Newspaper Page Text
f
♦
L ' ftY
“Saharet,” Franz Von Stuck’s Paint
ing Which Captured Fritz
Von Frantzius’s Heart.
"Brown
of Nevada"—
the Picture
the Widow
Just
Couldn’t Resist,
The Famous "Woman in Yellow
American magazine Section of ficarst’s Sunday American, Atlanta, 3uly 27, m=
lllil^^ illllll Iliii»
Copyright, 191.1, by the
Star Company.
Qrcat Britain Rights Reserved
Surprising Romances
Follow Three
Paintings for Which
Cupid
Mixed
the Colors
|HY shouldn't people fall In love
with portraits? Are they not, as
Shakespeare called them, “coun
terfeit presentments,” affording
a tantalizing foretaste of the genuine orig
inal? There is prudence, too, in this
way of falling in love; for if the painted image
so stirs the tender emotions, how can there be
any chance of disappointment or disillusion
when at last the fascinated one is in the pres
ence of tlje living, perfect artist’s inspiration?
The fascinating portrait carries with it the
pleasures of hope—you desire, you hope, you are
finally determined to know and enjoy the charm
of the original. Persons who have had this ex
perience declare it is like being haunted by a
pleasant and companionable ghost. In place of
the chill and benumbing fear which the presence
of other ghosts produces, the beloved picture
suffuses your being with a warm, delicious sense
of hope and joy.
On this page is presented the testimony of
three persons who have passed through this
picture-loving experience. Betty Peters, pretty
and twenty and light-hearted, sat with a dozen
members of an art class in the studio of her
father (Clinton Peters), and waited for a model
The class waxed peevish, It turned from saying
rude things about models to making rude re
marks to each other
Then, in the wake of the creaking door, en
tered an angel of deliverance.
“Hello, Brown We needed your sunshtne-dis
tilling presence,” greeted the instructor "My
art class, let me introduce to you a notable civil
engineer and still more notable gentleman
Brown of Nevada ”
Brown of Nevada posed, and the class repro
duced him according to their vision of him
Some did not see him in a flattering light Some
revealed him a denizen of the Bowery It was
the master’s daughter who treated him as Crom
well prayed to be painted—as he was. Even her
father admitted when it was finished that it was
a good portrait Brown wanted to buy it. The
painter refused It hung in the exhibition of the
Academy of Design
On the first day of the exhibition the picture
began to cast its spell. A handsome woman of
thirty-five stood for a long time before the por
trait She walked reluctantly from it and cast
an indifferent eye upon the other paintings.
She came back to Brown of Nevada, and sat on
a camp chair before it She studied the cata
logue. "Portrait of Alden H Brown of Nevada.
Painted by Betty Peters,” was all the informa
tion it gave
Miss
Betty Peters,
Who
Painted
“Brown
of Nevada.*’
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'Picture madness. whispered one custodian to an
other 'Watch her She may be getting ready to vanish
with Brown of Nevada the way some one lifted the Gains
borough
It was the little artist who changed the situation She
encountered the handsome woman on the camp stool
They chatted They exchanged confidences The artist
Invited the widow to the studio Brown of Nevada dropped
in Betty Peters, sitting silent in a deep embrasure of
the studio window, rubbed her hands and embraced her
self in gleeful pantomime Now she boldly proclaimed
herself a greater matchmaker than painter
Yes. you have guessed It The picture obsession passed
Into personal possession Or it will do so as soon as cer
tain complications that pursue love—the rough running
that characterizes middle-aged love being yet rougher be
cause the rocks are sure to be money rocks—ane
smoothed.
Fritz von Frantnlus. of Chicago, was speedier In his
wooing While paying a visit to Franz von Stuck’s studio
in Munich he saw the portrait of a dark-eyed beauty
poised for the first step of a dance as a bird tests its
wings before flying
"What grace'" murmured the art collector "And the
poise of the head' What incomparable vivacity!"
"Surely That is Saharet of the stage. Saharet Rose
to her friends The Kaiser himself several times visited
the studio while she was posing Most unusual for His
Majesty Frltzle. she Is bewitching, but a little trying to
a German Never for one moment still. I think she flew
here from Australia She says she can kick higher than
any woman in the world t~ true, I believe."
Von Frantzius called on a friend who is editor of a
newspaper that deals with the stage. Yes, with pleasure.
His files revealed that Saharet would be dancing in Brus
sels the next night. Von Frantzius left in an hour for
Brussels. He sought the manager of the house.
Of a certainty the manager would be pleased to tako
Herr Frantzius back on the stage. Assuredly, Mile Saha
ret would be honored. That evening over a little supper
Frantzius proposed.
“You have possessed me for a week,” said the art
dealer, who is forty-eight and positive. “Ever since 1
saw your portrait in Von Stuck’s studio.”
“But I cannot give up my dancing."
"You will dance for me.”
Business beckons a man even from his wooipg. Mile.
Saharet was still faltering when Herr Von Frantzius set
sail for America. She was saying, "I don’t know” when
he met her at the pier when her steamer docked in New
York.
“You will marry me to-day." said he, and their wed
ding a few hours later proclaimed him a prophet.
In a gallery in Paris a distinguished-looking man with
medals and badges on his breast disclosing that he was
honored of nations, his courteous bearing proclaiming
him a diplomat stood gazing at a portrait of a fair-haired
woman with dark eyes Her gown was yellow The
Jewels she wore were the yellow of a cat's eyes in the
dark The tantalizing toe of her pump was yellow, and
the bit of lace about her ankle was yellow- The cata
logue—first aid to the deeply interested—revealed only
that this beautiful vision was what any one might see.
“The Woman In Yellow ”
The distinguished gentleman of fifty visited the gal
lery every day. To each one who stopped to admire the
picture he said. "A thousand pardons, but you will do
me the greatest of favors if you will tell me who is the
original of this painting."
“Certainly." said a New Yorker on the ninth day of the
picture's sorcery "She is Mrs. Dandridge Spottswood.
of Virginia.”
But now she shares the title of the admirer oi the
picture She is Countess E. Von Scornbron Buckheim,
and shines as brilliantly in the circles of Vienna as she.
shone consecutively in Richmond, Va. in New York and
Newport and in London.