The herald., 1894-11-20
FIN De Steele SCULPTURE.
The Careers of CanOva and
ThOrwaldsen.
What Has Been Done in the Cen.
tury Now Closing.
The Scuiptors of the Modern English,
French, German and American
schools Noticed and
Compared.

sixth of her interesting art talks at the
Marlborough school. the subject being
Cauovs, Thorwaldsen and Fin de steele
Sculpture.
From Michael Angelo, 1900, to the
time OF these men, 1900, there were
about 300 years, in which the baroque
or rococo style, the pigtail and periwig,
hourshed in architecture. Givoanni
Lorenzo Bernini, who was born in Ma
ples, 1898, ie perhaps the only name that
stands out with any prominence during
that period, and his influence filled
churches with eculptured saints and
apostles 30 bad that no work worth
mentioning was done for 20 years tefore
Antonio Csnova appeared.
Canova was born. 1857, in one of the
Venetian states and belonged to the
third generation OF workers in stone.
His fret great success was Theseus cit
ting on q minotaur, and some smaller
fgures-O -Orphena and Eurydice, Cupid
and Psycbe, Venus and Adonis. He
had genius and many virtues, enjoyed
steady prosperity aud popularity His
style WAS formed wholly on the antique,
ture. He WAS especially good in youth
ful female figures, as Hebe, Psyche and
the Graces. He was tsnciful and poetic,
made grand forms that were also grace
full and were noted for their yielding
flesh and waxy finish; and although he
has been accused OF being theatrical,
affected and sentimental, he was the
first to be admitted to the vatican
among the antiques. In 1885, when the
allies. by way Of vengeance on France,
cent the art treasures back to Italy,
Canova was given charge OF them, and
in Rome the title Of marquis was be-
slowed on him. with pension and q
coat OF arms, by the pope. He died in
1922, at the age IS.
Beriel Thorwaldsen, the "Phidias OF
the North" was born in Copenhagen
1770; his mother was Q peasant, his
father wood carver. In his youth he
vas stupid. lazy and indifferent; be
would only draw and carve he would
be sculptor or nothing. When forced
to 60 to Rome he was too lazy to write
to his parents, or study Italian ON the
voyage; he knew no history or mytho-
logy but he loved the antique az once,
and made reliefs from 1t be soon became
popular, was petted in society and then,
finding himself ignorant, set about learn.
ing. Among his most famous works are
Tamymede, Hebe. the Graus and Cupid
and Psyche, a colossal figure of Jason !;
the monuments of Schiller, and the Lion
OF Lucerne; the bas.reliefs of Night and
Day. and the sculptures in the church OF
our Lord at Copenhagen. After earning
a world wide fame by the productions of
his chisel. he returned to his native
country where he is idolized, and died
there in 1874.
In taking up the fn.de-siecle sculp-
ture Mrs. Caswell said that statues are
an acquired taste; infants love color, Eot
form, and as sculpture is the calmest
and simplest of all the arts, it is the last
to develop il has many limitations too !;
it is confined to form only, and admits
of less individuality than painting. It
is purely intellectual, and is too difficult
to attract the amateur; children should
be taught to like it, or at least to know
it; Ruskin Gays repoee is the test OF
greatness in art.
The French school leads in technical
qualities and is akin to the Greek and
renaissance, though sensuous and mod,
ern in spirit; examples are Duboir,
Barge, Chapu and Rude.
cACclb Ill luOucIu
as ia seen in the works of Rauch, kiss
(animals), Dannecke:, Schadon, Reit-
schel, Leick, Schilling, Schwanthalu.
In England are those of Flaxneau,
Chautry, Gibson.
the Goth century. There are some names
to disprove this assertion, though they
are not strongly individual. Augustus
st. Gandens was born in Dublin, his
father French, his mother Irish. He
wac brought to this country when six
years old, was apprenticed to cameo
cutter for Is years and went to Paris to
finish his trade; worked half day at it
for support and then entered studio to
learn sculpture. He afterwards went to
Rome where he made a made Hiawatha
in clay rich American there ordered
one made in plaster and another. finally,
in marble. His Farragut in Madison
square, New York, made him famous
and is one of the finest in the world.
His other notable works are Lincoln
in Lincoln park, Chicago. The Puritan
and Nirvana, in Washington. D. c., q
Graped figure in absolute repose.
ID. @. French is known by his minute
men and portraits. Powers, Ball. W..
w. Story, Simmons. Thaxter, Rhein.
hart, Randolph Rogers. Harriet Hos.
mer, Theodore Ruggles, j. Q. A. Ward
and Partridge are other American
names more or less known among the
modern sculptors.
1.-THE average gravestone sculpture
makes q man wishsto be buried in the
sea'' A future school is uncalled for
as are purely American subjects. since
most great work has not been national.
Mrs. Caswell concluded her talk by
saying that since the Philadelphia ex.
position in 1876. art schools and art
museums have started up everywhere !;
yet many OF the new generation of
artists study abroad, take prizes, teach
there, or stay to make European name
in a short time.
America is the largest picture market
in the world there are many private
collections here; and the Metropolitan
museum in New York, the Boston mu-
penm, the Corcoran art gallery in WASH
ington, d. c., and the nsw gallery in
San Francisco, all buy largely the work
of Americana, while 80 per cent of the
$50 600 income OF the Carnegie library
in Pittsburg, is devoted to the purchase
OF pictures by American artists.
The subject for next Saturday 10
Gothic or Pointed Architecture; defini-
tions, constructive ornamentations, dec-
orative ornamentations. distinguished
early, middle and iata Gothic; ty pical
cathedrals of England, France, Ger.
manv, Italy and Spain.
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