The Saint Paul globe., 1904-11-13
CITY NEWS
CAPITOL PAINTING
STIRS ALL GOTHAM
La Fargo Canvas for New
State House Praised
by Critic

The artistic value of the paintings
that Will adorn the marble capitol of
Minnesota is well set forth in the de-
scription given by a New York critic
Of a canvas recently completed by John
La Fargo and exhibited in the Wander
bilt Gallery of the Fine Arts build
ing. The painting is the principal
work Of four that Mr.. La FARCE will
execute in the decoration of the su-
preme court room. They will occupy
four lunettes. on the sides OF the
chamber. A lunette, 1t may be worth
while to tell, is half-moon space,
with the curved side uppermost. The
completed painting. exhibited privately
at the Vanderbilt gallery, win be seen
In the lunette directly behind the SUI
preme bench.
Mr.. La Farge's subjects" writes the
Gotham observer in the Mail and Ex-
press, naturally concern the law. The
painted lunette on exhibition is enti-
tied THE Moral and Divine Law" and
shows Moses receiving the command
ments on Mount Sinai. He kneels with
bowed head on the shoulder of a great
mountain, in the midst of fire and
smoke. Joshua, standing at respectful
distance. warns back the unseen crowd
or Israelites; Aaron kneels, with face
covered.
TT is a scene of cosnic grandeur
that Mr.. La Fargo has imagined, with
great purple and orange clouds ranging
about the rugged summit. Far below,
to the left, stream winds it's way:
on the near slope verdure fights for
existence on the rock surface The
sky is full of motion, with swirling
vapors gloriously luminous. In this
aerial tumult of movement and color
the robe of Moses shows as a glowing
pink; but the stern green and scarlet
and blue Of Joshua's costume in the
foreground are not within the pale of
the miracle, nor has Aarons robe aught
but its own mauve and purple hues.
Chaos Made Orderly
"Over the turbulent natural eIe-
ments shine the dominating personali-
ties of Moses, his gray face half hid
den; and Of Joshua, bold and instinct
with the aspect of leadership If the
reader can conceive of a chaos made
fury. he will get an impression similar
to that produced by Mr.. La Farge's
Mount Sinai.
"The balance of color and of mass,
OF light and shade. is kept by devices
that secure unity and simplicity. The
whole design pivots on that kneeling
figure strangely powerful yet crushed
under the impact of the divine mes
sage.
CAS- a matter OF fact, the design it
self was done backward. Mr. La
Fargo worked out in miniature dia-
gram OF the lines of composition he
wanted. and then fitted the scene al
most literally TO them He was aided.
on the realistic side. by his personal
rnt.c AE<.~-
and by photographs Of the Mont Peiee
eruptions.
This large canvas was painted, ac-
cording to Mr. La Farge's Latin in
scription, by his own hand, and in
twenty-nfne days, in this the sixty
ninth year of his age. 1t is mastery
In the dash and freedom of the brush
work. The luminosity is attained not
by overlooking with paint. but by the
use of pure colors lightly dragged over
the fresh. appetizing surface"
A cartoon or charcoal sketch for a
second lunette was also exhibited by
Mr.. La Fargo.
This cartoon" the critic continues.
shows Confucius, the Chinese sage.
with his pupils In a grove by the side
Of cascade and a pool. They are
collating and transcribing documents.
The five large figures are disposed on
a rug In grouping singularly skill
full. The types were carefully selected
by Mr.. La Fargo from among Chinese
actors here in New York; the land
scape is modelled on q Chinese garden
In Japan, sketched years ago by the
painter.
"As an indication of the artists
methods, of his regard for spacing and
accents. this charcoal drawing on a
great scale is of rare interest. It
shows how, when man OF genius is
at the crayon or the brush, accents
and structural factors fall into place
apparently OF themselves. inevitably.
The Confucius promises to be one of
the painters most memorable perform
ances.'s
Speaking yesterday of Edwin h
Blashfieid's two paintings, already In