Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-26

ANlIh NNHNa rot EnF title or the second
Of the series, / asked casual visitors to the
studio, who saw It In process Of com
\ p%ietion, and TO each It suggested a diff
ferent meaning. Some thought the mans
and woman's hands together must mean
love, others saw in the juxtaposition, the
idea Of protection, friendship. nature. life
and for this final one several titles have
been offered. SO far I call II The Secret,
but 1 shall change It before I am finished.
Il have always had an intense passion
foS the expression Of the human hands.
They have their Moments. There are times
when they succumb to destiny. There are
times when they seize the void, and mould
ing Il as a SNOWFALL Is moulded. huri Il
in the face Of fate"
Rodin moves softly from one pedestal
to another, unwrapping some of the
marbles from their swaddling clothes, call
ing attention to a vein in one which he
says is the chance the sculptor takes, for
the marble retains It's secret until the
chisel forces the disclosure. He is called
away for a moment to look at some archi-
t%ectural designs intended for Improvement
to his studio in the suburbs, and you have
then your first opportunity to take a
clear, face to face view of your host.
Robins Appearance.
You remember that Jules Cheret called
him in a moment Of special fervor Rem
brandt, the sculptor" II he had substi-
tuted the name of Michael Angelo for that
Of the Dutch painter you would be more
inclined to cast your suffrage unprotesting,
for there IL something about Rodin that
brings the Italian to mind. Rodin was
born in 1870 and looks his age-nearly. He
tW uknWN 80 III - -.
and he wears a long, struggling beard. His
eyes are deep set, searching.
He wears some workaday clothes Of dark
blue with a fair amount Of wrinkles, as If
he had little thought for sartorial triviali-
ties. He ia, It would seem. no dandy.
Neither is he a gourmand. Through the
open door of the sale a manger you get
an Uninterrupted view Of the simple table
laid for the frugal evening meal. There
was a vase with a few flowers and some
fruit and brown bread; that is all.
Simplicity is the keynote of the salon
studio. which still retains a certain con-
%ventual and austere air. The walls OF the
apartment are panelled, and the immacu
late purity Of the scene is enhanced by
the shining marbles. There are no books,
no flowers, no The branches
OF the trees tapping the long windows make
occasional feathery backgrounds for the
statuary, and here and there a few
sketches are pinned carelessly. There is no
equipment OF plaster, scUlptor's tools,
aprons or casts to which one is accustomed
to in like places. The only furnishings are
the pedestals and a stool.
How He Works.
Having completed your survey YOU stand
waiting and at the same time noting
Robins voice. 1t is low toned, but de-
cisive, and there is never a moments
hesitation in his directions, even though
the architect has apparently come with
arguments to refute and convince. He
dismisses the architect, and returning to
the visitors asks II he may be permitted
to work while he talks. You assure him
that you feel It a compliment II he will do
so. and with a comprehensive nod OF the
patriarchal board he puts the stool in front
or the portrait bust already referred to
and taking up a chisel begins to hack and
hew the clay. He works with marvellous
swiftness. changing an outline there,
deepening filling up, remodeling entire.
Once he closes his strong fingers about
the neck and pushes the head back until
the face at a new angle gives an impress
sion OF vitality 1t lacked before.
II have to complete a piece of work like
this" he explains, while the memory OF
the model is fresh in my mind. The orig
inal has been sitting to me today at
Meudon. and finding 1t easier to complete
1t in this studio l had it brought in, but
I must not leave II; II l do something will
disappear-a pose. an expression that is
now absolutely fixed.
II work as a general thing directly in
the marble as they did in the early days
of sculpture. You get rid in that way Of all
this modern process of pointing up. which
makes the work more or less mechanical
When l make the clay model first and
then put it into the marble l always have
the model present as well as the COM
ploted cast. You get the vital element then
which you cannot get from any amount Of
dead material"
Sentiment and Geometry.
He takes a careful scrutiny of the head
again, stopping in the midst of a half fin
ished sentence. He again changes it's pose
with a swift movement. trenchant and
cruel, as IL he were an executioner using
a knife of the guillotine to repair an anat.
omical error. He notes the look Of sur
prise in the faces of the group about him
and says quickly:
Sentiment, you know, must sometimes
be the slave to geometry"
stopping a moment while his eyes rest
on a sculptured pair which to those trained
to believe that beauty and decoration are
synonymous might seem unnecessarily
crude, he explains:
There is nothing more beautiful than
people as they are, The human being as
God made him is never ugly. You see a
face, a single feature even, and you re-
mark on its hideousness. This is only be-
cause you have not seen the figure in
its entirety. That disclosed you realize
that It is not hideous, but 1t is really
beautiful, for harmony is never ugly:
1t cannot be. for harmony is the basic
law OF nature. The wonderful balance
that exists everywhere in the world must
exist in the work Of art as we'll, elss Il
cannot be beautiful, and he who considers
II so is looking with the prejudiced eye OF
tradition rather than with the clear vision
Of truth.
Ever the Same Law.
This law OF harmony once found Is
like the rock in the weary land. II ha ,
infinite variety and yet it Is ever the same.
Sometimes when ! have been modelling
a group or a figure my work has to be
completed with a different person posing
from the one I commenced with. owing 10