Transcription by Kim Black for NIHS
Diary of William Jurian Kaula – May 1897
William Jurian Kaula and Lee Lufkin Kaula, for many years, were summer residents of Bank Village in New Ipswich. Both became accomplished New England artists; William focused on landscape painting and Lee explored a variety of genres but her portraits of women and children were the standouts.
William, born in 1871, met Lee while studying art in France. They married in 1902. After a successful career, William died in 1953 and is buried in our New Ipswich Central Cemetery. Lee, born 1865, passed away four years after William in 1957 and is buried with her husband.
In addition to the many images of their paintings available to enjoy on the internet, William was also a prolific diarist. While studying art in France he captured the unique experience of living in a foreign country and continued writing even after his marriage to Lee.
The New Ipswich Historical Society is fortunate to have a copy of William's diary and Kim Black has transcribed his his writings, beginning in April 1896. William surely painted as well with words as he did with watercolors.
May 1897
1 May 1897 – SALON du CHAMPS ÉLYSEÉS
Perhaps the most interesting canvas and the one that comes nearest to being an artistic success as being the most important picture in the Salon is Gervais’ “La folie de Titania.” I have heard that it does not represent the subject very faithfully but I only looked at it as a painting which surely told its own story without regard to historical accuracy. In arrangement and composition it is meant to be decorative yet each part is painted in a realistic manner. The work immediately caught the attention for its beautiful color. The twilight effect that sifts through the trees and falls upon the shoulders of the nude figures is superbly painted and is more or less iridescent with the warm lights and cool shadows that are generally so crudely painted by the majority of artists that attempt to produce such effects. The poses of the various figures which are life size suggest somewhat of the poses that the students usually give to the models in the acadamies for studies. Here is one that is standing in a familiar pose, another is seated as if on a stool waiting patiently for her time to rest, another is reclining, and so on but one of them are paying much attention to the central figure that wears the head of an ass and she is evidently the favored one in this lawn fété. A few Japanese lanterns and some clothing on the young ladies who have made this an excellent afternoon party.
Jean Paul Laurens is represented in this room by a huge landscape entitled “Le Lauraguais.”
It is a vast expanse over the bare hilltops which are bare and brown which are being cut in furrows by the ploughmen and the oxen. It is purely decorative in treatment but falls far short of being the mural decoration that was intended. This work will hardly rank with his previous efforts which have made him so famous and I think that it is calculated to do him more harm than good. In spite of the general dissatisfaction that has been expressed over this work it has been purchased by the state.
Sorolla is a Spanish painter who likes to paint the brilliant sunlight effects of his country. The subject of his large canvas was well chosen for an example of how well and how far the use of paint can be employed to produce an effect of realistic sunshine.
There are some women mending a white canvas sail under an arbor, the sail being the most conspicous object and it is a most wonderful piece of painting of light and shadow with all the glow and color of reflected lights, and surrounding the whole is a gorgeous effect of green leaves spotted everywhere with sunlight. It is a great performance with the brush and a fine example of realism and not much more. Sorolla is not a painter who searches for refinement nor delicacy of treatment but for actual facts and for subjects of strong contrast in light and shade, and brilliant color. He is represented in the Luxumberg Gallery by a large painting of oxen drawing a boat in shallow water.
I do not like Henri Martin’s huge canvas with the motley throng of wretches that are following a woman who has two umbrella-like wings. Martin is a rabid Impressionist and seems to have all the faults of that school of painting put together. He makes a great attempt at painting large masses in a simple manner yet the whole is executed in a multitude of colored spots like so much confetti flying in the wind. The figures are not well drawn and it would be flattery to say that some even resembled wood. It is his own peculiar method of smear and daub that has made him famous. (Diary footnote: “Vers l’Abîme: a woman with enormous bat-wings, and bare to the waist except for a black cloak streaming behind her, is apparently fleeing from a company of nondescript gentlemen of all ages, who have much difficulty in keeping their feet, and who climb over one another in their mad race. Trite, of course, in a way; but the coloring is the painter’s own and several tons of paint are consumed. Red and yellow and derivatives – are the principle tones. Most of the complexions are peeling off and the tint of the flesh vies, in a sickly ruddiness, with that of the sky and ground.” from a publication, “A Rank Outsider” in The Quartier Latin, May 1897 )
Bouguereau has his usual sweet and pretty Christmas cards with the pearly and waxen flesh-tones. “The Christ in the Crucifixion” is nothing but a model with beautiful skin. It expressed no more.
Detaille the painter of military life has a small work which was ordered by the State, “Les Funéraille de Pasteur.” It may have a great historical value but it is like a colored photograph.
Jules Breton the old peasant painter has changed very much and no longer paints with the dull browns and lifeless color of “the men of 1830.” It is astonishing to note the revolution that has come about during the past few years that has forced the painters to get nearer to nature in regard to truth and variety of color. It is being overdone of course by many men and their works are crude and harsh. This is more apparent at the New Salon where the majority of the Impressionists expose their startling pictures.
Collin did not send an important work but his two small canvases were full of his charming and delicate color that gives them so much quality. I only wish that I could study under him during the summer as well as in the winter.
Bonnat paints portraits that have the effect of a flash-light; hard and forced beyond nature with a cavernous background that descends into a coal-mine. The other work consists of an eagle pouncing down upon a rabbit which was dry and uninteresting.
Among the Americans who stand out conspicuously is Tanner who has attracted considerable attention with his “Resurrection of Lazarus.”
It has been praised by some of the French critics and he may receive a medal*. (Diary footnote: June 14 – I have just heard that Tanner has been awarded a third class medal, and his picture has been purchased by the State – the latter being one of the greatest distinctions that a young artist can receive in France. If Tanner keeps on it will lead to higher honors. Louis Loeb the illustrator so well known in the century and other magazines at home was awarded a medal for his portrait of Miss Friend of Boston. I have not mentioned the work as I did not think it was good though it showed much merit. Walcott, Mitchell’s “friend” received an Honorable Mention for a portrait). The subject is conceived in the imitation of the Old Masters and very simply rendered. As a composition the figure of Christ fails to occupy an important position and it is only to be recognized among the number by the traditional cut of the beard and garments – of the landscape work in the Salon. I might write pages about many works of merit and the host of unsuccessful attempts of the Hors Concour men who still cling to the prehistoric ideas of the beautiful in nature. A landscape of a green field and trees at St. Cloud by Tanzi pleased me very much. It was so far above the average landscape in the Salon and left a decided impression upon the mind in which the others fail.
There was something familiar about W.L. Picknell’s landscape which I soon found was painted at Moret along the river. It was plastered thickly with paint and was rendered with his usual characteristic solidity and artificial atmosphere. His eyesight does not seem to have changed since he has painted at Annisquam, Mass…I was once an enthusiastic admirer of F.A. Bridgmann who painted such brilliant Oriental scenes. And E.L. Weeks as well who paints the same life. They both seem rather dry. Frank Du Mond did not complete his picture of the “Holy Family” which I described before (Jan. 3) and sent a small study of the same subject and a full-length portrait of his wife. It is not very good as the high-lights on the face are so bright as to resemble grease. Glover, Logan, and Kronberg do not loom up very well among the hundreds of pictures. Kronberg’s is by far the least conspicuous as it is so dead in color and hung so poorly as to be difficult to examine. (Diary footnote: Mitchell and Walcott each sent a canvas of the same subject which they painted together last summer. It was rather odd that both were accepted and the mistake was made by the jury who imagined it was the same work presented for vote twice. The two fellows had quarreled and did not consult each other.)
The display of water-colors and pastels is very disappointing and contains a vast amount of trash. It looks like an easy thing to have a water-color or pastel accepted for the Salon – The sculpture is very good and far outranks the display at the New Salon.
*Tanner is the only colored member of the Am. Club. He received a “Honorable Mention” last year at the Salon.
2 May 1897
I have got weary of both Salons now and do not draw any comparisons between them. I should not fail to recall some of the best examples here besides those that I mentioned on the 29 of April. Munier paints a beautiful landscape with figures with a fine feeling for color besides a highly-finished technique with faultless drawing. How many painters can approach him with all their tricks and novel schemes? His best work has been purchased by the State – a twilight landscape with the yellow sky reflecting in a pool. There are two figures, one is kneeling and reaching out into the pond with a dipper. The whole is enveloped in a soft and delicate atmosphere that is simply delicious.
Munier’s smaller canvases have a tendency toward being photographic in finish yet full of feeling for actual nature…Cazin may have the reputation of being the landscape painter of the New Salon and I saw none at the Old Salon who could compete with him. Much that I just wrote of Munier would apply to Cazin in his landscapes – Cazin often introduces figures but only on a small scale and secondary to the scene. Cazin may often be the same but never monotonous. He has a very acute observation for the subtle effects in nature and is fond of painting twilights and often attempting moonlights and never attempts any circus effects of sky and water and his attention is only devoted to the things that he knows so well.
Fitz Tharlow is not a Frenchman but a Swede. As a painter of running water he has no rival. He delights in the turbulent mill-stream with the whirling of the eddies under a soft evening sky or the moonlight. His works and reputation will live –
Most of the boys go crazy over Frank Branwyn who handles his paint with the most amazing cleverness. The whole painting has somewhat the appearance of a tapestry. It is strong and rich in color and very harmonious yet has not the effect of nature. It is an attractive work in spite of the lack of values and truth for its decorative qualities and artistic execution.
Oh howling Dinet! He belongs to that set that style themselves the “Orientalists” and most of them are tame in comparison with him. Dinet has a blood-thirsty taste now and then for something horrible and two of his canvases are enough to make the hair stand on end. There is no excuse for depicting such scenes which are so brutal. But the scene inside of a Harem is a gem, a glorious combination of color of a female figure whose brilliant garments are flooded with sunlight. Around her groups a number of men in Eastern costumes wo are lying in a confused mass around her feet while she cooly blows cigarette smoke into the air. I have seen this picture before at Durand Ruel’s where I journeyed several times to see it and even enquire at the price of the work which was equal to $800. It would have been a splendid investment for a picture-buyer as Dinet is a coming man. The picture has now been bought by the State.
One needs blue glasses in almost every room where the Impressionists illuminate the atmosphere. Will time prove these men insane? If so the speedy arrival of that time will greatly benefit the public. Some of them are fairly intelligible but so many paint “impressions” without much nature and the mystery of their problems are only understood by the perpetrator.
Now comes that class of men who are not actual impressionists but yet startle the public with those things in nature that have been little to unknown in paint. I was startled in one room on beholding a sun shining through the trees that seemed as luminous as an electric light. There were three canvases of the same kind of effect that had so much realism in them that the light almost seemed to dazzke the eyes. Any person who looks at the sun which is shining brightly will ssee colored disks in everything they look at for several moments after and so this painter has covered one canvas with these colored disks which are spotted in the trees and foreground and all around the painted sun with its fountain of streaks of light that blossom out like a majestic wheel…Alexander Harrison has two marines or shore scenes that would puzzle a native of any country. Each one would say that they were effects of nature that existed in a locality that was unknown to them. Where did he paint them? One marine with a vile green water that tossed up foam the color of corn-meal, and the other a crimson sky with a scarlet pond that reflected some trees of the feather-duster type. The French critics were at loss to comprehend these works and naturally imagines that they might be common in America. They might be seen by a man with delirium tremors…
Boldini’s portraits are almost black and white and a great disappointment as I had received my ideas of his ability from seeing reporductions in America.
Prinet, one of my instructors, is dull and heavy and his work in no way seems to approach the quality of “The Bath” which is in the Luxumburg Gallery.
Childe Hassam shows his small canvas of the young lady on the rock which won a $1,000 prize last winter at the Boston Art Club. The hanging committee at the Salon thought that a place up near the ceiling was good enough for it.
Among the “boys” represented at this Salon are Cline, Marsh, and Lyendecker. [There are two Lyendecker brothers, who have the reputation of being the strongest American students in Paris – as if it were easy to determine – nevertheless they sweep everything before them in the schools and carry away more prizes than any other Americans there.] “Everybody paints these days,” said the critic in the “Figaro.” “And soon it will be a mark of distinction not to ‘exhibit’ at the Salon.”
(Diary footnote: The amount of students’ work in both Salons is enormous and the mere fact of a picture being “exhibited at the Salon” does not mean what the majority of young artists imagine. Many of the same works would not gain admittance to many of the annual exhibitions in America – particularly to the best of them – the Society of American Artists in New York. Those that think they are made after exposing at the Salons will discover a mistake when they return to the States especially if they intend to settle in some of the large eastern cities like Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. A great deal of this sham about the Salons being a criterion of merit has been exploded time and time again in the newspapers.
[Transcription by Kim Black]
3 May 1897 – no diary entry
4 May 1897 – no diary entry
5 May 1897 – TRAGEDY
Yesterday afternoon a great disaster fell on Paris. The Grand Charity Bazaar in the Rue Jean-Goujon which runs off the Champs-Elyseés was destroyed by fire at the time when the attendance was most dense, and of the leading fashionable people of the city. So quickly did the fire spread that in a few minutes the building was enveloped in flames. How many have perished in the flames during the stampede after the alarm is not yet ascertained. One hundred and fifteen bodies have already been found and it is probable the list will be larger*. The Bazaar was being held in aid of charity and occupied a temporary building of a construction that is rare in Paris, it was wholly made of wood with a canvas roof. The long building was converted into a medieval street with the stalls representing Old Paris on each side. These were of linen, canvas, or paper. It was being conducted by women of rank and society and the loss to the French aristocracy will be severe. About 4:30 a lamp connected with a cinematograph, exploded, and the alarm was given. There were about 1,200 present at that time. Instantly the flammable material was ablaze and the rush and struggle to escape must have been terrible. The majority knew of only one door, by which they had entered. There was a window and another door. Many escaped into a courtyard that was surrounded by high walls and here many perished as there was no escape from the flames. A window of a neighboring hotel opened on this court and a servant broke away a few bars and rescued about 150 people through the window. The canvas roof fell so soon that it imprisoned many in the Bazaar. Even before that the pieces of burning material was dropping on the heads and dresses of the crowd trying to escape. In a few minutes it was all over even before the fire department had arrived, which was fifteen minutes from the time of the alarm. This was considered good time for the department in Paris. Spectators describe the scene as being most horrible and many that escaped tell stories of the most harrowing incidents of the event. The news of the event spread through the city and especially through the quarter of the Champs-Elyseés and caused much terror and anxiety regarding missing friends and relatives. The fire had soon burned itself out and the firemen, soldiers, and policemen began the work of searching for the bodies. It was not a difficult matter as they lay in heaps many burned and charred beyond recognition. A part of the Palais d’Industrie was converted in a temporary morgue for the purpose of identification. It seems almost incredible that such a calamity could occur in Paris during broad day-light. The tragic horror of the event has made a profound impression and the newspapers have been giving long accounts full of detail. We often think that our American papers devote too much space to disgusting detail but they cannot equal the vivid descriptions of the most shocking kind to be found in the journals in Paris after the fire.
The question of responsibility will probably amount to nothing though it seems that it would have required but little foresight to have discovered that the Bazaar was a perfect fire trap. It seems curious that such a large body of people would be allowed to collect in a building of that kind in Paris where the authorities are very strict as a general rule in watching after the safety of the public. With all the pride that they take in the fireproof construction of the permanent buildings they have much to learn in regard to proper means of escape of the inmates. I have not yet seen a fire escape in Paris. In the Bazaar the doors opened inwards. The small theatres are generally very unsafe as there is apt to be but one stairway to the balconies and but one entrance to the street and not large enough for a rush. Fires are dangerous anywhere but the results are apt to be more serious in Paris than at home. The possibilities of life saving in Paris is reduced to a minimum as there is neither apparatus or men who know much more than to play a hose.
(Diary footnote: The Government held a large memorial service at Notre Dame in sympathy for the unfortunate loss of so many of the illustrious people. The Pope and the Lord Mayor of London were invited to be present and the whole affair was conducted with the pomp and splendor of a French funeral. Cards had been sent to the relations of the dead but as the majority of them are Royalists they took no notice of anything connected with the government. The Republic allows these Royalists free scope for rendering themselves and the monarchy absurd. There are various socialites that meet and dine together when they indulge in a little feeble oratory and insipid poems – May 8
*Per nytimes.com, “Remembering a Belle Époque inferno in Paris”, by Mary Blume, April 28, 2008, casualties totaled 126 and the fire was caused by a Molteni ether lamp. Flames spread across the ceiling, hot tar dropped from the roof onto the ground and on women in their chiffon dresses. The entire large structure burned within 10 minutes
6 May 1897
I had received a newspaper clipping from home giving the address of a genuine “Ceská restaurace a Karárna v Parízi. It is situated at 5 Rue Beaujolais (Palais Royal). I found it without difficulty and went in with the intention of having a Bohemian dinner. I asked the first man that I saw speaking in the Bohemian* toungue [tongue] “if this was the Ceská restaurace” and if he could speak the language. He turned out to be a Frenchman and did not comprehend and dashed up three flights of stairs for somebody. A man came down with a billiard cue in his hand and addressed me in a lingo that I soon discovered to be German. He understood no Bohemian and was at a loss to know what I was driving at and then I tried English which suited him better only he spoke it with a mixture of French which was more intelligable. Then we had a horrible combination of four languages, German, English, French, and Bohemian which was too much for me and I bear [bore] a hasty retreat with only the idea that if I would call at nine o’clock tomorrow morning I would be able to meet someone who could make more trouble for me.
*The Czech language used today, was formerly Bohemian. It is closely related to Slovak, Polish, and Sorbian languages. Why would William Kaula have known this language? Did he have older relatives who were Bohemian? Per Ancestry.com, in 1880, there were 10 Kaula families living in Massachusetts. This was 50% of all recorded Kaula’s in the USA.
7 May 1897 – no diary entry
8 May 1897
Glover and Logan have recommended Crécy as being such a beautiful country town that Hazard and I took a trip there to-day for the purpose of inspection. We are anxious to get away from Paris and get to work. Moret was the place where we intended to go for a while but as it is too expensive it is now out of the question. We took a train to Esbly which is about twenty seven miles out from Paris and it is the nearest point to the town of Crécy. There is an omnibus line but we had our bicycles and had a good spin over the roads for eight miles to Crécy. It is through a beautiful country, rich and feritle [fertile], very much more so than the country that I saw around Moret. We had the address of a house outside of Crécy at Voulangis which is two miles away and up-hill all the way. This is a small village composed of nothing but the peasants and surrounded by small farms which cover the valley and hillsides for miles. We found our Madam Travet and made arrangments [arrangements] to come and stay. I will leave all descriptions of the place until we get here next week.
Note: Crécy was likely Crécy-la-Chapelle which is southeast of Esbly and 40 km directly east of Paris. Today it is known as the ‘ Venice of Brie’.
9 May 1897
The sketching trips around Paris have not turned out to be the amount of fun that I had anticipated. There are so many obstacles that are not so common in the country. There is so much forbidden ground and “permissions” to obtain from the police and other important officials.
10 May 1897
Glover, Logan, and Cartwright departed for England this morning. They will have a glorious time with the Wyeth’s in Leamington* and I think that they hardly expect to do much work but make it a holiday.
*July 6 – Miss Olcott and Miss Baumann were also invited to L. by the Wyeth’s. The subsequent events, according to Cartwright, resulted in an unpleasant manner and I can find no room for them here as it does not concern me in the least.
11 May 1897 – VOULANGIS, CRECY-EN BRIÉ, SEINE ET MARNE
Hazard and I are now established in the country for good at Voulangis. So we both gave up our rooms in Paris. We were obliged to take all our possessions with us, except the canvases that I stored in Logan’s studio. I had such an awful load that I required the assistance of Allingham, the Englishman that occupied the next room to mine in the “Menagerie.” We filled a cab both on top and inside. Hazard came driving up to the depot in an open carriage and was litterly [literally] buried in bundles of canvas, bags, and his trunk. It was an easy matter to get things one by one on board the train but the excitement began when we arrived at Esbly. We heaped up a pyramid of stuff under a tree to get out of a shower and received the curses and orders to depart from the railroad guard. We piled the stuff into a small shop and rode our bicycles to Crécy leaving the baggage to be transported by the omnibus.
During the evening we hired a donkey cart and woman to go to Crécy to get the things. We went also to see the fun. No donkey leads a dull and uniform existance [sic] and this one was fully capable of carrying out his own inspirations. They kicked him and pushed him when he did not want to move, and said things that would look very pretty if I wrote them in French. The people of Crécy thought that it was a circus just come to town and assembled to watch the scene. It did not last long and we were soon escorting the truck up the hill watching to see if they did not fall out on the road. Madam trudges along in her big wooden shoes giving vent to all sorts of grunts and growls that scarcely interested the beast. Voulangis is on a hill, Crécy lies in the valley along the river. The roads are splendid and are lined with the customary straight populars [poplars] that run up like broomsticks for about twenty-five feet. Every two or three hundred feet are heaps of broken stone which are used to keep the roads in repair. There is a small white stone on all the government roads that makes each ton(?) of a kilometre. Voulangis does not wear the aspect of a very modern village. The little stone houses are old and mossy and in but few instances reach the height of two stories.
Note: A few years after William was in Voulangis, Eduard Steichen the well-known Luxemborgish-American photographer spent time there. After WWI, and his military service, Steichen returned to Voulangis and settled with his family.