably
anticipated them, and the wonderful
beauty found in the numerous remains of
temples indicate a diffusion of correct
taste among the hand-wOrkers and the
mass Of the people not found in any other
country. To Introduce such a taste