Studio: international art (35.1905)

Studio-Talk

it is a glorious achievement. The work is a
masterpiece and great as an achievement in sculp-
ture. Hugo Lederer’s Girl Crouching, modelled in
marble from life, is a fine example of conceptive
feeling and at the same time dexterity in the use of
the chisel. Among the home sculptors, a three-
quarter nude figure of a young girl (in marble) by
Josef Hanek, a pupil of Professor Hellmer, is very
interesting, and shows that the artist possesses the
right feeling for what lies before him. Fraulein
Ries, in her bust of Ritter von Hartel, has come to
the fore. Ivan Mestrovic, Franz Metzner, Alfonso
Canciani, Ignatius Taschner, Elsa von Kalmar, Use
Conrat, Adolf Hildebrand, August Gaul, Hermann
Lang deserve mention, though there is no space
to deal with their works in detail. Prof. Hellmer
showed the Castalia fountain destined for the
Vienna University. A word of praise must be
given to the smaller objets de sculpture, which were
placed in a room apart and included works by
the French artists Ruth Milles, Jules Dalou, Leon
Riche, Francois R. Carabin Emile Bourdelle,

and the Germans, August Gaul, Hugo Lederer,
Hugo Sigwart, Ignatius Taschner. They occu-
pied a room which was singularly felicitous; the
niches and pilasters were of plain deal, un-
stained, alternating with matting weavings o*
natural cane, the columns being wound round
and round with this material. The wicker fur-
niture was designed by Professor Hoffmann, and
manufactured by Prag - Rudniker, Vienna, who
also were responsible for the mattings and cane
decorations. The whole exhibition was arranged
by the architect Leopold Bauer, who also arranged
the winter exhibition at the “ Secession,” which
was devoted to works by foreign artists, Gaston
la Touche, Jacques Emile Blanche, Albert Bes-
nard, Lucien Simon, Constant Montald, Wilhelm
Triibner, Friedrich Leon, Christian Landenberger,
Ramon Casas, and Hermen Anglada-Camarasa.

Since the above lines were written, the art
world of Austria, and even beyond her dominions,
has suffered a severe blow, owing to the split in
the Vienna Secession. It is idle to go
into the causes of the disruption. It is
enough that the blow has come. For
eight long years the Secession has
brought new art to Vienna, has intro-
duced to the public men like Charpen-
tier, Rodin, Meunier, Whistler, Khnopff,
Aubrey Beardsley, Mr. and Mrs. Mac-
intosh, Ashbee: in short, brought modern
artists—Belgian, French, and English—
to Vienna.

Secession has brought about a revo-
lution of ideas, and has created a new
Austrian art. It has joined art to manu-
facture. Two parties have arisen. There
will be the “ Secession,” which will hold
its exhibitions in the old Secession Gal-
leries ; and the Seceders, who will hold
theirs in a gallery now being built for
that purpose, not at present to be com-
pared to the building built by Olbrich
and decorated by Josef Hoffmann, Kolo
Moser, and others—that building bear-
ing Hevesi’s inscription, “ Der Zeit ihre
Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit ”—but
simply a large room on the first floor of
a “ flats ” building. In the “ Secession,”
Engelhart, Andri, Bacher, Leopold
Bauer, and their followers will exhibit;
in the new gallery the Seceders (who at
present are not formed into a society),

355

BUST OF RITTER VON HARTEL BY TH. RIES