The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-20

Washington, May 1s.-A new and
! mysterious art, known and prac-
ticed by one man only, is the dec
Grafton of textiles by Aztec aura.
Robert Randolph Walter, who is
well known both in this country
and abroad as a portrait painter, is
the exponent Of the new art. He
! invented the process and has kept
it secret
An exhibition of these Aztec aura
textiles has just been held at the
Arts Club here. They are dlf1er-
ent from any other hand decorated
silks. Tints flow into one another
in irridescent waves of color, and
then somewhere, perhaps at each
end, there is shadowy scene OF -
vague spray OF flowers such as
goldenrod, apple blossoms or dog
wood. The silken draperies with
their changing colors and elusive
pictures are as mysterious as the
process that evolved them.
Mr.. Walters named his new art
after the famous Aztec nantes
made of the rainbow plumage Of
humming birds. He saw one of
these nantes in the British muse
UNI and was fascinated by it 1t
seemed a pity to him that an art so
beautiful should be lost, for in the
skillfully matched and shaded
plumage of the birds there
was a luster and an ethereal
quality that he had never seen in
modern handwork
1t was practically impossible to
revive the old Aztec speciality of
feather work The Aztecs bred
humming birds in large numbers
in order to have a perfect color
scale of feathers. Almost every
home had its cages of the tiny,
gaily colored birds.
Once a year the birds were
plucked and the feathers were col
lected by artists who worked on
feather garments. On cotton
background the workers fitted n
the feathers one at time, in mo-
sale. Naturalistic pictures and
elaborate designs wer worked out
by exact placing and matching of
the plumage.
A high standard was exacted of
the artists. A special dignitary in
the kings court supervised the
feather work of the state and mis-
takes were not tolerated. The art
lists were required to be so careful
that sometimes an entire day would
be spent in matching and fitting
one feather.
The. nantes were highly treas
ured. Kings and chiefs wore them
and sometimes the gods were
dressed in them. In war times they
were exacted as tribute by con-
quering enemies. Now only few
time-worn samples of the Aztecs'
skill remain in museums. The In
dams do little feather work for
souvenirs, and tourists buy these
because of the association, but the
art is lost.
The Vision of an Artist.
Mr.. Walters left London for New
York, but in his studio in WASH
ington Square he still thought of
the subtle atmosphere of the Aztec
color work. Artists all about him
were ecstatically turning out batik
smocks and lampshades. and they
naturally began to inquire why he
did not engage in the popular art
of dyeing with wax. He replied
that he had a vision of something
so ethereally beautiful that batlk
with its erotic colors and set de-
signs had no attraction for him.
After taking his stand, there was
nothing for him to do but to try
and produce his vision.
Three years ago, he went to the
artists colony at Woodstock, and
set to work in secret. He spent all
of his time experimenting with
silks and coloring methods, hoping
always to produce something that
would give him the same feeling of