Evening star., 1932-12-04
MELCHERS RANKED
HIGH AS PAINTER.
American Was Considered
Among Most Famous Mod
ern Artists.

In the death of Carl Melchers, on
Wednesday last, America lost painter
who, in the Judgment of many, ranks
among the most deservedly famous
artists of modern times
His life was singularly successful and
happy and his labors we're richly re-
warded Few. indeed, have been the
creative geniuses who have had less
troubled and more fruitful careers.
Born in Detroit August IL, 1850, he
was an artist by inheritance. His father,
a sculptor and woodcarver. understood
his talents from the beginning and did
all in his power to develop them. At
II the lad was ready to proceed abroad
to study. Paris was too wicked city"
for him and he settled Mt Dusseldorf,
where, in summary of his ideals, he
wrote on his studio door the words.
Waar en- Klaar," signifying True and
Clear
Earned Art Honors.
Within a few seasons he had earned
the medals of the Dusseldorf salon and
similar honors at the exhibitions OF
Berlin and Antwerp. He was admitted
to the Paris Salon when but % and had
the medal of honor before he was 30.
BY 1886 he had altered his opinion OF
the French capital sufficiently to be
willing to study there.
His first successes achieved, he wan
dered all over Europe, Sketching and
painting. He had studios at convenient
stations-in Holland Picardy Paris and
Fontainebleu-where he periodically
settled and toiled. CanvaSes seemed to
flow in a steady stream from his magic
fingers. The subjects were of every con-
ceivable variety and found ready sale.
Melchers discovered beauty every
where, and to find it was to paint it.
People, the sea- the hills. the dales, old
churches and old buildings of secular
types and, over ALL the sky, the eternal
home of light, constituted for him a
universe of forms and colors to be pre-
served by the instruments and the
methods of his art
He was ernotionally excitable. but he
also was possessed of rare Judgment
and balance. He was easily stirred,
but he could hold his enthuSiasms in
check His training had been so thor
ough and so rigorous that he knew how
to control his temperamental exuber-
ance. The result was organized feel
ing. His themes do not burst from
their frames On the contrary, they
are governed by his convincing sanity.
was disciplined poet in painting, max
ing measured melodies. Christian Brin-
ton says of his work: For him the
beautiful is life-life as one finds it
ready to hand. Both by temperament
and training, his chosen field Is the
outward and visible. And this world
he records with chromatic richness
of tone and robust sincerity of state
ment that have won for him foremost
position among the painters OF his day.
Painted With Intensity.
When at work he concentrated with |
all his might upon his task. He painted |
with intensity, rather than with pas
sion. His brushes moved slowly; they
modelled, did not splash. There is |
something sculpturesque in his man |
ner for portraits. His men and women |
have substance. But Clyde H. Bur- |
roughs declares: HE gets at the inner
consciousness of his sitter, and the real |
beauty in his art is the vivid revelation |
of the true character of his subject"
HIS landscapes have real earth IN them,
and his clouds are filled with rain.
His marines depict seas which have
depth and weight.
But he was capable of courageous ex-
periments. His murals in the Library |
OF Congress, representing Peace" and |
WAR" are examples Of his more un-
usual efforts. They are rich and fine, |
but not entirely characteristic of him. |
His portraits of President Roosevelt, in |
Mann in the National Gallery, are of a |
piece with his quieter productions of |
that class. But his more natural style |
Is manifested in "The Sermon" hon. |
ored by the Paris salon, a Ranger Fund |
property, now in the Corcoran Gallery, |
and in 1.-The Smithy," owned by the |
Phillips Memorial Gallery. They illus |
trate Melchers' remark that faces |
linger in the mind like music"
The painter was popular abroad long !
before he was known at all at home. |
His Mother and Child" was purchased |
by the Luxembourg when he was little
in Berlin has his Family" Other pic
lures are scattered over the continent, |
In public and private collections.
Returned in 1914.
Melchers came back to America to
live and work in 1914. He settled at
Belmont, near Fredericksburg, Va, and
there, as well as at studio in New
York, he painted until the end. His |
final work was as good and true at his |
less recent best
The New York Times said of him: |
Natural kindliness, sure instinct for |
finding out the best in other men, per- |
sonal modesty and readiness to recog- |
nize the good work of others, even when |
1t did not conform with his own artistic |
standards, made him the close and !
valued friend of all his fellow-crafts- |
men" The New York Herald Tribune |
declared: Perhaps the best way in |
which to describe him is to say that he |
was an artist with mind and a heart" /
DR.. Nicholas Murray Butler, DR.. Robert |
Underwood johnson, Gov. Wilbur Gross.
Childe HaSsam, Charles Dana Gibson, |
Herbert Adams, Cass Gilbert and Edwin |
his r1nprannr-r III [