DOI issue:
No. 215 (February, 1911)
DOI article:Benoit-Lévy, Georges: A Swedish sculptor: Carl J. Eldh
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20972#0052
si Swedish Sculptor, Carl J. Eldh
day to see in all its horror of reality, the pro-
duct of our civilization. The title of this work,
A Woman of the Streets, is in itself a terrible
indictment.
Whatever may be the subject that inspires the
artist one finds always this same sincerity and also
the same genius of execution. Is there any need
for description ? No, surely not! Look at these
works devoted to the subject of maternity—
maternity meaning, as it does, suffering and sacri-
fice to the women of the people, as for instance
the group Outside the Night Refuge, the head
entitled Poverty, and A Mother's Sorrow.
Eldh excels equally in portrait sculpture, as
witness his sketch for the statue of Gunnar
Wennerberg; all the vivacity, all the enthusiasm
which animated this great poet, who for almost
a century portrayed so well the character and
"INNOCENCE" BY CARL J. ELDH
30
"GERMAINE" BY CARL .I. ELDH
genius of northern Sweden, is ably depicted in this
statue. Or again, look at the portrait of Karl
Nordstrom, the great landscape painter, and
that masterpiece of his in this branch of his
art, the portrait of August Strindberg. In this we
find admirably expressed the character of the
distinguished writer, head of the school of realists,
with whom form is considered subordinate to the
ideas expressed. Excellently has Eldh depicted
the energetic face of this Zola of Sweden, who,
both in his plays and in his novels has described
so captivatingly the scenes he has observed.
In closing this brief survey of Eldh's achieve-
ments, I would like to speak of a little study, not
more than fifteen inches high, which he has carved
out of a single block of birch-wood—the national
wood—of a young Dalecarlian girl, from the same
model and bearing the same title, Brita, as the
head reproduced on page 29. The perfection of
the execution, the beauty and honesty of the
work, all make this little statuette a work of extra-
ordinary interest. Happy the hand that made it,
and fortunate the collector—our friend Thorsten
Latino—who numbers it among his possessions.
The examples cited will suffice to show the power
of Carl Eldh's work, and to justify the brilliant
success we predict for him, and wish him.
day to see in all its horror of reality, the pro-
duct of our civilization. The title of this work,
A Woman of the Streets, is in itself a terrible
indictment.
Whatever may be the subject that inspires the
artist one finds always this same sincerity and also
the same genius of execution. Is there any need
for description ? No, surely not! Look at these
works devoted to the subject of maternity—
maternity meaning, as it does, suffering and sacri-
fice to the women of the people, as for instance
the group Outside the Night Refuge, the head
entitled Poverty, and A Mother's Sorrow.
Eldh excels equally in portrait sculpture, as
witness his sketch for the statue of Gunnar
Wennerberg; all the vivacity, all the enthusiasm
which animated this great poet, who for almost
a century portrayed so well the character and
"INNOCENCE" BY CARL J. ELDH
30
"GERMAINE" BY CARL .I. ELDH
genius of northern Sweden, is ably depicted in this
statue. Or again, look at the portrait of Karl
Nordstrom, the great landscape painter, and
that masterpiece of his in this branch of his
art, the portrait of August Strindberg. In this we
find admirably expressed the character of the
distinguished writer, head of the school of realists,
with whom form is considered subordinate to the
ideas expressed. Excellently has Eldh depicted
the energetic face of this Zola of Sweden, who,
both in his plays and in his novels has described
so captivatingly the scenes he has observed.
In closing this brief survey of Eldh's achieve-
ments, I would like to speak of a little study, not
more than fifteen inches high, which he has carved
out of a single block of birch-wood—the national
wood—of a young Dalecarlian girl, from the same
model and bearing the same title, Brita, as the
head reproduced on page 29. The perfection of
the execution, the beauty and honesty of the
work, all make this little statuette a work of extra-
ordinary interest. Happy the hand that made it,
and fortunate the collector—our friend Thorsten
Latino—who numbers it among his possessions.
The examples cited will suffice to show the power
of Carl Eldh's work, and to justify the brilliant
success we predict for him, and wish him.