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"Th DnId," an Illustration of the Old Greek Legend Through Which Rodin Symbolize Eternal Despair.
HB amailng ep!rlt of patriot "The Hand of God," "Th Danald,
lam that intplrei France In Tlie Old CourteBan "Eve." "The
the present conflict bu been Centaureae." "Victor IIuko." "The
etrlkingly Illustrated by the great Sphinx" and "The Call to Arms.'"
T
French sculptor August Rodin.
He has presented to the Drltlsh
nation twenty of his finest pieces
of sculpture as a mark of his grati
tude for the help that England has
given to France.
This splendid collection of statu
try is estimated to be worth In
marble, bronze, material and work
manship alone about 1200,000. When
the labor of the artist, the most dls
tlngulhed sculptor of the day. Is
added, their value reaches an enor
mous figure that would probably
place them beyond the purchasing
power of any private collector, now
that Plerpont Morgan Is gone.
That an artist who began life as
a half-starved workman aud has only
Achieved comparative affluence in
his old po should make such a
princely gift la a fact worthy of
general attention.
Kodin, being too old to fight at
seventy-three, does the best he can
for his country by giving away his
work. It is hoped that the million
aires of France and England, stirred
by his . example, will behave with
equal generosity to their countries.
In presenting the collection to the
British. Kodin said:
"The English and French are
brothers. Your solUlers are fighting
side by sldo with ours. As a llttlo
token of my admiration for your
heroes I decided to present the col
lection to England.
"Later I bope to give you a atatue
representing Belgium heroically sac
rificing herself for the cause of civ
ilization." The Kodin statues are Jn the South
Kensington Museum in London.
They represent all the principal
periods of tbo artist's long life.
Among them are two of his largest,
works, "The Ourghers of Calais" anu
"The Thinker." The others Include
his "John the Bartlst," "The Kiss,"
"The Durghers or Calais" is a pe
culiarly Interesting work to give
to England at this time. It recalls
Vie fact that England and France
were long at war but have now be
come friends. It also derives a cer
tain tlmellnesa from the fact that
Calais and the adjacent cities of
France and Belgium are bearing
much of the burden of the present
terrible conflict.
History tells us that the English
King Edward III. besieged Calais
and was Infuriated by the long re
sistance of the town. When the
city was on tbo point of surrender
ing through starvation the people
asked the English King what terms
they could obtain.
Thes savage King said he would
burn the whole place down and kill
men, women adn children unless
they sent to him their six richest
cltlsens bearing the keys of the city
and having ropes round their necks
with which they were to be hanged.
The aix citizens heroically offered
themselves for the sacrifice and
went out dressed only in sacks with
ropes round their necks. Then,
says the story, the English Queen.
touched with pity, went down on ber '
The Greatest Sculptor
of Our Time, Too
Old to Fight, Gives
Twenty of His Finest
Works to England
in Gratitude for
Helping France
the meaning of the horrible struggle
with nature and the beasts through
which he and his race have passed.
His nt under bis chin, his toes
grasping the rock on which he site,
he is burdened with thoughts that
exceed human strength.
uodln s sculptures continually ex
knees and begged the King to spare' press the cruel struggles of the
them, which be did
This group of six figures In a pro
cession has the effect of showing
them in motion, a form of sculpture
for which Rodin has been criticised
and which he has strongly defended.
In commenting on this work he
said:
"The sculptor, to show action,
needs only to place his personages
In such a manner that the spectator
hall first see those who commence
this action, then those who continue
It and i finally those who complete
It."
"The Thinker" in the primitive
man In whom thought la beglnnlng
to dawn. He is trying to think of
human mind with unbearable con
ditions. A remarkable example of
thU is "The Centauress."
The human female bust of this
monster reaches toward a goal that
the outstretched arms cannot reach,
while the heavy horse's haunches
press back and refuse the attempt.
It Is the symbol of the human aoul
with Its ethereal Impulses held cap
tive by the brutal flesh.
Concerning the remarkable work
entitled "The Kles." Faul Usell. the
best known commentator on Kodin,
writes:
"The bodies tremble s though
they felt in advance the impos
sibility of realizing that Indissoluble
onion desired by their souls."
"The Danald" Is one of the fifty
daughters of Kins Danaus, who, ac
cording to Greek mythology, mur
dered their husbands at their father's
Instigation. In the lower regions
they were compelled to pour water
etiwnally through sieves.
Not the leapt of Rodin's services
to the people have been the Interest
ing and entertaining comments he
has made on his art to his friends
and pupils. -He believes earnestly
In making art appreciated by the
people and In training workmen to
be the real artists that many of
them were In ancient times.
"The principles of my art." he
says, "were first pointed out to mo
sot by a celebrated sculptor or by
an authorized teached, but ty a
artisan, a little plasterer from the
neighborhood of Blois, called . Con
stant Simon. We worked together
at a decorator's. 1 was quite at the
beginning of my career, earning six
francs a day. Our models were
"The Kiss Which It by (Many Considered the Most Beautiful of Rodin's Works.
leaves and flowers, which we picked other, successively making the fore-
In the garden. I was carving a capi- head, the cheeks, the chin, and then
tol when Constant Simon said to the eyes, nose and mouth. On tho
me: 'You don't go about that cor- i contrary, from the first sitting the
rectly. You make all your leaves whole mass must be conceived and
flatwise. Turn them, on the con
trary, with the point facing you.
Execute them In depth and not In
relief. Always work In that man
ner, so that a surface will neve,
seem other than the termination of
a mass. Only thus can you achieve
success In sculpture.'"
Rodin thus explains why most
modern works of sculpture appear
cold and lifeless:
"To-day we are constantly work
ing In bas-relief, and that is why our
products are so cold and meagre.
Sculpture In the round alone pro
duces the qualities of life. For In
stance, to make a bust does not con
sist In executing the different sur
faces and their details one after air-
constructed In its varying circum
ferences; that Is to stay, in each of
Its profiles.
"A head may appear ovoid, or like
a sphere In Its variations. If we
slowly encircle this sphere we shall
see It In Its successive profiles. As
It presents Itself, each profile differs
from the one preceding. It is this
succession of profiles which must be
reproduced, and which are the
means of establishing the true
volume of a head."
Many people have been shocked
by Rodin's tendency to depict the
liorrlble as In the figures of the
starving "Burghers of Calais," or
the extraordinary; exhibition of fe
male wretchedness In "The Old
Courtesan." To this Rodin replies:
"There 1 nothing ugly In art ex
cept that which is without character,
that is to say, that which offers no
outer or inner truth.
"Whatever is false, whatever Is
artificial, whatever .seeks to be
pretty rather than expressive, what
ever is capricious and affected, what
ever smiles without motive, bends
or struts without cause, Is man
nered without reason; all that Is
without soul and without truth; all
that Is only a parade of beauty and
grace; all. in short, that lies, Is
ugliness In art.
"When an artist, trying to im
prove nature, softens the grimace ot
pain, the shapelessness ot age, .the
hldeousness of perversion, when he
arranges nature veiling, disguis
ing, tempering it to please the Ignor
ant public then he is creating ugli
ness because he fears the truth."
Mow to Dance the' Waltz Tarn
(This Is No. 9 In the Series of Prac
tical Lessons In the New Danes.)
T
HE waits or opera tango has
been Introduced to stand ra
ize the tango as far as possi
ble. So many real and Imaginary
tango steps arc in use that It Is
difficult to do this popular dance
with a partner with whom no pre
vious practice has been had. This
fcas militated to some extent against
(be popularity of the dance, and
Instructors have for some time been
anxious to overcome the difficult,
Ly adopting a series of figures as a
standard tango.
It Is realized that absolute accord
on this subject is Impracticable.
Panclng masters have individual
idea on the subject and will be slow
to abandon them. Nevertheless, the
waltz tango has been suggested as a
etandcrdUed tango and Is meeting
with a good dtal of favor in public
and private ballrooms. This is how
Its seven figures are done.
The first (s "the walk." This Is
a plain oce-etep walk the gentle
man starting forward with t!s left
Xoot, the lady backward with her
rlghL The couple take four walk
ing steps fn this manner and then
the lady te;.p!ng back with her left
and the gentleman forward with his
rpht, they do the cortez, the gentle
ii a a rating his right foot forward,
led oa tho floor and toe upraised.
'O (As Taught at New York's Famous Dancing Carnival)
1 The "Walk."
the lady resting on her right toot,
the left foot being raised backward,
aa shown In the Illustration. This
figure Is repeated as often asdesirea
end brings us to the second figure.
The second figure Is the "double
cortes." This Is the same as the
ingle cortes. only the gentleman
does It drat forward and then back.
This Is repeated aeveral time and
then the gentleman aoes the cortes
to the lady's right side as many
times as ntay be desired.
The third figure Is known as "the
scissors." The gentleman crosses
2 The 'Double Cortex."
his feet to the front, while the lady
crosses hers to the rear. Then the
lady crosses front the same aa the
gentleman. This la repeated until
the couple changes to the next fig
ure. The fourth figure 1st he "pickup."
After the preceding figure L com
pleted, the coupie walk la a tor
ward position. Uie lady stepping for
nard with ber right, the gentleman
with his left; then the lady steps
forward with her left and the gen
tlemen with bis right. Then fol
lows the "pick-up," which consists
Ccpyright. ltlt.
S The "Scissors" Step.
of the lady stepping forward with
her right and pointing her toe to
the floor, while the gentleman puts
his left forward pointing his toe to
the floor similarly; then the gen
tleman raises his left limb, bending
a: the knee, and raising the foot
about a foot from the floor; the lady
does the same with her right limb.
The walk Is continued and the "pick
up" Is repeated tor aa even multiple
of steps. The lady Is then brought
back to the normal dancing posi
tion, the gentleman stepping In
front of lady, and the couple goes
by tb Star Cuuipauy. Great Britain
4 The "Pickup."
5 The Regulation Hesitation Waltz 8tep. 0 Ths Alternate Cortez and Waltz,
into the regulation hesitation waits
step.
The fifth figure is the regulation
hesitation waits step.
The sixth figure is an alternate
cortes and waits. The gentleman
takes a plain cortes step, then walks
' back two ateps, and takes aeveral
waits steps, then he steps forward
one step and does the cortex. This
procedure Is repeated aa often as
wished and constltutea the main fig
ure of the dance.
The seventh and last figure is the
balance" step. The couple assume
Klghts Reserved.
a natural dancing position; then
the gentleman steps forward cross
ing his right to the lady's right side,
the lady stepping back with her left
fcot. They then balance or sway,
the gentleman forward, the lady
back, then the gentleman back and
lady forward, without ever moving
the position of the teet. Then the
lady ateps back one step and the
gentleman forward one step and the
balance 1j repeated once forward
and once back. . Then the gentle
man steps forward to lady's right
side and lady back with left; they
balaxce forward and back; the
gentleman steps forward with his
left, the lady back with her right,
and they balance, the gentleman
forward, the -lady back, then the
;entleman back and the lady for
ward. A walk (hen follows, and the
natural dancing position is assumed,
from which the couple do the cortej
and the figure is completed.
The order In which the various
figures are danced may, of course,
be varied, and each figure may be
repeated Jut as many times as tho
dancers -desire
