The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1900-09-27
PARIS LETTER,
yocu,ar correspondent.

l.kl
u 'a assembled here, as in a gigantic
s encyclopedia, all the materials serving
;a s tbe history of art in the vast, mark
u ;"a rs development by stages, and
Having o in the present, by meaus of
'omnarson between the displays of
III races. the dominant thoughts, the
modes Of expression, and the progress
.obieved. 1t is true that these materi.
ss are scattered throughout the ex-
aos;,,on. In the Grand Palace of
Fine Arts, one can with single
.l,nce embrace the simultaneous eff
1or, Of nations in what was formerly
c.lled the noble arts; one can iecog-
nze what each people have achieved
n nainting and sculpture in the last
ZEN years; but the conclusions to be
drawn from this examination are in
complete. One must go 70 the Hotel
des Invalides, and from there to the
Champ de Mars, and study the col
ections according to countries and
according to classes, in order to OBJ
tain the necessary date as to the pres
ent development OF art and as to the
forms it has taken.
The fine arts, so called, show only
one side of the artistic temperament
Of a nation. Its natural tendencies,
lis taste are shown as well, or even
better, in the special character 1t gives
its work, in the products of its most
humble industries as well as in its
creation of articles of luxury, in its
decoration for interiors, In the forms
given to furniture, in the selection of
coors, IN the arrangement of designs
for carpets, for hangings, for gold
smiths work, for crockery, for toys.
These represent a country much more
iully.than the fine arts themselves,
which often receive their models from
foreign countries, are subject to IN
Auences and obey fashions in actual
contradiction with the genius OF their
race Besides, these are usually pro-
duced for the richer classes alone,
while the applied arts, exploited for
the benefit of the masses, receive in
spirations from them and are modelled
in accord with their taste. Much
better than painting or sculpture do
they show the instinct and the artistic
capacity of people.
In this connection, the artistic de
velopment Of Germany is especially
interesting With all the wonderful
progress made by the country since
the foundation of the empire in 1870,
art has remained more or less station
any, There remain a number of pet
y states, principalities, grand duchies,
toy kingdoms, which have kept factlt-
louS Importance, among other lines,
by the maintenance of local schools
Of art and universities. The latter
have been forced to adapt themselves
to modern conditions and methods Of
education; but the schools of art, To-
Gated for more than a century IN the
same cities, remote from industrial or
commercial centers, have continued to
seek models in the past and to avoid
contact with the life of the present
day.
Add to this lack of a common
source of education and to the super
anuated instruction given, the differ
ences IN races and temperaments OF
the German people--from the posi-
tive, relastic German of the North to
the expansive, sentimental German of
the South, influenced by the tastes of
the neighboring Itally-and the reas.
on for the lack of homogeneous art in
the country will be seen.
Among the representatives OF the
Northern school only two are worry of
menton-Werner and Vogel. The
pictures of the first are noted for the
exactltude of the physiognomies de-
p'ea' Nogel knows how TO use color,
and his work has marks of distinction;
but there is decided monotony.
Llebermann is of quite a different
,ype' During his long stay in Hol-
land he gained the ability to give an
atmospheric quality to his pictures
ne gives us views of fishermen and
h0orerers engaged in their dreary oc-
cupatlons under the grey sky of Zee
iand all refreshingly true and lacking
IN any attempt at dramatic effect.
lhe "genre" picture, as shown by
Deregger, in Bavaria, appears fire.
quently. The principle on which il
rests, which consists in a study o
types studied separately and arbitrary
united and grouped, is without auth
o''ty' There are some notable ex
ceptlons to this class among the Ger