The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1886-12-09
BARTHoLDI.
The Great Artists Home and Studio
In Paris. Il.

The Great Artists Home and Studio
in Paris.
A two-story house, a very severe,
somber style Of brick and stone trim
mings, situated in one of the small side
leading into the Boulevard
Montparnasse, that classical artery
where so many artists of every kind
move and have their being, was built
some years ago by NJ Bartholdi, the
sculptor of the statue of Liberty, and
has been his home and studio ever since.
From the exterior it looks gloomy and
p~rison-like, and in the interior the
aspect does not change until you reach
a small back garden, which, with its
flowers, plants, and s~tatuetts, presents
a cheerful appearance in the a of
the house. On crossing the court door.
one is at once struck with what seems
to have been for years the predominant
ing thought and occupation of the in
mate, for there on one side lies the in
dex of the immense right hand of the
statue of Liberty, and a small model of
the whole statue on the other. Pass
ing the porter's lodge, which, like all
other parts of the house, is built in the
medieval style of carved wood balloon
les and inside stair-cases one enters in
to q quaint vestibule of stained glass,
Pompelian mural paintings and wide
glass door looking out into the small
garden. The chief quaint attraction
here is an immense stuffed stork, like
Poe's raven, perched over the door,
Just as you see them at twilight settle
down for the night on the domes of the
cathedral at Strasburg. 1t is, of our
known to all that Bartholdi is an AL
satan. This vestibule leads to the
1sculptor's reception-room, which also,
from all sides reminds one of his colos-
sal work, for besides a large library,
artistic cabinets on which rest terra
Gotta reproductions of his earlier works,
the busts of MI. William B. Evarts and
Mr.. Richard Butler, the place is filled
with models of the great statue in vari-
'eus sizes and states of completion. On
one side of the room, nea the garden,
stands a large glass case, which I al
asked to look into. There appears the
statue and bay in the foreground, in
the background a panorama of New
York, the suspension bridge and Brook.
Ign SO faithfully represented in their
local aspect and details that a New
Yorker or Brooklynite would grow
hezaes!ck to look at it. From there n
passes into the Studio. A s%culptor's
studio is always more severe and es-
peeially less dainty than a painters.
At best, sculpturing is dirty work and
its severity does not admit of the thou
sand and one knick knacks that may
look graceful and in place in a paint
er's den. As Claretie aptly calls sculp-
ture, it is the male of painting. All
around on small, carved, wood GAL
leries are copies of Bartholdi's works;
on a pedestal stands a fine one Of his
Belfast Lion, which ranks next to the
statue of Liberty in importance. Be-
yond this studio is what might be call
ed the sculptor's kitchen, for it con.
tains all the tools and implements of
work, clay, plaster, and water to mold
the artists conceptions into life. 1t is
in this house that the great statue of
Liberty was conceived, where it found
shape, and where it's first rays began.
radiate in hope of shedding its light
over the world. Paris Cor. Brooklyn
Eagle.