DOI Heft:
No. 55 (October, 1897)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18390#0080
Studio- Talk
BERLIN.—Since the time when I first
called the attention of the readers of
The Studio to the work of Mrs.
RmmaCadwallader Guild (see "Studio-
Talk," February 1896), this artist, who
formerly lived in Frankfurt, has for the most part
transferred the scene of her activity to Berlin. In
the early spring of this year she exhibited a number
of her works in her own studio—a form of display
which is unfortunately not very common in Berlin
—and there one had an opportunity of seeing Mrs.
Ciuild's work adequately displayed in a charming
and most tastefully adorned setting. I must say at
once that this second experience of Mrs. Guild's
art fully confirmed the impression made upon me
when I saw it for the first time.
Mrs. Guild has a strong predilection for painting,
and in her leisure time she delights to wield her
brush, which she does with no small degree of
success, as her free and vigorous landscape studies
abundantly testify. And once, when she was
superintending the casting of one of her sculptures
in the Gladenbeck foundry, she was struck with the
appearance of one of the workmen, and in a few
hours completed a most life-like sketch of him, a
very delicate and successful piece of colouring.
This pronounced feeling of hers for colour ex-
plains to me how in the thoroughly personal style
of her sculpture she employs means which really
overstep the bounds of plastic art. For instance,
she imparts to the human eye the most intense
expression by deep grooving of the pupil, until it
seems to sparkle, and really to become "the mirror
of the soul." Full of artistic feeling, too, is her
treatment of draperies, whether in the dark tinted
bronze or in the sculptor's marble.
One of Mrs. Guild's earlier works is her bust of
Watts, of which an illustration is given on page 54.
More strongly here than in her later work, one re-
marks the affinity of her art with the early period of
modern sculpture, the Italian school, or to be more
exact, the Florentine "Quattrocento." All this is
seen in the simplicity with which the accessories
are treated, and in the fall of the draperies. She
is wonderfully successful, too, in bringing out the
force and energy of the head. It is impossible not
to be impressed by the vivacity of this old man,
whose still youthful vigour quivers throughout
his frame and is seen in the very hairs of his
beard. And this is the very impression carried
away by any one who has had the good fortune to
come into contact with the great painter, Watts.
56
Among the works produced by Mrs. Gadwallader
Guild in Berlin—chiefly busts of notabilities in
society—the most important is the portrait bust of
Princess Helene of Sachsen-Altenburg. As the
statue is destined to stand in a castle hall, Mrs.
Guild has elected to fashion it in the Hermes style.
The proud head arises from a lofty pedestal, a very
graceful arrangement of lines displaying in them-
selves the woman's hand. To our modern taste
there is something jarring in the sight of living
flesh in immediate contact with the stone, and for
this reason the Mercury style is generally avoided.
However, in this instance, the difficulty is most satis-
factorily surmounted owing to the sombreness of the
material in which a part of the drapery is cast—a
dark green bronze.
Looking at this work one is conscious not only
of being in the presence of a lady of high birth,
but also of a remarkable personality. The glance
of the eyes, and the determined chin are full of
expression; while the irregularity of the features—
which otherwise might be deemed a defect—pro-
duces, after long contemplation, an impression of
great aesthetic beauty. Was it the charm of a
single personality that inspired the artist to this her
highest achievement ? Or are we to look for an
explanation of this apparent paradox to some other
cause. Fascinating as it would be to inquire into
such a question, we should certainly never arrive at
a satisfactory answer. G. G.
BRUSSELS.—The Salon of Applied Art
in the Universal Exhibition, although
it has been arranged somewhat hastily,
nevertheless reveals the important
place artistic productions of this kind
now hold in Belgium. The absence of several
prominent artists is matter for regret, notably in
the case of the Liege group, who would have taken
a high place in the very front rank of exhibitors.
However, these artists are probably reserving them-
selves for the forthcoming exhibition at Liege
itself. _
Although the English school of applied art is
not directly represented in Brussels it nevertheless
exercises no slight influence there. M. Crespin
devotes an interesting article to the Exhibition in
the Revue de Belgique. " There is nothing aston-
ishing," he remarks, "in the fact that our artists
are powerfully influenced by the English. The
principle of this art movement springs from logical
causes producing with us effects similar to those
BERLIN.—Since the time when I first
called the attention of the readers of
The Studio to the work of Mrs.
RmmaCadwallader Guild (see "Studio-
Talk," February 1896), this artist, who
formerly lived in Frankfurt, has for the most part
transferred the scene of her activity to Berlin. In
the early spring of this year she exhibited a number
of her works in her own studio—a form of display
which is unfortunately not very common in Berlin
—and there one had an opportunity of seeing Mrs.
Ciuild's work adequately displayed in a charming
and most tastefully adorned setting. I must say at
once that this second experience of Mrs. Guild's
art fully confirmed the impression made upon me
when I saw it for the first time.
Mrs. Guild has a strong predilection for painting,
and in her leisure time she delights to wield her
brush, which she does with no small degree of
success, as her free and vigorous landscape studies
abundantly testify. And once, when she was
superintending the casting of one of her sculptures
in the Gladenbeck foundry, she was struck with the
appearance of one of the workmen, and in a few
hours completed a most life-like sketch of him, a
very delicate and successful piece of colouring.
This pronounced feeling of hers for colour ex-
plains to me how in the thoroughly personal style
of her sculpture she employs means which really
overstep the bounds of plastic art. For instance,
she imparts to the human eye the most intense
expression by deep grooving of the pupil, until it
seems to sparkle, and really to become "the mirror
of the soul." Full of artistic feeling, too, is her
treatment of draperies, whether in the dark tinted
bronze or in the sculptor's marble.
One of Mrs. Guild's earlier works is her bust of
Watts, of which an illustration is given on page 54.
More strongly here than in her later work, one re-
marks the affinity of her art with the early period of
modern sculpture, the Italian school, or to be more
exact, the Florentine "Quattrocento." All this is
seen in the simplicity with which the accessories
are treated, and in the fall of the draperies. She
is wonderfully successful, too, in bringing out the
force and energy of the head. It is impossible not
to be impressed by the vivacity of this old man,
whose still youthful vigour quivers throughout
his frame and is seen in the very hairs of his
beard. And this is the very impression carried
away by any one who has had the good fortune to
come into contact with the great painter, Watts.
56
Among the works produced by Mrs. Gadwallader
Guild in Berlin—chiefly busts of notabilities in
society—the most important is the portrait bust of
Princess Helene of Sachsen-Altenburg. As the
statue is destined to stand in a castle hall, Mrs.
Guild has elected to fashion it in the Hermes style.
The proud head arises from a lofty pedestal, a very
graceful arrangement of lines displaying in them-
selves the woman's hand. To our modern taste
there is something jarring in the sight of living
flesh in immediate contact with the stone, and for
this reason the Mercury style is generally avoided.
However, in this instance, the difficulty is most satis-
factorily surmounted owing to the sombreness of the
material in which a part of the drapery is cast—a
dark green bronze.
Looking at this work one is conscious not only
of being in the presence of a lady of high birth,
but also of a remarkable personality. The glance
of the eyes, and the determined chin are full of
expression; while the irregularity of the features—
which otherwise might be deemed a defect—pro-
duces, after long contemplation, an impression of
great aesthetic beauty. Was it the charm of a
single personality that inspired the artist to this her
highest achievement ? Or are we to look for an
explanation of this apparent paradox to some other
cause. Fascinating as it would be to inquire into
such a question, we should certainly never arrive at
a satisfactory answer. G. G.
BRUSSELS.—The Salon of Applied Art
in the Universal Exhibition, although
it has been arranged somewhat hastily,
nevertheless reveals the important
place artistic productions of this kind
now hold in Belgium. The absence of several
prominent artists is matter for regret, notably in
the case of the Liege group, who would have taken
a high place in the very front rank of exhibitors.
However, these artists are probably reserving them-
selves for the forthcoming exhibition at Liege
itself. _
Although the English school of applied art is
not directly represented in Brussels it nevertheless
exercises no slight influence there. M. Crespin
devotes an interesting article to the Exhibition in
the Revue de Belgique. " There is nothing aston-
ishing," he remarks, "in the fact that our artists
are powerfully influenced by the English. The
principle of this art movement springs from logical
causes producing with us effects similar to those