Studio: international art (28.1903)

Studio- Talk

DUSSELDORF.^It was an excellent idea
on the part of the organiser of last
year's exhibition at Diisseldorf to
restrict the exhibits to the work of
German artists. Indeed, as a matter of fact, so far
as the industrial and art crafts branches were con-
cerned, the show was practically limited to examples
from two German provinces, the Rhineland and
Westphalia. Plastic work and art-needlework were,
however, sent from pretty well every German-speak-
ing district, including Hungary, a very distinct and
rigid line being drawn between what are technically
known as the arts and crafts. If it does nothing
else, a collection such as this affords an unique
opportunity for estimating the state of art-culture
in Germany at the present time; and what is,
perhaps, of even greater importance, of noting for
what branches a special predilection is shown, and
what are the tendencies for the immediate future,
say, for the next decade.

A walk through the exhibition grounds and the
rooms of the palace itself was full of instruction
and pleasure. There was a harmony, a balance,
a dignity about the display as a whole which made
a very favourable impression upon the visitor, even

though there is no revelation of new possibilities
or tendencies in European art. In this respect
the general impression offered a marked contrast
to that, for instance, of the Glasgow Exhibition,
or the one at Turin.

The exhibits in the Palace of Art were divided
into two sections : the retrospective or historical,
and the modern and contemporary. The former
comprised treasures from churches, convents,
private and public collections, many of them
never before accessible to any but the privileged
few. Vestments, draperies, chasubles, beautifully
carved chests, altar cloths and chalices, sacred and
secular pottery, and, above all, wonderful specimens
of the goldsmith's art in all their marvellous diver-
sity of colour and material, were to be studied.

In this exhibition we were carried back for
a time to a period of art development long
since passed away—an island of the Blessed,
remote from the turmoil of the world; and
this even in the section devoted to the art of
Diisseldorf itself. Even those who have but a
superficial acquaintance with the history of art
in Germany are aware how very important a part

THE BUILDINGS OF THE DUSSEI.DORF EXHIBITION

BRUNO MOEHRINGS, ARCHITECT