Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-07-28
LACKING IN ART.
Spain Is Not Up to the Coun.
tries About Her..
Her EXHIBIT AT THE WORLDS FAIR

6AAS 49, 49, " ~ / &AAAb
Although, in Ono Respect 1t Is spain's
Exposition Her Showing Is Not Up to
the Mark-NIore Attention Devoted to
Agricultural Products Than to the Az.
Piled Arts.
WORLDS FAIR, July 27.- Special
In IL respect this is Spain's fair. 1t is
held in commemoration of the discovery
of America by one of the voyageurs sent
out by her royal rulers. One of her prin-
ccsses, Eulalia, has been n guest of honor
here. One of her dukes, descendant of
Columbus himself, with his family, were
warmly received us guests of nation, city
and fair. Spain might have done bet
ter at the exposition, but she has done
we'll. Her government made a liberal APP
preparation to aid the manufacturers and
producers in their work of giving a credit
able display of Spanish arts and industries.
Spain erected here n national building.
True, it is not as fine a building as that
of the Germans, nor that of the French,
nor even that of the Brazilians. It con-
tains no exhibits, but it is neverthelcss inn
pressivc, with it's vast cathedral interior,
its ccclesiastic paintings, its decorations
of the period in which Columbus sailed on
his memorable voyage.
1fSpain fails to make rs interesting a
showing here rs the other European ma
tions. her failure need not 1e ascribed to
lack of effort. The simple truth is. she
does not possess the arts and Industries
which are capable OF producing n s:ote-
worthy and impressive exhibit. Spain is
very largely an agricultural country, and
in none Of tie ar:s does SIZE excel. The
French to the north CO her and tho Itll-
ians to the east appear to have absorbed
most OF tho artistic instinct @; that part of
Europe, saving only TIE Work Of tho Span
ish school Of painters. These painters,
though not great numerically: ncrprolilc,
have sent 10 TIE exposition Art gallery
some of it's most striking c;,nvases. But
in the applied arts, in ceramics, carvings,
engraving, work in metal and wood, the
Spanish are notably inferior. In textiles
they strike u ligh uo;c, a:d proUuce some
elegant plain silks AID n great variety of
serviceable woolens, but they everywhere
lack in design. Their coloring is faulty,
and the art of chemistry evidently has not
made much advancement with them in
the last century.
Spain on the whole is rather d%isappoint-
ing. The best thing she has to show us,
aside from her paintings are wool and
cigars, two agricultural products; and fo7
the latter Of these she is indebted to her
progressive colony of Cuba, about the
only thing Spain has left in the western
world which the courage of her %navigators
lifted out of obscurity and offered as a
great gift to civilization. The first thing
of value Columbus encountered during his
voyage of discovery was ''some leaves of q
weed which the Indians smokedi in a pipe"
The admiral paid little heed to this native
treasure. He was hungry for gold, and
lost no time in steering his vessels for IN
island in which the natives told him much
of this weed could be procured, and per-
haps gold, and which Columbus thought
must be the C%hipango of which he had
read in the books of travels written by
Marco Polo. Yet these few dried leaves of
tobacco have poured more wealth into the
lap of Spain than all the gold which has
been mined in her western colonies.
Yet the Spanish section in the Manu-
features building is by no means dull or
uninteresting. It is not Respondent with
beauty, glittering with polish, like the
displays of France, Italy, Germany, Aus
tria, Belgium, Denmark, Russia, but it
has characteristics and details worthy our
attention. Spain was unfortunate in her
occSrr,~nrk ~ rrDn1 So kIs, l-
Though the foreign nation most directly
concerned in the historical aspect of the
Columbian celebration, she was not given
a post of honor. She was, instead, as
signed to space somewhat remote from the
the building, and this section, still more
unfortunately, is moro or less buried under
the floor of the broad gallery. The cree.
ton of a facade was impossible under the
circumstances, and the Spanish commits.
sioncrs contented themselves with fillino
the space beneath the gallery floor with
arches of Moorish type and coloring like
the vaulted ceilings of the Alhambra pal
ace. The effect is Moorish to q high de-
gree, and by this simple means the Span.
ish give character to their section and call
attention to that ancient conquest OF
theirs which perfected their empire fa1
more than Columbus discovery Of Amer.
lea.
At what might be called the en-.
trance to this Spanish section are DISPLAYED
two vases which attract much attention,
They are known as "vases renaissance ~
One, some five feet high and of graceful
proportions, IS valued at $40, 900. 1t was
made by a woman, Madame Felipa Gui.
~sarola, of Madrid. She was seven years at
her task. The material of the vase is
FURNISHED steel, and on this are magnif.
cent gold incrustations. No other metals
or materials chan steel and gold are used,
and the effect is indescribably rich. A
smaller vase, which represents two years
Of Madame Gu%isarola's toll, is valued at
$4,000. AS yet neither of the pieces has
been sold, and I fear will not be. A pho
tograph of Madame Guisarola is shown
near the vases, and a charming Spanish
signorita is there to answer all questions,
Iasked the Spanish commissioner what
was h most artistic thing his country.
men had to show here. For answer he led
me to a carved cabinet in which nearly all
the native woods of Spain have been used.
He nOinta6 tn IT, with ovidont p,;.1o o~l