Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-20
ART NOTES.

There is now on exhibition in Fischer's
gallery one of the most remarkable series OF
pictures which has ever been shown in
this CITY,. These are the Parsifal tone
| paintings by Marcus Simons. which, when
recently exhibited in New York. attracted
| unusual attention. and were given wide
publicity. No artistic event for many years
/ has created the interest which this winter
has attached itself to the presentation of
the great Wagnerian music-drama, Parsi-
| fall Each time that it has been given num-
| bers of persons have travelled great dis
| tances to hear and see it and the price and
sale of seats has been without precedent. 1t
has been discussed by the daily press. on
the pages of the popular magazines and
even in the pulpit so it would seem only
natural that series Of paintings purport-
| ing to illustrate this same drama should at
! this season prove popular.
! Had Marcius-Simons' tone-paintings been
| this and only this they might however,
| have been quickly seen and easily forgot
ten, they might have possessed merit
and won applause, but they could not have
sustained they did the deep, thoughtful
interest which they originally awoke. They
are, indeed. all this and vastly more. Il,
Ten years ago Marcius-Simons young
American artist living in Paris, began ac-
cumulating material for great series of
paintings illustrating the entire ''Nibelun-
| gen Ring" conceiving at the same time the
/ idea that with paint and brushes the same
thought might be similarly expressed as
| with the great musicians score. AS seven
/ notes are the seven factors of music SO he
claims are seven colors the seven factors Of
| painting.
In this way the Parsifal series came to
be painted and in this way It is painted.
| 1t was an experiment, but 1t has more than
fulfilled all expectations Nothing of the
same Kind has ever been produced before
and therefore to judge the canvases Alright
! one must lay aside old. established tests
/ and assume the painters viewpoint. To
/ begin with. 1T must be understood that the
paintings are not reproductions of scenes in
! the drama as presented either in New York
| or at Bayreuth, but purpose rather to be
! renderings of the musical score. For this
| reason and to emphasize this side of the
presentation certain bars of the music have
| been placed on the frames beneath the pic
lures. The thought from first to last is
| music; music as the great composers have
| comprehended it and at a point where the
| definition between it and pictorial art is
| lost
| The first of the series pictures Parsfal
| with younger lad listening to the story of
J the Holy Grail which Gurnemanz is tell
| ing them on the shore of a beautiful lake,
| beyond which the stately castle is seen in
| the distance. The second is a composite
| picture showing Parsifal looking in from
| the midst of the moving landscape upon
| the wonderfully impressive Love feast"
Here for the first time Kundry is intro
| duced-she who could only be redeemed
| from a hellish, dual life by the piety Of
| rure, human love 1t is Kundry and the
| wicked klingsor. her master, who alone
| occupy the third pictorial panel, and in
| the fourth this woman the tempter
| again takes a prominent place In this
Ringers magic garden and his flower
naidens are pictured. Parsifal, with arms
folded and face firmly set, stands In the
| midst of the most seductive loneliness. On
a bank to the right, Kundry in the fairest
guise beckons him to her. while among the
flora to the left Klingsor is standing
threatening him with the sacred spear
which he has stolen from Amfortas The
hfth, again, is an upright panel, in which
Parsifal in armor is seen with face I'M
covered offering a prayer upon the safe
conclusion of his journey. BY his side,
FIRMLY planted in the ground. stands the
recaptured. sacred lance, and beyond in
the radiance of the setting sun, may
discern the stately outlines of the erals
burg. The Good Fridays SPELL Is the
subject of the sixth painting, a landscape
to which a heavenly beauty has been given.
Here to the right by a little stream Kun
dry is seen bathing the feet of Parsifal
whom Gurnemanz is at the same time
baptizing. On every side the choicest flow
ers are blooming, and affair off in the fair
sky bit of rainbow stands as the SYM
boil of promise. In the seventh panel Par
sifal Is seen curing by a touch of the
scored spear, the agoniZing wound of King
Amfortas, the predominating thought being
the kings remorse. The eighth and last
painting of the series is given over to
representation of the mystic, awe-inspiring
Redemption" On the steps of the Basil
lea beneath the dome stands ParsifaI up
lifting the Holy Grail before him lies Kun
dry redeemed from her awful curse, around
in the mystic circle stand the knights and
or a bier in the immediate foreground Fas
the body of the old King Titurel, beside
which kneels Amfortas golden light
ilumines the whole scene and in the air
are myriads of the heavenly host
In this last painting is seen the culmina-
| ton of the drama and of the painters
| power. 1t is impressively beautiful beyond
description The gorgeous coloring. the
| decorative effect, the concentration of light
and the suggestion of spiritual disem bodied
! beings are all more than remarkable
| The first painting of the series is for some
harsher than the others and to be out of
| harmony with the general scheme. 1t is,
perhaps, too near reality to be in accord
with the dream spirit of the rest. The
| third likewise may be thought to err on
the side of forced feeling, for while the up
| per part is brilliantly painted there is
something in the figures suggestive. of the
stage and footlights. In the remaining six
however there is little to find fault with
and nothing to prevent the observers COM
plete enjoyment. They are dream pictures,
which carry with them the expression of
music. AS a combination of brilliant colors
will suggest the blare of trumpets and a
group of low toned ones the sound of a
harp, so Mr.. Marcus imonS has employed
the chromatic scaIe to produce harmonies
OF exquisite shades and varieties of beauty
In "Klinger's Garden" is this particularly
| noticeable for there the rhythm of the
music is strongly felt is the action of the
| composition as well in the color scheme.
1t were well in this painting to note how
| the artist has handled detail and how he
has combined fact and fancy The fore
| ground is a of flowers, yet no one Is
infinitely painted, and before the eye has
| followed them a few rods they are mys-
teriously, yet naturally, metamorphoszed
| into veritable flower maidens. 1t is inter-
| esting, also, to turn from this to the other
| outdoor picture the opposite wall and
| contrast he two. In feeling they are dia-
metrically opposed. Both are splendid IN
| color, atmospheric in effect and certainly
| charming, yet sets forth the sensuous
| beauty of the world and the other the pure
| heavenly beauty of spiritual refinement.
| And this is the meaning they are intended
| to convey.
| There are some who will cavi with the
| painter because his drawing is not always
| accurate or on account of his occasional too
| fragrant color, but these are the men who
| unconsciously put craft above art. None
who looks upon the work as a unit can fail
| to recognize its merit or TO be impressed by
| its excellent feeling. Ina gination is some
| thing which the modern painter almost ut
| fer Mr.