Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-23
LITERARY HERMITS.
Writers and Artists Who Remain
Within Their Homes.

From London Tt-Bts
Carlyle once remarked, when a friend
chided him for being such a recluse.
that social life was works greatest en-
envy. The Chelsea sage considered that
a man must shun acquaintance ana
friends If he wished to give the world
his best work, and a study Of the lives
of some present-day geniuses shows that
it is total absorption in their work which
causes them to hide from the public
gaze.
Take the case of Matthew Maris. for
instance, the well known painter, whose
picture, -Four Mills" fetched $500 gum
cas- at Christie's a few days ago. Maris
lives liz strict seclusion in London lodg-
ings. the whereabouts Of which is only
known to about half a dozen people. he
Is now an old man of seventy years OF
age and rarely leaves his study. And
not only does he hide himself from the
public, but he also hides his pictures
He has not sold a painting for years
although dealers are willing to pay thou
sands of pounds for them. as Is evloen'
from the prices fetched by those which
are occasionally put up for auction.
Maris reminds one Of the great 1tal-
ian sculptor. Vincenzo GemiIo. VINO
twenty years ago shut himself in his
study and refused to leave it. To a GER
tain extent Gemito's reason had become
unsettled owing to overwork and dis
tressing mental suffering, and one OF the
reasons why he would not leave his study
was that he feared the attacks OF ran n,
tastic foes who were the Pigments OF his
disordered brain; but his malady In nc
way interfered with his work. For
twenty years Gemito has been WORKING
hard at the production of statuettes.
real masterpieces, which he modelled and
remodeled time after time, bringing them
to the highest degree of perfection.
1t was reported a few days ago, how
ever, that Gemito had been induced to
leave his study by no less parsonage
quently Wis ted him. She succeeded in In
ducing him to go to the royal palace
and, accompanied by two relatives. Gem
ito left his house and walked along the
sunny streets Of Naples. At the palace
he was cheerfully greeted by the Duke
and Duchess of Aosta, who entertained
him for considerable time. The enect
was magical. Throwing off the depress-
ing gloom of years, the aged sculptor re-
turned home full of JOY. declaring that
he would come out again and enjoy ire
For the first time for some years Tol.
stoi left his home at the beginning OF
October to pay q visit to friend In MOS
COW. The famous Russian has Tor many
years led peaceful and quiet NE or
his estate at Yasnaya Polyana, which IL
situated about 100 miles south of MOS
COW, amid forests and surrounded by
beautiful hilly country, devoting his time
between writing and outdoor labor. ciaf
in the picturesque blue smock OF thu
refusing to mix with the world. is eve
ready to receive visitors. The conse
quence is that, although Yasnaya Poly
ana is by no means easy of access. man!
1T. n
| their respects to the preacher of obedl
ence to Christian principles.
In a little cottage Of the simplest kint
at Bromley. Kent, lives Prince kropot
| kin, the famous Russian exile, Wnos'
revolutionary teachings led to severa
terms of Imprisonment, while serving
one of which he escaped to England
The prince rarely leaves his Bromley
home, where he writes his books ant
INDUCES IN his favorite hobbies OF book
has suffered even more than Tolsto1 To-
his ideas, and still seeks by his writing'
to ameliorate the conditions under which
the Russian peasant lives.
Tolstoi and Kropotkin remind one very
much OF Bjorsen, the famous Norwegian
poet, who hides himself from the worle
in q little house at Christiania. Bjorn
sen was an intimate friend of Ibsen ant
never cared for the social world III
has a great contempt for a man wht
seeks social trumphs. and since Ibsen.'
death has become even more strict in hi.
seclusion. He seldom leaves his study
or receives friends.
Maurice Maeterlinck, who has beer
called the Belgian Shakespeare" has
immured himself in Normandy at .
ruined abbey. which he has made hi:
home Now and again he gives the worle
some new masterpiece, but people seldom
have an opportunity Of seeing the geniu!
who has made for himself a name as ont
Of the greatest of living thinkers.