St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-07
VENUS AND TANNHAUsER.

ticular. Through a native love for German
art and German literature, he has placed be-
fore the public art treasures hitherto I'M
known here; And, through them, given new
vision OF Art as she lives and rules north of
the Danube and the Rhine. Mr. Kessler's
copy OF the Hungarian painting THE Sui
eide" white faulty in color and characteri-
cation, has been equaled by few art works
brought here. This may not be saving very
much. If we except Mr.. Hills choice col
lection, and the gems brought by Flagg and
few other works of merit scattered through
the private residences of the city, we have
not had glimpse of the broad, masterful
work OF the modern school of painters upon
the Continent. Nor except Munkaczy's
Christ Before PLATE" have we had on pub
TIC exhibition anything to compare in magni-
tude with 1.-THE Suicide;' and now this latest
production, "Tannhauser and Venus This
last was hung on Monday 1t comes direct
from Berlin, and is from the brush of Prof.
knike. 1t is the story of Dame Venus and
the minstrel Tannhauser, told from the
palette with all the boldness, strength and
beauty that the World-old tale inspires. 1t
is more than that. Aphrodite and the Ger
man bard are but thin DISCUSSES for the Eden.
born passions of man himself.
saasSss
The moment of depletion is when Tam
hauser, sick of the ''lily-white body of his
imperial mistress. turns his thoughts toward
Rome and fain would fly there for absolution
from his sins. He starts from his couch of
gold; the agony of his soul fills his eyes wit
terror; his black hair streams back; even his
limbs comfort themselves; body and mind,
surfeited to death-sickGess, recoil.
Dame Venus, loveIiest of danes,
My soul is sick. | swear,
OF kisses, roses and sweet Wine
And craveth bitter fare.
"Thy lily white body filleth me
With loathIng; for ! see
How many more in years to come
Shall enjoy thee after me-
Bee ridden Heine at Paris saw in the
mirror OF his mind this woe sweep through
the bard, and wrote it into immortal words.
knille has painted it into this masterpiece,
down to the knotted muscles above the knee.
and up to the nostrils that qulver under the
lash of regret. And at this instant of Tam
hauser's rebellion Venus, half rising from
her couch beside him, lets fall the mantle of
gold which. shelters her naked breast, throws
her arms of snow about his appraised form,
and lifts tempting, half pleading face to
him.
s:ssss
There is the central part of the picture
the thing that commands attention and the
deepest study. 1t is therein the contrast
between the passions of her face and the de-
spair OF his-that Knille has made of his SUBJ
ject masterpiece. You may exclude the
rest of the picture (meritorious as it isl and
lose but little. The two faces are the su-
preme objects for thought.
Arlo Bates, the Boston critic, defines art
-,
emotion" definition as delicate as this,
SO subtly constructed, so fraught with mean
ing. is unerring, infallible. as supreme test
for any product of the intellect And it was
never better vindicated than when H. f.
Stevens stood before this painting. Some
one questioned of him:
Can anything more be asked of thisT'
Nothing" he replied, Except to bid it
speak"
UnQuestionably. Knille sought this effect
In his human Characterization of these two
beings. He has surrounded them with all
that the fancy can suggest for the caves and
grottoes of Venusberg to be decked with
The hot. flaming color of the passion flower,
the white sheen of the crystallized walls, the
interviewer mother of pearl and gold of the
couches, the coquettish and frolicking
amorets, are a legitimate part of the para
phernalia with which Tieck clothes the I'M
derworld to which Eckhardt wandered held
by the passion of a kiss. The effect of the
coloring is not that of strained effort at
OrientaIism, but a harmonious play in the
hues, which an artistic Imagination would
best suggest for the high-born dame of the
sea and the mad singer of the Hartz.
s@@sss
Men OF intellect study the story of Tam
hauser in literature and view it in painting,
with secret consciousness that they are
looking upon part of their own lives un-
masked. The uneducated man under SIM
liar circumstances thrusts his hands into his
pockets. Few men live who do not go to
Venu sberg at some time or other, and stake
honor upon woman's smile or frown. The
artists success, then, in laying upon the can
vas not only legend, but story of life,
could not be assured if he made Venus a
goddess. By the canons of time art and
the Judgment of the emotions, she must be
seen as woman-one of the frail tempting,
lovable and hateable creatures that men
either wive or cast off. This Knille's Venus
Is. The power that S GEMS to come out from
her pleading lips, the barred throat curved
and turned with serpentine grace, the eyes
burning him through and through, is human.
And Tannhauser is a man-conscious and
sentient.
sa:sss
There are curious little details in the paint
ing that serve to add to the train of thought
inspired by it. The couture ornament of
Venus is serpent with uplifted head, as if
al out to strike at Tannhauser. The bard
himself leans upon harp but dimly seen in
the shadow Of his cloak. The amorets dis
porting about the couple all have their faces
turned toward Tannhauser, joining in the
plea OF their mistress for his stay. These are
minor points, but they add infinitely to this
-this-passion play, 1t would be expected,
perhaps, that such a painting could not be
produced without a predominance of the
sensual in it. This is not the case. The par
TALLY nude is there, but only as an attribute
to the whole, not the whole itself The en-
tire work approaches more nearly the school
of Makart than anything else. 1t is in the
vein of the realism of Balzac, not lola.
Coarseness, repulsive flesh exaggerations are
absolutely lacking. The tone is modern and
German. There is freedom of action, bold
ness of imagination, faithful adherence to
the truth of history and the beauty of le-
gend. The realism is healthy. Certainly
neither morbid nor impure mind worked
the tale into color or seeming life.
s%%sss
Tieck, who put the story of Tannhauser
into prose more than a century ago. placed
in his mouth this description of Venusberg:
''How many years thus passed am quite
unable to state; for here was no time and no
divisions; the luscious charm of virgin beauty
burned in the flowers, and in the forms of