The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-16
Zuloaga Paints My Portrait
(Part 2)
Written by Julia Hoyt tNrs. Lydig HoyD
  

l he asquires a goodly sum of money he spends it on some work of his two idols, Fl Greco or Goya. Zuloaga
 has, l am told, one of the most beau
 tiful places in Spain and there is4
 concentrated all the beauty and art l that one misses in his studio in Paris i There are what are acknowledged to l be the greatest of Fl Greco's and
 Goya's paintings Tn the world. Some
 day I hope 1 shall be able to accept l his kind invitation to go to Spain
 and visit his home and other parts of l Spain under his gudance.'
 There is no one more fitted to show
 one the beauties of the life. of Spain l than he.s for he knows all sides. He l is known and beloved by all, and is l Positively a god to the Gypsies-a people that have great fascination
 for him. aIIe will talk to you about
 them by the hour and through his
 long interest in, and association with
 them, has acquired certain of their aeteristics--notabiy their super
 stition. Never in my life have I
 met a man as superstitious as
 Zuloaga. If it were not so intensely
 serious to him, it would be extremely l funny to a matter-o fact Anglo Sax
 on. I will never forget the moment
 when opened my little handbag and | exclaimed in consternation on look
 ing into it. To my surprise, I saw Zuloaga actually turn white. In
 voice almost of terror he asked me l If had broken my mirror. When I l told him that had simply forgotten
 my comb, he was like a child in his
 expressions of relief. Never upon
 any account would he allow me to
 say that the portrait was going to be- l good. Tt would be the most ter
 rible luck,'' he would say, wait, wait
 until it is finished.
 l Needless, to say, many people have | 4f.fr T l.
 America and he has been offered the
 most dazzling commissions as in- ducement. Heretofore his terror of
 the water has been too strong.
 though when l was in Paris he was
 for the first time willing to discuss 1 1t as a possibility. He is convinced he will die on the water and even if
 by some chance that doesn't happen, he shudders at the thought of being l confined to one place for such a
 length of time. "fma zine" he said,
 being fors seven days. or whatever the length of time is, unable to stop off at the station for a few minutes.
 Oh, know l should never be able to
 endure it.'' I hope that some day he
 will overcome his fears, for I feel
 sure this ecountry. so different from
 any one he has eyer seen, will in- terest him greatly.
 It is marvellous and at times al-
 most frightening to watch Zuloaga lawork For the first time I under
 stood the expression. He works. like
 one inspired.p for he certainly does.
 He has never had a lesson in paint ing and uses anything and every thing tos gain the effect he wants--a
 knife his fingers, brushes. As he works he very rarely talks but works himself almost into a frenzy, breathing very. hard, making strange little sounds at times. talking to himself in Spanish I felt sure that there were moments when it was a good thing that Spanish was an un- known language to me.
 While he is painting a portrait it Is his life. He rarely leaves his studio while it is in progress, and, as he expressed it, eats, sleeps. dreams and talks of the portrait. He often ing to work on it, and would con- tinue painting long after I. left his studio. He seems not only to give all hs vitality to the canvas, but he manages somehow to take some of the sitter's for the same purpose. purely of>feature, but from the mo- ment his sitter. enters his studio he studies his character. temperament, every detail of his personality. When he thinks he has put that on the cam vas, then only is he satisfied. It un- occasionally takes a lot out of him he looked quite fatigued by the time the portrait was finished. But certainly his results justify it.
 Zuloaga is a genius and he is a good illustration of the well known
 quotation, Genius is an intuitive talent for labor,' or to use the coll loquialized version Genius is an in- finite capacity for work Undoubt- edly. work alone does not make genius. but certainly;a a genius with out work will always remain an un- recognized one. Zuloaga is great artist,Aa delightful man and lesson to budding artists in his complete