Evening star., 1898-08-06
ART AND ARTIST

The photographers and etchings from
celebrated battle pictures which have been
, placed on view for an indefinite period in
the art department of the Congressional
Library are attracting a great deal of at
| tention, and will be kept in the cases as
long as the interest in such subjects re-
mains at its present height. Most of the
| prints selected for exhibition are scenes
OF close fighting and hand to hand con-
| hict. and A de Neuville, who is master
| in the depletion of such subjects, is repre-
sented by superb photographers of several
of his works. One of his paintings por-
trays an exciting incident in the battle of
Malmaison, and another. representing the
capture of the church at lie Bourget at
the beginning of the siege of Paris. will
BE- looked On with especial interest by the
| many who have followed the serial story
of Robert W. Chambers. which has just
been concluded in The Evening Star. The
authors description of the heroic stand
made in the church by handful of Off
GERS and men is hardly less graphic than
that presented to us by the painters brush.
De Neuvillc has chosen the moment when,
after the Prussian cannon have been
brought into the street in front of the
church, the courageous defenders have at
last given UP their partly demolished cita-
del Tie portal is surrounded by the Ger
mans and their prisoners, and q wounded
officer, on a chair borne by two soldiers,
is being carried out the doorway and down
the stone steps, slippery with falling sleet
and the life blood of the gallant French
nen. No one has painted battle scenes
with more spirit and action than de Neu-
vile, or depicts more vividiy the horror
and brutality of war. Beside his pictures
such painting as r. Cation Woodviiles $
.Charge of the Light Brigade seems in
spite of its dash and movement more like
a cavalry evolution on parade ground so
lacking is it in the terrible realism which
characterizes de Neuville's work. Wood
vile is represented again by reproduc-
ton of his powerful picture of the capture
of Badjoz. This extremely interesting col
lection of prints also includes Stanley
Berkeley's painting showing the French
cuirassiers at Waterloo riding at full gal
lop over the brink Of the sunken road OF
Ohain, as well as pictures by Detaille, Gil
bert Gaul and Thomas Hoyenden, the lat
ter composition showing some wouaueu so
soldiers enjoying the most tender care
even though as the title indicates, IN the
Hands of the Enemy"
Besides this valuable collection or war
subjects which have been placed on tenn
porary exhibition, there are a number of
notable additions to the permanent exhibit.
One of the most important is the case of
copper plate engravings by Albert Durer,
| and these are especially Interesting when
studied in connection with the wood en-
cravings from the same hand, displayed in
the adjoining room. When working the
metal plates Durer abandoned entirely the
broad synthetic handling which marked his
wood engraving and expressed himself by
| lines of most remarkable fineness and deli
cacy. His '.Melauchoia'' is a case in point
and he has introduced into this rather
crowded composition a great mass of detail
work executed with marvellous ninuteness
and precision. The engraving showing st.
Jerome in his study Is among the best, and
the small engraving of st. Anthony is also
worth lingering over. In the latter the art
list has used a background view of ir-
reguiar-roofed houses, mounting up tier
upon tier to the towers and battlements of
a castle. and this is probably accurate
reproduction of some scene in picturesque
Nuremberg, Durers native city. THE
Knight With Death and the Devil is
other engraving of more than usual inter-
est, though it's quaintness and grotesque
character makes 1t seem to us less horrible
than the artist evidently intended that it
should be.
Just before she left the city for her sum-
mer's stay on the coast of Massachusetts
Miss Bertha f. Perrie completed nlinia-
ture of Mrs. Thomas c. Noyes. a work
which may without exaggeration be called
the best of the tiny portraits on ivory that
have come from her brush, and this is no
mean praise when considers the many
good miniatures that she has produced
since she first took up this branch of art
a year two ago. Miss Perrie has Law
ished upon this miniature an unusually
laEge amount of time and labor. in the en-
deavor to make it her best, and working
with patient skill under the inspiration of
such an excellent subject, she has achieved
a noteworthy success She has painted the
flesh tints with great truth, and has not
failed to set down the faint suggestions of
violet color, without which the delicacy of
a fair complexion cannot be accurately rem
dered. There is some very clever work in
the painting of the hair, and the rose
thrust negligently into the heavy coil be-
hind helps to remove any effect of stiffness
and precision, and adds greatly to the art
istic charm. The miniature needed no dis
play of elaborate costume to add to its at
tractiveness, and Miss Perrie has painted
her sitter in a simple low-cut gown. of u
pale pink shade, ard ornamented only with
a circlet of pearls. The portrait is a veri-
table gem in its delicate harmony of color.
X X
Ona of the most successful portraits that
Mrs Mindeleff has done this summer is a
likeness of the late DR.. Thomas Addison,
which she has painted for the new parish
hall of Trinity Church 1t is large, life
size portrait, in water color. the artists ia
vcrite medium. and while it is a little lack
ing in strength Of color has compensating
softness and delicacy. She is almost inva-
riab!y successful in securing likeness, and
this portrait is no exception. The eyes are
noticeably fins and expressive, and sound
knowledge is evident in the way In which
the head is painted.
The art season in New York is usually
inaugurated in the fall by the exhibition of
the National Academy of Design, and thu
dates for that exhibition have already been
set. Pictures sent in to this autumn dis
play will be received on October 10 and 20,
and any of our local artists who are plan
ring to enter pictures should bear these
dates in mind.
Humming Birds in This Country.
From the New York Evening Post.
While the eastern part of the United
States can lay claim to only one represen-
tative of the humming bird family, the