Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-20
A r N o T E S.

to polish them.
ART NOT ES.
At the quarterly meeting OF the trustees
held on Monday it was decided to open the
Corcoran Gallery of Art to the public on
Sundays on and after the 4th proximo, I'M
til further notice.
Mr. F. W. Ruckstuhl, the well-knoWn
New York sculptor. has gone to Paris
where he has taken studio. Ire state
ment IS made that he will reside there per-
manently, but as he has often severely cr!tl-
csed the action Of other American artists
who have made their homes abroad after
winning fame and fortune here. on the b.
surd ground that there is no art atmos-
phere in this country the probability Is
that the move IS a temporary one only, and
made with some special purpose IN view.
Apropos to this point, 1t is worthy OF
note that five of the seven American artists
who were awarded gold medals Of honor at
the Paris exposition are men who have
remained at home, finding their inspiration
in American life and American scenery.
which they are content to portray. Natur-
ally their work is more original and mas
more Individuality IMAM inat OF drtlStS VIII
seek their subjects abroad, and who are
more or less, but perhaps unconsc ous!y
mitators of foreign masters. With an in
telI:gent catholic and critical jury these
qualities have great weight as they should
have
X X
The statement in The Star a few days
ago to the effect that the Secretary of War
will soon make arrangements for the COM
VII, e tho tr;a ct,t Of
man, which work was interrupted by the
sudden death of Mr.. Carl Rohl Smith, the
sculptor, a few weeks ago. will alike inter-
est artists and those interested in the ariis-
! tic adornment of the national capital. Just
how far Mr.. Smith had carried his work
| forward is not generally known, but 1t will
probably not be easy to find sculptor who
can fully understand and successfully carry
out the original conception, or who will be
able to satisfactorily adapt his own ideas
| to the work already done. This group
! seems indeed to have been something of a
| child of misfortune and trouble from the
| very first. The bad feeling growing out Of
| the original award has not been forgotten.
| Then the site chosen for it is generally re-
| garded as an unfortunate one, since the
! statue cannot be seen from distance. and
| the figure must face to the northward,
| which should always be avoided inaSmuch
| as the features and expression upon which
| artistic effect much depends are thereby
| almost wholly lost in consequence of being
| thrown in deep shadow. Furthermore Ike
| col sensus of opinion among artists and
| connoisseurs is that the pedestal. as 1t
| stands. is altogether too high That which
| must most strongly impress itself upon the
| OBSERVER will be the legs and belly of the
| horse, which, to say the least, can hardly
BE- called the most attractive part of an
| equestrian group. If, in spite Of all these
| drawbacks, the statue shall turn out TO he
| a success it will be a matter of both sur
| vic ,lofi
Xxx
| The somewhat surprising announcement
is made that Mr.. McMonnies. the distin-
| guished young American sculptor, has C, n
Guided to abandon that field of art and de-
| vote himself hereafter exclusively to paint
ing. The reason given for this step is that
painting, an art. is much less difficult
than sculpture In the latter field. he
says, lone must apply every faculty to de-
tail, whereas in painting, while detail must
be implicitly obeyed. the keynote is more
general effect and requires less arbitrary
application" This may be satisfactory tC
the artist from his personal point of view
but it will hardly be SO considered by the
public To say the least, it seems hardly
heroic for a true artist to turn his back
upon one line of work, in which he has
been successful, because it is more difficL 4
he proposes to enter. especially when lht
one he leaves affords rather the broader
and finer field for artistic reputat on. Then
too it is extremely doubtful whether Mr.
McMonnies will succeed half as well In The
latter as he did in the former. In the opin
ion of many, no American sculptor stands
higher than he; certainly no one has evel
achieved a wider or more desirable reputa
ton at his age. To take the chance of e. "
ing up this for even a possible chance OF
failure as a painter is therefore puzzins
| indeed.
|
At present no other instance of this kind
at least in modern art, is recalled. There
have been cases where painters have turn
ed their attention to sculpture. and wor
fair success as sculptors, but they did moi
wholly forsake the palette and brush TO
the mallet and chisel. Mr. George F
Watts, who stands among the very frs
English painters, added something to hi
reputation as an artist by his equestrian
! statue of Hugh Lupus, which stands in III,
grounds of Elton Hall, near Chester; and h,
has executed one or two other groups o
statuary that are considered very credita
bic works of their class.
* 4
So, too, Gerome, the celebrated Frencl
painter. after winning fame as draughts
man and colorist. has added somewhat t.
bronze equestrian statue of the Due d'Au
: male at Chantilly Is much admired by art
lists as well as by the public. So. too. hi
r Napoleon entering Cairo has won a place il
t the Luxembourg Museum-pretty good ev
idence of the esteem in which 1t is hel
+ by the French authorities-and he has sew
: | erai plaster groups of the same characte
: In the present Paris exposition, two O
them representing, respectively, Juliu
| Caesar and Tameriane and one also {
. Christ entering Jerusalem. But, as is tn
case with Watts. Gerome has not forsake
r graphic for plastic art. Like his Englis
t confrere, he only entered the latter domai
a | because 1t afforded an opportunity fC
giving new or additional expression to hi
artistic conceptions.
g
: The death of Vollon, the celebrate
t French painter of still life, which occurre
$ lust when he received the highest honor
q of the jury in the Paris exposition, is a
8 irreparabe loss to modern art, and leave
a a vacant chair in the section Of painting !
d the Academic des Beaux Arts, where hi
l. associates were Gerome, Hebert, Bougu,