WOMAN IN ART
"Memory," a tall figure in bronze, stands with out-stretched arms hanging her laurel wreaths upon the corners of the stone against which she leans. The pose and balance are exceedingly well done, the head bowed, the eyes downcast in profound contemplation.
A recent composition by Miss Walker represents Senator Isaac Stephenson, "Pioneer, Lumberman, Statesman." An impression of sheltered intimacy is produced by the arrangement of the figure against an architectural background. Thus while framed and bounded, the seated bronze figure is in high relief. Rich drapery over the back of the chair overflows onto the granite frame, breaking any formality of line.
An incident that occurred after the unveiling of the statue is of interest, when we know that Miss Walker had never seen the man but had worked from photographs and the reading of his biography. An old employee, who had worked in Mr. Stephenson's mills for many years, went up to the statue, placed his hand on the knee and looking up into the face, said, "Well, Isaac, I see you again."
An Iowa city on the Mississippi River treasures Miss Walker's statue of its "patron saint," Chief Keokuk. On the spot where this leader of the Sac and Fox tribes held his war councils, less than a century ago, he stands in bronze, half again as large as life, looking out over the broad Father of Waters.
Quite recently Miss Walker has made a figure of more than life size—one of the finest things she has ever done—which was conceived originally to be erected on the grounds of a large hospital. The figure will, however, be used as a soldiers' memorial. It is a figure of great idealism and significance, the most fitting and perfect tribute which any institution could erect. It is the figure of a young man clean-limbed and muscular, finely developed, a thoroughbred air about him, slender yet strong. His left hand gathers folds of heavy drapery against his thigh; his right holds at arm's length before him the Torch of Life. The firm grasp of his fingers, the steadiness of that outstretched arm, are significant of steadfast purpose. The figure of "Courage" is broad and high in its symbolism.
For the expression of the ideal. Miss Walker not only touched it but exalted it in a statue that made and announced her reputation. "Her Son" has been seen in the Chicago Art Institute for a number of years, a theme that for centuries has tempted the pencil, brush, and chisel of mankind—the Mother and Child.
229
