Studio: international art (23.1901)

Studio- Talk

ality, practising with equal skill the professions general lines and angles and the effectiveness of
of a painter, an architect, and a sculptor. His their decoration, consisting generally of inlaid
figures are remarkable for their interpretation of wood of various colours. Peasant craftsmen, who
character. He is a modeller of rare skill, and in have never left their remote native villages, have
his hands the very first evolution of plastic form is devoted themselves to the production of this quite
full of individuality. More widely known than his modern style of furniture, and if it be true, as many
sculptures are the various articles of furniture de- claim, that men are to be judged by their homes
signed by him to meet the taste of the present day, and their surroundings in those homes, surely the
which are noticeable for the simplicity of their cupboards and chests of solid, uncompromising

construction, with their
simple ornamentation, may
be looked upon as a very
sure index to the character
of the sturdy, unemotional

. * Czech nation! With the

TtrfirMTin-'iii ' k ' graceful elegance of the

. ' ^^^^SjiB^'^T^nWjRSpM ■ people of Vienna, or the

' *JVS. "*•» ' ISvKBHiE^^iX^Ju&nESr'v . refined and elevated taste

i - wBtm JjW8ffiM *"' • • of the English, the Bo-

'if^W.i , r fjlill jBHUBBpT^. hemians have absolutely

nothing in common. I he

• austere solemnity of the

'; llPllf'" 1 Bohemian domestic hearth

has none of the bright
charm peculiar to Belgium.
The melancholy inherent
in the very blood of the
sensitive, reserved Bohe-
mian race is, in fact, hostile
to any art relying upon
outward effect only. An
ornately decorated ward-
robe is the expression of
the taste of its producer;
it is no revelation of the
character of its owner, but
simply a piece of good
modern work, generally in
oak of a reddish colour
v';f"j | j which has been skilfully

HI ^ ■ ____ - " ~C~ preserved and modulated.

■ ^^KKmM~"^~"\' "—"* ' " % Kastner well understands

MgS?^*—" ~"~ ; iidiifclH how to use iron as well as

Slg^^^Mtftf J wood in his work, and the

: ; Wf^^^fK^KS^KS^^^^^^^^ two materials are, in fact,

(r^rf", *e» ^BKSi^^*" ^^■Kj^^BMHI often combined in one

^(pBBi^^^^^ piece of furniture. He

------- BKBkL A J" does not aim at surprising

^*?W|W|B[BjBjlk . ,^m^bt^^SgBtk ^s admirers by constantly

^BBP^^BB producing new effects ; in-

jpHRHMVi deed, novelty has for him

^H^^^^ no special charm. What

pleases us most in his works

side altar by professor kastner are their substantial, solid

57