The Craftsman - 1904 - 07 - July

7/27/2019 The Craftsman - 1904 - 07 - July

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THE CRAFTSMAN,Publishedonthlyy THE UNITED CEAF TS, 207 South State Street, SYRACUSE, NEW YOKKContents for J uly 1904: 9%

Municipalrt.: Lesson from Foreign Towns IRENE SARGENTThe Franciscan Missions of the Southwest: Their InteriorI>ecorations. Number Vl.-Illustrated GEORGE WHARTON J AMESA Woman Master : Mademoiselle &e&U-Ill&rated

Translated from the French of Count Robert de Montesyuik by IRENE SARGENTA Comparative Study of S&res Methods-Il lustrated PAUL CRETThe Best Fruit of a Garden ALICE M. RATHBONENature and Art in California-Illustrated GUSTAVSTICKLEYThe Indian Woman as a Craftsman CONSTANCEGODDARDDU BOISCraftsman House, Number VII. Series of l~04_IlI~1stratedCool and Quiet Days-I llustratedA Study of the Gingko Tree-IllustratedThe Century of Ugliness ERNEST CRdsBYChipsBook Reviews

25 CENTS SINGLE COPY : : BY THE YEAR, $3.00Copsright,904,~GUSTAV STICKLEY. Entered November 18,1902, t Syracuse. N. Y., BS second-class mattei-


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GEORGE WHARTON J AMBS


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THE CRAFTSMANVol. VI J ULY 1904, No. 4

MUNI CIPAL ART: A LESSON FROMFOREIGN TOWNS. BY IRENE SAR-GENT

S the municipal art movement gcyesA orward in America, the criticismis frequently heard that it will berendered worthless and even per-nicious through the too free acceptance offoreign ideas. The criticism formulatedfor the most part by superficially informedor careless persons, contains a half-truth.We see, indeed, in our journeys about theUnited States imitations of European mon-uments rising, on our soil , as if they weretransplanted from their fatherlands. Theyappear as if uprooted. They have no rea-son for existence. They have all conditionsagainst them: those of climate, of race, ofmanners and customs. They are as dis-cordantly out of place in our landscape andart as the unnaturalized, unassimilated for-eigner is in our political system.

Against such direction given to the pub-lic taste, such expenditure of the publicfunds the criticism is just, and it should besupported. At the present stage of ournational development, we demand an artvivified from within, not one galvanizedtemporarily into a semblance of life ; an artwhich shall represent and parallel our social,intellectual and material stage of evolution.Therefore, let us eliminate from our citysquares the French H& e1 de V i l l e and theGerman Ra th au s . Rather, as we comemore and more to appreciate and honor ourcivic offices, let us hold to our own tradi-

tjons, as we erect the buildings devoted tothe exercise of their functions. Let ushonor the memory of the town meetingby an architecture which shall suggest thetimes in our own Republic

When none was for a party,When all were for the State:When the great man helped the poor,And the poor man loved the great.

Let us be thoroughly American ; not nar-rowly and aggressively so to a point whichprovokes ridicule and caricature, but consistent, patriotic and loyal. In the monu-ments of municipal art which so attract USabroad, we admire something more thanexternals. We are still more deeplytouched, without clearly realizing our emo-tion, by the spirit underlying the expres-sion, animating and giving the form bywhich the idea is conveyed to us. It isbecause these expressions of art are charac-teristic and representative that we pass soeasily and eagerly from one to another ofthem. Those who plan and produce themlimit their imagination within the nationalor the civic traditions of the communitywhose property they are to become. So, itis not wholly good art which awakens theenthusiasm of visitors to the famous oldtowns of England and the continent. Toan equal, if not a higher degree, it is goodpatriotism ; since the value and elements ofgood art are understood by the comparative-ly restricted few. It is sentiment whichmakes the appeal, simultaneously with thecorrect and pleasing solution of artisticproblems. In these European monuments

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THE CRAFTSMANof municipal art-both the old and thosewhich are now rising in obedience to theuniversally active civic renascence-we areforced to honor an ardent, oftentimes anarrow, on occasion even, a selfish patriotismas the prolific source of beauty and .grand-eur. In the city republics of Italy it wasthe so-called spirit of the bell -tower : thatis, the strongly developed communal senti-ment, which gave birth to the great monu-ments of architecture. This animatingspirit, emulative and aggressive to the ut-most, recognized no outsiders, devotingitself passionately and absolutely to build-ing up a municipality gathered about achurch as a nucleus. I t was narrow pat-riotism, tempered with honesty, which car-ried Florence forward to a unique positionamong mediaeval governments ; the senti-ment expressing itself in the embellishmentof the city as the object of an unqualifiedlove and pride. The same impulses pro-duced the luxuriant art of the populous,laborious towns of the Low Countries, and,in our own day, the character of Paris asthe most strongly organized municipalityof the world is largely responsible for theb,eauty and glory of the city. The mancalled to its councils, feels himself honored,much as we may imagine the old Roman ina similar position to have felt toward hisEternal City. The first care of the Paris-ian official is not his own enrichment. Hischief anxiety mounting to an obsession, islest some foreign capital, like Vienna orBerlin, become more imposing and splendidthan Paris, through the liberal offering ofknowledge and wealth. So, too, the paint-er chosen to decorate a mural panel in theSorbonne, the Pantheon, or the Hate1 deVille, the sculptor commissioned to erect a382

statue in a public square, goes to his workaflame with the inspiration derived from themasters who have preceded him in the deco-ration of the great city. Everywhere theidea of the municipality is supreme. It is,so to speak, a presence, a personality, as realas that of a sovereign. I ts brain can befelt to think and its hand to move. For her Icitizens Paris assumes the character of anenlightened fostering mother, projectingher thought far into the future glong pathsof ambition toward which she points herchildren. As visitors, -we enter the Sor-bonne, and in the great lecture hall we aregreeted by the type-figure of the ancientParisian institution conceived by Puvis deChavannes, as a ministering lay-sister ofthe people, calm of gesture, gentle of face,seated with the personified arts and sciencesabout her. We pass into the corridors andwe see developed in logical sequence uponthe walls the pictured story of immaterialconquests made by the masters of the vener-able municipal schools. Elated by theeloquent story, we visit the neighboringPantheon, only to examine a new phase ofcivic history. Here fable, instead of fact,dominates the art and Paris is glorifiedthrough the legends related of its patronsaints. We find that the geniuses, Puvisand Bonnat, have not hesitated to put theirpencils to the most ingenuous tales, like themartyrdom of Saint Denis, or the childhoodof Saint Genevigve. The fact accomplished,the grandeur of the existing municipality,absorbs the poverty of the fables and trans-figures it in the light of its own brill iancy.Similar conditions await us in the old churchof the Patroness at the rear of the Pan-theon, where the chiseled silver sarcophagusand the perpetual lights tell one story to

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MUNICIPAL ARTthe credulous faithful, and another, ofbroader significance, to those-and they area multitude-whose enthusiasms are cen-tered in the old and yet forever young city.Finally, if we stroll in the streets of theFrench capital, we are given material forthought other than that which-too oftenidle-is provoked by the li fe and traffic ani-mating out-of-door scenes. The names ofthe il lustrious, renewed in the names of thestreets grouped about some significantbuilding, are used with force and point:not, as oftentimes in American cities, wherethey are arbitrarily attached to a series ofavenues, lacking the climax of some greatpublic building-like a technical school, amuseum, a place of worship or of dignifiedamusement-in which the memories awak-ened by the names, are gathered togetherand focused.

Such impressions as have been noted,constantly recurring, represent but a sin-,gle idea. They are so insistent and em-phatic as to present to all who visit or in-habit Paris, the fact that the city is organic,vitalized, assimilative of ideas, subject tocontinuous development. These impressionsare but many phenomena or phases of asingle existence. Behind them lies the civicprinciple representing civilization and pro-gress, never fail ing because constantly fos-tered.

Out of the many phases of the city ofParis interesting to foreigners, one may beselected as capable of offering instructionand counsel to those having at heart the bestinterests of American cities. That is: itsdemocratic character, which, already pro-nounced, shows a tendency to yet fartherdevelopment. As Frederic Harrison hasindicated, it is the oldest world-city which

has had a continuous civic li fe; since, dur-ing the Middle Ages, Rome lay inactive, heranimation almost suspended ; Constanti-nople shows a history rendering her ineligi-ble to the rank for which Nature and herfounders destined her; while London, inspite of her great memories of the City, toomuch resembles those natural organismswhich are complete in sections and can b,emultiplied indefinitely, to be included insuch a comparison.

From the fact of so continuous a li fe itmay be deduced that Paris adapts itself byevolution to .the wants of the people ; thatit is progressive and assimilative: a step inreasoning which is justified by evidencesplain even to the eye of the observer carelessof cause or principle. Paris is to-day so-cially in advance of the other capitals ofEurope, in that it has progressed througha greater number of evolutionary stages.It has laid aside in its course much of thatcharacter to-day giving bril liancy to t.heimperial cities which are its newer rivals.The Ringstrasse of Vienna could scarcely _have been realized, except through the work-ings of a monarchical power, like that whichHaussmannixed Paris at the middle of thenineteenth century. The Siegesallee ofBerl in stands as the apotheosis of ancestor-worship, splendid in display, strong in itsappeal to patriotism, but plainly a sponta-neous conception of the same ruler whosedespotic tendencies led him, at his accession,to warn his subjects that he was their war-lord, and as such, demanded their homage.Such expressions of public art are no longerpossible in Paris. An order like that whichprescribes the height of the buildings in theRingstrasse, Vienna, fixing it so great asto preclude the erection of any unimportant

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THli3 CRAFTSMANstructure throughout the long extent ofthat splendid thoroughfare, could scarcelybe enforced for so great a distance in theParis of to-day, since there, no one quarteris at present exclusively aristocratic, thecity having been, of late years, rapidlydemocratized. Nor could the long line ofPrussian rulers attended by their contempo-raries, adorning the hemicycles of the Sie-gesallee, be paralleled in Paris by a displayof figures of the Capetian and Valois kings.The Parisians would refuse and reject them.For however modern may be the treatmentof the municipal or national art which char-acterizes the Prussian capital, the idea lyingbehind it is monarchical, belonging to aperiod of absolutism, and once productivein France of such monuments as the Louvre.Something of fetichism resides in thethought of glorifying in sculpture suchshadowy heroes as Otto the Bear and otherearly mediaeval margraves. The demo-cratic Parisian who, every day- in his pas-sage over the Seine, may tread upon thestones of the Bastille, demands that theworks of municipal art, with which he mustperforce become familiar, shall, while pleas-ing his eye, not irritate his mind. In hispublic statues he requires the glorificationof ideas, or of persons representing someprinciple of progress, intellectual, social ormoral. In the new buildings rising in hismore important quarters, he is tolerant ofthe experimental, even of the bizarre, inorder that he may be delivered from the oldforms, and acquire fresher ones, whichto him shall represent not alone art-as the greater part of the world understandsit-but also all the important concerns ofli fe. The statement can well bear repeatingthat no one quarter of Paris, not excepting324

that of the Champs Elysees, is exclusivelyaristocratic, and that the inovement of theentire city toward democratization is con-stantly growing more rapid. This trenddiffers certainly from that shown in Viennaand Berlin, not to mention other instancesin the cities of Brussels, London, New Yorkand Boston. Therefore-to cite the mostfamiliar examples-it may well be that theClubland of -London, the Back Bay ofBoston and certain districts of Upper NewYork will continue to develop as foci ofwealth and elegance, while the rich quartersof Paris wil l continue, in equal ratio, to losetheir homogeneity and exclusiv.eness. Andin case such a result shall be reached; it cannot be regarded as a permanent loss to thecause of municipal art and beauty. It willbe simply a forward step in the evolution ofa typical city, which has progressed throughthe monarchical and aristocratic stages toenter the democratic phase. It will addanother proof to the many already given byhistory that France is in reality the soldierof God, breaking new paths through diffi-culties and dangers, in her march to theconquests of ideals. The democratic as-pect of Paris has been made the subject oftheses by students in sociology, and fromtheir carefully weighed statements Ameri-cans should derive a lesson. The people-not to say the populace of Paris-appearto be the chief care of_ the municipality.The petty tradesman is not excluded fromthe districts inhabited by the rich, where hekeeps his little shop much as his predecessorsin ancient Rome kept their tabernae in thepalaces of the nobles and even of the im-perial families. The parks and gardenswith their superb arboriculture and exquisitearrangements of flowers are enjoyed by the


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MUNICIPAL ARTpoor and the lower middle classes with thatsimplicity and eagerness which are SO char-acteristic of the French. The splendid ave-nues of the Bois de Boulogne are throngedwith men and women the modesty of whoseattire verges upon meanness, yet their senseof citizenship, of pride and ownership inthe privileges and beauty of the place givesthem a dignified bearing altogether differ-ent from that of the humble American who,in our public places, visibly saddens at thesight of the mill ionaire with his horses andservants. So, too, the populace, the stu-dents and the rich meet in the museums andother great public buildings with no aggra-vating sense of difference in position, sincetheir common interest and ownership in thetreasures displayed renders them all com-panions and equals.

From these visible signs of the spirit ofdemocracy which animates the municipalityof Paris, we may gain a valuable lesson forour guidance in the direction to be given toour civic art. The example of the old cityshows us that we must be original, vital andprogressive ; that we must appeal to thepeople through their patriotism, their senseof beauty and their personal pride, usingall natural advantages, all national andlocal traditions, all dominant ideas of theperiod with that economy and ingenuitywhich we see displayed by the French.These things we may emulate with profit,preserving and even heightening by thismeans that honorable sentiment of individ-uality without which all are slaves. Alongthis path we have already made beginningsand they are great ones. The art of thelandscape gardener, Frederic Law Olmsted,truly American, lending itself most flexiblyto all permanent conditions, seizing and

forcing into prominence the element ofbeauty which lies in wildness and sterility-this art assimilates the best that Paris andother advanced European exponents ofcivic art have to offer. Truly Americanalso, but showing the fruits of world-widestudy, and accepting the heritage of thepast, are the works of the masters of ournew school of sculpture which adorn certainparks, squares and thoroughfares of ourimportant cities. I t is the letter that killsand the spirit that makes alive. The demo-cratic city of Paris, as the municipalitywhich of all others has passed through thegreatest number of evolutionary stages,should be our teacher and source of inspira-tion in matters of social development andcivic art. But it is her spirit and hermethods alone which we should study andadopt : her close sympathy with the people ;her provisions for popular instruction andpleasure ; her constant, persistent presenta-tion before her citizens of ideals of attain-ment, valor and public virtue ; her gratitudetoward her great men. Her warnings fromthe depths of social and political experiencewe should also heed. To borrow the expres-sion of Cicero, we should see that the Re-public suffer no harm. Elements of dan-ger to the. commonwealth are visible in theaspect of our cities, and these we shouldclosely study to the end of nullifying oreliminating them. The sky-scraper isthe visible representative of the spirit of thetrust, and the magnificence of certainquarters of our great cities is a sure signthat a plutocracy is rapidly formingamong us. As a measure of safety, there-fore, and of simple justice as well, meansof health, instruction and pleasure shouldbe rapidly multiplied for the less fortunate

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THE CRAFTSMANclasses. As a palliative to the popular resent-ment of imperialism, the wily demagogueMark Antony publicly reads Caesars will,in which the testator establishes his owngardens as open places of recreation. Hu-manity does not change in its primary in-stincts, and at all social stages all classesdemand equally their rights to the pursuitof happiness. As Mr. Olmsted taught byboth theory and ,example, the city must beruralized and the country urbanized. Andthus by the ensuing wide distribution ofprivileges wil l be attained that democratiza-tion in which Paris is our prime instructor.The armorial device of that ancient munici-pality is no outworn heraldic symbol. Itcontains a living truth. The galley ridingthe waves, with beneath the legend: Fhc-tuat net Mergitur, is a type of the citywhich is often shaken but never engulfed.For our own political and social safety weshould remember this legend as a passwordto the fraternity of humanity and fit ourcities to the needs of all their citizens. Letus accept Paris as the representative city ofdemocracy.

But another and important lesson inmunicipal art awaits us beyond the north-eastern borders of France. There, we obtaininspiration from the permanence of a civicideal. As in Paris the lesson to be gainedis one of progress, so in the cities of Bel-gium it is one of persistency. We maylearn from these teeming, laborious townswhat rich rewards, both material and imma-terial, may result from fidelity to honorabletraditions. By these examples of accom-plishment we may judge of our own possi-bilities. For we, too, have brilliant historicmemories from which, if we so will, we canbuild up an art that is truly national.326

The Flemish revival now in progressthroughout Belgium promises to renew thecountry in all that concerns civic art, citi-zenship and that patriotism which respondsto the call of race and language. The an-tagonism to foreign influence is best seen inBrussels, which, although named le petitParis, contains, as a distinct quarter, a trueFlemish town lying typically in the valley,and owning just as characteristically someof the finest mediaeval civic structures ofthe world ; while the sharp sounds of theFlemish tongue are heard among the buyersand sellers of the great market-place, incontrast to the polished court language ofthe upper French city.

In Antwerp the more homogeneous nativepopulation has proceeded to a more radicalmovement than is possible in the Belgiancapital, where the Walloon element andFrench influence are powerful. In the for-mer city, the body of the people seems to bein perfect accord with the Government Com-mission of learned men and artists, formedin 1894, -with. the object to preserve andrestore the ecclesiastical, civic and domesticart once so brill iant in the towns of Flan-ders. As we thread the streets of the oldseaport, noting the tall, narrow houses withtheir stepped gables, their quaint insignia,their minutely restored Flemish features,we understand the feelings with which theburghers themselves must regard thesehardy survivals of their great past, whichare for them an incentive, an ever-presentinspiration to efforts which shall restore tothem their industrial and commercial pres-tige in the markets of the world. Trulythese stones are eloquent, as are also eventhe Dutch inscriptions with which many anenterprising and adroit tradesman has ac-

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MUNICIPAL ARTcentuated his shop-front, in thus takingadvantage of the spirit of the times. Butin Antwerp, as in all other towns of thiscountry, in which each one is a miniaturerepublic, the interest centers in the town-hall, the belfries, the guild-houses, andwith the renewed concern for the edifices,there also rises regard for the principle oflib,erty and sodality which they represent.The Vl aamche Bewegi ng-t o use the Flem-ish title of the movement-perfectly char-acteristic of the people who are subject toits impulse-joins the sentimental with thepractical, the aesthetic with the commercial.The movement embraces the great things ofli fe, while it in no wise neglects the small.Its most apparent effort is to renew the oldmunicipal art, and to make sightly andbeautiful all those features of urban li fewhich are necessitated by modern ideas ofconvenience and progress. The casual for-eign visitor regards the evidences of thisactive renascence as shown for his personalprofit and pleasure. I f he be critical, herejoices in the fine restorations of Gothicmade by the school of Viollet-le-Due. I fhe have a taste for the picturesque, he re-marks the fitness of the renewed historicalbuildings to serve as a background for thepresent life of the people. The brightmosaics of the facades, the gold empbasiz-ing structural outlines, spread somethingof the antique glory and glitter over scenesin which the devout b&w ine, the cloakedbow geoi se, the fishwife with her basket on

- her arm, or the smoker just issuing fromthe estamhet, adds the living figure to in-numerable subjects and motifs awaitingbut the eye and hand of a skilful master, inorder to rival the canvases of Memling andMatsys.

But-to repeat-the movement reachesmore deeply than externals. I ts impor-tance and significance are shown by its ac-tion regarding the Dutch language which,for certain religious and political reasons,degenerated among the Flemings into apatois, while, in Holland, it was purified byscholars and scientists, and embellished bywriters of pure literature. The effort toregenerate the Dutch as used in Belgium,as allied with, or rather as an integral partof the civic renascence, marks the entiremovement as one of the deepest nationalimportance. To stifle a language is toextinguish the li fe of the people using it astheir native tongue ; while to develop itmeans equally to strengthen the ideas andinstitutions of its possessors. Therefore,the prominence at present given in Bel-gium to the native speech, the antagonismshown toward the French as the official lan-guage of the country, is most interestingto foreigners as a social and political indi-cation ; while for the Belgians themselvesit is a vital question. In the large towns,costly theatres displaying their Flemishtitles in bold decorative characters upontheir facades, attract enthusiastic audiencesto listen to dramas introducing only racialand local types, and the novels of the Brus-sels advocate, L eopold Couroubles, now is-suing from the press in quick succession,touch the hearts and the sense of humor ofall Belgians, from the king to the peasant,by their presentments of the Peal Fleming,who reminds the foreigner of the tough,assimilative, sappy reed over-running themarshy lowlands of the North Sea.

The Flemish movement is adequately typ-ified in the monument to the poet Willems,standing in the cathedral square of Ghent,

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THE CRAFTSMANin which the country is rcpresentcd by astrong grave woman in medincv;d garb, at-tended by a youthful champion. The move-ment is leading to results wliose~ greatnesscan scarcely he calc~~latet?; since the racialenthusiasm gencratcd by it is rapidly trans-lated into commercial, industrial and artis-tic schemes which carry the forces of thek~atherland to the rcmytest parts of theworld. I t is plain consequently, that thelcs~on to bc lcnrncd by us from the civicrcnasccnef non- operative in the cities ofIklgium is one of racial fidelity.

111 art, the foreigner has much to teachus, but often it is iii ways which we

P RIS, as it lies before you fromthose old hills that, llnvc watchedher for two thousand years, hasthe effect and character of per-sonal life. Kot, in a metaphor nor for thesake of phrasing, hut in fact ; as truly asin the case of Ronic, though in a mannerless familiar, a separate csistence with asoul of its own appeals to you. Its voiceis no reflection of your own mind; on thecontrary, it is a troubling thing, like aninsistent demand, spoken in a foreigntongue. Its corporate life is not an ab-straction drawn from books or from thingsone has heard. There, Gisibly before you,is the compound of the modern and themiddle ages, whose unity convinces merelyby hcing seen.

And, above all, this thing upon which

least expect. Originality in aesthetics,as in all other things of the intellect, is theresult of inspiration : the cause being absent,the effect can not be produced. Obedientto our own impulse for the development ofllrban beauty, let us strive to create an artfor the people after the manner of demo-cratic Paris. Let us also strenuously main-tain our racial and national traditions to theexclusion of alien influence : this followingthe cxamplc of the Flemish towns which,like the Sleeping Beauty, after long sus-pendcd animation, arc awakening once moreto a heritage of youth, wealth and bloomingloveliness.

you are looking is alive. It needs no rec-ollection of what has been taught in youth,nor any of those reveries which arise at theidentification of things seen with names rc-menibcmd. The antiquarian passion, inits best form pedantic and in its worstmaudlin, finds little room in the firstaspect of Paris. Later, it takes its properrank in all the mass of what we may learn,but the town, as you see it, recalls historyonly by speaking to you in a living voice.Its past is still alive, because the city itselfis still instinct with a vigorous growth, andyou feel with regard to Paris what youwould feel with regard to a young man fullof memories ; not at all the quiet interestwhich lies in the recollections of age; stillless that happy memory of things deadwhich is a fortune for so many of the mostfamous cities of the world.

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THE FRANCISCAN MISSIONSTHE FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OFTHE SOUTHWEST: THEIR INTE -RIOR DECORATIONS. NUMBER VI.BY GEORGE WHARTON J AMESW E can not to-day determinehow the Franciscans of theSouthwest decorated the in-teriors of all their churches.Some of these buildings have disappearedentirely; while others have been restored orrenovated beyond all semblance of theiroriginal condition. But enough are leftto give us a satisfactory idea of the laborsof the Fathers and of their subject Indians.At the outset, it must be confessed thatwhile the Fathers understood well the prin-

ciples of architecture and created a natural,spontaneous style, meeting all obstacles oftime and place which presented themselves,they showed little skill in matters of interiordecoration, possessing neither originality indesign, the taste which would have enabledthem to become good copyists, nor yet theslightest appreciation of color-harmony.In making this criticism, I do not overlookthe difficulties in the way of the missionaries,or the insufficiency of materials at command.The priests were as much hampered in thiswork as they were in that of building. But,in the one case, they met with brill iant suc-cess; in the other they failed. The decora-tions have, therefore, a distinctly patheticquality. They show a most earnest endca-


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THE CRAFTSMANvor to beautify w-hat to those who,wroughtthem was the very home of God. Heremystically, dwelt the very body, blood and

rude brick, adobe, or rubble work, left inthe rough, or plastered and whitewashed,would have been preferable to their un-rneaning patches of color. In the one,there would have been rugged strength toadmire; in the other there exists only pre-tense to condemn.

Figure Il. San Miguel Mission: statue of Saint.Francis of Assisi, at left of altar

reality of the Object of Worship. Hencethe desire to glorify the dwelling place oftheir God and their own temple. The greatdistance in this case between desire andperformance is what makes the result pathet-ic. Instead of trusting to thernselves, orreverting to first ,principles, as they did inarchitecture, the missionaries endeavored toreproduce from memory the ornament withwhich they had been familiar in their earlydays in Spain. They remembered decora-tions in Catalonia, Cantabria, Mallorca,Burgos, Valencia, and sought to imitatethem ; having neither exactitude nor artisticqualities to fit them for their task. Noarnount of kindliness can soften this decis-ion. The results are to be regretted; forI am satisfied that, had the Fathers trustedto themselves, or sought for simple Nature-inspirations, they would have given usdecorations as admirable as their architec-ture. What I am anxious to emphasize inthis criticism is the principle involved. In-stead of originating or relying upon Na-ture, they copied without intelligence. The

As examples of interior decoration, theMissions of San Miguel Arc&ngel andSanta Inks are the only ones that affordopportunity for extended study. At SantaClara, the decorations of the ceiling wererestored as nearly like the original as pos-sible, but with modern colors and workman-ship. At Pala Chapel, within the last threeor four months, the priest judged deadwhite preferable to the old decorations, and,greatly to the indignation of the Indians,whose wishes he did not consult, he haswhitewashed the mural distemper paintingsout of existence. A small patch rernains atSan J uan Bautista merely as an example;while a splashed and almost obliterated

Figure III. San Miguel Mission: statue of SaintAnthony of Padua. at right of altarfragment is the only survival at San CarlosCarmelo.

At San Miguel, li ttle has been done to.%O


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THE FRAWCISCAN MISSIONSdisturb the interior, so that i t is in practi- provided with a tape, I was forced to esti-callp the same condition as it was left by the mate by paces. Therefore, the followingFathers themselves. Figure I . shows the figures are only approximate. The church

Figure IV. San 74iguel Mission: altar of the Virgininterior of the church, taken from the choir is one hundred fifty feet long by twenty-gallery, which immediately faces the altar. eight feet wide. Its walls are four feet inIn making my measurements, not being thickness, as is evidenced by the deep em-

&l


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THE CRAFTSMANbrasures of the windows and side door. Thefloor is paved with rows of large flat, burnedbricks, alternating with those similar in size

Figure V. San Miguel Mission: altar of Saint Joseph

to the ordinary building brick of to-day.In this church there are five objects

which immediately claim attention. Theseare: the reredos and its ornaments; the ceil-ing ; the mural decorations ; the old pulpit ;the ancient confessional ; all of which areworthy of somewhat detailed study.

1. THE REREDOSThis occupies the entire western end of

the church reaching from the floor to theceiling (Figure I I ). The altar, now inuse, is modern ; with the remainder just asit came from the hands of the Fathers. Thereredos consists of three panels: the centralone containing the wooden statue of SanMiguel, and the side panels showing othersaints. The San Miguel, representing the3%

patron of the Mission, is a striking statue,about six feet in height, and much largerthan the side statues. In his right handhe holds the scales and in his left asword, on which is inscribed a Latin motto.The bracket upon which he stands is theoriginal one cut and painted by the fathers.I t is rude, heavy, and composed of simplemembers: namely, a slightly rounded basesupporting a thick block with quarter-round, square and round molding.

Figure I I . shows the statue at the left ofthe altar. I t is clothed in the garb of theFranciscan, with beard, tonsured head,outstretched hands, and one foot upon askull.

Figure I I I . shows the figure to the right.I t is tonsured, shaven, and wears the Fran-ciscan garb. The panels are divided fromone another by coupled columns; those sup-porting the pediment of the center panelstanding out about two feet in front of theothers, and having two flat engaged col-umns at their back. The bases of thesecolumns are simple, half rounded moldings,

:. ., )I- -k : -,Figure VI. San Miguel Mission: corbels and rafters

the shaft is a plain cylinder, and the capitala dual leaf, as if in rude imitation of theCorinthian. The entablature is simple and


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THE FRANCISCAN MISSIONSeffective, its center bearing a large All-Seeing Eye, radiating beams of light.Above this and over each side panel is abracket sustaining an ornament in the shapeof a chalice, each connected with the otheracross the whole face of the altar by clus-ters of grapes and leaves. These chaliceshave each a cover and two handles.. Therays issuing from the center piece bear cvi-dcnces of having afforded a resting placefor owls and other night birds during thedays when the Mission was abandoned.Even now, as I sit writing, I hear the cooingof many doves that nest under the openeaves, through which feathers come floatinginto the sacred edifice.

The pillars arc mottled in imitation ofmarble, and the altar and mural decorationsarc in colors, chief of which are blue, green,red, pink, and pale green. The base ofthe panclings is pink.

On the left, above the statue is an ovalpanel painted with the two crossed handsof the Christ, showing the nail holes of thecross. On the other side is a similar ovalpanel, decorated with symbolic figures.There are two side altars, the one at theright sacred to the Holy Mother; and theother to Saint J oseph and the Holy Child.Figure IV. shows the former with some ofthe mural decoration. The figure of theMadonna is modern, but the painting isold and well i llustrates the artistic ideas ofthe Fathers. A similar painted canopycovers the old figure of San J ose seen inFigure V.

This can be studied in Figure I . Thereare twenty-eight rafters upholding the

roof, and extending completely across thechurch. Each rafter rests upon a corbelwhich can be seen a little more distinctly inFigure VI . Both rafters and corbels arerough hewn from the solid trees of themountains near San Antonio, over thirty-five miles away, and they have sustained un-impaired to the present day the heavy weightof the roof. This is estimated to be not lessthan two hundred thousand pounds. Therafters are each ten by twelve inches in thesquare, and fully forty feet long. Theywere cut in the mountains at Cambria, forty

spikes

miles away, and carried by the Indians totheir destination. These rafters protrudesome twelve inches or so through the wallto which they are fastened or keyed withlarge wooden spikes, as shown in FigureVII.

Over the altar, the corbels are tinted alight green, and the ceil ing and rafterspink. Other colors used in the mural deco-rations, arc blue and white. Over the altar,there is also a further decoration of the ceil-ing in a leafy design in blue, by which


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THE CRAFTSMANspecial honor is given to the most sacred I may say that although crude and inhar-portion of the church. monious they are exceedingly interesting, as

they are so evidently a work of love andIII. THE MURAL DECORATIONS devotion. The desire to beautify the sacred

These are executed in three zones: that house is there manifest, although the powerof the altar, and those of the church and adequately to accomplish the purpose waschoir. These decorations are generally wanting. To the Mission Fathers the com-called frescoes, but, as I believe, erroneous- plcted church was dear, beautiful and

Figure VIII. San IMiguel Mission: the old pulpit

lY- They are in reality distemper paint-ings on plaster. A true fresco is executedwith mineral or earthy pigments upon anewly laid stucco ground of lime or gyp-sum: so that the colors sinking in, becomeas durable as the stucco itself. This, itappears to me, is not the case with the SanMiguel decorations. As a general riticism334

sacred, because beautified to the best oftheir ability, and raised with the ardor oftheir whole souls to the glory of God.

In the altar space, the mural decorationson the sides consist of thirteen bands, alter-nating green and brown; the green being adesign of pomegranate leaf, sprig andfruit; the brown a conventional design of


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THE FRANCISCAN MISSIOSSleaves arranged in a lozenge pattern. on right side, the pulpit is located as seen ineach side, a painted panel is introduced for Figure VIII. This decoration comprises aan altar, before described in Figure IV. In series of bands in pink and shades of green,this same figure can also be seen, above the radiating fan-shaped from a green base,perpendicular bands a horizontal band situated between three and four feet aboveabout three feet wide; the design being of the floor. This fan design is enclosed in asmall squares set with a conventional pat- painted panel, outlined by fluted colunms,tern. There is a fringe or border, painted in blue. These columns continue, at a dis-i n blue to represent lace with tassels, both tance of about twclvc feet apart, along the

Figure IX. San Miguel Mission: arm of choir gallery. showing mural decoration .above and below this band. Still anotherhorizontal band, about three feet wide, ingray and pink, with a painted cornice con-necting the wall decorations with the mold-cd cornice above, complete the mural adorn-ments in the altar zone.

Beginning at the altar, there is a zone ofdecoration extending on each side of thechurch, about eighteen feet. This mightbe termed the pulpit zone, for in it, on the

body of the church to the choir zone, atwhich point an entirely different design isintroduced. The columns are further dec-orated by a conventional leaf and fern pat-tern, as seen in Figure IX., which alsoshows the frieze and the painted balustrade,both of these extending from the altar zoneto that of the choir. Above and below thechoir loft, the design is the Greek key.

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THE CRAFTSMANIV. THE OLD PULPIT like a crown surmounted with a ball , on

A peculiar fascination pertains to this which rests a cross. The crown is paintedlittle structure, with its quaint sounding green, gold, black and silver, with the scal-board and crown-like cover, which could be loped edge in red.let down as a protection when desired: thewhole resembling a bird-nest fastened upon V. THE OLD CONFESSIONALthe right wall. I t is reached by a flight of The confessional shown in Figure X. iseight steps from the inside of the altar rail built into the solid adobe wall, with two

Figure X. San Miguel Miusioc: the olrl confessionaland is octagonal in form ; three of the eightsides being occupied by the door and thepoint of attachment to the wall. It isdecorated as follows : the inner panel is deepblue, with a band of greenish yellow; theouter panel being in dark green enclosed bya molding in blue, red and gray. The underscallop is in red, with a band above of green-ish yellow. The sounding board is shaped336

ants at each

swinging doors opening fromit. One of these has beenreplaced by new material, asseen in the picture ; the other,except for the insertion of anew panel of redwood, is asthe Fathers left it. The oldiron hinges, three pairs ofwhich remain, are originals,and good examples of the ironhandiwork of the time. Thedecoration of the old door isthe continuation of one of thefluted columns before de-scribed.

At Santa In& the originaldecorations of the altar zonestill remain. Elsewhere theyhave been destroyed with theall-covering whitewash. Inthis church, the ceiling beamsare painted(Figure XI .)withred, yellow and green into aportion of a circle with pend-point, and with a leaf design

inside each arc. On the bottom of eachbeam is a conventionalized trailing vine.

The decorations of the side wall (FigureXII.) are of black and green around thewindow, and a rude imitation of marble inpanels at each side. In each panel hangsa wooden bracket, painted in water color,and supporting oil paintings. About three


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THE CRAFTSMANfeet from the base is a border of yellow, gives some detail of the dadoes of the rere-green and red of a large conventionalized dos, with its marble paneling and conven-leaf, alternating with a chalice, or vase. tional figures in diamonds of differing size.

The reredos is pretentious and inharmo- The most striking and pleasing muralnious. Indeed, were it uot for the sacred decoration of the whole building is foundfurnishings, statues and altar beneath, it in the seclusion of the sacristy. It is donewould suggest a rude stage setting hastily in blues, reds and yellows, and is pictured in

Figure X11. Santa Ids Mission: right wall of xmctuary

Figure XIV. The flower(rose?) and leaf below theGreek key, and the conven-tional flower and leaf aboveare the most artistic decora-tions that I have yet seen inthe California Missions.

At San Luis Rey, some ofthe old mural decorations re-main, as seen in the marble-izing of the engaged columns,the dadoes at their base, thewavy line extending aboutthe lower part of the walls,and the designs in the door-ways and arches (FigureXV). On the reredos of theside altar, also, there are rem-nants of decoration in dis-temper (Figure XVI ).

The winged angels, carry-ing the crown, constitute afair example of the ability ofthe Fathers in this branch ofdecorative art : the columnardesign on the right and theleft of the reredos, as well

prepared for an emergency, rather than its as the decoration of the lower wall on thesacred function. It is a series of marble- right, deserve to be examined.ized panels, enclosed in columns, with bases Figure XVII. shows the interior wall dec-and cornices. The archway leading from orations of the Pala Chapel, a dependencythe sanctuary into the sacristy is somewhat of the San Luis Rey Mission. The adobeelaborately, although rudely decorated, as walls were plastered and whitewashed; thenshown in Figure XI II . This figure, also, the rude columns and arches were colored338


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THE FRANCISCAN MISSIONSin distemper to a reddishbrown. When the Palating-wa Indians were removed fromWarners Ranch to Pala, theywere told that this chapelwould be theirs, and that apriest would be sent regularlyto minister to them. Imaginetheir chagrin to find it leasedto the Landmarks Club, ofLos Angeles, the president ofwhich they hated bitterly forhis treatment of them regard-ing their removal! Fortu-nately, in Rishop J . T. Con-aty, the newly appointed Dio-cesan of Los Angeles, theyfound a sympathizing friend.He arranged that servicesshould be conducted with rcg-ularity ; sending a priest toreside among them. Thislatter, with a zeal for cleanli-ness and for making all thingsunder his control conform tohis own ideas; neglectful or

Figure XIV. Santa Ids Misnum: mural dworationin sacristy

unobservant of the irri tated condition ofthe Tndians under his charge, and withoutconsulting them (so I am informed), or-dered the walls to be whitewashed. Theindignation of the Indians was intense, andwere it not that high feeling has been com-mon to them of late, they would have prac-tically resented this desecration of the time-honored wall decorations. To an unsym-pathetic stranger, their anger might appearunreasonable and absurd ; but when it isremembered that all the Indians of thisregion are responsive to the memories andtraditions of Padre Peyri and other earlyworkers at the Missions of San Diego and

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THE CRAFTSMAN

Figure XV. San Luls Hey Mission : entrance arch ant1 tribuneSan Luis Rey, their feelings appear natural the old decorations are found in the reredos,and almost proper. the marbleizing of the engaged columns on

At Santa Barbara, all that remains of each wall and the entrance and side arches,as shown in Figure XVI I I .This marble effect is exceed-ingly crude, and does notrepresent the color of anyknown marble.

Here and there on the wallsof the San J uan Bautista area few remnants of the old dis-temper paintings. On thefurther side of the seventharch on the left is a conven-tional leaf design in brownishred, illustrated in FigureSIX.

In the old building of San


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THE CRAFTSMAN

Figure XVI. San Luis Res Mission: side altar with statues of Saints Iauis. Francis and AnthonyFrancisco, the rafters of the ceiling have tions. These consist in rhomboidal figuresbeen allowed to retain their ancient decora- placed conventionally from end to end of

Fig. XIX. San Juan Bautista Mission: fragment of mural decnrat,ion3452

the building.I AVE thus given to thereaders of The Craftsman acomprehensive survey ofpractically all the remainingmural decorations of the Fran-ciscan Missions in California.They are not given as examplesto be copied; but as matters ofhistory and therefore of deepinterest. Personally I have neverrecovered from my surprise thatmen of architectural ability suchas the Fathers proved themselvesto be, should have failed so ut-terly in these decorations.


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A WOMAN MASTERA WOMAN MASTER: MADEMOI-SELLE BRESLAU. TRANSLATEDFROM THE FRENCH OF COUNTROBERT DE MONTESQUIOU. BYIRENE SARGENT

EDITOR'S Nom.--It is said that towardthe end of the Middle Ages-say, in Chau-cers time-a book required a hundred yearsin which to become popular. In our ownday, a tenth part of that period suffices tobury in forgetfulness a book which is thepassion of two continents. Little morethan a decade since, indiscriminately themature and the inexperienced, the prosaicand the romantic followed the autobiog-raphy of the ill-starred genius, Mari,e Bash-kirtseff. Many there were who read theJ ournal in obedience to the passing fash-ion. Others were attracted by its artisticquality ; fewer still by the race type whichit revealed as in a picture; the smallestnumber of all, perhaps, by the morbid studyin psychology which it offered. But allthose who read it, whatever their initial mo-tive, became deeply interested in the plotand action. For plot and action therewere-complicated, moving and powerful .Love, jealousy and ambition were there seenfeverishly at work and constituting a trag-sedy, although these three principles wererepresented by a single character and hadtheir seat in a single human heart. But,as in the old Greek drama, the narrative ofthe chief actor involved shadowy personsupon whom a reflected interest was cast.The love of Marie Bashkirtseff centered inBastien-Lepage, the pure-minded paintertoo early lost to France. Her ambition,wounded by destiny and disease, circled im-

potently about the personali ty of her fel-low-student, Mlle. Breslau. To this patientconqueror of fame the Russian girl-paintergave the first prominence; creating for herrival a world-wide public anxious to followher career and to know the outcome of herefforts. For the many she was long lostamid the throng of her competitors; hername alone remaining as a memory of herearly existence. But to-day her reputationis a fact accomplished, and the stern god-dess J ustice leaves her as sole survivor tospeak the last word in the tragedy of MarieBashkirtseff.

I the course of the two volumes of herjournal, Marie Bashkirtseff appearsto her readers under a double aspect.She is at once pathetic and vain. In-deed, she might have figured, as a typicalexample, in those studies of precocious chil-dren which were recently published by aEuropean Review with the purpose of de-termining the results of their gifts. TheRussian girl-painter was, without doubt, aprodigy, possessing both the seductive q&l-ities and the perversities of the type; hersad end excusing her faults to the profit ofher attractions. But let her troubled spiritrest in peace !

Radically different was the childhood ofthe grave, distinguished artist to whom Iam to devote this study.. And yet early,Fame touched and assured her name, at themention of which the writer of the memoirsalready cited, h,eard sounded a chord pow-erful, sonorous and calm. The fame lateracquired harmonized with such sure hopes.

Sonorous, calm and powerful : the ex-attitude and justice of these words speak in

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THE CRAFTSMANfavor of the one who formulated them inher restless equity : that young and brilliantwoman of society, ambitious to run theartistic career with the rapidity of a hare,while her prudent, patient colleague slowly,wisely, valiantly attained the successive and

painter ; surprising even-it must surely be-for the painter herself. Since upon art-ists worthy of their titlethat is, those hav-ing the necessary modesty and pride-theeffect produced by the collection of theirworks is in itself a great surprise. Andthis feeling possesses a victorious, consolingquality, like the glance described by theGreek philosopher as belonging to a manwho has laid up his treasures elsewhere thanin the coffer hunted by the robber.

Certainly Mlle. Breslau can cast thisglance upon her own work, upon herself,when relentless Time in the course of years,shall have made of her a venerable old mas-ter. For her hands will have scatteredabroad many and many precious leaves in-scribed with the history of as many lives.And as a legend or epigraph attached tothis living, sentient gathering, the futurecan write:

Here are fruits, flowers, leaves andbranches . . . .

Such will be the harvest of our womanmaster.This harvest we shall shortly pass in

review. But, first of all, I wish to empha-size the comparison previously indicated,which offers valuable instruction regardingthe beneficial effects of rivality.

Portrait of 8 young painterprogressive stages of the same hard race.

Over these stages we have been permitted,by means of the Georges Petit Exposition,to cast a sweeping, inclusive glance, surpris-ing even for those who have followed foryears with deep interest the work of the

In the second volume of the Journal ofMarie Bashkirtseff, the name of Mademoi-selle Breslau occurs more than thirty times.I have counted the passages and must haveomitted some of them from my list. Thisname recurs like a haunting spirit, a be-sieging anxiety, a spectre of real existencenecessary to be overcome-the representa-tive of the genius ardently coveted for ones


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A WOMAN MASTERself : a being which exists for many, if not for She is splendidly gifted and I am con-all of us, and whorn circumstances endow with fident that she wil l succeed.the power of making us realize our capabili - That minx Brcslau has finished a com-ties, which without this quickening influence position; if one can do things like that, onewould not reach so full a development : is certain of becoming a great artist. It is

The Mirror

I quote : plain, isnt it? I arn jealous. It is wellHreslau has received many congratula- that I am so, for jealousy will be a spur.

tions. As a matter of course, Breslau has at-How well that girls draws. tained a brill iant success; she draws admir-That rogue gives me anxiety. ably.

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Breslau will get prizes.Breslau is constantly in my thoughts,

and I do not make a stroke without askingmyself how she would do.

I ask no questions for fear of hearingwhat Breslau is doing.In comparison with Breslau I am like a

cardboard box, thin and fragile, beside amassive, richly carved oaken chest.

Happy Breslau: yes, truly happy, and

THE CRAFTSMANShe has not made her work very inter-

esting (alluding to a fellow pupil), asBreslau would have done. . . .

And so these allusions continue in a con-stant minor accompaniment to the themesof the writer, swell ing or diminishing, gath-ering or losing emphasis, winding throughfive hundred pages, as the kit-motiv ofrivality, stimulating and effective.

The quoted words were long since written.The last page of the journal of Marie Bash-kirtseff bears the date of 1884. To the ex-periences so widely different, yet equallythri ll ing, of the two young girls one mightapply these lines: After a score of years I write again:

Ilisten...... No sound breaks the stillnessdread......

There is no doubt. Already you are heldAmong those silent ones the world calls dead.Alas! such words might be the tragic

appeal of the restless Marie from the spiritworld. It would seem thus that, at myappeal, she issues from the shades to bring,in the allusions cited from her J ournal, theposthumous and continued homage of afaithful admiration, purified henceforthfrom all mundane rivality and splendidlyjustified to-day by that which the compan-ion who inspired it subrnits to our j udgrnent.

to be like her, I would give all that peoplecall my gifts.

God has been merciful in preventing mefrom being wholly crushed by Breslau, atleast for to-day.

I am not favored, like Breslau, who livesin a narrow little artistic circle, in whichevery word, every step profits something tostudy . . . . the evening, for instance, shespends in drawing and composing.

B FORE speaking of the strikingcollection of nearly one hundredworks exhibited by Mlle. Breslau, inthe Georges Petit Galleries, I wish to makemention of a trait of her character whichaccords with u-hat I have already said re-garding her disdain of reputation. Whenabout to write my present article, and in

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A WOMAN MASTERorder to provide myself with facts, I asked devoid of sentimentality. One must admireher for the use of certain of the innumerable this sincere, thorough workmanship em-journalistic criticisms in which, twenty ployed to produce scrupulously correctyears since, her fame first appeared as a and complete drawing, to represent the en-prelude and then passed on tobe accentuated in continuous,infinite variations, she mademe the simple answer that:

I had, certainly, severalpackages of clippings, but atthe time of my last change ofresidence, they disappeared.This ingenuous reply pleasedme more than I can express.It is indeed true that thesesuperficial judgments, notaltogether candid, as poorVerlaine, the poet, testified,lose their force at the succes-sive and constantly more re-flective stages of existence.There remains only the ap-preciation of certain luminousminds who have signally hon-ored LIS, if they have gener-ously infused something ofsentiment into their calmjudgments.

Among those who have soacted tolvard Mile. Breslau Iwill mention RI 1I. AndreChevrillon and Emile Hovel-acque. Let me quote fromthem :

Mile. Breslau possesses apsychological instinct whichseeks by preference women Portrait: Roveryand children. It is agreeable to linger in tire physical exterior which takes its formthe presence of this serious, wholesome from the inner li fe. Here is an art ofgenius, enamored of freshness and force, of reflection and conscience which refuses togoodness and delicacy, full of sentiment and juggle with difficulties and which the French

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THE CRAFTSMANeye does not always estimate at a high value,accustomed, as it is, to lightness of treat-ment and brill iancy of execution. Mlle.Breslau is our first woman painter, at leastin portraiture-the only one, perhaps, whois not the replica of a masculine genius. In

i_s._.,. ,.r- _

grace. Her studies of children are oftenmasterpieces of arrangement, of simple andsure handling, successful in expressingyouth with its restrained bril liancy, its reti-cent strength, its plant-like freshness andthe quiet of its incomplete development andbloom.

This passage is one to be proud of havinginspired. The woman honored by it has notsurered by losing all other printed eulogiesin the confusion caused by changes of resi-dence. Fragment though it be, it suffices.It would be useless to cite others. It con-tains everything and it can serve excellentlyas an epigraph to that peaceful, harmo-nious labor, as, also, it may one day in thefuture, serve as an epitaph for her who willhave gained the right to rest quietly, havingrealized her calm dream.

Charles Ferdinandthe medium of pastel, the tenderness, thesympathetic intuitive intell igence peculiarto her sex, find employment. There isnothing more soothing, sweet and tenderthan her groups of young girls with theirdelicate flower-tints, their calm, harmonious

And now let us try in our turn to judgeappreciatively the collection to-day exhib-ited, as well as the artist to whom we areindebted for it. First of all, might it notbe believed that we find in the eyes of certainof these models a reflection of Switzerland,pure and powerful, in its whites and itsazure tones ? Mlle. Breslau is a native ofZurich.

She descends in truth from her moun-tains, exclaimed the painter Degas, in oneof his characteristic sallies of wit, as hestood before a singular portrait of the artistpainted by herself. Certainly, this portraitis full of meaning, sombre and forbiddingas it stands, with its frown apparently ad-dressed in reproof to affectation, pretense,display-to all that is false in what to-dayis called art, and what, for the most part,is but insipid, pointless imitation. Yes,truly, something limpid and refreshing,like the atmosphere of an elevated region,

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A WOMAN MASTERis exhaled in the dignified, tranquil room in In Mllc. Breslaus work there is no trickerywhich, among pensive flowers and sensitive or sleight of hand, no false style or evenanimals, types of reflective men, of young any style ; no tailor-made elegance, or lay-women, of older ladies, and above all of real figure mannerisms. There is, furthermore,c h i l d r e n , pursue peacefully their healthy no inverse affectation of simplicity whichaesthetic life. Of childlike grace Mlle. would be equally distasteful. The artist

Breslau shows herself constantly as an in- seeks only-and this is apparent throughcomparable translator into painting. Her feeling. rather than through sight-thethemes, at once simple and infinite, she ex- garment, the ornament, which reveals a per-ecutes with a power so assured as to have no sonality, the accessory which completes it,need to expend itself in brill iant execution. or comments upon it. This accessory, if

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THE CRAFTSMANchosen by the painter, is simple and charm-ing. It takes at times a pronounced form,and may even assume that of a peculiarhat, when such a detail of costume is ableto reveal more regarding the head uponwhich it sits than a whole treatise uponphysiognomy. But I repeat that when thetaste of the painter and that of the modelcoincide, there follow the happiest results.As an example, I will cite as one amongmany the attractive portrait of M. Victor

( *

A portraitKlotz, which is a work of great distinction,and satisfying by its harmonious effect.

On occasion, the artist goes stil l fartherin the choice of detail and we follow herwith pleasure, since her sure judgment inwhat Carlylc named the philosophy ofclothes, prevents her from leading us intoerror. It is thus, in that admirable portraitof Madame de Brantes, which will alwaysrank as one of the richest works of Mile.Breslau, the painter has conceived her sub-ject as a figure with mitts. The concep-350

tion was true and accurate--suggested evenby the model. The amiable lady who somc-times drew on gloves with which to handlesubjects of conversation, wil l henceforth, inour own imagination, wear mitts; this willbe an advant.age since they will leave visiblethe half of her lovely hands.

With perfect truth one may comparethis pastel with the work of Perronneau.The eloquent eyes, the nose indicative ofculture, the air of penetration, the subtilesmile, the adroitness, the soft, persuasivegrace so superbly rendered, reveal the dis-tinguished psychological power of thepainter.And yet it is in the portraits of childrenthat Mlle. Breslau most fully exercises thisgift-then, with a greater tenderness. Shecalls to the mind of one who studies thisphase of her work, certain verses which de-scribe the child as leaving behind him atevery step several phantoms of himself. Along procession of these attractive li ttlephantoms defiles, smiling or sighing, alongthe walls of the Galerie de S&e. For allthese children are not gay. Some of themare far from that temper of mind. Indeed,it has often seemed to me that, in spite of theconscient melancholy, the definite sorrowswhich come later in li fe, childhood has yetone of the bitterest of lots, w-hich resides inthe impossibili ty of making its grievancesunderstood by careless attendants and un-sympathetic parents. I will take as an.example the significant words of the modelof one of these expressive canvases. Thechild is holding in his arms-the belovedconfident of his little hatreds, of his child-ish spite-a thin, pugdog. And the typi-cal phrase is added: I like Tom. I like


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A WOMAN MASTERDick. I like MCdor. . . . . I dont l ike sonal secret of their future individuality,people ! which it is her task to express and make

A book might be made from the rcflec- visible. In this task how expert she is!tions gathered .by Mile. Breslau from the She has within her the qualities of a Kate

lips of her young models. She excels in Greenaway, of larger mold and highermak ing them talk, rather than in a l low ing grasp than the English original; one whothem to talk, in order to extract the per- by virtue of a sort of artistic transposition

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I

THE CRAFTSMANof maternal love, devotes a celibate life fullof emotions to appreciate well and to de-scribe even better the first fruits of the soul.

The reward of such intelligent, subtileapplication, aided by exceptional means,perfect sincerity and consummate art, re-sides in the fact that no one, perhaps, likeMlle. Breslau, has been able to reproducemortal eyes in their unveiled splendor (touse the expression of Baudelaire), togetherwith that which makes of them, sometimesprematurely, mirrors darkened by thebreath of grief.

How much present beauty, how muchfuture womanliness one finds in Mlle. Bres-laus portrait of the little Beatrix de Cler-mont-Tonwrre! The eyes are two flaxblossoms; the lips an opening rose; the twochubby arms have a plumpness which isalready accented and modeled, just as theglance has already a dreamy quality.

As for the characteristic and infinitelyvaried accessory already mentioned, whichthe painter uses to enlighten the spectatorupon what she herself is seeking to decipher,this accessory in the portraits of her littlemen and women is, according to the age ofthe subject, a map which is a steady, an-chared balloon, or a balloon which is afloating world. Or again, if the accessorytake a living form, we find flowers and ani-mals whose grace and mystery are all iedwith sentiment or wit to those of theirfriends or masters. The flowers thus usedas accessories, and those treated separatelyin panels, tell us how much and how faith-fully the painter loves them: larkspurs ofan intense azure; harebells of a fading car-mine ; velvet gilliflowers ; flame-like zinnias ;roses of flesh and blood. I know only oneother painter, Fantin, who can give the3.58

same air of t h o u g h t a n d sp i r i t to a handfulof color notes, in a vase. These clustersof flowers painted by masters who are notspecialists in this branch of art, have abrilliancy-I was about to say-a perfumewhich is peculiar and unique. Such arethe flowers executed by Monticelli , Manetand Raffaelli.

Mme. Lemaire, that admirable flower-painter, produces faces which are like thepetals of blossoms; Mile. Breslau, the sub-tile painter of womens portraits, producesflowers resembling women : two processestotally diff,erent from each other, but bothjustified by the results attained throughtheir exercise.

I must devote a word to Mile. Breslausportraits of men, less numerous, but notless remarkable. I will mention three, ofartist friends: the first, a strange, fascinat-ing figure of an English student-an earlywork, dating from 1880 and marking astage in the life of the painter. For, hav-ing finished this portrait which alreadyreveals the master, Mile. Breslau gave upall attendance upon schools and courses.As to the portrait of Carriks-the sculptorof genius whose warm friendship is one ofthe proud memories of the painter who hastransmitted to us his features-this workis a page of contemporary art destined tolive for two reasons. I t is, first of all, thefinal and, as I believe, the only portrait, ofa master already illustrious, whose fame willcontinue to increase. At some future time, ,his native, or his adopted city will send toMile. Breslaus studio at Neuilly a commis-sion .authorized to obtain this priceless me-morial work. Similar was the action ofthe city of Glasgow toward the artist.Whistler in behalf of Carlyle.



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STUDY OF SEVRES METHODSA COJ IPARATIVE STUDY OFSEVRES METHODS. BY PAULCRETISFrmcendlsewhere, the usefulnessor fertility of state manufactories hasbeen very much discussed, both at thepresent day and in former times., Theopponents of such establishments accusethem of being permeated with the burcau-cratic spirit. This malady, they say, ishostile to all innovations, and stands in theway of all bold experiments. It has rapid-ly dried up inspiration, and substitutedlabeled formulae for research. The privi-leged position places thern outside of com-petition : hence they grow drowsy in sclf-contentment. They ignore changes inpublic taste and the new processes of pro-duction going on about them. TllC~maintain that progress always comes frominvestigators being left to their own inde-pendent methods, but loving their art orprofession for its own sake, and not as asimple sinecure.

These opponents can sustain their posi-tion by the following facts: In the historyof %x-es, which we shall study, we do notfind that the first discovrry of soft and hardporcelain was made by that institution, butb y private manufacturers, who, later, wererestrained by many vexatious regulationsmade to forti fy the privilege3 of the RoyalJ lanufactory. I ,ater, in the movement toimprove the decorations, the official pro-ducers lagged far behind; only adoptingthe new ideas under the constant fire ofcriticism, and being obliged to ask helpfrom private producers disdained at othertimes. These arc certainly weak points.

NOW what do the defenders of state man-

ufactories say? They ask how, without thehelp of the State, can you afford the longand expensive experiments which enable youto bring a product to its brightest pcrfec-tion? Also, how wil l you secure purchaserswil ling to pav for the careful execution

Plate I. Xhw vase, with profile portrait of I,onis XVI.attained by official workmen, who are notcmbarasscd by the haste of commercial con-ditions?

As in all discussions, the truth lies be-tween the two estrcmes, and WC shall seelater how people have tried to reconcile thetwo points of view by a compromise-imperfect, it is true, but still superior tothe old conditions.

The State Nanufactory we take as an355


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THE CRAFTSMANexample, not because S&res has alwaysbeeri ahead of the innovator; but because itswork, on the whole, has been superior toevery other institution of its kind. For

Plate II. Turning clock of Sh~?s porcelain: period ofLouis XVI.

this reason it is the best subject of study.We must admit, that after all, its universalrenown is well merited, in spite of someweaknesses. In its existence of a century356

and a half is comprised the history ofporcelain among occidental peoples.

I is well known that the earliest discov-eries in porcelain manufacture inEurope date from the second half ofthe fifteenth century. At this time, porce-lain was imported from China. This fineware awakened the interest of savants andpottery makers, who tried to reproduce it.From certain documents we learn that theysucceeded first, at Venice. Later, the por-celain of the Medici-recently discovered-marks a new impulse which dates from thefirst year of the seventeenth century.

A century later, in France and Saxony,experiments were renewed which finallyyielded satisfactory results.

In 1707, Boetticher made hard porcelainin Meissen for the first time. In France,at this time, they were making soft porce-lain. Then, in the middle of the eighteenthcentury, L ouis XV. founded S&vres which,in a few years, attained its highest renown.

Its first purpose was the production ofuseful objects, that is to say: table-service-plates, cups, coffee pots, soup tureens,etc., whose graceful forms were often in-spired by the exquisite models of the handi-work of the silversmiths of which TheCraftsman gave, some time ago, very goodreproductions.

Their decorations are very simple. Alight relief, accentuating the shape, givesto the composition the suppleness and care-fully studied aspect to be found in all thefurniture of this period. In general, nocolor is used. The white of the porcelain-which is of a fine quality-is made to pre-dominate. Sometimes, however, we find


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STUDY OF SEVRES METHODSflowers distributed over the surface, lightribbons flying, or a border enhanced bytouches of gold. The simplicity and tasteare perfect; so perfect that to-day thosemodels are still most often employed.If studied technically, the designs ofthese pieces show so perfect a knowledgeof composition that there seems to be noeffort. Those delicate curves appear tohave been made by a happy, spontaneousmovement, unconscious of any end in view.

It is the distinctive character of all greatperiods of art, that their creations, far frombeing limited to the attempts of a fewisolated investigators, are produced by thecollaboration of a whole school. These art-ists employ the same motive over and over;always refining it and finally condensing itinto its essential l ines. This work whichseems groping and arid for many of ourcontemporaries-whom the fever of indi-viduality has driven to the bizarre in orderto avoid repetition-has been the only pro-ductive method. We owe to it Greek artand the art of the Middle Ages, those twosummits of the art of humanity. The an-nouncement, which we have too often heard,of the necessity to create a modern art intwo or three years seems ridiculous to thosewho have studied the evolution of artistictypes and have seen a capital insensiblytransformed during a period of six or eighthundred years in order to reach the Ionicof the Erectheion, or, the small modifica-tions from church to church, which, afterthree centuries of continuous effort, devel-oped into the completed cathedral of thethirteenth century.

Art never changes its course abruptly,except to the eye of the superficial observer.Its transformations are very slow in spite

of the caprices of fashion, which, in the lastsixty or eighty years, has been able to trav-esty art, if not to change it.

Table-service was disguised in this wayin the Napoleonic period. The expeditionto Egypt, the interest in the explorationsthere made, caused the introduction of thegeometrical forms of the lotus and theSphinx. Rut we must not forget that thelove for rectil inear forms marked the period

SBvres competition, 1881: centerpiece. height. onemetre. First prize, 51. Forgeron

of Louis XVI , although they soon becamedry and lifeless; that the false Romanesquein vogue during the Revolution and Empirehad prepared the way for the introductionof the Egyptian.

Objects begin to be covered with gold.There is no longer any play of fancy inthe drawing; but sometimes a happy repe-tition of the decoration makes us indulgentto its super-abundance.

And for eighty years nothing new has357


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Designs for Shrew TARP, (porcelain), L. Camike

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STUDY OF SEVRES METHODSbeen created in this branch of ceramics. Itis in the composition of vases that all efforthas been absorbed. Thus, it is here thatwe must look for the dominating spirit.

Since 1890, the production of vases hasbecome the aim of the successful artist atSPvres. This has, at all times, been thechosen field, wherever the decorative artshave tried their own strength-tried, in-deed, to rival the old masters. Their his-tory is a faithful reflection of the artistictaste of a nation. In their forms, pure ormixed, plain or overcharged with ornament,centuries and races have wri tten their ideals,aesthetic, military and commercial. Thedance of the satyrs and of the.antique flute-players encircle the marble of the Greekvases, leaving the form itself like the curveof a beautiful body. On them all antiquelife with its worship of the beautiful hasdrawn its harmonious, robust profile. TheMiddle Ages gave to sacred vases the typewhich they stil l keep, and the Italian Renas-cence tried to return again to the love ofform for its own sake, adding to it theimprint of the complex modern spirit.

The vases of the time of Louis XVI .naturally bear the marks of the new for-tunes acquired during this period, which,through the Roman spirit, was so near theRevolution. But the personality of the,eighteenth century is expressed in the in-comparable distinction of the form and ajudicious distribution of the decoration.Perhaps one could reproach the models ofthis period for being too often derived fromarchitectural ornament ; for being adapt-able indifferently to every kind of material,without taking account of the deli&y ofmodeling to which porcelain is susceptible,

according to the fineness of the clay andthe hardness of the enamel. But .thesedefects are forgotten when one feels thecharm of the objects. Their color is verypure: the backgrounds of turquoise, green,blue and pink are unrivaled. The medal-lions are decorated with genii and flowers,painted with a light and vital touch. Wegive two reproductions of these vases, onedecorated with a profile of the King ; theother used as a turning clock and set upona pedestal.

During the Revolution capital for man- _ufacturing purposes became scarce, andold models were employed ; the only modifi-cations introduced being the change of theroyal emblems for those of the Republic.

The Empire gave a new impulse to themaking of vases, fine examples of whichwere sent as presents to great personages.Their styles are inspired by the antique,and sometimes by the Egyptian; neverthe-less, the design is always a personal crea-tion, and never a mere copya Vases ofabout six feet in height and of very diffi-cult production are the aim of the manu-factory. The somewhat dull color doesnot enhance the qualities of the material.

During the period of the Restoration,the decadence is accentuated. This fact isindicated by the numerous and intelligentcopies from the antique. The romanticreaction in literature produces indeed atemporary infatuation for the MiddleAges, but the kindest action toward theGothic of 1830, is to keep silence regard-ing it.

We witness the same tendencies underLouis Philippe. At this time, the paintersto-day illustrious in landscape-Millet,

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STUDY OF SEVRES METHODSCorot, Rousseau, Daubigny and others-begin a return to Nature abandoned by theclassicists. But half a century will elapsebefore we shall see this movement exertingan influence upon the decorative arts.

We will pass over the period of NapoleonII I., during which the compositions wereuninteresting. We come now to the periodof our contemporaries.

In I875 was founded the prize competi-tion of Skvres. Its results have been, aswas natural, unequal, but they have givensome very gooamodels to manufacturers.We see an evolution: the compositions b,e-come more interesting, more personal, with-out, however, seeking motives of ornamentin nature alone. The works of MM. May-eux, Cheret and Sandier are chaste andcharming in composition. It is impossiblenot to see in them very modern tendencies,in spite of the reproaches of the apostlesof LArt Nouveau. In their work, twoarchitectural elements play an importantpart. This is a natural result, when weconsider the education of the artists ofwhom we speak. But there is sufficientdelicacy in their work and the classic rem-iniscences serve to give the severity neces-sary in larger pieces, or in pieces whichmust be an integral part of an architecturalscheme.

It is to be regretted that Carr ier-Bel-leuse, director of the department of art atthis time, was deficient, because of a similareducation. In spite of his talents as asculptor, manifested in some interestingpieces, his lack of study of design proper,is only too apparent in all that is not stat-uary pure and simple.

The Manufactory, at about I880,

reached a point where it could become veryfruitful under intelligent direction. Wehave seen that it possessed elements able toproduce pieces which might be called nobleworks of art. It would have sufficed to addto those elements another scale, more famil-iar and better adapted to the designs ofsmall pieces of brie-ii-brat, which grewmore and more in favor.

Designers were not scarce, because themovement of the new spirit in decorationbegan to give most promising results. Ow-ing to what influences and circumstancesthe impulse ceased there and why the mix-ture of those new elements was delayed, Iknow not. But in 1889, at the Paris Ex-position, the manufacturers made a poorshowing: the good works of which wehave spoken not being in sufficient numberto balance the poverty of the entire exhibit.

At this time, also, the supporters ofL+drt Nouveau began to be clamorous.Rejecting all that was favorable to them,they easily demonstrate that vitality wasoutside of official art. Acute criticism ofShres arose, which reached the point ofasking for the suppression of the manufac-tory. But fortunately, these radical de-mands were not granted. However, theyproduced a desirable effect, viz. : the organi-zation of Shres was modified ; its activitywas enlarged ; it tried to put itself in touchand on a level with the new taste which becamedominant at this time. New designers wereappointed ; the old models were ignored ; ina word, so much was accomplished thateleven years later, at the Paris expositionof 1900, the manufacturers gave unani-mous praise to the old institution. In per-fection of product, it coui austain everycomparison. The elegance of the objects

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STUDY OF SEVRES METHODSfoundations are, respectively, architectureand Nature.

M. Carrikre first applied his study todecorative painting, to designs for fabrics,wall-papers, etc. He then produced decora-tive drawings for porcelain, on flat surfaces.In these different mediums of work theprinciples which he applied, and which arecommon to nearly all the artists of LAr tiVouueau, can be summed up as follows:The source of ornament is almost exclu-sively plants and their elements, only occa-sionally, animals and the human figure.Traditional forms inherited from the pastare purposely discarded. The composition,above all things, seeks to adapt its process-es to the material to be used and to the formof the surface which is to receive the orna-ment.

As can be seen in the reproductions, thehumble plants of-the forest and field, withtheir forms clearly and firmly defined, fur-nish, by far, the largest part of the inspira-tion. The attachment of the stems, thedisposition of the leaves and flowers upontheir stems give the most characteristic ele-ments of the drawings. The elements ofthe flower, i tself, its petals, pistils, stamensand seeds, will often give simpler motivesof ornam

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The Craftsman - 1904 - 07 - July