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Show . - ' "She Really Is Different," Says Chevalier Nuyttens, the Brilliant Belgian Etcher and Portrait Magician, : Wlio Submits the Proofs of His Claim. 9 Lb C ! Really Is different," " 1L 1 F S 1 Says Chevalier Nuyttens, : ' WP,""N""" the Brilliant Belgian Etcher 1 .r0i MW f- ' Who Submits the Proofs of WML ' 1 ' 'AT vjl tvT V wA. French Girl a Good Type. ,A ; , . $fAYX ' S lTy- 1 Xf-J Wf On the Left,. Plana, for Which A jWNVW N yC- vV XAlJyl S)xdZo HlfJr 'IXA He Found lh American Girl. UV 0 W) 0V aVV "siSy L r HJfc. i - : ,. , 1.,,.. "" , Mr. NuytUns Finds Miss Leon. EJddea r: ---S C- V.. VkV r'r . .' , - -V ,1 ' - Very American Type." rf " fi l" ,'-!-, v; .. -! ", v ,' Chevalier. "Not that anyone doe deny It What M.M't. '-sssajjr' r. ' ,j ' mn U that it ii a narked thlnf that rrtrj en ' -y !. i :' - - ' f ' ... who Mriouiljr coBiidera qualitlei an4 appearancaa . . , . If A . ' ' ;-.',, y. ; ; t realiie. Naturally a man aeea jnuch of " ' - - . " ' : R V . J r ' . t. " , what h took for. A European artiat axpocti Below, a Romantic Shepherdess, - for Which Nuyttena Found th French Girl a Good Type. On the Left, a Plana, for Which He Found the American Girl, Athletic and Self-Reliant, an Ideal Type... ' By CLIVE MARSHALL XYHEN the Kl"f of Bl&ium recently be-AY be-AY jtowedjtnfjhthood on Josef Plcrr NuyU-'trns, NuyU-'trns, it was in recognition of upecial service ser-vice in connection with the Belgian military mission mis-sion at Washington during and after the war. Yet not less important recognition has been given to Nuyttens as an artist. All Belgium knows his work and recognizes his distinguished advance in America. An exhibition of his etchings etch-ings in Antwerp t the time of the Olympic attracted at-tracted much attention.. He is recognized in Europe and in America as one of the men who have felt the influence of the new spirit in art. Because he believes in the new spirit Nuyttens finds a congenial atmosphere in America, and because be-cause he finds the American girl as embodying the fresh Impulses of life in the United States ha has been depicting her with genuine enthusiasm. Sometimes his interpretations are more or less formal portraits, as in the case of certain social leaders of Chicago and New York. Again h has let his fancy loose in sketches that simply say "American girl." Naturally native spirit is likely to be found most easily in the freedom of studies that don't have to consider portrait obligations, even when the portraits are done with great freedom. An Etcher Analyses Knowing that Nuyttens had etched portraits of, the Queen of Belgium, as well as contrasting types like Lina Cavalieri and Mrs. Vernon Castle, I asked him every American asks this of a foreign for-eign observer sooner or later whether he found a different quality as well as a different effect in the American girl as compared with the girl of Europe. "The difference can't be denied," said the ; ; ; : , V 5 . .v , v , , - . ( , V I I ... . -al Mr. Nuyttens Finds Miss Leon niddeQ "a Very American Type." Chevalier. "Not that anyone does deny It What I mean ia that it is a marked thing that every on who seriously considers qualities and. appearances must realize. Naturally a man aeea much of what he look for. A European artist expects to And differences when h comes here, and he does. First hs finds differences in temperament Of course American girls have no patent on hig!l spirits, on animation, or on what w call dash. But their high spirits, their animation and dash have a flavor of their own. "One notices this when he takes his brush, his pencil or his etching needle in hand. For example, exam-ple, in my picture of th shepherdess with th sheep, t found a French girl to be an invaluable modeL For a piece of historical or classic sentiment senti-ment she is ideal as Watteau found her. On the other hand, when we look for a modern Diana type, what could be so charming as an American girl? I have trfed to express her stepping litbely . In compsny with her dog, all alive, athletic, energetic, ener-getic, magnetic, self-reliant dauntless,-without awe or little fears, and always supremely delightful delight-ful company. "The American girl Is the new girt ia the world. And yet she has an effect of being marvellously mar-vellously jlKuhmd. She has arrived. She knows things. In addition to whatever schools may have given her she always has that education the world gives. She is wonderful la conversation, because she is self-possessed, interested, liberal, gracious and alive. Girls Distinctively American "In portraiture I have found Kiss Leone Bid-' dell an extremely expressive, and I think a very American type. The same is true of Hits Elsie Ferguson. I think anyone would know that they are Americans." In Mr. Nuyttens's studio at Sixty-seventh street and Central Park West, New York, with its inspiring outlook over the great park, there are all sort of romantic and distinguished sug-geitions. sug-geitions. Here are portraits of Lincoln, of great -generals, made from life Foch, Pershing and Wood. Here are Carnegie, Roosevelt, Wilson with interesting stories of the sittings. But essentially es-sentially Nuyttens is an interpreter of feminine charm. His portraits of men have force and significance, sig-nificance, but the observer is likely to be attracted to those examples of the mora delicate and exacting exact-ing art of interpreting womanhood. Perhaps the etching line appeals mors engagingly to the imagination. At all events the eternal feminine is here and seems always to suggest a happy gift for finding the beautiful. Doe an artist f.nd the beautiful or does he mat it? Who knows except an artist? I suppose artists have a way of escaping sitters sit-ters of whom they cannot make beautiful picture. This is one of the secrets which I fancy he does not communicate to his pupils in etching and portraiture at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago or at his picturesque eyre at the brink of Central Park. Every born artist knows the trick, quite . likely, without any instruction at all! The success of Nuyttens Is indicative of ene fact of interest to the stl world etching is coming com-ing into a new popularity. Painting will always hold its own place, but the magic of the etching needle has made a fresh appeal to popular sentiment. senti-ment. It has a language and a charm of its ewa. Etched Portrait of Miss Elsie Ferguson. . r--'. i " . - .. V . . -v . V . x via-. v it'.- - . --. ------v. ' f -'r'-: . -:0 JjSt-' KnrtpiNr rratr wka. 19ft- |