Studio: international art (51.1911)

Decorative Paintings by Prof. Carl Marr

“THE GARLAND BEARERS.” DECORATIVE PAINTING
I'N THE BANQUET-HALL AT SCHLOSS STEIN. BY PROF.
CARL MARR

unfolding the allegory, providing food for the
mind as well as delight for the eye, yet Professor
Marr, recognising the purpose of the room, has
not sermonised too insistently, so that the guests
of the house might readily find themselves taking
pleasure in the harmonious arrangement of figure
and colour without having their thoughts directed
to the parable that runs through the series of
panels.

It was the good fortune of the writer to meet
Professor Marr a few months ago in his studio at
the Art Academy of Munich, where for some
years he has held the important position of
Professor of Painting. At that time four or
five huge canvases, destined to complete the
decoration, ranged diagonally across the room,
giving it the semblance of the side-wings of a
theatre stage. Such glimpses as one could obtain,
in the rather contracted quarters of the studio,
of graceful figures of dancing women, of fragments
of stately processions, of children bearing garlands,
created a desire to see the completed work in
position—a desire that was happily gratified some
weeks later, when the writer made a pilgrimage
to the Schloss from Nuremberg.

From this city a short railroad ride of about
ten minutes brings the traveller within sight of the
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residence of Count von Faber-Castell, who is the
owner of the famous Faber pencil-works.

Factory, operatives’ houses and the red-roofed,
towers of the chateau stand grouped together in
the midst of a sandy but well-cultivated plain.

A grand stairway of white marble, with enrich-
ment of gold mosaic, ascends to the different floors
of the establishment, the uppermost of which is
devoted chiefly to the entertainment of guests, and
contains the great banquet-hall already referred to-

The whole modern portion of the house, which
was completed but a few years ago, is decorated
and furnished in accordance with the best phase
of the Secessionist movement.

The scheme of colour of the woodwork and
hangings of the room which claims our attention
is harmoniously made up of deep, rich browns,
warm brownish-greys and touches of gold, the
ceiling being lightly coffered in pale lemon-
coloured plaster, lined out with gold and spangled
with electric bulbs for the artificial lighting of the
room. This forms an admirable environment for
the painted frieze, the chief tones of which are
made up of the cool turquoise-blues of the sky,
across which sweep great cream-coloured clouds,
the quiet grey-greens of the foliage, the warm
autumnal tints of the low-lying Bavarian land-

“THE GARLAND BEARERS.” DECORATIVE PAINTING
IN THE BANQUET-HALL AT SCHLOSS STEIN. BY PROF.
CARL MARR