New-York tribune., 1905-11-29
JOHN Id FARCE.
His Decorations for the NesO Capitol
at St. Paul.

Nj John La Fargo has carried practically to
completion the schsme Of mural decoration which
he undertook for the room In which the sessions
OF the Supreme Court Of Minnesota are held in
the new Capitol at st. Paul Two OF the four
large semi-circular canvases have already been
placed in position. The two which round out the
work have recently been shown to invited guests
the spacious Vanderbilt Gallery at the Fine Arts
Building where. under more favorable conditions
than those Of his studio. tbs artist has been
laying his finishing touches, A wider, more
public exhibition would have been welcomed, for
in this series OF compositions Mr.. La Fargo has
made than ordinarily valuable contribution
to American art,
of elements which it is not given to every artist
to reconcile one with the other. He is a thinker
as well as g. painter. and without having at
tempted to initiate the old masters, he has done
much to continue their tradition. tradition based
at once strength OF hand and on imaginative
power. The problem set before him in this in
stance had its root. Of course, in the principle OF
justice; and doubtless almost any decorator might
have solved II plausibly enough, by bringing In
the usual figure typifying the genius OF the law
blindfolded and holding the scales, and by draw
ing upon the history books for the usual illustra-
tive episodes. But Mr.. La Fargo has Dever cared
to give Us "glimpses Of the obvious" and though
there Is nothing esoterio obscure about his de-
signs for St Paul, they plainly lne outcome
Of a lofty conception Of the subject in hand II
they are not crowded with philosophical symbols
they at least bear the stamp of artist with a
philosophic mind. We have amply described, upon
previous occasions, the panels which are now in
place. The first of these. emblematc Of the moral
and divine law represents Moses on Mount Sinai.
receiving the law. For massive, heroic character
It Is the greatest thing of its kind in this country
In the second decoration, painted to illustrate the
relation OF the individual to the state, the arnst
struck a intimate note showing Socrates met
with some of his friends in the open air for pro-
found discussion. In the third Of his designs MT
La Fargo deals with the recording OF precedents'
his hero being Confucius, who sits In the garden
with his disciples, engaged IN the collation. ana
transcription Of documents: end in the fourth he
refers to the adjustment OF conflicting interests.
embodying the central motive ir the person OF
Count Raymond OF Toulouse, whom he represents
as swearing at the altar to observe the liberties
Of the city in the presence Of the bishops the rep
resentatives Of the religious orders and the magls-
trates Obviously, the idea of law has here been
crystaIlfzed In four compositions OF peculiar dignity
Their dignity of meaning is matched by dignity
of artistic form The artist has sought to make
theme and background interdependent in the pro-
duction Of his effect. aiming at a dramatic and
spiritual as well as decorative unity. Thus. in the
Moses" the hieratic figure dominating the de-
sign was placed arnid scenery of almost super
natural grandeur On the other hand. the group in
the Socrates" was framed in q landscape of syl-
van charm strengthened yet made only the more
gracious by the Introduction Of a classical archi-