International studio (17.1902)

Turin Exhibition

may, indeed, be said that in the quest for new
forms of decoration the Dutch are more hostile
than any other people to the naturalistic ten-
dency which, with its combination of mediaeval
and Japanese feeling, forms the fundamental
principle of modern decorative art in France,
Belgium, Italy, and a considerable portion of
Germany, Austria, and Hungary. With very few
exceptions, a pronounced tendency will every-
where be found for geometrical forms, combined
with certain decorative elements culled from the
barbaric art of the savage races of the remote East.
The section organised under the able superintend-
ence of Mr. E. von Saher, chief professor of the
school of decorative art at Haarlem, Mr. Karl
Sluyterman, and Mr. Philip Zilcken, the well-known
painter and etcher, includes examples of every
variety of art, and, as a matter of course, ceramic
work occupies a very important place. The grand
entrance-hall is completely filled with it, and it is
no doubt the most attractive portion of the Dutch
exhibits.

The Royal Rozenburg Manufactory of porcelain
and pottery of the Hague (artists: J. Jurriaan Kok,
de Ruyter, Hartgring, Schelling, Sterken, Brouwer,
van der Welt, van Rossem, and L. Smit) deserves
to be noticed first, not only on account of the import-
ance of its exhibits, but also because of the decora-
tive tendencies which link it intimately with the
modern naturalistic movement. As the name of
the institution implies, porcelain and pottery are
manufactured in it; but it has only been of late
years that the porcelain vases with decorations in
blue, green, or black—of which a few examples lent
from the collection of Mr. H. Mesdag are to be

The inter-
national

EXHIBITION
OF MODERN
DECORATIVE ART
AT TURIN —THE
DUTCH SECTION-
BY ENRICO THO-
VEZ.

It would be very difficult
to define the tendencies
of decorative art in Holland
with the aid only of the
examples shown at the
Turin Exhibition. It
204

CUP AND SAUCER BY J. JURRtAAN KOK

VASE BY J. JURRtAAN KOK