AMONG THE SCULPTORS
Magic Chisels.
We read in fairy tales of old
Of crude things wanded into gold;
But we have fairies of to-day
Who breath life into stone and clay.
—Harrison.
PREJUDICE against her race and sex did not deter the colored girl, Edmonia Lewis, from struggling upward to honor and fame as a sculptor.” This is what was written about that great genius on page 64 in “Pushing To The Front” one of the books of Orison Swett Marden, who aside from being editor of the New Success Magazine is also known in all lands as the greatest and widest read inspirational white writer in the world today. Among the chief works of Miss Lewis are: “The Death of Cleopatra” that was exhibited in 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pa., “The Freed Woman”, “The Marriage of Hiawatha” and the bust of Robert Gould Shaw.
Residing in So. Framington, Mass., is Meta Vaux Warrick (Mrs. S. C. Fuller) who is considered a leading Colored sculptress in America today. What is known as her masterpiece, “The Wretched”, a sculptured group, was exhibited in Paris in 1903. Some of her other productions are; “The Silent Appeal”, “The Dancing Girl”, “The Wrestlers”, and “The Immigrant in America.”
Standing in the front ranks of this art is May Howard Jackson of Washington, D.C. In both the Vorhoff Art Gallery and the Corcoran Art Gallery the results of her talents have been successfully exhibited. Her recent bust of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, that was unveiled in one of the Washington High Schools, has aroused much interest and favorable comment not only in the national capital but throughout the country. (Ref.: Work’s Negro Year Book, 1918-1919 edition, pgs. 331-2)
IN VOCAL MUSIC
Heavens Repast.
No human sound is there on earth
To equal that of songful mirth
That sweetly flows from gifted voice
To feed the soul with Heaven’s choice.
—Harrison.
EACH new day echoes the triumph of some individual who has gloriously bridged chasms of earthly deterrents—racial, financial, mental, physical and moral—during which time that individual has been torn and left naked, bleeding and despondent; but to the brave these vicissitudes never weaken, but strengthen, and they fight with the tenacity of a savage, finally reaping conquest after conquest. Roland Hayes, tenor of Boston illustrates the result of being firm, holding on, fighting, and today he has achieved what every artist desires as a reward of their genius, their years of struggle to excell, the recognition of the world, of kings and queens. And May 2 the cables flashed word that a Negro tenor had been received at the palace to sing for the royal family, and was presented a diamond pin by King George, the significant manner in which royalty pays homage to great musicians of the world. They were delighted with the voice and manner of the singer, and the king observed how different the songs were from what the English were taught to believe were characteristic Negro melodies. We have always been caricatured, always portrayed as the jester for the world’s amusement, and Mr. Hayes did not overlook the opportunity to rescue our folk songs from the debasement they have suffered from the result of pernicious money mongers, and present them as the sorrow songs of a persecuted people filled with weariness and renunciation.
“His sojourn in London has been marked with success after success, beginning with his premiere recital, significant with concurrent praise from the critics. An appearance at the dinner given by the American Society to British women at the Hotel Cecil, on which occasion he sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” His appearances at two concerts given by the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society (Mrs. I. F. Coleridge-Taylor, patron; Sir. Charles V. Stanford, president, and Douglas M. Durston, conductor) in aid of the mayor’s unemployment fund and numerous concerts, the last of which, April 16, was a huge success financially and artistically. The critics said many lovely things of Mr. Hayes anent his voice, his style, his intelligence and manner; but to us who know and love him, who feel his very heart throb as he pleads through his art for his people, recognize and understand that his voice wails in eagerness for deliverance, freedom, the right to breathe and live untrammeled and unoppressed.
“A word is here appropriate in praise of Lawrence Brown, who has been his sympathetic accompanist and collaborator in the settings of a number of spirituals for concert use. Mr. Brown is also an excellent pianist, and the critics recognize his dual talent by always giving him a share in their notes.”