THE PAINTER OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.

Western Star, Issue 871, 16 August 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE PAINTER OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.

Professor Menzel, for he holds that rank at the Academy of Berlin, is a man of small stature, but in his head are a pair of very large observant eyes. His lips are tightly closed, his chin of iron firmness, his brow bold, large, and thoughtful. He has nothing of the artist in his aspect; he has the air of a quiet Berlin burgher. Under a stern, wide awake, and decided manner he hides much real benevolence and kindliness. In conversation he is always remarkable, never uttering common places. And though it may sometimes happen that he is silent, it never happens that he is trivial. He has never married ; he says he has never had time. Women, indeed, he does not care to paint; when he does represent them, he makes them ugly enough. He is essentially a painter of men, Prussians, soldiers. His studio is a very microcosm of the Eighteenth Century, a museum wherein are reserved the swords, embroidered gowns, hoops, uniforms, gala costumes, powder, paint, patches, the sofas, chairs, lookingglasses, velvets, silks, and satins that distinguished that epock. The walls are closely hung with sketches, taken rarely in a moment of repose, but in the very act of life, like instantaneous photographs, preserving some momentary effect, such as a lantern’s light in the street, the sudden turn of a horse’s head, a ray of sunshine glancing on some object. A bookcase, crowned with a helmet, encloses his library, devoted exclusively to the Eighteenth Century, and possessing both its calfbound folios and its little silk-covered keepsakes. It should further be added that Menzel has the most robust of constitutions, can work for hours at a stretch, never goes into society for society’s sake, and paints and draws equally well with both hands—-an accomplishment he strenuously acquired. Many of his works have been solely s executed with his left hand. He is also able to draw with steadiness in any conveyance, and in the most jolting train to make sketches that are wonders of touch and point. —The ,Magazine of Art.