Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-21
AMERICAN STATUARY
INITIAL IMPULSE OF ART THEME
OF LECTURE.

The ninth meeting of the National So
ciety of the Fine Arts was held last even
ing in Hubbard Memorial Hall, when an
address was given by Mr.. Gutzon Borglum,
the sculptor, on MANS Monuments and
American Statuary," and in order to allow
the speaker ample time all business was
deferred until the January meeting.
Mr.. Borglum declared at the outset that
his purpose was to deal with the initial i'm
pulse OF art rather than specific examples
tine substance rather than the shell. En-
phasizing the unity of the fine arts, he
spoke particularly of sculpture and archi-
lecture, and of the latter chiefly from a
monumental standpoint. He has compiled
list of the various statues in the several
American cities and from this he made in
teresting citations.
There seems to be no lack of statues"
ne SAID, but how many would be worthy
place in museum of art if like some
of the monumental works of Greece, they
had their heads broken Off. How many
with their names removed would be dis
tnguishable?"
Too much attention." he believes, has
peen given to medium, and too little to i'm
puise-to the genesis of the work. Out
lining the wealth of America in tradition,
In subject matter related to life and hui
manty, he spoke deprecatingly of the use
that had been made of it,
we nave INITIATED, we nave borrowed,
we have stolen he said, until we have
cheated ourselves into the belief that we
have done something original
To be original, Mr.. Borglum insisted, one
only need be natural for every one was
created individual. To say something worth
while one need only give voice to natural
feelings and impulses. But instead of this
thea, the artists of today he reiterated are
the disease in American arts a complete
disbelief in itself. Four hundred years
and we don't know our own story, and of
course never tell it; nor has it's soul crept
into single monument. If the life of a
nation is key and motive for its feeling
and expression, what can Greece or Egypt
or Rome boast Of compared to America
From patchwork quilts and rag carpets
ragtime art We have not learned that
every building is a temple; that it is built
around belief. In our art We have pieced
together the debris of glorious but forgot
ten ages, which we neither feel nor under
stand" Mr.. Borglums plea was for a
vital art. Il do not believe in the artists
of today or In the architects" he said
They are little better than the average
Beaux-Arts output of Paris
I will go little further. If you want to
md our artists turn to the men who are
converting into great heaps our industries,
who are cutting the continents in two. who
are connecting the north with the south,
the east with the west-these are the men
OF dreams who have character to satisfy
our souls. Our artists must speak with
the same voice If they are to become con-
vincing. The world does not want need
or respect as artists, the trifiers with the
brush, clay or technique. 1t wants men,
large in their sympathies and understand
Ing and courageous in their work.
Architecture Discussed.
Turning to the subject of architecture,
Mr.. Borglum asked what there was ex-
traordinary in the buildings which were
commonly called great.
"A facade fashioned after many, a struc-
ture planned by an engineer an interior
handled by a decorator. The thin, wholly
unreal skin which architects face these
buildings with are untitled for real sculp-
ture, and so they order architectural figures,
another nice name for dead figure"
The majority of the public library build
ings, Mr.. Borglum declared are inappro-
pirate in design, and the greater number of
homes planned without reference to the in
dividual.
In conclusion. attention was called to the
work of George Grey Barnard for the Penn
sylvania capitol at Harrisburg Barnard, a
man of real genius, who vitalizng and
epftomizing the art and life of America,
was commissioned to make about fifty
figures, for which in compensation he was
to receive 100000. The federal appropria-
ton for the Grant memorial was $40 600
and was thought inadequate; 100000 was
paid for an equestrian statue of Lafayette
and the contract price for electroliers in the
Harrisburg capitol was 100000,
Mr.. Barnard went to Paris to do his work
because there it could be done more cheapIy.
About a third is now completed, his money
is gone. his efforts are in danger of being
totally wasted. and whether they shall be or
not is for others to say. And this is the first
great monumental commission put in hand
in all America. To save it Mr.. Borglum
made strong appeal.