Evening star., 1924-12-21

IlOldDlG SttQuISllAoIl--eI maj D1c
group by Daniel Chester
French, the latest and one of
rhe most important of this distin-
;-uished sculptor's achievements. The
purchase was made through the Grand
'"utral Galleries of the Painters and
Sculptors' Association in New York,
where, for a short time, this impress
i've work has been on exhibition.
-\A yet it has not arrived in Washing
7Cn and another week or 10 days will
probably pass before it is on eXhibi-
lion, rs the director of the gallery,
=. Powell Minnigerode, will seek the
advice of the sculptor in regard to its
permanent placement. Mr.. French
VIII spend Christmas in this city.
The group is Illustrative of the sec
ond verse of the sixth chapter Of
"enesis-"That the sons Of God saw
the daughters of men that they were
air" 1t is purely an ina aginative
conception. suggested to the sculptor
by snapshot of the geyser, Old
FAITHFUL" In. Yellowstone Park, the
waters Of VI hich piled up in sugges-
tive semblauce of a scuIptural group
rs one may sometimes see forms in
he clouds. The sculptor'S imaEina-
ion did the rest. Essentially plastic.
his group is modelled with exquisite
aensitiveness and feeling, an epic Of
creation, an allegory of the relation
of woman to man
The Metropolitan Museum of Art q
YEAR or two ago secured for its per-
}uanent collection MIR. Frenchs marble
statue entitled Memory" The Cor
coran Gallery has not only done we'll
but been. most fortunate, in securing
This later and equally important eS-
ample of the work of one of our lead
ing CotemporaTy sculptors.
X X x
iz Of int -, y
little group of sculpture by Mrs
Nancy Cox Mccormack which is now
IN view in National Museum, National
Gallery of Art. Most impressive is
tho bronze head, slightly heroic in
SIC, of Benito Mussolini, Premier of
Italy, one of the most commanding
figures in cotemporary history. It
IS powerful piece of work, strongly
modelled, boldly expressed. Mrs. Nc
tormack has presented MusSolini as
he dictator, the leader, the descend
ant of the great Romans. Mussolini
gave the sculptor 10 sittinSs for this
work and when it was completed
signed it himself, July %, 1928. 1t
vas first exhibited at the biennial
exhibition at Rome in 1923-24, then
1t the Spring salon in Paris. A
replica in bronze has been presented
10 the Fine Arts Museum at Philadel-
Phia by c. G. A. Baldi, editor of
IiOpinione, Philadelphia. The first
replica in bronze is in the possession
"f Mussolini That on exhibition here
is for the collection of Max Pam of
Chicago and the fourth replica is in
the collection of Augustus c. Gurnee
of Paris destined for the Petit
Palais).
In interesting contrast to the Mus
solini head is that of Senator Giacomo
Roni, the celebrated archeologisS of
Italy, and the Pierre Blanche of the
novel of that name by Anatole
France. This was modelled on the
l'alatine, in the atelier of the subject.
Jr has been placed in the permanent
collection OF the Campedoglio of
Rome. Life size, it represents the
head of a scholar and is handled with
much more reticence than that of the
great political leader. Between these
rwo stands the terra-cotta life-siz
bust of Lidia Rismondo, widow of the
Italian war hero, who is now. it is
said, affianced to a representative of
one of the great houses of Milan.
On the opposite side of the little
gallery have been placed the bronze
head of Henry P. Fletcher, American
Ambassador to Italy, modelled in
Rome during the past Summer: a
bronze life-size head of NJ. A. Bar
thelemy, French consul to Chicago,
which dates back to 1919, and a
bronze life mask of Ezra Pound, the
American poet, critic and composer,
made in Paris in 1922 and shown in
the Spring Salon of 1929, as well as
at the 1924 biennial in Rome and
elsewhere. This is an amazing pro-
duction, full of .subtlety and express
sion. The eyes are closed, but the
expression is fully alert. No obser-
want person could for a moment sup
pose the poet to be asleep or inatten-
tive. There are amused little wrin-
lIles around the eyes, almost a culver
in the muscles at the corners of the
mouth. Here is all the difference in
tho world between the life mask and
the death mask. In this case the
spirit has not left its abode. This
work, furthermore, illustrates the
charm of variety in surface, the deli
cate turnings which the skilled sculp-
tor renders through sensitiveness of
touch and which give vitality to the
work. Strength and bigness are good
qualities but sculpture must have
his surface modelling showing sensi-
tiveness of touch as well as sympa-
Thy with form in order to attain the
approximate of perfection. Herein is
manifested the sculptor's art.
x X =
BECAUSE of the intrinsic interest
Of the little porcelain statuettes
hy Mrs. George Oakley Totten and of
the small bronzes by the late Edward
Berge the time of these special exhib-
rs in the Corcoran Gallery OF Art,
which expired last Sunday, was con-
rjnued for a fortnight or more. Many
nave spoken with not only interest
hut enthusiasm of the piquaut charm
of Mrs. Totten's statuettes, and there
- Il strong feeling that they should
ind their way into some American
museum. Unfortunately, at present
here is TO way of manufacturing
hem In this country, and il is essen
'ial that the artist superintend the
production. But since we have sue
ceeded in producing porcelain in the
United States which compares in
quality with the best produced in
france, 1t should be possible to over
come this difficulty. The production
III works of such fascination and ar
tistic merit should continue.
The Berge bronzes are also of an
engaging order. A number were pro-
duced as garden decorations-foun-
rains and the like. Only those who
have put sculpture to such use know
how satisfying it is when seen with
appropriate landscape setting. A
number of Mr.. Berge's life-size pieces
have been east in reduced size, which
makes them available for indoor dec
. crative purposes.
x x = :.
IN the cases In the upper atrium of
the Corcoran Gallery of Art are
now to be seen a series of etchings
by Charles He'll, known both as an
etcher and painter of birds. The ma
jority of the etchings in this coIlec-
L. i l..