Art: Fuchs Fest

Radio sets attuned to WJZ one night last week caught neither bedtime Fuchs (the Austrian who drew Edward VII’s portrait for British postage stamps) had the air. Sardonic, whimsical, he said:

“The American aristocracy must be nursed with flattery….. The farseeing painter will see that the shades of hair, face and eyes comply with the subject’s desires, whether they match the actualities or not. . . . Everything has to be subordinated to the lips and the hue of the face powder. If we get those two right, the rest is easy. … If I have any difficulty with the eyes, I generally paint them almost blue. One can never go wrong with blue. . . .”

Prophesying mass production of art, he said:

“The time is not far distant when the subject and the canvas will pass on a moving model before a line of artists, each a specialist in his own line. One to paint the nose and the next the mouth, and so on.”

Herr Fuchs concluded with a burring, guttural admonition: “To all for-r-reign artists I give this good advice. Br-r-ring your family tree to America, and be sure there is at least a bar-r-ronet up in the br-r-ranches.”