Evening star., 1921-07-17
INSTITUTION TO RECEIVE
FAMOUS WARD COLLECTION FROM PARIS

FAKlO
tor, the chief, the fugitives. and.
above all. that dolorous masterpiece
W hich ne named Distress" he fixed,
for the black race. what we OF the
white race have altogether lost-the
visicn of the stone age origins Ihese
primitive Africans used metal as
stone.
The statues. well above life size,
have received all the medals and hon
ors which France could give to for
eigner. With the collection they form
a mirror Of the primitive life Of all
men.
lOSE afternoon in 1913 ! sat with
~ Herbert Ward. 2
Il always had a love of art" he
said. "In my travels to sketch and
model came natural to me"
You travelled youngg' 1 say.
Il practically ran away from home
at the age of tosSea as a
sailor. got about all over the world
and turned up in Africa at twenty
one, after doing all New zSalahd,
testing hardships in the RtdkHof of
Australia and penetrating into quite
unknown country in North Borneo
From twenty-one l was Ave years on
end in Central Africa. 1t was the ro-
mantle time of the opening of the
country. everything being new and
unspoiled."
! 1t was through Stanley that he con-
tinued on, after having spent nearly
I
j gans on the kongo.
! Il was on my>way down country
when l heard OF Stanley's arrival. he
| said. Il was told that he needed men
| to carry loads. and as i knew the
| country and the peopIr, i corrected
| 4UU good men and met hlm on mis- up
ward journey, volunteered to join the
! expedition lor the IciieI oI Enlln
! Pasha, and turned back again into
the dark continent, there to spenu
| another three years
Then, when l came home, l mar
! ried."
II had a studio in London" he said.
but ! found that the ideas OF art
there were governed TOO much by tte
Royal Academy, and my principal
feeling was not connected with thfI
Royal Academy, so l felt hampered I
Having modelled head, i gave IL,
without other motive than friendship,
to a friend of mine, Ashton knight
the American painter, in ParlS. w TN
out telling me, he put it in the Salon,
where they gave me mention al
once, the nrsI thing | ever mad en-
hibited, and. as a fact. my first forma!
work in sculpture"
Here, thanks to an>illustrious Amer
lean, son of an illustrious American:
the philosophical-arti purpose OF
Herbert Ward. an Englishman, was
fixed to the worlds gain, and ulti-
mately. / think, TO The 1855 o. coiic,-
| tion and bronzes by England. 4
The thing SO encouraged me, sai'V
Herbert Ward. that i came to Paris
to live and start this series of primI-
tive types. to preserve them for the
world-for all was slipping away III
Africa. They had found rubber"
France appreciated object and exc
artistic genius with it, This. he said.
was the great thing with France
they look at the thing which you
have done, not pfejudiced because II
is new. nor at first glance to seek out
technical defects, but ask what does
this man strive to represent. and does
he represent it? France sees the soul
of things.
"My object" he said. sis to iN.
for all time. something symbolical-
not an absolutely realistic thlnS. I'M
waxworks in an anatomical museum
but combining two great qualities
The bronzes must have the primitive
spirit of Africa in its broad sense,
and yet fill the requirements OF art IN
sculpture.
man represents nothing. / want that
bronze statue to represent. not one
chief, but a hundred chiefs. when
You pass five years at the impression
able age from twenty-one to twenty
! six among an unknown people that
| interest you deeply such memories
are hound to dominate your work. L
knew these types.
Il felt that must fix them"
X n **
IRE stood before THE Warrior"
"warriors in sculpture, as a
rule" he said, have their arms hung
| out and are full of movement, but
T. who have been present at a deal
of fighting. and, alas! deal OF
killing, know that the man who rs
the most intent ans on kins thas some Sa ssens ens
himself ali knitted together. like
modern boxer This is not one war
rior. but a hundred warriors.
"Sculptors and painters. as rule,
he SontinuedS m Which tSey areIg are igueneeG Ss
by classics. and any original feel
| inps with which they may be born
are. regularly. not strong enough to
| stick, because, they see how abso1
iuteiv perfect all this classic stuft
is. So they lose confidence and fol-
low in some rut. They do. over
| again, better or worse, what has been
done.
| Travellers on the other hand. are
| chaps who regularly lack one quail
| ity-they have no patience. They
| are on the go. They pass all kinds.
of Interesting things, but go lik3
blaxes. =;
"I stopped and looked" he 80.
! "and that is all there ts about ft' .