DOI Heft:
No. 381 (December 1924)
DOI Artikel:[Notes: one hundred and ninety-three illustrations]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21400#0368
PARIS
PARIS.—By a singular convention, it is
usually understood that a work of
monumental sculpture shall be produced
by two specialists—the sculptor, who
executes the figures and ornamentation,
and the architect, who is responsible for
the construction of the monument as a
whole. Sometimes this method has pro-
duced good results, but it must be ad-
mitted that only too often it has but suc-
ceeded in bringing forth works of doubtful
legitimacy. The history of art is full of
disputes between sculptors and architects ;
and it is, in fact, difficult to account for the
duality of function, if we admit that the
sculptor should be able to evolve a prac-
ticable scheme, and that the architect can
design and carry out the ornamental
details of a given mass. a a a
When we analyse the qualities which
have earned for the sculptor, Max Blondat,
his European reputation, we find every-
thing marked with the impress of a forceful
personality and note the complete unity
of his compositions in architecture and
sculpture. Blondat owes his remarkable
achievements to his early education.
"WAR MEMORIAL AT CRAIN
(YONNE)." BY MAX BLONDAT
348
Born at Crain, a little village of the
Yonne, he was at first far removed from
any possibility of suggestion or in-
fluence, but when quite young his true
vocation became indubitably evident. He
received his first art-training at the Ecole
Municipale de la Ville de Paris (formerly
the Germain Pilon School). There his
training was of a practical nature, and
its scope included modelling, architec-
ture, painting and decoration. And he
ascribes his subsequent development and
present fruition of talent rather to this
early formative influence than to the later
training which he had under Thomas at
the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts. a
Blondat's first success was scored in
1904 with his fountain, Jeunesse, repre-
senting three children bending over a
stream. This gained him the rare dis-
tinction of passing from an Honourable
Mention to the first Medal and the award
of the Prix National. Thereafter he be-
came famous for his portraits of children,
always displaying a charming tenderness
in conception and execution. The ter-
mination of the War gave him the oppor-
tunity of exercising his dual talent as
sculptor and architect in the making of
sundry memorial monuments, of which
that executed for his birthplace, Crain,
with its austere and somewhat mysterious
simplicity, is one of the best. a a
Like the great artists of the Renaissance,
Max Blondat applies himself to the solu-
tion of decorative problems in accord with
his ideal of sound and simple lines—in
such things as his Academy sword-hilt
for Forain and his medallions for Brandt's
amazing wrought-iron door. At the
moment he is working on four large
medallions (children and animals, repre-
senting the four elements) for the Sevres
Factory. M. Valotaire.
On the 28th of last month was opened,
at the Galerie Balzac, an exhibition of
paintings by Mr. J. B. Manson, of the
Tate Gallery, Millbank, H.E. the British
Ambassador being present at the opening.
We hope that Mr. Manson's merits will
be recognised as well in Paris as they have
been in London, where one of his flower-
paintings was recently acquired by the
nation for the Tate Gallery. a g
PARIS.—By a singular convention, it is
usually understood that a work of
monumental sculpture shall be produced
by two specialists—the sculptor, who
executes the figures and ornamentation,
and the architect, who is responsible for
the construction of the monument as a
whole. Sometimes this method has pro-
duced good results, but it must be ad-
mitted that only too often it has but suc-
ceeded in bringing forth works of doubtful
legitimacy. The history of art is full of
disputes between sculptors and architects ;
and it is, in fact, difficult to account for the
duality of function, if we admit that the
sculptor should be able to evolve a prac-
ticable scheme, and that the architect can
design and carry out the ornamental
details of a given mass. a a a
When we analyse the qualities which
have earned for the sculptor, Max Blondat,
his European reputation, we find every-
thing marked with the impress of a forceful
personality and note the complete unity
of his compositions in architecture and
sculpture. Blondat owes his remarkable
achievements to his early education.
"WAR MEMORIAL AT CRAIN
(YONNE)." BY MAX BLONDAT
348
Born at Crain, a little village of the
Yonne, he was at first far removed from
any possibility of suggestion or in-
fluence, but when quite young his true
vocation became indubitably evident. He
received his first art-training at the Ecole
Municipale de la Ville de Paris (formerly
the Germain Pilon School). There his
training was of a practical nature, and
its scope included modelling, architec-
ture, painting and decoration. And he
ascribes his subsequent development and
present fruition of talent rather to this
early formative influence than to the later
training which he had under Thomas at
the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts. a
Blondat's first success was scored in
1904 with his fountain, Jeunesse, repre-
senting three children bending over a
stream. This gained him the rare dis-
tinction of passing from an Honourable
Mention to the first Medal and the award
of the Prix National. Thereafter he be-
came famous for his portraits of children,
always displaying a charming tenderness
in conception and execution. The ter-
mination of the War gave him the oppor-
tunity of exercising his dual talent as
sculptor and architect in the making of
sundry memorial monuments, of which
that executed for his birthplace, Crain,
with its austere and somewhat mysterious
simplicity, is one of the best. a a
Like the great artists of the Renaissance,
Max Blondat applies himself to the solu-
tion of decorative problems in accord with
his ideal of sound and simple lines—in
such things as his Academy sword-hilt
for Forain and his medallions for Brandt's
amazing wrought-iron door. At the
moment he is working on four large
medallions (children and animals, repre-
senting the four elements) for the Sevres
Factory. M. Valotaire.
On the 28th of last month was opened,
at the Galerie Balzac, an exhibition of
paintings by Mr. J. B. Manson, of the
Tate Gallery, Millbank, H.E. the British
Ambassador being present at the opening.
We hope that Mr. Manson's merits will
be recognised as well in Paris as they have
been in London, where one of his flower-
paintings was recently acquired by the
nation for the Tate Gallery. a g