The Helena independent., 1894-11-29
TIME OF THE LOTUS.
THE LuxuRlANcE OF VEGETATION
The Lotus Is Ono OF the Most Difficult
Plants to Palnt.-An Artist at
Work.

III NhN NhilHNhhH iinlptI =, Alifed fhf-
sons presents n charming view OF the
Japanese summer. The authors
twenty-three illustrations show vari-
ETY. OF charming phases OF Japanese
life, landscape ana architecture; and
the descriptions are equally pleasing.
Nevertheless according to Mr., Par
sons, the japanese summer has It's
drawbacks. which include hot and very
moist WEATHER. mosquitoes. and even
worse little insect which lives In grass
or sand any annoys pedestrians.
The damp heat OF the japanese sum
mer. he says, which Is so trying To
human beings, encourages all vegeta-
tion TO grow with surprising luxuriance
and rapidity; the buds OF yesterday
are flowers to-day. and tomorrow moth
ing Is left but the ruin OF a past beauty,
making the painters struggle most ar
duous Just when he has least energy to
contend with nature, The young bRm-
boo shoots come up like giant aspara-
gus, growing so fast that one can al
most see them move; some Of them are
cut and eaten while young and tender.
and those which are allowed 10 grow
10 large poles are used for every imagin-
able purpose. They are made into
water pipes and flower vases. barrel
hoops and umbrellas, baskets and hats,
scaffoldlng poles and pipe stems, fans
and delicate whisks for stirring pow
dered tea-more things, In fact, than
/ could enumerate on this page. The
bamboo Is surely the cause of much OF
the clever constructive work OF the Jap
anese for though IL will do most things
with proper treatment, 1t will not stand
being handled like ordinary timber;
its peculiar qualities have 10 be CON
sldered, and every way in which they
use II is artistic and good. This is the
large species which grows TO twenty or
thirty feet high; there are many dwarf
kinds, which clothe the hills with green,
and are used only for making fences
and such like.
The lotus Is one of the most difficult
plants which II has ever been my lot
TO try to paint. the flowers are at their
best only In the early morning. and each
blossom after II has opened closes again
before noon the first day. and on the
second day its petals drop. The leaves
are so large and so full OF modelling
that Ii Is impossible to generalize them
as a mass each one has TO be carefully
studied, and every breath of wind dis
turbs their delicate balance. and com
pletely alters their forms. Besides this
their glaucous surface. like that OF a
cabbage leaf. reflects every passing
phase of the sky. and is constantly
changing In color as clouds pass over.
japanese drawings OF ilowers-and
they usually draw them beautifully
are often influenced in some way by a
~ ThA t.fh.. Ina f..1 t.
method was true impressionist, he
seized what appeared to him character
istic OF the plant. and insisted on that
TO the exclusion of other truths, thus
founding a mannerism which all fol-
lowing artists initiated. In time, what
he saw az characteristic became ex-
aggerated by his disciples. who looked
at nature only through his eyes and not
with their own, and / have observed
that the flowers which are most fire.
quently drawn are not so like the orig
inals as those less popular ones depicted
In books OF botany and such like, for
drawing which there is no recognized
method. and where the draughtsman
relied entirely on his own observation
for his facts. Take. for example, the
spots on the lotus stems; II you look
very closely you can see there are
spots, but certainly they could not
strike every artist as marked feature
of the plant. for they are not visible
three yards away But some master
noticed them many years ago and spot
ted his stems, and now they all spot
them. and the spots get bigger and
bigger: and so IL will be until some
original genius arises who will not be
content with other peoples eyes. but
will dare to look for himself and he
may perhaps. without abandoning Jap
ancse methods. get nearer to nature,
and start renaissance In Japanese art.
The japanese treatment OF landscape is
not more conventional than that OF
Claude and David Cox, or than the
shorthand of our pencil slSetchcs, but
II records its facts In "A different way
The everlasting question in art is the
imitation OF nature; 1t has never been
carried farther In certain directions
than by Millais and his pre- Raphaelite
brethren, or In others than by Manet
Monet and the modern French, but no
one can put In everything; look at a
simple bunch of leaves In sunlight
against a wall, and think how long II
would take TO really initiate all their
OF form, color and light
and shade, some facts can only be !
given In ignoring others. and the queu
tion what is the important thing which |
must be Insisted on lis the personal af- |
fair Of epch individual artist in every |
country where art is unfettored and |
alive. Hut In japanese ms I'm ByaRu- |
tine and ether eastern arts, this uues- |
tlcn is still decided by the practice NJ |
past generations, and IL will take all the |
vitality nf II strong man to infusc Hrw |
life irto II without destroying Its mnns |
N1uisIte cuil Ier. Perhaps when ,lrp |
aHcsc artists absorb It's spirit Instead OF
morcly trying tc initiate its methods. |
W. stern NJ may hnlp In the diecvtl - |
of freedom; al LltHtnt ! fear that It's
INFLUENCE has donv more harm than |
good. Tie Itoplc are "a quicl, 10 re't z |
'.i;;U the mcdninH NJ A few ilups. Itf tu
understand the Poetic Idea whicI they |
suggest that II Is q wonder the hrtlt;s |
ever learned Ia draw at all: tSey might |
have been content WITH symbols FOR I |
few lines Arc enough To convey AL the |
ppCtry Jlnt ls rsstt irted In their nv - |
with any Of the well known art motlt's. |
The little island of Benten Is fire. |
quented spot, and my easel was sur
from morning till night with u |
crowd OF spectators, they dispersed at |
the command OF the policeman on his |
hourly round but after he had gazed |
his fill and left me, n new lot instantly |
assembled. They We're mostly children;
and crowd OF Japanese children Is |
twice hs many az any olhcT crown OF lts |
size, for every child has another
smaller one tied to It's back. I suppose
they are not born In pairs this way, but
they contract the habit Of carrying n
little one at n very early nge, and often
tie on n doll when a sufficiently small
human being cannot be found The
spectators are almost always polite, and
take care not to put themselves be-
tween you and your subject; but they
squeeze up very close to your elbow,
and trample on your nerves. N not on
your materials They usually remarked
that my work was photograph; some
more educated ones said that Il was an
that being the medium
which IL associated with foreign art.
md one man said that II was enamel.
which I took as a compliment "a the