Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-01-03

sign, j went to work on a different
basis, and 1t took me a long time to get
what l wanted.
After a good deal OF thought on the
subject made the new design. The po-
sition Of the angels is not materially
changed, but the lines Of contour are.
The hair n expression are different.
but there Is no question Of sex I'm them.
They are angels, and l could not make
them mere men.
aside from the artistic impossibility
of making a brawny, muscular figure
for such a purpose, it would, to my
mind, be s~acrilegious.
A the angels now stand recut, they
are TO me neither men nor women-they
are but angels. / don't know what they
may be TO others.
The figures are changed, of course,
but they are by no means the figures
Of men. IT recruiting them | kept my
mind OF the idea that they must be
strong, powerful angels. not gentle.
sympathetic, heavenly figures. Perhaps
ii is the power that / wished to impart
in the recruiting and new designing that
marks then and stamps them with a
more masculine form.
Now, suppose we talk of something
else and let the angels rest i'm peace.
They are out of my hands now n for
ever, n a hard time they've had"
A comment upon the miniature re-
production in bronze of the group THE
Mares Of Diomedes," which stands in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, start
ed n conversation about America and
the west, Mr.. Borglum's love for the
big. free, open p~rairies and mountains,
and then on to art Ia America. Mr.
Borglum, standing In front OF his fig
ure OF John w. Mackay, made this new
and startling remark:
There is the type OF man who is
making American art"
The figure is to be placed in front of
the School OF Mines at Reno, New, and
is a gift of Clarence II. Mackay, who
desired that the figure of his father be
in his mining clothes, with the
pick, which was the best friend OF the
Forty-Ntner n the emblem OF the men
OF the Big Bonanza days.
II don't suppose 20 quite see how /
connec a mar of the mines with Amer
ican art. Well this is my idea of 1t.
Americans today are reaching that same
state Of mind which filled the Athen-
ians when they returned to their city
from triumphs in other countries, and.
OF q sudden realizing their wonderful
strength as a nation and people, tore
their ~statuary from their walls, and in
a hundred years built another art so
superb In its strength that II has lived
ever Sllte.
Before long America will have a SUI
perb art Of her own. a strong, virile art
that can never be mistaken for that OF
Greece, Italy or France. It's very
strength and boldness will mark it as
American. When that time comes we
shall have men as fearless as Rodin.'
Then o would not advise young
American artists to go broad? +" asked
the writer. Mr.. Borglum stretched his
feet out H. front of the fire and wor-
ried Jack, h studio dog, with his toe.
II should not advise him to go at the
beginning OF his work. But after he
has arrived at real accomplishment,
then he may go and profit by the things
ne sees. The real duty OF the American
artist Is the development of ideas typ
ically American. After the young stu
dent has been in Paris, and I'm that
dreamland. Italy, and he has contem-
plated the wonderful work Of the peo-
Piles before his time, but work that does
not belong TO him-after this, he has
what one might call a polyglot art. that
makes him but mediocre in his work
and sweeps before 1t all personality and
individuality"