International studio (43.1911)

28

THE INTERNATIONAL STUDIO

March, ign



Art of the Netherlands and Germany

A series of 500 subjects. 1,000 subjects on Italian Art and 500 on Greek
and Roman Sculpture (von Mach). Size, 5J x 8 inches. 1 cent each, or 80
Cents per hundred. Send 2-cent stamp for catalogue

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T OCATION OF MONUMENTS.
•—J During the past year, says the re-
port of the Art Commission of the City of
New York, much time and consideration
have been given to the subject of monu-
ments. Their locations are among the
most difficult questions which the Com-
mission has to decide. These difficulties
are due chiefly to the fact that in most cases
the monument is not designed for a specific
site. When completed it is submitted for
a definite spot which, in most instances, is
selected not because it suits the character
of the monument but because it is con-
spicuous; as, for instance, at the junction
of two or more important streets or in a
prominent place in one of the chief squares
or parks.
It is self-evident that the character of
the monument should determine the nature
of its setting. The all-important question
in selecting a site is that it shall be of a
character suited to the monument; but
usually, in order to satisfy the desire for a
conspicuous place, other considerations are
ignored and, as a consequence, many
monuments stand in unsuitable locations.
The sites for monuments erected before the
existence of the Art Commission were not
as a rule chosen hastily, but in nearly every
case much time and effort were devoted to
the selection, and in many instances it took
several years to reach a decision. That so
many monuments stand in unfortunate
locations is, therefore, due not to careless-
ness or lack of deliberation but to failure to
recognize the fact that a well-placed monu-
ment forms an integral part of its surround-
ings. Because of this failure to appreciate
that there should be a distinct relationship
between a monument and its immediate
neighborhood, many monuments have no
relation to the shape or size of the place
where they stand nor to their surroundings.
Some are in the midst of great whirlpools
of traffic with skyscrapers towering above
them and huge signboards for a back-
ground. One can examine and enjoy them
only at the risk of life and limb. Swallowed
up and submerged in the turmoil and con-
fusion of these prominent focal points of
street traffic these monuments to distin-
guished men appear as forlorn bronze fig-
ures stranded on their granite pedestals.
Such situations destroy dignity and beauty.
Many monuments consist of massive
granite pedestals surmounted by huge
bronze busts. In general these have been
erected in the parks. Many of them stand
on beautiful green lawns, conspicuous ob-
jects, but without logical relation to their
surroundings. Surely it cannot reasonably
be claimed that they are ornaments to the
parks, or that the green lawns would not
be more beautiful without them. It is easy
to imagine that some giant striding through
the park with a monument under his arm
became tired and set it down and left it
where it now stands, displacing grass and
shrubs, and disfiguring the face of nature.
A sub-committee of the Art Commission,
after visiting several sites suggested for a
certain monument, made a report from
which the following quotation will point
the moral.
“The bust is of more than usual heroic
size, and might almost be called colossal,
as it is five feet high. It is to be placed
upon a massive granite or marble pedestal,
nine feet three inches high, having a base
I measurement of six feet by eight feet, so