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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1909)
THE OMAHA SUNDAY I IKE: S KIT EM NET? 26. IfrW. RODIN TALKS OF HIS WORK A Visit to the Scuptor in Hit Studio in Paris. IMPRESSIONS OF MAN HIMSELF HI l.aat Id I Prod art rasile of Tun Honda and a crll ll D l rir Ilia Thort Ilia Stadlo at Mendon. PARIS. Pept. IK. -The many statues In the hall of sculpture of th Musea du Luxembourg are separated here and there at almost regular Intervals by the group and single pieces of Augusts Rodin. They ir seen and admired In a pilgTlmage which begin there and ends at the clergy house of the Church of the Sacra Coeur. rue dp Varennes, which In now on of the many studios of M. Ilodln. and It In here that he accords an Interview. It la at the gateway of the spacious court, between the paving stones of which thou sand of grsss blade ore springing, and In the cornera of which great mssses of luscious foliage make one, forget the heat of the Auruat afternoon, that Rodin I first een. Hla arrival, he explain punctil iously, haa been delayed by unforeseen events. It ha In truth been heralded by the unloading of a portrait bust which la brought by a quartet of workmen. In the Inevitable blue blouses, In a heavy cart where It haa repoed on a wooden struc ture, something like a gun carriage, with out covering or protection of any kind. Tou question whether an American sculptor would dare entrust his precious cargo to the chances of such a Journey. It has come from a distance, from Meudon, In fact. Among; the Marbles. This portrait bust, the p4ece of work on which he la at present engaged, has been placed on Its pedestal when the party enters the studio, but Rodin passes It as If Its safety were not a matter of great Importance, and as If he cared more to see. that other pieces, completed or In a state of transition, should receive his wel coming and hla guests' Introductory glance. Truth to tell, you do not wonder that he should forget, or at least temporarily ignore It, for the work, In contrast with the pieces about It, has more or less of the commercial aspect. It Is In fact the fulfillment of an order from a prominent politlclal and personal friend of the sculp tor. Ona of the contrasting marbles Is the last ideal product of the restless brains and hands. It shows the graceful body of a youag girl, who seems to be breaking out of the marble block as a bird breaks out of the shell. It looks as If were you to touch the neck or shoulder the marble would retain the pressure of the finger. The girl Is crouching on her knees and is supported, too, by her flattened palms. The saucy head is tilted, the nose is retrousse and the mouth haa a crooked smile like Sentimental Tommy's friend, Grlsel. The hair Is tossed carelessly over the small' ear of the right aide, and you have the Impression that young and imma ture as she Is, If, like Galatea, she were suddenly endowed with speech she might tell a risque Jest of the boulevards or at least be frankly Impertinent. Not Easily Named. You ask by what name It will later on be known to the maker of catalogues, and Rod In shakes his head and waves a vague, hand. "I never know what I will call any thing," he says finally. "I Invariably change my titles as I go on with the work sometimes half a dozen times. I have thought of calling this 'Caprice,' 'A Thought,' 'The Flower." Neither one really expresses the statue, as you see. Words are so insufficient, but why do they really matter? It would be Just as well to give It a number or a letter If that were possi ble, for everyone who sees a work of art reads It according to the vocabulary that experience has afforded him." The sculptor then leads the way to an other pedestal placed In the middle of u great bay window which looks out on the facade of the church and a tangle of vege tation growing in the Intervening gulden. The pedestal holds two hands rising from supple wrists. Between them is a scroll. It Is easy to read the Intention of the ar tist that they are not merely protective, but secretive as well. Ills Series of Hands. "This Is the third of the series of hands." explains Mr. Kodln. "The first was 'The J land of God.' which you may renumber In the Luxembourg. The title of that was DIARRHOEA Quickly Cured by WAKEFIELD'S Blackberry balsam Read This Letter. I have used Waketield's blackberry Bal aam for over forty years, I am not giv en to writing letters of this kind, in la.-t, never did before In my life, but I do- wIb.i to say to you. it has never tailed me in une single Instance, nor any of my friends 1 have recommended it to. When druggist i say to me: "Here Is something jiiNt as good." 1 tell them very candidly mere Is nothing Just as good. The fact la 1 have never round anything Just as good and 1 never expect to. 1 eau cheerfully reeum mend it to any one, young or old. tur uu Bowel Trouble. It haa certainly helped inu when nothing else would. J. E. PARKE. 153 E. 64th est . ililcario. Wakefield' Blackberry Haitian, bag ben the surest and safest remedy for Dlarrheoa, Dysentery, Cholera Infan tum and Cholera Morbus for 63 year.- While It la quick and positive in its action. It la unlike other remedies In that it 1b harmless and does not con stipate. It simply- checks the trouble and puts the stomach and bowels lu their natural, regular condition. Ot the millions of bottles that have been sold In the past 63 years never has a case been reported where a cure was not effected when directions were fol lowed, even after other remedies had failed. Every home should have a bot tle or more on hand ready for sudden attacks. Full size bottle, 85c, or 2 for 11.00, everywhere. JCJS i1.H f , :(A KJ S 1 M ft, I- obvious, one could not hare cslled It any thing else. For the title of the second of the series, I asked casual visitors to the studio, who saw It In process of com pletion, and to each It suggested a dif ferent meaning. Some thought the man's and woman's hands together must mean love, others saw In the Juxtaposition, the lde of protection, friendship, nature, life and for this final one several titles have been offered. So far I call It The Secret.' but I shall change It before t am finished. 'I have always had an Intense passion fo- the expression of tha human hands. They have their moments. There are times when they succumb to destiny. There are times when they seise the void, and mould ing It as a snowball is moulded, hurl It In the face of fate." Kodln moves softly from one pedestal to another, unwrapping some of the marbles from their swaddling clothes, call ing attention to a vein In one which he says is the chance tha sculptor takes, for the marble retains Its secret until the chisel forces the disclosure. He, la called away for a moment to look at some archi tectural designs intended for improvements to his studio In the suburbs, and you have then your first opportunity to take a clear, face to face view of your host. Rodln'a Appearance. Vou remember that Jules Cheret called him In a moment of special fervor "Rem brandt, the sculptor." If he had substi tuted the nam of Michael Angelo for that of the Dutch painter you would be mora Inclined to cast your suffrage unprotestlng. for thera Is something about Rodin that brings the Italian to mind. Rodin was bom In 1SU0 and looks his age-nearly. Ha Is short and muscular. Ills hair Is white and he wears a long, straggling beard. His eyes are deep set, searching. He wears soma workaday clothes of dark blue with a fair amount of wrinkles, as if he had little thought for sartorial triviali ties. He Is, It would seem, no dandy. Neither Is he a gourmand. Through the open door of the sails a manger you get an uninterrupted view of the simple table laid for the frugal evening meal. There was a vase with a few flowers and some fruit and brown bread; that Is all. Simplicity Is the keynote of the salon studio, which still retains a certain con ventual and austere air. The walls of the apartment are panelled, and the Immacu late purity of the scene is enhanced by the shining marbles. There are no books. no flowers, no ornaments. The branches of the trees tapping the long windows make occasional feathery backgrounds for the statuary, and here and there a few sketches are pinned carelessly. There Is no equipment of plaster, sculptor' tools, aprons or casts to which one Is accustomed to In like places. The only furnishings are the pedestals and a stool. How He Works. Having completed your survey you stand waiting and at the same time noting Rodin's voice. It Is low toned, but de cisive, and there Is never a moment's hesitation In his directions, even though the architect his apparently come with arguments to refute and convince. He dismisses the architect, and returning- to the visitors asks if he may be permitted to work while he talks. You assure him that you feel It a compliment If he will do so. and with a comprehensive nod of the patriarchal board he puts the stool In front of the portrait bust already referred to snd taking up a chisel begins to hack and hew the clay. He works with marvelous swiftness, changing an outline there, deepening, filling up, remodeling entire. Once he closes his strong fingers about the neck and pushes the head back until the face at a new angle glvea an impres sion of vitality It lacked before. "I have to complete a piece of work like this," he explains, "while the memory of the model is fresh In my mind. The orig inal has been sitting to me today at Meudon. and finding it easier to complete It In this studio I had It brought In, but I must not leave It; If I do something will disappear a pose, an expression that is now absolutely fixed. "I work as a general thing directly In the marble as they did In the early days of sculpture. Tou get rid In that way of all this modern process of pointing up, which makes the work more or less mechanical. When I make the clay model first and then put it Into the marble I always have the model present as well as the com pleted cast. You get the vital element then which you cannot get from any amount of dead material." Sentiment and Geometry. He takes a careful scrutiny of the head again, stopping in the midst of a half fin ished sentence. He as'aln charges its pose with a swift movement, trenchant and cruel, as If he were an executioner using a knife of the guillotine to repair an anat omical error. He notes the look of sur prise In the faces of the group about him and says quickly: "Sentiment, you know, must sometimes be the slave to geometry." Stopping a moment while his eyes rest on a sculptured pair which to those trained tu believe that beauty and decoration are synonymous might seem unnecessally crude, he explains: "There Is nothing more beautiful than people as they are. The human being; as Clod made him Is never ugly. You see a face, a single feature even, and you re mark on Its hldeouHtiess. This is only be cause you have not seen the figure in I It entirety. That disclosed you realize 1 Hint It Is not hideous, but It is really beautiful, for harmony Is never ugly;' It cannot be. for harmony Is the balo ' law of nature. The wonderful balance ' thut exists everywhere in the woi 1 1 must j exist In the work of art a well, els It : cannot be beautiful, and he who considers I It so Is looking with the prejudiced ye of j tradition rather than with the clear vision j of truth.' I Ever the Snme I.afv. "This law of harmony once found Is like the rock In the weary land. It hail Infinite variety and yet it id ever the same. Sometimes when I have been modelling a group or a figure my work has to be! completed with a different person posing j from the one I commenced with. owmt,- to I various causes and Invariably I have! found that the introduction of that new j figure no matter how carefully selected, with what adherence to salient matters of form and sixe, means the Introduction of a new harmony, a quite different balancing and the group Is In consequence never what I planned In the bisinnlng, for thut subtle force has teen loo much for the preconceived Idea v. hich had to obey to be subsc rvt.mt. "Only the Supteme Being can create The best that the artist can do Is to ex press what he sees. Originality is a close scrutiny of nature and o It is raiely found, for that means hard work and continual training. Heauty Is but another name for life, and art does not mean Imitation, but interpretation. One may ad vance far enough to understand and ap preciate the subtleties of the seasons' passing, but it takes more than that to appreciate the complexities of the unlverae and that is nccei-sary unless one is con tent with' mediocrity. "People see what they accustom them selves to see. The Chinese does not look on life as the Frenchman nor as the Jap anese. The kecret of l:fe Is utility and so It Is of beauty. Tou must seek that life first; seek It everywhere about you in the natural world and when -you have found It you ran look for axpresslon afterward, find out to harmony of your subjects and you will be amased at the new paths suddenly opened to your view. Emntlons and Beauty. "Tere Is a historic story of a womnn who was transformed In a moment by the power of a sublime feeling from a commonplace person, one even ugly pet haps as the word Is used. Into a wonder ful being. Her rhlld was torn from her and thrown to the lions and she went unhesitatingly Into the wild bessts' den to rescue It. She had been a coward be fore, but she was a heroine then, and yet she was the same woman, splendid, brave, dominated by a noble sentiment. She was the same woman and yet not the same, for her moment, her great mo ment, had transformed her. "You will learn that the body Is the theater of emotions, where the hand, the foot, the face, the body have parts of equal Importance to play. No one can be Ignored: no one can be said to be greater than the other. You have no horror of love, of hate, of revenge ex pressed by the face; why should you have when the body expresses It as well? "The Supreme Being Is the only one who can create,, and He Is the only one who can finish. The end of a work of art la the relation merely that exists In the artist's mind between his Idea and his work. You can finish some woik. it Is true, the commercial work whose value Is expressed by a ten franc jilece, a twenty frano piece or a sou, but you must not expect to see the work of an artist fin ished, for he never finishes It himself. The old Greek statues, which have come to us In a broken, unfinished state, are they not tha ones that have exercised the great est Influence on our art and our life? What of the Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Mllo? Morality a False Relation. "And there should be no argument in regard to morality In art? There la no morality in nattire. Morality Is a false relation established by man. Frequently to express some tremendous moment of action you will find it necessary to exag gerate the muscles of a certain part in order clearly to define that Intensity for which you strive that wonderful move ment, greater than the plastic In art. That exaggeration Is natural, for It Is the exaggeration of nature. So It may be that In the symbolism of Impalpable sen timents you may seem to have exaggerated the connection of ideas, and there will be the outcry against an Immoral art. In truth you have followed nature." Rodin refers Indirectly to the criticism which met the work of his earlier manner by saying: "Every one who advances or sees to a great distance will have the honor or humiliation, as you deem It, of being misunderstood the broken bits of plaster thrown, the groups of statuary defaced with Ink; they are good signs, as pain is of the healing." You are thinking of "Ie Pensour" as he speaks and you mention It. M. Rodin smiles as he wipes a bit of clay from the chisel. About the "Thinker." "There are many even now who are astonished at Its athletic appearance," he says. "I still receive letters on the sub ject. Thought is strong as well as serene. One of iny literary friends expressed It long ago better than I can by saying that 'the Ideal thinker Is neither a mystic nor of the nervous, over refined type. He Is a being of static force and of calm power, In whose clear brain Is reflected the dream of the world as a great tree Is re flected in the tranquil waters.' The 'Thinker,' as every work of art should, is an expression of equilibrium." A question in regard to the value of schooling causes M. Rodin to refer to his early training. "The first of my works to be publicly exhibited, first refused by the Salon, was 'The Man with the Broken Nose, (L homme au nes casse), which according to the old custom had the announcement that I was a pupil of Barye. It was exhibited at the time when impressionism had shaken the schools with the tremor of an earthquake, and It aroused a still greater revolt. "Barye believed that his pupils should work without too many questions or sug gestions. My schooling with him was fol lowed by a sort of apprenticeship with Carrler-Belleuse, whose method of teach ing was much the same. It Is, Incidentally, that of all great Instructors, to urge the pupil to follow his own Inclinations and always to study nature, to discover and transcribe life." Hla Earlier Works. There were wiany years when Rodin worked at one thing after another; for the decorations of public buildings, notably" the Bourse In Brussels, at the Sevres manu factory, acquiring mobility of expression, facility of touch and a universality of subject, so that he could execute, the sketches of a frleie of Oriental dancing girls or conceive a Balxac. He speaks of these years with a laconic word. "It Is necessary to earn one's bread and to wait. The moment will come If there Is besides the need of food the eternal urge of pas sion." He refers again to one of his early works, "Jean-Baptlste." concerning which his rivals alleged that he had modelled It over a veritable human body. He asks If any one cooiil ask for a preater compliment. "I Insisted then that an examination j should be made of the hundreds ofj sketches I had drawn as preliminary," he says. "They were astonished at the. Illimitable labor and patience. See" he shows thioush the opened door thousands of faint outlines on the wall beyond; heads, torsos linet. and the patience, the trial and the trial again "The John was not according to the formula of the Institute. He was not the haptUer nor the preacher. He was walk ing freely and frankly with a simple ges ture tn announce the good tidings. He had the va-et-vlent that the schools theni abhorred. They do not now. I "I have studied the antiques always, hut I have also studied the work of the middle' ages. I essayed all. Nothing came to me bits of the body, profiles , j curves "all that Is necessary; at once. The longer I work the more I j comprehend and the more I see to change and improve. The earlier manner of youth1 changes to that of maturity. Imperceptibly.' You renounce and you gain, and so you 1 approach the ultimate meaning. You make' the detail or you ignore Jt. but you keepl to the essential, and that is rhythm, bal-; ance, harmony. In the Ho-" la Pavilion. In 100 by the sic of the exposition : grounds there was erected a special pa-1 villon which was devoted to the principal works of Rodin. All Paris goes today to I Meudon, to which rlsce the pavilion, by special grant of the state has been re moved. The house of Rodin and the pa vilion are tn a neck of the Seine by the little hHls of Meudon and Issy. In the latter place the practicing aviators dally sweep and swing. The guide explains to he visitor thitt when Rodin first came to live there was only the viaduct, the heavy trees, a view j of the railroad lead. ng from the waste places and the chalkv environ" to the heart of Paris. It was a desert, as M e Parisians understood the word desert. Rodin has brought life Into the solitudes. Ask any- body at the Utile wine shops, the tohaccor Ists; the post card booths, where his house is situated, and the Interrogation made to one will be answered by a doi.-n. All these places owe their existence to the Interest he haa excited, and the onners are seem ingly grateful. In the pavilion the works of Rodin are in Juxtaposition with celebrated copies of The highest Cla ss Furniture at WOODS I HARTMAW UR FALL DESIGNS were selected from the handsomest goods of the best makers of the land. The showing is now complete and is unquestionable the most superb collection of furni ture ever exhibited in this city. And every price means a saving-a big saving. Never before were such values possible they may not be repeated again in years. A few of tomorrow's specials are featured in this announcement. " II I I snail - eW Vafl COLONIAL DRESSER The design Is unique, has large French plate beveled mirror Made of Bolld oak, full serpentine front. Wood drawer pulls. You cannot Bmm7ti duplicate this value else- g KM where. Sneclal Satis- With I 1 1 Interest- J DECORATED PANEL IRON BEDS They are unquestionably the handsomest beds that ever sold In Omaha at the price. The three broad steel panels at the head and foot are handsomely decorated with floral designs. The beds are enam eled In various colors to harmonize. Vou'd never expect to buy such an attractive bed for 450 bo smaii a buiii. Special PARLOR TABLES Made of solid quarter sawed oak, handsomely polished. Fancy shape top and stretch er shelf. Legs are exceeding ly heavy, turned and fluted. They are remarkable values at the price. 98 I Special iy r-cSS v25w. BO man a sum. veruia ma run due extra. wrm FOR THIS MASSIVE COUCH This massive couch value is unprecedented in the furniture world. They are upholstered in Nantucket Leather over oil tempered steel springs deeply tufted. Frame is of American quartered oak with heavy claw feet. The workmanship is unbeatable. Special for this week $9.75 SOLID KITCHEN fl7 i 1 gsals)g.y. siLaa HART-MAN'S CIAL STEEL RANGE PEDESTAL EXTENSION TABLES Massive 10-inch base with carved claw feet, easy running biiues, extanus to o ieet. solid j fnaQf construction guaranteed. Special 15 TIipbp oh hi nets contain flour bins, bread and meat boards, drawers and shelves as shown in the above illustration. Tliv are strongly constructed will last. aa,A7 for years. Special tl price for this sJf BASE BURNER, $15.85 Large double heater, full nickeled trimmed. Auto matic feed. STOVES AND HEATERS Our fall display of stoves and heaters is now com plete, and p. more attrac tive showing cannot be found In Omaha. The lines Include such famous makes as the I'KXIXSliaitS, mxc'oiah, t o: r.s and others equftlly cele brated. ' i. r- m TL3T JV TD) TH 1 m tm SPE- t's a large range, has kIx S-ln. hole. large square oven, beautifully nickeled trimmed. They are guaranteed for 5 years. They're equal to any $35 steel range on sale elsewhere In Omaha. Our special price this week OAK HEATER, $4.75 Made of Bessemer steel. Heavy cast fire pot, full nickeled trimmed. 1414, 1416, 1418 DOUGLAS STREET, 1414, 1416, 1418 S ime one bas said that this I desires of early years have been gratified. "I go away from It less and Its." h confesses, "and all the work that I can I do there, for It pleasea me iii.ue than my other studios for some reason, perhaps" lie leaves the sentence unfinished. antiquity. (1 ows a lark of modepty on his purt and some one else has remarked the' he. Is a man who bas fought and stru-nled loo much to have retained a modest outlook or to need one. Outside It are bits of water fur the softly moving swans; there arc beautiful uroailrs of trees whose branches interlace, there I are dusky solitudes where the dreams come and the splash of fountains in nimble bat Ins. Rodin in the urban studio Kn.-aku of this place with enthusiasm and satis faction. It la the tone ot I he man whose Monkey ua n Hla Mirk. Maggie, an untamed monkey exhibited Fourteenth street mid Fourth avenue, watching her climb up and down the forty-five-foot flHgittutf on the roof nl the Herman-American Hank building. M.iggle was finally rescued by Kteeple J.h k Walter Weaver of f'amden. N. J. Weaver haw the monkey on her perch and offered to bring her down fur $5. Me climbed up. and, after a short tuswl, caught the ape aad climbed down with her The monkey rexIMed capture by scratching and ! biting at her captor. climbed over the picket fence that sepa t"! bl,lldlrKS to tha roof of tha bank, from there it was ona Jump to the pole-New York American. Ilalile Harbor. Hattle Harbor did not take Its nam -rrom oinmodore I'eary. It was en thu map before wireless telegraphy was known, liattle Harbor is a buhy fishing station The water there is very deep, and It I i In a muteum on Fourteenth street, broke; f . ,u'"u' . "'."."? for wonderful ground swell. away from her trainer Don Clovaml ' V " ye V"U,1Y "' . ai tunes rolls In without wind from aa noin ncr trainer, Hon (lovai.nl. , MKlu ,.,.,. ,n,iuK,,i m bv Maggie. Hh tha eastward Into Kt l.ouls sound 'burst recently and started out to emulate th-, Li ..k.. uay ..ne night from the platform Ing." as Admiral Ha field has dencr.b.d It. feats or took and Fcarv bv dixiovei iiik I where xhc bad been performing nod hid "with fury over Inlets thirty feet high the jc.le. Her discovery was attended i In the attic of the building. About noon 1 or sending sheets of foam and spray spark witli epeclacular fatuies. ami fur ! ,he g..t ut on the r.f of the museum; ling In the xunbkama fifty feat us tha sldas haui a she entertained a crowd that blocked j building, which adjoins the bank, and j of oieclpkea." i !