Evening star., 1914-05-02
Cult of Beauty.

Rodin bathes In beauty. He CLOSES
his eyes in ecstasy: the face smiles. the
head is thrown back: he seems to have
gone into a dream when he speaks OF
subject that moves his deepest soul
The simplest object may sometimes
evoke a train Of thought or stir chord
that vibrates on him. I have known
him to sit for long together in rapt con-
temptation Of black iris. He touches
its petals with the gesture OF a lover
He has the mysticism OF medieval
saint in his alteration of the beautiiui.
One evening. In the sunset glow, he iefi
the Hotel Biron. where he works. and
thinks, and labors at his designs, and
on the steps leading from this ad-
mirable house. which until recently was
a convent. sat q beautiful black DOS
Rodin stopped, and cIutching his friend
by the arm exclaimed: Look at that
creature: he is Egyptian. 1t was such
a dog that accompanied the tribes OF
Israel in their flight from Egypt
Perhaps the most charming character
istic Of Rodin is his cathoicity. Beauty
lis everywhere, and he experiences the
pure Joy OF the artist In discoverine
it. He will spend hours In enjoyment
of a work OF art His latest treasure
is a Flemish tapestry. which appeals
with immense force to his love OF color
and form. Even in modern salon he
may find some canvas. drawing or
statuette to attract him, and then his
interest is delightful to. watch He de-
yours the object with his eyes. He has
a beautiful house at Meudon. over
treasures OF art: pictures. statuary
tapestry and furniture. That is ho"
he spends his money. Success came to
the great sculptor comparatively late
in life; his income is now very large.
but most Of it goes in the purchase OF
Gel
house a palace of delight. In the gar
den on the high slope of the hill is
an arch or two that looks like SOM
Roman ruin. Rodin purchased a cha
teau, intending to rebuild II. stone bl
stone, at Meudon. But one day he found
that the outer walls. standing on the
hill top. cut pleasing silhouette agains
the evening sky. He ordered the work
men to stop. In that condition the cha
teau was left. The trait is peculiarly
Rodinesaue. Most of the work is done
at Meudon. The studios are there Vt
the Hotel Biron Rodin is constituting =
museum of his own works which he in
tends to hand over to the state. for.
though he still regards official art as
something to be despised. he Is on eN-
cellent terms with authority. as the red
ribbon in his buttonhole betokens. Yet
recognition came from England. Aneri-
ca. Belgium and even Germany before
France. A prophet Is still without
honor in his own country.
No manifestation of art leaves Rodin
Indifferent. He Is just as moved by
century painting as by a Gothic
cathedral or the Incompatible marble of
Praxiteles. People wonder why his work
80 often appears unfinished. Il Homme
qui Marche," for instance. which was ex-
hibited at an autumn salon a year or
two ago, was the marvellous figure Of a
man strfding forth to some unknown des-
tiny: but II had no head! Rodin did not
consider II was necessary to show the
head, The figure was really study for
John the Baptist marching forth into the
desert to announce the coming of Christ.
The central idea. the essence OF the man.
was his mission; he was par excellence
the missionary. Hence 1t was necessary
to show him ION the march 1t did not
matter IL he had no head or arms. His
feet were beautiful. like the feet Of him
who bringeth glad tidings: the out
stretched limbs betokened his end and
aim And If you see other Rodin statues
Incomplete, you will ind some such toea
And you will also md
that each part Is perfect In itself FraS-
ment OF a completed trunk. II falls natur-
ally into place. Rodin reasons that .
statue, equipped with all its members
s a convention. Who ever saw In life
lady with a wax head. q bourgeois with
feet of bronze? Blu. the Giving statue
NAV be in either one on the other. Ths
areument also, IL typical Of the man