Evening star., 1896-01-28
THE SHERMAN STATUE
One of the Competitors Discusses tn
Models
Should Be Decided by Artists-Rela-
tfon Between Situation and
Design-Hts Own Model.
To the Editor o. The Evening Star:

| To the Editor o. The Evening Star:
Now that the fair is over, and that the
| two committees. the artistic and the mill
| tary, have made public their decision. and
every one who had an opiulon in regard to
| the competition for the Sherman monument
| has had the opportunity to express 1t either
| in writing or verbally, 1t may be allowed
one of the competitors to express his own
! opinion through your valuable paper.
/ hope my professional brethren will not
| take it with Ill feeling, as l do not in
| tend to be unjust to anybody; but 1 do
| believe that il is the right of artists to
criticise each other. and 1 am always thank
| full when 1 learn that a fair criticism is
| made of my work. In fact, this competi-
tion has afforded me the pleasure of know
| ing personally several distinguished artists
and during their stay in Washington we
| have literally and friendly criticised each
| others work and have still made our re-
lation the more cordial.
The military con- mittee, represented by
General Dodge, as president, has acted very
wisely in inviting commission of artists
| to pass upon the artistic merit Of the mod
| els, and let us hope that this example will
be followed whenever a work of art is to
| be erected in public. This country has, in
| the last few years, made such rapid prog
reSS in art that there is sure feeling that
| in a short time we will rank among the
most advanced nations, and to further still
more the rapf1ity Of progress, the public in
| general and the government officials ought
to leave artistic matters to be controlled
by artists, as has been the custom of those
nations which stand foremost in art. And
let me say that when an artist submits his
| work to be passed upon by committee of
artists, the official in charge, the public
| and the artist himself must gracefully ac-
| cept their decision, even If it is not en-
| tirely as expected by them.
| An Example.
The King Of Italy gave us good example
| in this matter. At the death of his father
King Victor Emanuel, he gave one million
francs to the municipality of Turin to erect
a monument to his fathers memory. A
great number Of artists submitted models,
! and it was really splendid exhibition to
| look upon. The municipality invited twelve
| artists from all parts of Italy to pass upon
| the artistic merits Of the works. Their de-
| clSion was approved by all the artists, but
it did not meet with the approval of the
public in general, or of either of the city
| officials in charge. In Italy the public takes
a great interest in artistic matters; there
| fore there were public meetings, and even
| professions headed by brass bands protest.
| ing against the decision Of the committee
| Several petitions were sent to the king, ask
| ing him to overrule the decision but he the
| king, with that sound judgment that he
has always shown, answered, that although
| he did not approve of the selection of the
| committee, he had no right to overrule it.
| First of all be it said that the models "a hich
| have received prize are all done by true
| artists, and the only thing the committee
might have done was to have invited few
| more to submit models, as by SO doing they
| would have had greater variety to select
| from, and 1t would have been only a Justice
| to all the artists, among several of the
rejected ones. there are some that, with a
few corrections, would have made fine
| monuments.
I shall criticise the models submitted
principally from the technical standpoint
because. as far as know, nobody has pub
1iGh ho6 a,Nr c,~fts ts,fe &la&
merely criticised the models from the man.
| ner in which the character Of Gen. Sherman
has. been represented by the various
| sketches. And the manner of representing
| the character OF man has very often been
| the stumbling block to competitions of this
| kind, as almost every one has formed for
himself an ideal of the man to be immor-
taliZed, and expects the artist to express IL
in plastic form. In my opinion, the ma
jority of the models represent the true
| character of Gen. Sherman, because al
though he was undoubtedly endowed with
| many civilian virtues, and man of great
| integrity, as soldiers generally are his
main virtue was of being a typical soldier.
brave, prompt in his actions, and a true
| strategist.
| The Models.
In my opinion, the model submitted by
Mr.. Bartlett of Paris. in conjunction with an
architect, is at first glance an imposing one
and has a true monumental appearance, al
|
position reminds one somewhat Of an Assy-
rian monument. and although some fault
may be found in the details Of the archi-
lecture, the architectural part Is the most
| prominent and the most successful. AS the
| figure of Sherman is in forced position
and the two allegorical figures resting on
the pedestal are in a crouching one, they
are therefore better adapted for a grave,
and are void of that grandeur of line by
which it seems the sculptor should have
been inspired by the general line of the
architecture. There are. though, four lions
| which are exceedingly well modelled.
Messrs. Massey Rhind, sculptor and K
Dahler Tangen, architect, both show them
selves as very competent, each in his own
line The composition Of the monument is
very harmonious. The architecture is well
designed in all its details, che allegorical fig
ures are well composed and modelled; but
| think that the figure of Sherman lacks dig
nifty, and the arch which the architect put
in the pedestal in order to place a bas-relief
ought to be replaced by a square panel, as
the arch weakens the appearance of the
| pedestal, and 1 think that the sculptor
| should change the posjfion of q horse ir