The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-18
BARON ARpAD HUNTS
PAINTER OF COUNTESS ZICHY'S
PORTRAIT, A LA TRILBYs
GOES WEST.
WILL SHOOT AT LARGE GAME,
LETS OF A JEALOUS
COUNT.


Rumor Has 1t That the Canvas Is
Within the Limits OF This
Sanity City.
If the Count Hermann Zichy is still
cunning for the Baron Arpad PasZ-
thory, he will find the last mentioned
nobleman in the wilds of the far West
any time for the next month or so.
The baron was in st. Paul yesterday
with his cousin, NJ. de Bussiere- Muller,
and went on his way to Jackson's lake,
on the Northern Pacific coast train, in
the afternoon. The cousin with the
bifurcated name is still in st. Paul,
guest at the Hotel Metropolitan.
Who is the Baron Arpad Paszthory?
Why he is the painter whose good
looks and skill with the brush induced
the Countess Zichy to pose for him for
a picture that astonished the art crit
les and ripped the aristocracyof Aus
trO-Hungary in twain, because the
Count Zichy recognized in the face Of
the beautiful work of art the Inca
ments Of the wife of his bosom. The
scandal that resulted from the discov-
cry Of the identity of the face took on
international interest when, quite re-
Gently, during a reception given by the
Baron de MendOnca, the Brazilian min
lister to the United States, it was found
that a painting by Paszthory, owned by
De Mendonca and entitled "The
NIIyJoo OF +loo De- ,l-,
trait Of Countess Zichy. On account
of the original discovery, Baron Pasz-
thory eXpatriated himself, the husband
insisting on buying or destroying the
picture, and the painter insisting that
he would neither sell nor destroy the
work-which was really of such rare
beauty as to raise the painter to the
very forefront of his profession. Bar
on Paszthory was spoken to about the
picture yesterday, and was not at all
10th to discuss it, but his English was
very difficult, and his cousin M. de
Bussiere- Muller, did the discussing
The latter is travelling with his cousin
and making his exile tolerable, but his
affection for the exile does not go far
enough to cause him to go after big
game and possibly blow his head off.
He stays in st. Paul pending the re-
turn of the baron
According to M. de Bussiere- Muller
the Counts of Paszthory Iorded it over
the Huns before the Hapsburgs hap
pened. The family name is eminent for
deeds of daring on the field Of battle
and they didn't take kindly to the
Austrian domination over their land
They were active in the rebellion Of
1S4S, but escaped the vengeance Of Aus
tria because of their power in the land.
The present counts grandfather and
father were soldiers, and he was train
ed for the army. He had plenty of
talent in drawing and he indulged it
in drawing scenes from the rebellion in
which he gave the Magyars so much
the best of it that he had to leave the
army. Then he went in for painting,
and while still a very young man he
attracted attention in the salons of
Paris and Rome-Vienna being closed
to him by the edict of banishment that
followed his dismissal from the army.
He is a young man still-about thirty
and a fine-looking fellow. dark and
swarthy, almost q gypsy. So that when
he set up his atelier in Presburg and
later at Carlsbad, he had no lack of
followers and patrons, and among the
latter was Countess Zichy, who was
said to be the most beautiful woman at
the Austrian court. She was proud of
her superb beauty and induced Pasz-
thory to make her his model-she said
so herself over her own signature in
the newspapers of all Europe when the
expose came last year. He had made
many sketches of her, and "The Nymph
at the PooF was sold to De MendOnca
at Carlsbad before it was exhibited.
About a year ago a second picture Of
no "a f111 06
is said to be a thing of exquisite
beauty so startlingly life-like in color
and form that the countess could not
deny herself the privilege of having it
exhibited, and she insisted that Pasz-
thory send it to the salon. Before do
ing so he gave a private view Of it at
Carlsbad, and among the visitors was
the husband of the original There was
a tremendous row and the husband at
tempted to destroy the canvas. He
was restrained, and he demanded an
explanation His wife gave him the
explanation that she had ordered the
painting and posed for it. Count
Zichy was in the diplomatic service
Of his country and stationed at Berlin,
and he appealed to the German author
tiles to confiscate the picture, when he
found he could not buy it. Paszttory
was informed of the appeal and snug
gled the painting out of the country.
He brought 1t to the United States,
and says that he repeatedly refused to
sell it to people who he thought were
agents of her husband, and that
it is not for sale now He said yester-
day that if it ever went back to Eu-
rope it would only be for exhibition at
the Paris exhibition of 1900. Meantime,
where the baron goes the picture
goes, and De Bussiere-Muller in
timated that as Paszthory could
not we'll take it with him while
hunting he would take care of 1t. M.
Paszthory says that the canvas was
rolled up and sealed before leaving
Germany, and that it had never been
unrolled or shown to a person in the
United States. Asked if he would
place a value on it, he said with a
smile. in French: 'M. 1e Comte offered
"a. 600 marks for it. 1t is not for sale"
The painting is that of the reclining
figure of a woman-that is all There
are none Of the adventitious aids of eff
fective surroundings. It is pure classic, |
but it cost the artist an exile and a
husband his wife-for it is said that the
countess has been divorced. And it
will likely cost a few wild beasts their
lives, for the baron is a notable hunter
and had a whole arsenal Of guns with
him when he left for the West yester-
dav afternoon.