Studio: international art (35.1905)

Studio-Talk

TAINTED PANEL

(See Brussels Studio-Talk)

BY HERMAN RICHIR

Academy. Vienna ought to have kept him, even
at the price of creating a new “ chair.” Such men
are rare. The experience he had during the three
years he spent in Japan, the knowledge he there
gained of art, and his earnestness of purpose,
combined with his great knowledge, make him
invaluable, not only as an artist, but as a teacher.

At this exhibition Herr Orlik showed two
distinct sets of pictures—those painted or begun
in Japan and those done since his return, bits of
life in Prague and old German cities, in which the
artist so much delights. But even in these there
is a marked difference in the manner of painting
in those done before and after his memorable visit to
the East; for Japan has given much to Emil Orlik.

There were some fine Buddha pictures—those
Buddhas of Nikko which are worn away by the

kisses of pilgrims who visit the shrine by thou-
sands every year; lovely sketches of red maple
on the verandah of a Japanese teahouse ; a Geisha,
who is evidently making her first appearance ;
Japanese temples ; and In Ikao, representing a
Japanese street, with its curious, dainty houses,
decorated with flags and other ornaments, just like
one of the villages so often described by the late
Lafcadio Hearn. Herr Orlik also exhibited the
designs for the German edition of that author’s
Ko-Ko-Ro. These are particularly delicate, and
very characteristic of the story they are to illustrate.
His book-plates a.re many, and each is a delight in
its way. But to me the bits of old towns are so
very appealing. In travelling one comes across
such interesting old houses and curious streets,
peopled with men and women of another world,
that one is always as ready to welcome them on
canvas as in life.

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