International studio (16.1902)

The Cult of the Statuette

a white house. Watzek is to photography what
Whistler is to painting, and this he shows in his
Sailing Boat and Manufactories; while Spitzer’s
Old Woman of Katwyk and Sea Shore are
masterpieces. A. S. Levetus.

HE CULT OF THE STATUETTE.
THE FINE ART SOCIETY’S
RECENT EXHIBITION

Take up almost any French contemporary
novel, and turn to the first of the many descrip-
tions of the contents of the hero or heroine’s
sanctum (a species of padding of which the foreign
author is at the moment even more guilty than the
British) and you will assuredly find a statuette
occupying a prominent, if not the foremost, position
amongst their bibelots.*
It is perhaps a somewhat
arbitrary assumption from this
that “ sculpture in little ” is
an inseparable adjunct to the
furniture of a French house-
hold, but it is evident that a
writer who wishes to appear
up-to-date considers it neces-
sary to give it almost the
pride of place in his inventory.
On the other hand, it is certain
that any description of an
English living room which
included statuettes would be
altogether incorrect, unless it
were of some Bloomsbury
lodging-house, where a pair
of treacley-coloured “Marly
Horses,” purchased in the
Tottenham Court Road, were
oited as evidence of early
Victorian taste reflected in
the garniture of the chimney-
Piece.
The reason for this differ-
ence in the Art appreciation
°f the two nations is not far
to seek. The French sculptor
has had his opportunity, not
°nly for the display but for
the sale of his figurines.
Encouragement has been
afforded him, first by the

Government, which has from the early days ot the
Second Empire been a prolific, if not a very
remunerative, patron; from the Salon and the
Champs de Mars, which have adequately displayed
his products ; and, lastly, from business houses with
taste and discrimination, which have acquired
originals, reproduced them at a popular price, and
fostered and educated a desire in the public to
possess them.
The British sculptor has hitherto had no such
encouragement. Excluding portraits, the Govern-
ment has, we believe, never commissioned or
bought a statue for its artistic merits, and the few
which grace the National Gallery of British Art are
there only through having been bequeathed to
the nation by an English sculptor. The public
has hitherto been so oblivious to the charms ot
the statuette maker that the only serious trade

For example : “ Les statuettes Clevees
'A des colonnettes."—“ Lys Rouge,”
-matole France.

BURNS

BY F. W. POMEROY