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| FRENCH SCULPTURE IN THE ART PALACE - The
engraving gives a view looking north in the north court of the main
building, Art Palace, in Jackson Park.
The interior construction of this massive edifice may also be
studied. Statues, more than paintings, and both to a discouraging
degree, suffer from miscellaneous grouping. One statue, arresting
the vision, may seem inspiring and instructive; a hundred or a
thousand may confuse the mind and disturb a willing appreciation.
Nevertheless, the only method so far devised of advancing the
interests of men of art and soul, is by exhibitions of which the
engraving is a portrayal. Room for study is afforded about each
effigy, and no work was admitted to these distinguished halls lest it
had met the approval of eminent and skilled authorities. Notice is
perhaps first drawn to Bartholdi's bronze group of Washington and
Lafayette, on the left, which was the object of chief popular
interest hereabouts. Nearer, and to the right, is a cast of
Massoulle's "Ancestor," the original of which, in bronze, belongs to
the city of Paris. Before the portal, centrally in the distance,
stands Lami's "First Transgression," a plaster cast of the marble
statue which is in the National Museum, at Paris. The first murderer
bears his murdered brother to a place of concealment. In front of
the pillar at the left, is Choppin's bronze statue of a "Volunteer of
1776." On the extreme left is Houdain's "Faun," a marble statue. |
