The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-03-29

story of his life and of his work
coed himself. In the first room the
prevailing color is sage green, with a
brown. buff and blue border. Below
this is some fine ballister work. The
second room is decorated in pink, pale
blue and sage green with a rope mold
for the border.
Edwards Motto.
The first thing that attracts ones at
tention on entering the gallery, is a
motto that might be given as the key
to this artists life. 1t reads, God Has
Diffused Beauty and 1t is Mans Duty
to Combine it," The motto is part of a
large wood carving which represents
the different seasons OF the year. An
other carving in wood standing as
high as a mans head is entitled The
Wood Nymph and the Elk" The
nymph has just come out of the tree
The lines in this carving are most
gracefully wrought. The carving
which Mr.. Edwards regards as his mas
terpiece. stands close beside this one.
1t was begun during the Spanish-Amer-
lean war and embodies the spirit of our
conqucring navy. Prominent in this
large piece are carved the heads Of
Dewey, Sampson and Scnley.
In this same room are to be found
the Gypsy" and Cupid" in marble,
One does not wonder so much at the
wood carving. for that seems the com
moner art, though it requires great
skill, but it is amazing to find that
this man who never had "A lesson from
sculptor has been fable to execute
things in MARBLE But there they
stand. with as soft and deft a finish as
could have been given them by an Ital-
ian sculptor.
But the visitor has more wonder
coming to him, for just above these
pieces appears a large Head of Gaze
sar," cast in bronze. Mr.. Edwards
created this head from a long study Of
the character of the great warrior and
from a description of the head which
appears in the Louvre, the famous art
gallery in Paris. He has also cast in
bronze a head of Benjamin Harrison
while he was senator from Indiana.
Paintings Interesting.
After viewing these the visitor turns
to the paintings in colors. The earli-
est which he painted is entitled The
First Christmas Morn" It is still in
his possession, and shows the hills of
Judea, the shepherds. and the angels
descending in a bar of light. Another
is entitled "Eventide." another The
Return of Spring" and still another
The Old Home" These are the best
paintings now in his possession. many
of his works having been sold in the
east. where they bring good prices He
has made a study Of birds and flowers
and much of his work consists of
drawings of them in cOlorS for plate
work
In the second room of his gallery the
most conspicuous pieces arc large cary
ed heads of Mckinley. Mrs. Mckinley.
Lincoln, Blaine and Garfield. There
are nymphS plenty and even flowers
carved in wood with so soft a finish
that they do not appear to be wood at
all.
His Start in Art.
The visitor might spend days in this
gallery and not exhaust its treasures.
but by this time he is always anxious
to hear the full life story of the man
who did these things and they wander
back to the desk and telephone where
Mir. Edwards always seats himself
when he converses extensively. An
incident which he is always pleased TO
tell, occurred years ago in the studio of
a Richmond artist. When Mr. Ed
wards had recovered from his accident
enough TO move around he came TO
Richmond and applied at the studio of
Marcus Mote for lessons in painting
The old Quaker talked to him for some
hours, measured his head and then
said to him: Go get pencils and brush
and draw from nature: thee don't need
a teacher" Mr.. Edwards went hoEe
and drew the first thing he saw. which
happened 10 be heading Cf the Day
ton Daily News" He still has this
sketch in his studio, Since that time
he has drawn for some of the best pa
pcrs in America and Europe. At diff
ferent times he was connected with the
Chicago Record-Herald." "Cincinnati