The Progress., 1893-09-02
MODELLING IN BUiiG
Artistic Work of Mrs. Caroline
Shank Brooks.
QUEEN ISABELLA IN A REVERB

! Faddlc-A sight in the Arkansas Build
| ing at the Worlds Fair Which Excite
the Wonder and Admiration of Visitors
North Dakota's Building.
| WORLDS FAIR, Aug. 30 Especial --
dropped SltO the Arkansas building yes
terday and passed a more than pleasant
hour talking with Mrs. Caroline Shank
| Brooks, the butter sculptra~S Of the Cen
tennial, who has removed there frum he
| Florida building. On one side o. the little
reception room was an alto relieve enti-
tied Queen Isabella in Reycric, - and at
! first sight every visitor either stood in adj
miring silence or broie out in eXclama-
! tiOns of astonishment that such product
as butter could be made into such form
of delicate beauty. On the other side
Mrs. Brooks, with little maple wood
/ paddle or knife in hand was moulding the
manly features of Columbus, and as she
worked she talked with all the enthuSi-
asm of yong art student.
"Now do tell the people | am not dead,
| though rs high an authority rs Harpcrs
has published q news and art item to the
| effect that the Centennial butter sculp-
tress died recently. O, no, | am very
much alive" And truly she looks it, for
! when one sees her fresh and youthful look
ing face and hears her soft, clear tones, it
! is hard to believe that she was woman
and celebrated seventeen years ago. She
is n native of Cincinnati and schoOlmate
/ of General Goshorn of the Centennial, and
was first persuaded to attempt something
for public exhibition by Mrs. Lucy Webb
| Hayes. She had been modeler in almost
every material used for the purpose since
! girlhood, but had not studied art, and
| found butter the best material. The re-
suit, with Mrs. Hayes encouragement,
was The Dreaming Iolanthe."
"And every ybody liked It so much" con-
| tinued the artist, naively, that Mrs.
| Hayes said must go on, so l made full
length Tolanthe' which was taken to
| Paris for the exposition of 1873 and was
very highly praised"
Isn't this Columbus rather yellow
much more so than that Isabella?"
80, if it weren't yellow, they'd say it
wasn't butter, and some folks think that
Isabella isn't, out you see | can change
the drapery by single stroke of this
bunch of straws, and j will whiten this
| Columbus n little after get il to my no
tion. Now as to your idea about
the many different types of the Virgin in
the Art palace and the one general type Of
! Christ, why it is very simple. [ think
there was an original picture or statue Of
! Christ made at the time and so the
artists have all along had a good
general idea of how He looked. O.,
there must have been some representation
! of person who attracted so much atten-
ton and, who, as we are bound to believe,
was the very picture and incarnation of
nobleness and manly sweetness. o, there
certainly was"
at would he a pity, ma'am, to quote
history against so pleasant belief as
that"
"You ought to go to Italy, where there
there are thousands and thousands Of
images of Christ, in the churches, on the
roads and everywhere, and you will see
that although many of them are very rude
and others weatherbeaten-why,I have
/ seen many that had moss on the north
side of them-yet among the best there is
n general resemblance. Now about the
! Virgin, there was no picture of her, and as
the painters wanted to make her u hand
some young woman, each one painted
after q woman of his own nation, and so it
went. You say that picture of n fat Dutch
Virgin looks ridiculous to you, but it
wouldn't if you were q Dutchman. It's
just your taste that has run down to this
slim American pattern Of women"
Ana as she spoke she gave Columbus n
final swipc across the left cheek, and
Herewith that side of him was finished.
And when l examined the Isabella again
saw that Mrs. Brooks, like other artists
was subject to the limitations of race and
nation, for this Isabella is anything but a
Spanish woman. 1t is side view, high
relief on an oval ground Tor, in common
language, only half of busD and the pro,
file is singularly delicate. The nose is
ideally Greek, the chin firmly dimpled
and the lips seem to quiver with sort OF
childish sensitiveness. All this, as every.
body knows, does not strictly agree with
history or the alleged portraits of Isabella;
but it is beautiful, oh, so exquisitely
beautiful. And the drapery, especially
the lace, exceeds anything l have ever seen
in marble. The tools used by Mrs. Brooks
are common butter paddle, somewhat
sharpened, two or three hardwood point
ers, bunch of broom straws bound
tightly and squared at the end for finish.
ing work, and few more pieces of wood
splinters or flattened sticks, might say.
-
And since we are upon the subject Of
high art and race limitations in picturing,
and other high and lofty themes, it might
be well to ask-why did no one ever pict
ure or carve black angel or a whita
devil9 Maybe they do in China, but in all
the literature of all the Aryan nations
from the Puranas to Paradise Lost, black il
invariably the representative of evil and
white is invariably the representative oi
good. John Bunyan probably never saw
a black man. In his immortal allegory all
the supernal powers are "fair and shin
ing ones" all the internal ones are dark
and Madame Bubble, who is only tolerablJ
bad is ''swerthy." 1t is worth while to in
quire if the prejudice against color is in
herent in the constitution of man. Ths
Bible everywhere uses white as the sym