Studio: international art (25.1902)

Gilbert

their attention to the making of weapons, personal
ornaments, and other decorative objects. Time
was no object in those days, and they had not
vet learnt to produce scamped, poor work for
the traders.

The Papuans of the present day, like most
savages, are fond of the gaudiest colours obtainable,
and red lead and imported washing blue are much
in demand. In the old days their colours were
quieter and more harmonious—combinations of
light red, lime, and a soft brown, produced by
burning the surface.

A favourite domestic decoration was the hanging
of numbers of skulls of slain foes along the
verandah of the house. This inspired awe and
imbued their enemies with a wholesome appreciation
of their prowess in head-hunting.

Neither early travellers nor missionaries have
given any account of how these natives worked.
With such primitive tools they must have shown
great ingenuity to produce the finished carvings they
have left behind. The boys probably sat and
watched a master hand at work, and in this way
learned the process, and became familiar with the
traditional patterns and their particular meanings.

As is the case with all such savage people, when
the white men came they were soon occupied with
new industries. With less leisure, even with the
benefit of modern tools, their art declined.

Bayes

AYOUNG ENGLISH SCULPTOR :
GILBERT BAYES. BY WALTER
SHAW SPARROW.

Painting and sculpture have often been pitted
against each other in the lists of controversy, and
there are many who believe that sculpture is the
easier and the greater art. Those who are firm in
this belief take pleasure in reminding us of the
sudden transformation that took place in the
character of Lord Leighton's style when he passed
from his hard work as a painter to his fruitful
relaxation in modelling. As soon as his hands
touched clay, his genius, Antaeus-like, gained an
access of youth, of energy and vigour; and Leighton
was thus able to achieve in sculpture, almost with-
out striving for it, and certainly without much con-
tinuous study, such a bold manhood of imagina-
tive appeal as he attained but rarely in painting,
notwithstanding his untiring patience and his
infinite capacity for taking pains. "Could he
have done that," it is asked, "if sculpture were
not an easier art than painting ?"

Whatever answer may be given to this question,
there is one fact that stands out clearly, perhaps in
opposition to it—the fact, namely, that in Europe
at the present time, despite the renewed interest
taken in sculpture, the signs of promise in this
art — signs of promise among the young — are

" THE DERELICT
I02

BY GILBERT BAYES