152 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 267. 



WE have recently seen a photograph, taken in the 

 sculpture-gallery of the Salon exhibition at Paris last 

 spring, of a statue which the Government has since pur- 

 chased for the outdoor decoration of the city. It is called 

 "The Gardener," is explained as " a design for a fountain," 

 and is the work of Monsieur Jean Baftier, a young sculptor 

 who has recently attracted much attention in France, is a 

 follower of the famous Rodin, and, therefore, we need 

 hardly explain, is a member of the most pronounced 

 branch of the modern realistic school. 



Now, while a statue of a gardener might easily be con- 

 ceived in a thoroughly idealistic way — our first ancestor 

 serving, perhaps, as the artist's inspiration — there is no 

 reason why it should not be conceived in a thoroughly re- 

 alistic way and still be a very beautiful work of art. The 

 great desire of the modern sculptor is, of course, to escape 

 from the rigid bonds of conventional modern attire ; any 

 figure from humble life, and especially any figure of a 

 rural type, is more attractive to him than figures which 

 have been " properly " attired by a tailor or a dress-maker ; 

 and M. Baffler's gardener, with his sleeveless shirt widely 

 opened over his chest, his trousers stopping at the knee 

 and revealing the sinewy legs below, and his slouched 

 felt hat, resembling the hats worn by peasants in far-off 

 classic days, is, indeed, a figure which any sculptor might 

 gladly have handled. Moreover, M. Baftier, from the 

 testimony of the photograph and from that of F'arisian 

 critics, has handled it extremely well. His man is young 

 and vigorous, yet slender of form, and has a serious, beard- 

 less face. He is standing on an irregular rock, with one 

 knee sharply bent that one foot may rest at a level con- 

 siderably higher than the other ; and his head is inclined 

 so that he may watch the stream of water issuing from the 

 massive, well-shaped pot which he holds in his right 

 hand. The pose is at once natural and effective ; all 

 the lines are both emphatic and graceful ; and the whole 

 figure seems to be really in action — not merely posed to 

 look as though it were. 



Thus far the art is realistic, but is genuinely art. But in 

 the pedestal of the statue. the artist — for no French sculptor 

 would entrust the mounting of a figure to an irresponsible 

 hand — has abandoned the path of true art and entered 

 the path of puerile artificiality. Not content with a figure 

 which suggests life, he has given it a base which aims to 

 produce an actual illusion of life. The rock on which his 

 gardener stands is not artistically conventionalized, but is 

 made to look as natural as possible ; it is supported by 

 large rough stones, simulating the effect of a rustic garden- 

 mound ; these stones are placed on a bed of real turf; real 

 plants are growing on this turf and in the crevices of the 

 rocks ; and among them, in very realistic fashion, falls 

 a great stream of real water from the simulated watering- 

 pot held by the simulated figure of the gardener. 



Surely, naturalism must indeed be running riot in 

 France to-day, when such a design as this can be praised 

 by the critics and endorsed by the Government, and no 

 voice be raised in protest. And we have thought it worth 

 while to call the attention of Americans to the lack of true 

 art'in the placing of this statue, because we have so often 

 recommended them to study French example as regards 

 si^ch matters. The figure itself is a real work of art ; and, 

 in so far, this fountain is superior to those iron dogs and 

 sheep and deer which we used sometimes to see in Ameri- 

 can country-seats, so placed as to produce upon unwary 

 eyes the impression of living animals. But in general 

 idea as a would-be artistic conception, and in general 

 effect as an ornament for park or pleasure-ground, this 

 Gardener must be put in the same class as those long- 

 dead iron animals. When the attempt is made to produce 

 the illusion of life by the artificial uniting of natural and 

 artistic elements, an ignorant eye may be tickled by the 

 plausibility of the result ; but any intelligent eye will resent 

 the trick and will feel that, if the artistic work is good in 

 itself, it deserved a distincter exaltation. Monsieur Baffler's 

 fine figure would produce a much better effect |f it were 



mounted on an architectural pedestal, and if the water 

 supposed to be distributed by its hand, were left to the ob- 

 server's imagination. 



Alpine Plants. 



'T^HE vegetation covering the slopes of our European moun- 

 -'- tains, as well as that on the great snowy peaks of the 

 American Cordilleras and other ranges, has an individu- 

 ality, a character of its own, striking even the most indifferent 

 of tourists. In this flora all is dwarfed and on a small scale. 

 The flowers alone, of relatively exaggerated size and generally 

 brilliant in color, seem to be abnormally developed. The 

 manner of growth of these plants is a surprise to those igno- 

 rant of their history and the causes of their peculiar appear- 

 ance. While in the lowlands, large plants, with spreading 

 branches and well-developed foliage, generally have flowers 

 smaller than the leaves, the reverse is true in the higher regions. 

 There we find a very small stalk, comparatively large, some- 

 times even very large flowers, and diminutive scarcely devel- 

 oped foliage often covered, especially at great elevations, with 

 down, which protects the cells from the night frosts. In many 

 instances this foliage is glabrous and leathery, so that the tis- 

 sues are armed, as it were, for the struggle for existence. The 

 leaf, close and thick in texture, is thus furnished with a solid 

 skin, covered with a waxy coating, enabling it to withstand 

 both the heat of the sun and excessive moisture. Species 

 growing both in the shade and in the open show none of these 

 characteristics, and their leaf-organs are for the most part soft 

 and delicate. On the other hand, on dry and arid slopes, ex- 

 posed to parching winds and a hot sun, we find many species 

 covered with tomentum, as the Edelweiss, Seneclo, Achillea 

 nana, Hieracium, several downy Willows, Artemisia, Draba, 

 Arabis tomentosa, etc. We also find there glabrous species, 

 such as Azalea procumbens, Rhododendron ferrugineum, the 

 crustaceous Saxifrages, several Silenes and Veronicas, all of 

 whose leaves are hard, thick and shiny. In shade and mois- 

 ture on wooded and northern slopes, we find Ferns, Mosses, 

 Lycopodiums and Primroses with viscous or soft foliage, and 

 a whole series of Saxifrages totally different from those dwell- 

 ing in sunshine and which show soft and delicate character- 

 istics. Another easily noticed peculiarity is, that while the 

 Alpine flora in sunshine shows flowers of great size and vivid 

 coloring, as the Gentians, Auriculas, Anemones and Violets, 

 in the shade, on the other hand, we find them small 

 and weak in color. Thus, the action of the sun's rays 

 on vegetation at great elevations seems to be more intense 

 than on the plains. 



The annual varieties, so common in the vegetation of the 

 lower country, are almost entirely wanting on the Alps and in 

 snowy regions. The very short summer at these elevations 

 prevents their accomplishing the full round of their existence. 

 The only plants not perennial are some Rhinantheae and 

 one or two Gentians (G. nivalis, G. tenella) and Pleuro- 

 gyne Carinthiaca. The perennial plants, with roots spread- 

 ing at the base, always stretch out over the soil, whose 

 protection they seem to seek against the harsh air, the chilli- 

 ness of the nights and the hurricanes so frequent at these alti- 

 tudes. Certain species, which, in our plains, form great and 

 imposing trees, such as Salix, Arbutus, Betula, etc., are 

 represented on the Alpine highlands by dwarfed and cling- 

 ing specimens only a few centimetres high, as Salix re- 

 tusa, S. reticulata, S. herbacea. Azalea procumbens, S. 

 betula nana. We find in the fissures of the rocks and in 

 the stony wastes, compact plants in the shape of close hemi- 

 spheres, species of balls made up of an infinity of little 

 branches packed tightly against one another and carrying at 

 their tops a profusion of stemless and sessile flowers, placed in 

 such a way that at the moment of flowering it is almost impos- 

 sible to perceive the foliage through the mass of corollas with 

 which they are covered. In these plants the leaves are 

 generally small, overlaying one another, closely packed, 

 and almost always hairy or pubescent. Ainong these 

 are Androsace Helvetica, A. imbricata, A. pubescens, A. 

 ciliata, Eritrichium nanum, Saxifraga cassia and Silene 

 acaulis. These close and dwarfed tufts produce a mar- 

 velous effect. They brighten the rocks and stony ex- 

 panses and make an enclianting picture. On certain high 

 Alpine slopes and bare elevated ridges large numbers of these 

 dwarfed plants are found together, making the resemblance 

 of a brilliant parti-colored carpet. In these localities the dwarf 

 Myosofis (Eritrichium nanum) shows in great drifts of in- 

 tense blue, a blue possessed by it alone. It seems no longer 

 a Myosofis, but a jewel ; its low, stemless flowers are so 

 massed one against the other that the tiny and vividly blue 



