Evening star., 1938-01-16

at Champagne, q village then in the
ancient Province of Lorraine. 1t is said
that. with little aptitude for learning,
his parents apprenticed him, when a
small boy, to, a pastry cook. Whether
or not this Is true we do not know,
but 1t Is quite certain that when he
was still in his youth he made his way
to italy, and lived for some time in
the house Of Tassi, Perugian landscape
and marine painter. Between 1925
and 1927 Claude Travelled in Italy
and in his native country, but in the
fau OF the latter pear he returned to
Rome to remain until his death, In
1882. One Of his earliest biographers
tells us 'he sketched indefatigably in
the open air from the earliest dawn to
nightfall that he might be thoroughly
imbued with the ever-changing as
poets Of nature under the varying con-
ditions Of light, mixing his colors while
the effects were still before him, and
then upon his return to his home ap-
plying them to the work which he
had in hand. Whether in his studio
or on the short excursions he made
into the surrounding country his de-
votion to art never tagged" it is
stated.
Claude painted about 400 pictures in
oil, the majority of which are in Eng
land, but he is handsomely represented
in some Of the leading museums, such
as the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Ma
tional Gallery, London. Part Of his
fame comes from the fact Of his hav-
ing been one Of the first landscape
painters. The Italian artists before
his day used landscape magnificently
as background for their figure paint
ings, but even at the time Of Claude
Lorrain pure landscape was not con-
sidered sufficient theme for a paint
ing. 1t was for this reason that in al
most all Of his paintings he introduced
figures. frequently giving them biblical
names, but this element of human in
terest was Away subordinated to the
greater interest of presenting nature,
as he saw it, in most lovely lights.
THE painting lent by President
Roosevelt is a very characteristic
and beautiful example It is sunset
on an Italian harbor. every detail care
fully wrought. but the unity of the
composition never impaired. Also, the
luminosity Of the sky is peculiarly
notable
1t is quite easy to recoMize, with
this knowledge OF Claude Lorrain's
life. practice and purposes that SINH
larity, previously mentioned, between
his work and that by Mr.. Bittinger, a
large and striking painting Of the total
eclipse Of the sun last June g. done
with scientific accuracy and brilliant
technical skill.
A black disk is the center Of Mr..
Bittinger's large canvas, from behind
which come streaks Of pale light, with
here and there, creeping from behind
the shadow. q tiny tongue of fame,
rose-colored. exquisitely delicate. The
dark background admirably represents
the imitless ether; the whole canvas
gives an awe-inspdring impression of
space. One Of natures miracles is
set before us in 50 striking a way that
once seen it can never be forgotten.
This painting is 5 feet square. and
was made from visual observations and
color notes taken on lonely Canton
Island, in mid-Paciflc, while Mr.. Bit
finger was q member of the National
Geographic Society-U United States
Navy eclipse expedition. It was fln-
ished only last month, and has not be