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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1916)
THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 5, 1916. tin HQ ? '. . . ' 1 A ncan jr4 ifor Raphael Kirchner, Painter of a Remarkable Series of Symbolical Figures, Says 'That - Women on This Side of the Atlantic Most Nearly Approach the Great Greek Ideal Enry Mr . Raphael Kirchner at Work in Hia New York Studio. BY BARBARA CRAYDON. SO FAR as I might guess, Raphael Kirchner would be the last man In the world to make sin feminine. Nothing of the kind was In his mind. I am sure, when he began the series of panels now nearing completion in color. And I am not sure that he would have taken the theory of "seven deadly sins" too literally In any femi nine symbols. A man who draws so beautifully, and who has so flattering an opinion of womankind, could not think of anything ugly In such a per sonification. But beauty must have a theme. Mr. Kirchner chose the Sins, pretty much, I fancy, as he might have chosen the' Seasons. Yet thi3 does not mean that he has not sought to give vivid and pointed expression to each suggestion In this remarkable series, which Is to ornament a big foyer in New York. Mr. Kirchner, who studied feminine beauty in Paris, in Berlin, in Vienna and in London, came to America with a reasonable ambition to study American beauty. Raphael Kirchner has an extremely Interesting personality. He is really an Englishman, but having lived prac tically all his life in Paris and Berlin epeaks little English. His expressions. America. The shoulders and arms of women here are not the rounded, ar tificially developed ones that are fre quently seen in women of other na tions. They are developed naturally through sane exercises and healthy living. "The faces of the American women express keen intelligence. This may be due to the fact that on the feminine sex in America much responsibility has been thrown. Before the days women had entered the business world, they accepted, so I understand, the respon sibilities of the home and family and made a business of that. "To a foreigner it is utterly astound ing to meet women in all the various walks of life that they are found In the United States. You go to a maga zine and find that a woman is the art editor or to a big corporation and you deal with a woman. Even the press rpresentatives in some of the theaters is a woman. Turn wherever you will and you will see women holding execu tive positions. "It is utterly lmposrlble to have such a condition as this without its working a change in the physiognomy of the set However, this is being done in a most favorable way, - for American women have that wonderful knack of try are a blend of all nations, and so, in a way, it is not remarkable that they should hold so many of the good traits of the different nationalities, and have discarded the undesirable charac teristics of their progenitors. "The American woman is the frank est with whom I have ever talked. She will tell you what she thinks, but if she thinks things that do not agree Temptation & v i i u i i ii if i t r m t i :m ii i f i ni- i I b 7 . M. r Pride .Gluttony Covetousness Lore of Luxury 0M camps. France and Spain. In 1780 Combles had 63 houses in Artois and 93 in Pacardy. As for the name of "Lea Boeufs" (The Oxen), it is not difficult to guess its bucolic origin. There was a cattle farm and Monsieur the Abbe Candelller. the dean of Combles, makes this edifying explana tion: The relics of Saint Fursy were formerly being taken to that place upon a car drawn by oxen. The ani mals suddenly stopped. They were then detached and the car was miracu lously drawn as far as the Mount of the Swans, at Peronne, by two children 7 years old. however, concerning the American woman are very decided. "This country." says Mr. Kirchner, "is. producing today a woman with a figure more nearly akin to the ancient Greek type than can be found in any other part of the world. ' The American Type. "Not only is the American woman mentally alert, but her physical activi ties, golf, riding, tennis and swimming have given her a muscular development that is superb. I have never seen such beautiful shoulders in my life as one may view at an evening gatherg in working like men and retaining their feminine delicacy at the same time. - In other countries when the woman enters such fields she is, indeed, an exception if she does not become hard of feature and somewhat so of nature. "The American woman not only has a figure approaching that of the an cient Greek type, but she has also a way of wearing her clothes that is a combination of the fascinating traits of the Parisienne and the Viennese, through all of which she blends that gentle independence of mind and bear ing that is decidedly American. "Of cuuree. tho .women ot tola coun 1 II aim i - m A Question of Hair V YOU can tell a good deal about a man from the way his hair stows, according to a never tiring observer of the idiosyncrasies of human nature. In the first pi je, a man who shaves the back of his neck, this expert de clares. Is bound to have passed some portion of his life as a Bronx motor man. This is true of men who confess to a 'lifelong habitation in the East. In the western part of the country this method of dealing with the back hair is known to the laity as the "saucer cut." The "profession" terms it a shaven outline, for which refinement of elegance the barber charges a nickel extra. It is therefore unjust to doubt the aristocracy of a Western man's" antecedents Just because the back of his neck shows a shaven outline. "There's something wrong with the chap whose hair grows straight for ward and has to be combed in bang style," declared the expert. "He is bound to be a one-idea man. It will take years to make him see any side of a question except his own, and when he sees the other side he'll go com pletely over and won't be able to see the side he once supported. "Then there's the man whose hair grows like thick fur. I don't mean lust thick curls, but more like the fur of an animal than the hair cf a human being. I believe that animalistic traits are likely to predominate In his char acter. "Poets and writers generally let their hair grow longer than is common a men? business men. but their hair Is Sloth with your ideas, even things that may offend long-cherished traditions of yours, she utters her thoughts in such a charming and tactful manner that you welcome conversation with her. Even if sho does not persuade you to change your mind entirely, she is sure to cause you to modify your ideas to a very great degree. "The women of this land carry a highly moral tone. Wherever they go they seem to elevate, and that is. I think, woman's highest mission in life. "After meeting many hundreds of American women, I liave come to tha conclusion that the high average is one of clear mind, courage and truth. Is this because American men make companions, not playthings, of their women? Is it because husbands make confidants of their wives? Perhaps that is the answer, but It matters not what the reason of it all may be, I have found combined in the American women the most beautiful qualities I have ever seen anywhere in the world." Combles and Les Boeufs. . Le Crl de Paris. In leaving tho town of Combles our soldiers are leaving the limits of Pl cardy to enter Artois. The town of Combles was founded in the 11th cen tury on the border of the two prov inces. The name of Combles signifies a place or summit from which the rubbish has been taken away. In the 17th century Combles belonged half to Artois. that is to say. to Spain, and half to Plcardy. that is to say. to France. An old saying recalls that "about 1700, I was cracked between France and Artois." More recently, when the children of Combles played at soldiers, they divided Into two rarely as thick as that of artists and musicians. Editors usually lose their hair early, and belong also to the class of prematurely gray folks. An inter esting example of the different effects upon the hair of the different pursuits In life may be noticed in a newspaper office. Almost all the artists employed on the newspapers have thicker hair than the writers and editors, and prac tically without exception men in the art department keep the color of their hair better than men of the editorial staff. ."The expression 'low brow, baa marked out the place of the max. whose hair grows low on his forehead, and it Is often difficult to recall mn of high Intellectual attainments whose hair grows very low. And yet there are exceptions to every rule. Mr. Ellhu Root, by many persons regarded as one of the intellectual giants of the coun try, is still blesse'd with hair that grows so low on his forehead that it almost resembles a bang." - The death rate of persons under 43 Is decreasing: the Oeata rate of those over 45 is increasing