Studio: international art (35.1905)

Studio-Talk

There were many pictures from the ancient and
little known town of Auscha in North Bohemia—
one of those old-world spots which are fast dis-
appearing. Unter den Lauben is a delightful
representation ; everything is depicted as in reality,
in that place where the men have time to be curious.
The wares are exposed for sale, all colours there
so finely blended by the artistic touch of the artist
that each seems to be exactly the right tint,
and to be in exactly the right place. The old
stone pavement, and every detail in harmony in
the picture, give one the idea of entirety. There
is so much life and action that it grows upon us,
and over all is a fine, gentle atmosphere, like a
breath of a warm and loving wind. There were
many such pictures, all conveying the true essence
of life and colour, which those who know such

PAINTED PANEL BY HERMAN KICHIR

(See Brussels Studio-Talk)

towns can so fully appreciate. Other bits of life
in Bohemia—Sunday Morning., when all are going
to church, the women in their bright cotton
dresses, kerchiefs round their heads, prayer-books
in hand, leading the way; before them the bridge,
which they must cross, to reach the church; all
is in movement; only a gentle wind stirs the
leaves on the tree. In his Unterredung we have
another of those charming scenes : four women,
also clad in bright and various - coloured garbs
—for these are the costumes of the country—are
stopping by the way for a little chat. Their full
skirts are moved by the air, their faces are eager,
for the chat must be an interesting one; a man,
hands in pockets, is curiously watching, his face
expressive of humour, as if he were enjoying the
meeting, though none of the women heed him.
In this, too, there is that delicacy of touch, that
subtlety of feeling and colouring, which we have
learned to look forward to in Herr Orlik’s pictures,
together with the right attention to detail and a
keen eye for decorative effect. This is also to be
seen in Ein alter Winkel in Erag, Ein Gartenhaus,
and many other characteristic productions of the
artist. He presents a whole to us ; the details are
there, each in its place, yet they are in such har-
mony with one another that they never disturb the
onlooker. There is in these pictures such an air
of stillness, of refinement, and of fine atmosphere,
such a delicacy of conception and arrangement,
that we shall look forward with pleasure to all
exhibitions where the name of Orlik is in the cata-
logue. Japan has changed him, has given him
much that is new, shown him new methods; but,
spite of such influences, the artist has something
which is peculiarly his own.

The most striking object at the Hagenbund Spring
Exhibition, though one which will please but few,
was Judith, by Wilhelm Hejda. This is a coloured
plastic, and represents Judith holding the head
of Holofernes in a dish from which blood is
streaming to the ground to be licked up by
two hungry black panthers who are greedily
waiting for it. The subject is somewhat nerve-
shaking and the execution not such as to make
it appealing in an artistic sense. Nevertheless,
the sculptor has achieved something in this poly-
chromic plastic if only by the arrangement of colours.
Judith is represented as tall and slender, her skin
is a chrome-yellow, and her long tight robe is of
vivid green. All the colours are striking and crude.
The same sculptor exhibited a number of very fine
relief plastics and medallions which show that he

349