The record-union., 1899-11-05

A. B.. Frost. the artist, has undertaken
what is thus far his most ambitious
and sustained piece of work, in a series
OF eight paintings, entitled "a. b.
Frost's Country Folks The series will
present the best of the American rural
types in the different aspects of their
social and neighborhood life. Each
painting will be distinct and be given
q full-page reproduction in the Ladies
Home Journal" the series running
through that magazine for eight issues,
beginning with the Christmas number.
Dr. Bredins has discovered hitherto
Unknown picture by Rembrandt in a
Baptist Church at Amsterdam. 1t is
the portrait of a handsome youth of 20,
dressed in black, with white collar
and large hat. Its probable. date is 1882.
The centenary of Count Won Moltke
will be celebrated on October %, 1900,
the hundredth anniversary of his birth.
Two young artists have received COM
missions to paint two frescoes at Krei-
sau Castle, the residence of the Moltke
family-one will represent the entrance
of the French troops into Lubbock on
ANONSHiDCl O. 1COO, WHICH was WltAeSSCu
by the six-year-old Moltke; the other
the entrance of the Prussian troops into
Paris in 1871.
New York Tribune: Recent advices
give fuller information regarding the
works of Mr.. ST. Gaudens, which, as
already announced. in '"The Tribune -
have been bought by the French Gov
arx,t L., -.
principal piece is the large relief of the
Angel with the Tablet" the winged
figure standing with arms uplifted and
supporting a tablet above the head
With this there will go a number Of
medallions. These include the por-
traits of Robert Louis Stevenson, Will
lam Dean Howells. and his daughter,
Miss Violet Sargent; the children of
DR.. Schiff, Homer ST. Gaudens, the
children of Prescott Hall Butler Bas-
tien iLepage, Samuel Gray Ward, Geo.
Nv. Maynard, William L. Picknell and
several others All these works will
import into the gallery of the Luxem-
bourg an individuality as original as it
is powerful The trend of French
sculpture in those fields which are es-
pecially illustrated by the works en-
that is often too fragile, too polished,
too academic. The exquisite refine
lnent in the art of Mr.. ST. Gaudens is
accompanied by freedom and vigor His
medallions will be compared with those
of Chaplain, and will emerge triumph
ant from the comparison. 1t is said
by the way, that Mr.. ST. Gaudens will
not return to America until next sum-
mer.
The restoring of Rubens' greatest
masterpieces, THE Descent From the
Cross" and 1.-The Erection of the
Cross" in the Antwerp Cathedral,
which was momentarily interrupted by
the recent Van Dyck tercentenary fes-
tivities, is causing great interest in the
artistic world. 1t was indeed time that
the work should be undertaken, for
in certain places, the varnish, which
was decomposing, had begun to attack
the canvas, and in others the colors
were disappearing. 1t was the begin
ming of the end The work begins with
scratching off the varnish coat after
coat with the finger nail. The varnish
is thus reduced to a fine powder, the
operator recognizing the original coat
the varnish is off the dirt is removed
by laborious rubbing with bread
crumbs. Simple as it may seem,
this system Of restoring an
eient painting has rarely been used. It
is the system in use in the Antwerp
Royal Gallery.-Antwerp Correspond
ence Chicago Record.
New York Tribune: NJ. Buisson, in
the Gazette des Beaux-Arts," prints
some interesting notes on Puvis de
Chavannes. Abiding to that artists
decoration for the amphitheater at the
Sorbonne, he prints the following letter
from the master:
Paris, Sept. 10, 1891.
Dear Friend-Your little old Papa
Theirs once said that what makes ami
mails superior to men is that they never
make mistakes. Now, as / go only by
instinct, I have a feeling that / am
a little like an animal. Your good
letter has twisted this feeling all up,
and it is going to defend itself by max
ing you live over again with it, in your
mind, this great piece of work.
When it was awarded to me my first
fear was that it would be tiresome and
monotonous-it was easy-but the OBJ
ject to he attained was to satisfy the