The Washington herald., 1920-09-26

aAbAsNs W uccidler IOuS DeIOrc tur sfchb war
the doom to which German kultur was
headed. sees a better art as one Of the
fruits of the fnsensate conflict.
From his corner in the National Press
Club, in Washington, where he passes much
Of his time, and in the midst of MS work in
the studio, this decorated wielder of the ehisel
contemplated the fine arts as they are related
to the new psychology of the world, and ven
tured to give me opinions, which in the light
Of rapidly moving events are almost oraculsr.
Two years before the grim engagement IN
Europe started, Zolnay cast his warning
scorn upon a German work designed to
commemorate the trio of German editors
who helped to make st. Louis famous by
calling it That German thing" His criti-
cism went around the world. But it was not
alone German kultur as it was exemplifed
in art that bored Zolnsy to frank discussion
of the state of affairs. The art sickness of
the world at large, symptoms of which were
cubism, futurism and blatant nudes, drew
FIRE from Zolnay's auxiliary chisel, his pen,
as it scratched against the flint of public
opinion.
IF We admit that the world has been sick
We at once have the explanation not only OF
German atrocities, but of the equally horrible
atrocities committed in art under the name
Of cubism and futurism and all the rest Of
the infamies flung at the public" the in
trepid chiseler said to me. But he added.
for the reinsurance of those who believe and
trust in the world generally: eff art Is an
integral part of our life and if war makes
a better world, it stands to reason that war
must make better art. That it has hap
pened so in the past justiies the assumption
that it will be so now, and it is enough to
cite Greece after the Persian wars, which
produced the greatest period of arts In the
entire history of the world"
Zolnsy speaks with authority and has an
audience. Almost score of his works adorn
public squares and museums throughout the
country. Among his better known pieces
are Industry and Commerce." on the
United States Custom House in San Fran
cisco; the Winnie Davis memorial, at Rich
mond, Va, a replica of which rests in the
Royal Academy at Bucharest; the Barnard
labor monument, at New Bedford, Mass.
the Laclede memorial in ST. Louis; the
Edgar Allan Poe bust, in the University of
Virginia; the Sequoyah statue, in Statuary
Hall, in Washington; the Jefferson Davis
monument, in Richmond; the Confederate
monument, in st. Louis, Mo-, and a dozen
other public works. As head of the sculpture
department of the Louisiana Purchase Ex-
position in st. Louis and later as director
Of the Art Academy, maintained by the
American Women's League, at University
City, be established his authority and by
his constructive interest in the public's ap-
probation of art has endeared himself to
that public in which he believes.
There must be balm in the words of Zoi-
nay for those who for the life of them
can't see the fine points in some celebrated
work, but who do find their fancies turn
ing to the so called inferior ones.
''It Is a misleading half truth that the
masses admire the worst productions and are
Indifferent to what is really superior in
art" Zolnay continued. What they do
admire is not inferior workmanship, but the
human element so often found in the worst
daubs.
1T is a remarkable fact that lack Of
technical skill sometimes produces greater
emphasis of expression-as though the artist
were trying to make up for his technical
shortcomings"
A LII Of this has bearing on what Zolnay
thinks and says of "Art and the New
World Psychology" and on what he has
embodied In his now somewhat celebrated
Greed"
Zolnay believes with Emerson that ''art is
the concentration Of nature. When you paint
a picture of gloom it must be the gloom of
gloom; when Of sunshine, the sunshine of
sunshine" With this he adds that art is
not a reproduction, but rather reflection
of nature, and in this axiom he finds the.
rule by which he deducts that the great war
will produce a new and greater art or all
signs will fail and none need hope that,
after all, the world will be made better by
the bitter conflict.
"w-by which 1 mean the entire world
are passing through a moral and mental
upheaval such as the human race has not
experienced since the coming of Christ, and
even that supreme event in the history OF
mankind In some extent at least was but
a shxht tremor compared to an earthquake"
said Zolnay, in answer to a query concern
inx his views Of art and the new psychology
of the world THE teachings Of Christ
began on such a small scale that it re-
auired a thousand years to spread its bless
inrs 10 few hundred million people,
whereas this present convulsion has affected
a thousand million people-three- quarters OF
the human race-in one stroke.
The new consciousness of the world is but
an honest observance of the teachings of
ChristNwhich this world catastrophe has
brought back to man to make him more un-
selfish, more human, restore his faith and
make q better world. And it seems that
Providence has so ordained that the con-
Elomeration of practically all races that form
this youngest of nations should set the
highest example of brotherly love, justice