DOI Heft:
Nr. 217 (March, 1915)
DOI Artikel:B. Nelson, W. H. de: A distinguished artist: Ossip L. Linde
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43458#0020
Ossip L. Linde
PASSING CLOUDS (CONNECTICUT)
BY OSSIP L. LINDE
long strips of paper attached to reels, so that they
could be wound and unwound to an appreciative
band of youngsters with a mild passion for art and
a predilection for military buttons which passed as
currency, every button having a specially graded
value. Thus, a plain button would have to line
up with at least five others before it attained to
the exchange value of a button stamped with an
eagle. While the lad was amassing a fortune in
buttons by the sale of panoramas and statuettes
of soldiers and peasants hacked out of soft
stone, the day was not so far distant that
he would be climbing the broad stairs leading
neither to fame nor fortune, but to the re-
ception at the Elysee which the President
of France accords at stated intervals to those
who have distinguished themselves in the arts and
sciences. But we are anticipating.
Generations of culture but a lack of worldly
goods were young Linde’s lot, and he soon realized
the necessity of breaking from the pleasant bonds
of idealism and entering upon a commercial life
best fitted to prepare him for the only career possi-
ble—the career of an artist. Lithography in a
Russian house and then in Chicago claimed seven-
teen years of his life, but never weaned him from
his fixed resolve to be an artist. The moment that
he could shake off his shackles Linde hastened to
Paris, where he studied incessantly, the while
wandering about Europe, drawing, studying and
haunting the galleries. The first time he used
colour was at Bruges. A fellow-student felt en-
cumbered by his oil box and threatened to cast it
to the winds or sell it to a Jew. To save such a
catastrophe Linde produced the requisite number
of francs, and sat boldly in the market-place be-
fore a big canvas. This was in 1902 and, strange
to relate, his very first essay in oils was accepted,
well hung, and for eight consecutive years the
same consideration was shown to every canvas
submitted to the Salon, only that on one occasion,
in 1910, he received the gold medal, thus causing
him to climb the Elysee stairs as already men-
tioned.
This young artist, for he is still young, may
rightly be called the eulogist of Bruges and of
Venice, for these ancient cities have reacted upon
him with such persuasive force that he seems to
tell their tale and weave their glamour into every
bridge, stone or cottage that he depicts. Elis
colour is luscious but restrained, his technique free
and unfatigued. If his painting ever presents
Exhibited. Paris Salon, 1906
A CHARCOAL AND TEMPERA SKETCH BY OSSIP L. LINDE
XVI
PASSING CLOUDS (CONNECTICUT)
BY OSSIP L. LINDE
long strips of paper attached to reels, so that they
could be wound and unwound to an appreciative
band of youngsters with a mild passion for art and
a predilection for military buttons which passed as
currency, every button having a specially graded
value. Thus, a plain button would have to line
up with at least five others before it attained to
the exchange value of a button stamped with an
eagle. While the lad was amassing a fortune in
buttons by the sale of panoramas and statuettes
of soldiers and peasants hacked out of soft
stone, the day was not so far distant that
he would be climbing the broad stairs leading
neither to fame nor fortune, but to the re-
ception at the Elysee which the President
of France accords at stated intervals to those
who have distinguished themselves in the arts and
sciences. But we are anticipating.
Generations of culture but a lack of worldly
goods were young Linde’s lot, and he soon realized
the necessity of breaking from the pleasant bonds
of idealism and entering upon a commercial life
best fitted to prepare him for the only career possi-
ble—the career of an artist. Lithography in a
Russian house and then in Chicago claimed seven-
teen years of his life, but never weaned him from
his fixed resolve to be an artist. The moment that
he could shake off his shackles Linde hastened to
Paris, where he studied incessantly, the while
wandering about Europe, drawing, studying and
haunting the galleries. The first time he used
colour was at Bruges. A fellow-student felt en-
cumbered by his oil box and threatened to cast it
to the winds or sell it to a Jew. To save such a
catastrophe Linde produced the requisite number
of francs, and sat boldly in the market-place be-
fore a big canvas. This was in 1902 and, strange
to relate, his very first essay in oils was accepted,
well hung, and for eight consecutive years the
same consideration was shown to every canvas
submitted to the Salon, only that on one occasion,
in 1910, he received the gold medal, thus causing
him to climb the Elysee stairs as already men-
tioned.
This young artist, for he is still young, may
rightly be called the eulogist of Bruges and of
Venice, for these ancient cities have reacted upon
him with such persuasive force that he seems to
tell their tale and weave their glamour into every
bridge, stone or cottage that he depicts. Elis
colour is luscious but restrained, his technique free
and unfatigued. If his painting ever presents
Exhibited. Paris Salon, 1906
A CHARCOAL AND TEMPERA SKETCH BY OSSIP L. LINDE
XVI