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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1914)
Thf Omaha Sunday Bee I Z1NE TP -ft- POSED FO Pag waga f WDYMARJORIE MANNERS COUNTESS OF WESTMORELAND Duchess ot Westminster Three Beauties of the English Court, Each of Whom Denies That She Had Anything to Do with the Statue. . i'j&A K life 'If r- rr ISiWii "mil jap Outline Drawing of the- Countess of Gleichen Statue, Showing the "Typical Lines of 1914." THE most Interesting, If not the most artistic, work In the current exhibition of the Royal Academy In London Is a statue by the Countess Keodora Gleichen. It Is the most interesting in the sense that It has nt traded the atten tlon of more people of all classes than, any other work, even If the high browed critics have sniffed at it. Why is this statue so Interesting? Because It represents an undrapet figure of considerable attractiveness. Because it Is said to bo the composite likeness of three or more promlnont noble society women. Because the milptrows Is a cousin of Queen Mary. Because Her Majesty has mailo a ter rible fuss about 11. There are other reasons, but probably those are enough. The statue is labelled "The Woman of 1014." That means, of course, that It Is the woman of fashionable and aristocratic society, the woman who wears the latest creations and emis sions in dross. The Countess Gleichen enjoys spa cious apartments In historic St. James's Palace through the royal bounty, and there sbo lias a fine stu dio. She has been rogurded an. an amateur sculptress and has practised her art for muny years without cre ating any sensation.. Many of tho most prominent women in fashionable society, including most of the British luchewos, have been thero to pose for her, The royal sculptress ha3 made busts of them conventionally attired, and these have been exhibited to an admiring world with the real names attached. Now. the general understanding is that some of these noble vlhitore posed for the undrapod statue at the Acad emy. Tho popular Idea is that the statue represents a composite of tho best known ;nl most admired beau ties In English society. Some mem ber;! of th fashionable set assert Cries S Very Entertaining Game of Hide and Seek in the British Aristocracy to Find and Punish the of Countess Gleichen's Undraped 'Soc Woman of 1914" Who Only a Vanity Bag Carries that they can recognize certain strik ing lines of beauty In tho ilgure ns belonging to friends of theirs. Atlrst there were not lacking ladles who boldly claimed that they were the whole thing, In splto of tho strong evidence that It was a composite por trait. Their tone has changed, how over, since Queen Mary went on tho war path. Tho Countess Gleichen herself as serted when her work tlrst excited remark that It represented a type, and not a single porson. To explain this statement nway, one of the un blushing ones who wanted to be the whole thing said: "Oh. yes, tho Countess Keddy tried to make a composite statue of a lot of us, but my tlguro Impressed her so much that she couldn't help mak ing mo. Anybody can sec that It's my Ilgure." "Tho Woman of 1914" Is a slender limbed figure standing In a drooping attltudo with her right arm akimbo, while from her left hand depends a little vanity bag, her only adornment Why the vanity bag? Well, that Is the most original touch about tho whole statue, and at the same time a point against which much hostile crit icism has been directed. This vanity bag Is said to have annoyed Her Majesty very much. "No one can defend n statue of a woman wearing only u vanity bag by saylug that It is In the same class ns tho classic statues of the nude," Her .Majesty Is repovted to have said with keen critical insight. One sly critic has written that this statue alms to represent the ideal towards which woman's costume is tending. Perhaps that was the Idea In Her Majesty's mind, too; but, of course, she would not havo said such" a thing. "Though the figure," writes an other critic, "Is that of a girl of twenty, tho pose Is one of quiet but provocative effrontery, nnd tho face finely modelled, has an expression anything but virginal. It typifies vividly the twentieth century go-as-you-please, pleasuro-bored, 'becn-thore-nnd-back' young society woman, tho quintessence of worldllncss steeped In self-ndmlratlon." The figure has the long. lose, slen der limbs that are so much admired In England and that are so frequent ly seen In English women. Owing to the prevailing fashions in bathing suits, golf suits and other sporting costumes, one can observe these tilings in real life at least as well ns In this statue. The statue undoubtedly gives n good Idea of a certain English upper class type of bca.uty, but It tends towards caricature. Tho limbs are too slender and delicate for young women who practise sport so vigorously. Tho head, however. Is more lifelike. Some admirable examples of the tall, slender type of English woman hood nro the Duchess ot Wcstmlnstor. the Countess of Westmoreland and Lady Marjorio Manners, who recently became the Marchioness of Anglesey. They "are all very original and pro gressive In their costumes. They have exhibited themselves ns "liv ing statuary," and In various kinds of spectacles and pageants for the en tertainment of a beauty loving public. Queen Mary tried, with indifferent success, to put an end to spectacles of that kind, but whatever kind she frowned upon, the tendency was sura to break out In some new direction. All the three beauties mentioned have denied that they are In any way represented by tho statue. Having been so prominent in all sorts of nr tlstlc entertainments, and being friends of tho Countess of Gleichen, it wi natural that nconlc should compare them with the curious ploce of sculpture. The head bears a marked resem blance to that of the Viscountess Cur 7.011, n tall, graceful Englishwoman who was chosen Queen of Bcnuty at a revival of nn ancient tournament held recently In London. Tho gamo of guessing who posed for "The Woman of 1014" has become the chlof amusement of London so ciety. Never has art been so popular. At dinner parties the favorite subject of convcrsatoln Is tho statue. One gilded youth may be heard declaring that ho Is sure tho Duchess of So-and So's right log Is represented by tho artist, while his fair dinner compan ion asserts loudly that It is Lady Mnrjorlo's limb, nnd "she ought to know, because they were brought up together." Thero Is unlimited frank ness about theso discussions. It Is significant to noto that tho statuo is supposed to represent tho woman who Is ready to dis cuss anything. When the exhibi tion opened. Queen Mary was loo busy, with her visit to Paris to notice what was hnppenlng. Va rious works of art had to be put In tho cellars ot Parisian public buildings and statues draped bo foro tho tea j capital vms lit to be seen by Her Majesty. Having returned from that visit, tho Queen was shocked to learn that her own cousin had been making nudity popular. She threat ened to take away the Countess Glekh en's npnrtment.s In St. .Iniuoss Palace, a btcp whlcn would bo difficult to carry out. as they wera grunted by Queea Vlctorl i. Queen Mary de clared that any wo man who posed for the st.iuiii would, when discovered, ba permanently ban ished from Court, and excluded from all respectable so ciety. "And I mean to mnko It my busi ness to discover all of them." said the Queen. "A woman who would do such a tiling Is under mining the respect the lower classes should feel for the leaders of society, and is helping to bring about a social revolution." Her Majesty's an .gcr was so serious that every woman nnd or suspicion took pains to prove that she was not tho stntue. The Countess Gleichen tried to quiet the storm by s.iying rather lato and mi cro n vlncingl.v that she had used a profos Jlonal model. The nows of all this trou b 1 o caused additional Interest In the statue u m ong tho general public, art loving nnd othorwlso. Guards were needed to keep tho crowd at a respectable distance Indignation, ridicule and admiration were variously expressed. Tho figure does not always excite ndmlrntlon in the middle classes. A stout guocer, .having inspected it, crit ically remarked: "Well. If Unit's a duchess, glvo me Mrs. Jones!" , Countess Fcodorn Gleichen, tho sculptress, is n poor relation of roy alty. Her father was Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a grandson of Queen Vctorlns mot her by her first marriage. Prince Victor married an Englishwoman not ot royal birth, and his children did not inherit his rank, but were callod Instead Counts and Countesses Gleichen. Queen Mary's own ancestry Is somewhat similar, ns she is descended on her fathor' side from the marriage of n royal prince with a plebeian woman. And still Queen Mary declares with lire In her eye nnd nn ominous shak ing of tho royal plumage and dra peries that she will find and punish the culprits who pobed in the "alto gether!" hocked Queen Mary 9 Tho Much Diieuned St.ttio fafe (rflOSii s U ( $0 of tho "Society Woman of f H'o'fVZiB KHV . a 9m WJM I Ml IIP 1WP III! II I tl In I 1 TV:.fc'l.M3y&A A . WrW,liM .' r III It J-iW 4. How Mankind Has Danced Itself Into World Control and High Civilization NSTEAD of being the frivolous pastime it is regarded thing to maintain 1U fitness, and, according to Dr. Rob- T I In some quarters, dancing has been one of the most Important factors in tho development of the human race, according to Dr. Louis Robinson, a well-known anthropologist. Tho Influence of dancing extends far back Into pre historic times, nnd has constantly made itself felt right down to these tango-mad days. In prehistoric time It was tho dancing savage who survived. To-day the dance contributes to a consider able extent to honest matrimonial dealing. That, in brief, 1b tho conclusion Dr. Robinson arrives at after bis rcsea-ch Into the subject, and the evidence ho ad vances in support of his contention Is by no moans unconvincing. It Is pointed out In the first place that practically every savago people spends a large part of its timo in dancing. But savages are essentially lazy. They exert themselves only when necessary to procure food and save their skins from their cnomlos. They much pre fer to lead the simple life. When food Is plentiful, enemies scarce, a 3d the olemonts friendly they are very apt to eat to repletion, and then spend the time between meals In philosophical reflection. The effect of this oasy life on a tribe of savages can well be imagined. Their muscles become soft and their intelligence dulled. They fall an easy prey to hostile tribes to whom fortune has boon 'ess (or more) kind in tho matter of sustenance, end who have had to live by the chase. The more energetic tribn hsd to do some- lnson, it resorted to dancing. In discussing this phase ot tho matter ho presents an Imaginative plcturo of life in prehistoric days. Trlbo A enters Into a tomporary partnership with Trlbo B for a mammoth hunt. They succeed In forcing one of the clumsy creatures over a proclpicc, and then fall upon hiH crushed carcass with thoir flint knives. Tho moat is soon roady for tho oagor savagos. Trlbo A consists of dancing men, whose practice It is to danco before, during and after a foast of this kind. Tribe B, on the othor hand, is of the lazy, gor mandialng type. Tlioy gorge Uiomselvos on tho mam moth flosh and Ho around until they are in a condition again to eat. This stato of things goes op for perhaps two wooks, when a ravonoun band of warriors, comprising Tribe C, Is attracted by the smell ot the mammoth carcass. What happens? Tribe A, lithe and active as a result of their dancing, are fully ahlo to meet an equal num ber of Tribe C If it oomes to a fight, or, at any rate, they are able to nogotiate a safe retroat. In either event, large numbers ot them survive tho attack. But as for Tribe II, flabby and gorged, their survival is out ot the question. In this way, Dr. Uobinson believes, dancing played an important part In the survival of tho fittest ot our earliest ancestors. The fact that oven to-day dancing and tea ting go hatid in hand is merely a reversion to Upc. Dancing played a prominent part, too, in tho mental and moral development of man. Primitive man was a coward. Tho moro intelligent ho became, tfio moro ho feared danger. "Hero apparently," says Dr. Robinson, "was a grave bar to progress along tho best and most promising lines, which woro thoBe of tho mind rathor than tho body; for it would bo tho brainy savage who would be most oppressed and uunorvod by awful possibilities when entering any danger zone. Yot war was a dread and almost dally necessity If ho would oscapo extinction; and It would seem as If tho cowardliness of tho moro intelligent and farsceing would chock human progress by giving tho moro stupid and brutal trlbos the upper hand. "It seems to mo probablo that hero tho spirit of danc ing stepped In and, by turning the sonslbllltics and imaginations of the best men to good account, saved tho situation. We know that undor the influence of passion many timid creatures and men bocome. utterly foarloss. There aro few more gallant warriors than the deer In the mating season, and tho same is truo of sheep and other animals which havo become to us per sonifications of timidity. Doubtless with our early forofathcrs it was the same. . . . Before tho onset they worked themselves up Into a factitious rage, or, at any rate, into that exalted emotional state that we call a fighting mood, by war dances, which often took the shape of prancing around or behind somo stimulat ing emblem to the sound of some rub-a-dub music.'' Equally interesting are tho doctor's theories regard ing tho part played by dancing in our own time, al though nowadays It Is not so much the dancing Itself as tho dancing attire which is making its influence felt on tho raco. "There have been discussions," Dr. Robinson said, "to to why clothos woro first worn whether for orna mont, warmth or deconcy but I think one can say without ciy doubt whatovor that, from the first ages until now, danco clothing has been mainly decorative. Ilore wo find an othnlcal and cugonlcal, If not an eth ical, Justification of matters connoctod with dancing dross or undress which has often provoked severe criticism among vory clvillzod people. Unhappily many social customs claiming solidarity with the worthiest aspects of our lattor-day llfo havo contributed to matrimonial fraud, comparnblo to the covering ot runbUhy fruit with an Inviting layer of 'toppers,' or oven to the tondering of base coin. Without a doubt from the oarllest times until now the dance has been a chlof purifying ngont in the marriage market has played the part, In fact, ot those market Inspectors appointed to guard against adulteration. "Little as is known of tho past of thq 'Plltdown Lady who may be said now to havo won a sound social status with tho honorable surname of Dawson we may say with full confidence that boforo her early marriage the danced, and that she dressed tor dancing. That earth-stained human fragment ovor which some ot our anthropologists are wrangling in learned polysyllables oncR bobbed around." ComrUht ion. Uv tho Fiar Conui tav Great Britain lUshls Iteerved. n