John Duncan Fergusson

of the hero General Dewey on his return from
Manila; groups for the Temple of Music at the
Esplanade in Buffalo, N.Y., the two side cascades
of the great fountain at the Exhibition at St. Louis,
for which Konti was awarded a gold medal;
figures of Justinian the Great and Alfred the Great
for the Court House at Cleveland, Ohio ; and an
historical relief for the International Bureau of the
American Republic Buildings.

The McKinley monument in Philadelphia was
executed in collaboration with the late Charles
Lopez. The pose of the figure is perfectly natural;
the whole work is both simple in treatment and
characteristic in every way of the great statesman
and martyr it represents.

After the continual strain and fatigue brought
about by his monumental works Konti yearns for
quieter hours, and this repose he finds in executing
smaller works of sculpture, such as statuettes, tablets,
relief medallions, all of which he executes with
the spirit of the true artist who is inspired in his
composition and has the force to fulfil his ardent
desires.

In architectural decoration Konti has also done-
excellent wrork; for instance, the Festival Pro-
cession on the facade of the Gainsborough Studios,
New York, which is executed in terra cotta, and
two marble groups in the Astor Hotel. Here, as
in other efforts, the sculptor has shown himself
worthy of the honours America has showered upon
him. For Konti is vice-president of the National
Sculpture Society ; he is one of the directors of
the Architectural League; he was elected an
Associate of the National Academy of Design in
1906, and Academician in 1909. He is director
of the Municipal Art Society and a member of the
Salmaundi Club of New York City and the chief
Art Societies of the United States. A. S. L.

HE PORTRAIT PAINTINGS OF
JOHN DUNCAN FERGUSSON.
BY FRANK RUTTER.

The work of John Duncan Fergusson has already
been the subject of an article in this magazine (see
The Studio, April 1907), and therefore it is
unnecessary for the present writer to dwell on the
fact that his style was originally founded on the
method of Whistler. Where Mr. Fergusson, how-
ever, differs from many of the younger Scottish
painters who have profited by Whistler's precepts
and example, is that with him " the Master " has
been not an eternal resting-place, but a point or
departure.

Since he took up his residence in Paris, some
five years ago, Mr. Fergusson has been exposed
to a tornado of new influences ; but while keenly
interested in every serious new art movement, his
racial hard-headedness has not allowed him to be
swept hastily into a vortex. Cool and collected,
he has watched the currents of contemporary
painting, too wise to permit his personality to be
sucked and drowned in any one stream ; in many
he has dabbled, but he has always preserved his
balance, and cannily advancing from stage to stage
he has gradually evolved a distinct style of his
own.

In no branch of his practice is the development ot
Mr. Fergusson's art more clearly traceable than in
the strongly personal portrait paintings which over
two years ago earned him his election as Societaire of
the Salon d'Automne. His point of departure may

PORTRAIT OK MISS ELIZABETH DRYDEN

BY J. D. FERGUSSON

203