International studio (33.1907/1908(1908))

Studio- Talk

men who study nature patiently, sincerely, who are
uninfluenced by popular “fads,” who paint for the
joy that they find in the work, and who give the
world, for its refreshment, the sane, vigorous fruit
of their labours. A S. S.
MILWAUKEE.—Seventy-five per cent, of
the entire population of Milwaukee are
of German descent, and the remainder
either of Irish or Hungarian origin.
This has produced a rather peculiar community—
at least, from an aesthetic point of view—as neither
the German-Americans nor the Irish-Americans are
noted for a keen appreciation of art. The city is
clean and truly beautiful in parts, its women are
known far and wide as the “fair daughters of
Milwaukee,” but the interest in art matters seems
to be at a total standstill on the shores of Lake
Michigan. Not that its citizens have no taste what-
ever for that kind of luxury ; on the contrary, round
sums of money have been paid quite frequently for
foreign, and even for home, productions. But the
interest in painting concentrates entirely on pictures
of the anecdotal Order; it is the ideal place for the

story-telling picture. The Layton Art Gallery (a
private donation), filled with genre pictures of every
nationality, typifies the taste of the town.

Among the resident artists Richard Lorenz, the
horse painter, has the biggest reputation. He is
rather photographic at times, but his best pictures
are rendered with a good deal of poetic sentiment.
Other painters of note are Geo. Raab, a portrait
painter of considerable technical skill, and, for Mil-
waukee, exceedingly modern in feeling ; Alexander
Mueller, a landscape painter with a decided grasp
on poetic and strikingly picturesque subjects; and
Robert Schade, a versatile talent who is at his
best in unpretentious still-life. Also the landscapist
Franz Bieberstein, and the water-colourist F. W.
Heine, must not be forgotten in this enumeration.
The Layton Art Gallery contains a few valuable
specimens of our earlier American art, notably a
Venice scene, by Daniel Huntington; New York
Harbour, by Arthur Quartley ; Washed by the Sea,
by Edward Gay; and a veritable chef dtceuvre of
genre painting, The Old Stage Coach, by Eastman
Johnson. S. H.