New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-06-27
the front 10 make

| lung painter wos sent To the front make
studies of the Campai.n ,n,1n ,b.,, m,
"''''iN after N"Nati"uS delays and negotiations
'"o c"''p"'at'> t" Toe touched upon at length i'm
'his place. he produced The BATH, of Tctuan
'tS" canvas " hich may b, seen AT The. museum,
III barcelona. 1t is an interesting picture ana
SHOWS that the artist had found his STYLE Hut
I S'l' NOR" eloquent are m" small studies made
10y f"rtuny at this time. If he had felt the
NI''h'rN of the sun i'm Spain H. had not Yet
varied II int" his art. Arriving in Morocco the
| sun took him captive forever. ana tin, bizarre;
character of tn" landScapr and people, settled th.
direction of his genius. From that epoch NJ, be-
came the Fortuny that We know. \ few years
''''r ne was in Paris. then he visited Madrid
an" married Senorita Madraz". daughter of the
director "t the Prado; ana in little while he
proceeded to Rome. living there until his death
IN iN'l Neither in Paris nor Spain nor italy
did he let 20 of the Moorish inspiration THAT
mad saturated his n1tur". and his entire work
SHOWS hiin tn" master of those "Xquisit" effects
vi '"l"r ana ISht which h" first the cam
raiSh with General Prim. Even in such pictures
as "Th" Spanish Marriage or The Acade-
hlclans of Saint Luke" which are far removed
IN Their fasti'iious elegance from the blaze and
hIllllancy of Moorish scenes. he is true to the
Ola point of departure. The sparkle which he
longs To his sketches Tangiers silI plavs ohout
ms drawing room scenes and his studies of
i"'''" figures. furniture. costume and manners
80 ''''N> H'N" sometimes aN"rT"d that il
an Il matter of trickcrN. skiIful appli,ation of
the pyr"tcchnical ingonuitics or Cow ,,b,r,, h.
mad certainly studied with much devotion I,ut
one Way of proving the fallacy of this iu,igm.r,,
is 10y "omndring Fortuny with any Of his nunor-
Gus followers. especially in France. Madrid and
Rome. His mot hods become trick"ry and iugcIcry
in lesser hards. With him they We're the spon-
t"ro"us and artless expression of his nature
Hence his paintings glitter without being o,ti-.
hcal. they are like jcwclI,d canvases but they
are never hard or mechanical Furthermore.
They have. for all their daintincss ana fragile
charm a peculiar strength and even dignity of
composition. No cautious and thnughtrul
-\cademician ever had finer gift for filling his
canvas than Fortuny possessed. The great pict-
ure Of The Academicans of Saint Luke Choos-'
inS Model is one proof # this The spanish
Marriage is another; but. indeed. Fortunys
smallest ana most casual sketch was apt to have,
'hiS balance ana this beauty of proportion. Note
the arrangement of the accessories in the little
sketch OF the artists daughter note tn, relation
of the white table to the dark background and
the just proportions of the two contrasting,
81 aces. Instinctively Fortuny put his figures in
the right part of the canvas paper instinctivc-
ly he introduced or omitted just the things that
Aoademcians OF Saint Luke" and The Spanish
Marriage more remarkable in one Nav ar
another it is in their Illustration of sumptuous-
There is "A water color of Fortuny's which repre-
sents "A kabyle chief standing on a PRAYER rug
IN mosque in Tangiers, his picturesque figure
set boldly against a massive white pillar In
the background the broad walls of The mosoua