Art Out-of -Doors 



a large part of the impressiveness of the 

 Farragut in Madison Square depends upon 

 the size and ornamentation of its base, al- 

 though, from the architectural point of 

 view, the design is not as good as it ought 

 to be. But very poor or very inappropri- 

 ate bases are still the rule — bases designed 

 by men who may be good sculptors but 

 have no architectural knowledge, or left to 

 the discretion of the persons w^ho supply 

 the stone. 



Occasionally we even see an instance of 

 their total abolition, in curious disregard of 

 that fundamental rule which mere common- 

 sense might teach, and which says that a 

 work of art must always be confessed and 

 emphasized as such. In Central Park Mr. 

 Kemys's fine figure of an American panther 

 crouching for its spring is set, v/ithout any 

 pedestal, on the top of a vine-covered rock 

 overhanging the driveway. I believe this 

 was done against the sculptor's protest ; and 

 certainly no true artist would sanction so 

 puerile an effort to pretend that a bronze 

 figure is a living animal. Again, on the 

 Gettysburg battle-field, the statue of an offi- 



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