Studio: international art (56.1912)

Modern Illuminations

The collection of graphic art at the Hagenbund
also calls for attention, including as it does some
excellent pen-drawing by Ferdinand Staeger, mostly
illustrations for various works, interesting etchings by
Prof. August Bromse and Jaromir Stretti-Zamponi,
some delightful etchings in colour by Franz Simon
and Ferdinand Michl, and a number of interesting
studies from East Asia by Hans Bohler. Dr. Junk’s
excellence as an ornamental writer and decorative
artist is shown in an address to Prof, von Schroder,
every letter and every point being artistically ren-
dered. The sculpture includes bronzes of animals
and a piece of wood sculpture, Dancing Fauns, by
that excellent master, Prof. Franz Barwig, and cha-
racteristic work by Karl Stemolak, David Edstrom,
and Frantz Uprka.

A few words must be reserved for the Hagen-
bund’s “guests” at this exhibition. Prof. Hans
Unger, of Dresden, is represented by a series of
pictures at once interesting and varied in method.
Rudolf Sieck’s landscapes are of a high artistic
value, broad and refined in treatment; Robin
Andersen’s sketches call up remembrances of
Cezanne, but they are nevertheless sympathetic
and personal; Georg Merkel, a young Pole, has
aspirations, but has not yet reached his aim, which
is to unite brilliancy of colour with classicism in style.
His career is an interesting one to follow; so also
is that of Egon Schiele; both are quite young and
both are possessed of undoubted talent. Schiele
is decorative in his leanings; he is an excellent
draughtsman and a refined colourist. Frederick
Pautsch, a Pole, revels in bright colours, and is
evidently influenced by the peasant art of his
country.

The lady artists here exhibiting must also be
counted among the guests. Luise Hahn-Fraenkel
makes a speciality of flower-painting; her work is
highly decorative in effect and rich in colouring.
Frieda Konstantin-Lohwag’s “ Interior ” of an old
house with a low vaulted ceiling is sympathetically
rendered and harmonious in the colour scheme.
Ernestine Frischauf-Lohwag’s forte lies in interior
portraiture. Her work has vitality and rhythm
and is always highly decorative. Janka Grossman
reveals a hankering after classicism in her portraits
of young children, which show a true understand-
ing of juvenile nature. Margarethe Munk’s chalk
drawings also merit a word of praise.

The Hagenbund has always been a pleasant
resort; its members are both capable and courageous,
and one cannot help sympathising with them in
their aspirations.

A. S. Levetus.

OME MODERN ILLUMINA-
TIONS.

In the luxurious days of the Renaissance,
when printing was being hailed as the glorious
successor of handwriting, there was a sudden and a
keen revival of the ancient art of illumination and
a zest for the decorating of books.

The great princes, the true art patrons of all
time, scorned the inferiority of machine-made books,
as we would scorn to place diamonds in machine-
made settings; and as the printing press grew in
popularity and was successful, the scribes of Italy,


ILLUMINATED PANEL FOR A “ GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
BY OLIVE CARLETON SMYTH

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