ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 70

ART AND ARTISTS.

A CHAT WITH A GREAT SCULPTOR, It is difficult to name a single representative of art who has achieved fame so quickly as Mr George Frampton, the distinguished sculptor. Mr Frampton is only 41, yet he is a Royal Academician, whose works are celebrated almost throughout Europe. It was at an exceedingly- early ag© (writes am interviewer in Chums) that Mr Framptou began to earn his living — he was a mere boy, in fact — and, remarkable to relate, his genius was such that he had practically no struggles. "Weren't you ever hard up?" I asked! my host. "I oan't understand how it was that you didn't have any struggles." "I daresay a good msuny men would have been hard up on what I earned. I've known men to be exceedingly hard up when I have considered them to be very well off. I lived simply and my wants were few, and I could always earn enough to pay for my neede. As for struggles, some people would have called them by that name, bufc I didn't. My life a«s a youth was indeed cine round of enjoyment. I don't believe in the individuals who talk about struggles." "Did you evei imagine that you would be«ome a famous sculptor? You won nearly all the prizes at the Royal Academy schools." "I had no notion of what I should become. I never thought that I should b& a Royal Academician or anything else. My one wish was to be able to do work aa fine as that in the Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and elsewhere." If young Frampton was a strenuous 1 worker he found time to have some fun. When, in Paris he .vas a party to one of the most elaborate practical jokes that have ever been perpetrated. On a certain nighfc on his way home from the studio he called at a noted where Mr Dudley Hardy and some other student were livin?. His clothes were not exactly immaculate, and the straw hat which he was wearing had a hole im it. It had been well kicked about the atelier. At the hotel he found two strangers— - students from a well-known arfc school — amongst the company, and after a brief stay he departed. His appearance created a bad impresfiion on the two gentlemen from London, one of whom inquired after Framriton had left: "Wae that Frampim who won the gold medal at the Academy?" He was informed that his conjecture was correct, upon which he observed : "What a curious-looking man. I didn't know ho was like that. Did you see his hat? The brim was off. And, fancy, he had a bhio flannel shirt ! We thought he was quite different. We'd seen his- gold medal work, and were going to call upon, him." Then one of the students chimed in. Said he: "Oh, but you should sec Frampton sometimes. We must take you to his studio. It's a great marble palace with fountains and fish sw'mming- about." The studio was only a small studio with an a«nhalt floor. However, tho romancisfc :>ont>nued': "Framnton knows everybody. He is a. dear friend of President Carnot." The long- and shor' of the matter was that a grand reception was arranged, to> which tho strangers were invited. They werp informed that they would moot all the Wdinsr lights of France, and felt highly honoured. Frampton, despite hia broken straw hat, was not so disappointing after all. Tho student who had i-jmm this yarn met Frampton later, and told him about it, and said : "We must ?pe this thinir through." And sp.e it through they did. They obtained the consent of the landlord of a rafe to hold tho reception in a room in hi« e^tsblisbmpnK and on the evening apnoinrpcl an astoni»hiner scene was preppnfptf. In +Vi° room watp nparlv all the notabilities of Paris — lovely Duchesses and Countesses, eminent- sing-pra from the orvpra. renowned nctors. novelists. nrt ; =ts. musicians, and politician'—a trui v brilliant gathering. But tho wh-oln t)>incr fh? a rolnssal sham. The Tlueh'wvj rad Countesses were artists' *j>od«l<i dressed up in tlipir host, and neni-fy «?vorvonp was pTsonaHritr somobodv. T'le landlord of the rafp liecWl-ied himself with, a lot of brnas ornaments — thesp' to represent crlors — ami floured as cmc of the great personacres of Fr.ince. When thp two strangers arrivpd they could not bplieve their eves. They hacf npve-r be»n in suoTi comnanv before, and their delight was indescribable. A telecram was shown to t ViPiti nurnortinc to linve oomp> from the Prudent of the Republic, in which he PTDressed sorrow that, owinsr to the care? of State. h< was unable to attend : another wire sienod "Zo'a" intimatpd that tn» novelist rpurettpcl ha could not be present a? lie had o fiimli a hook that evfininer. T'i^p win** har} keen define frhc-d by students from the localities in which those Ti-lifV:f> nnmen tliey too 1 ' lived, so that no doubt should be raised »s to the authentieitv of the Tnesßnores. Mr Frnmptcm himsplf was a snlendid success. He sported a erent red buttori on his coat. "What does the red button signify?" in-rmf'-ec] the. d"li(rht^d strnncrers. T f was exnlnin"f! to Miptti tbnt thp. button, hnrl H°en _3r*» SA n-r n d to t,h<? wearer T>v the Vroeirlcnt. Phn~ Pwirknt. it waj? alleged, had e-een one of the sculptor's pieces of statuary, and was so charmed x^it-h it that b* har] resolvprl to have it pn^areed fluid rtlappfl in a win? in the Louvre-. The fifudetita' iov wa= won<?prfu? to rfhoM. They worn introduced to Alphonse Dande* — a Wxriip ■r>n. T idet — n.nd wlipn t.'ipv left phnrtlv af^- mj^nio-ht t Ji »-'.T <rra tiHioV to thfiir host w>B bound'ess. That thp whole> affair was a V.oar ncrni' oopnrred +o *-hem for an ingtant. T'>pv told tbeir frirnds that tbev had shalcen with the leadiner iumi of Francp'. and that, thp-v hnd never had mich n maenificpnfc time in their live*. It is possible that both, of them holi^vp the reception was a genuine one fn this day. "To what do I attributo^inv supcpsp?" ochoorl my hoqt. -when T put him mv final mte«+'on. "To gticVino- to work and rmjoyini? it, to beinc? satisfied with mv lot, and, further, to having appopiated with raw who lovn ( ] n rt. I've never been r<?allv happy unipaa T've been at, work. I bolieve it is nox-siWe for everybody who works to have' a pood lime." A NOTA'RTVF, F.OTTF.ST'RTA'N' jSTATUE. It is a just and proper thing that tha Boer war hould have excited the feelings of a race anxious to do honour to ita heroes to perpetuate the memory of those who fell in the struggle. With that section of tha

race that has its home in Australia this feeling . •is strongly developed, and the people of Adelaide have called upon the English sculptor Adrian Jones to perpetuate for all iime to come the memory of those of their comrades who died in South Africa to prove the loyalty of the colonies to the Mother Country. With the subject an ■equestrian one, mo one more fitted for the task could, of course, have been chosen, this sculptor having given numerous proofs of the skill with whioh he represents horses, a notable instance being his quadriga, still, we believe, at the Crystal Palace. Most of this special skill ia due to the long period Bpent witb horses. In the statue under notice we see represented the figure of a mounted soldier, who is acting as scout, and .the jculptor has portrayed the moment ■when the socut has sighted the enemy. The hcree is pulled up short, almost on its haunches, and this attitude, it need not be said, affords the opportunity for a striking piece of work. Innumerable difficulties beset the artist with a horse in that position, but the result, such as has been achieved in the present mstcaoe, is ample reward. We have before us a group that is ; redolent of life and full of spirit and vigour, whilst the cautious will find it dif.ficult to fiiid fault with the details. The group h or> the -scale of one-third larger than life, .and .it stands 12ft high. In view ~of the project, with which a start had already bi»en made, to supply the Natural .History Museum at South Kensington with exact mocToli? of the different races of horses, ■it is satisfactory to feel that wo have- an English sculptor so perfectly suited to the , task.— Field, March 21.