K&
fey
t". wtrmvTvn mTtiTM x -iSitVit WLTFT. A nWr,PWl A H A WTTR.n AV. .TTTNM S)A. 1i'22 13
Iftw
IMMIGRANT BOY FAILED JT PAINTING FENCES,
BUT IN AMERICA HE CAPTURED PRIX DE ROME
Alfred Fleegel, Who Says This Country
Developed His Genius , Tells Hew He
Hoarded Pennies te Complete Painting
"ART FORxJRT'S SAKE"
INFERIOR TO UNSELFISH
ART FOR GOOD OF OTHERS
His Inherent Ability JVas Brought Out
in Leng Hours of Study and Werk in
Garret Roem in New Yerk's East Side
TO BE evicted from an attic shelter and then te have the gates of
Reme opened te him!
Te have worked since he was eleven as a fence painter, a house
painter, a ship's painter, a calciminer, a stucco worker, and te have learned
art under a sputtering gas jet after a long day's work!
Te have failed at his first job of painting a fence, and then te have
his latest picture awarded the Prix de Reme!
That is the romantic story of Alfred Fleegel, an immigrant, who was
educated in New Yerk's night schools and trained in her civic art
institutes.
America, he declares, with her
bigness, her freedom, her "new
ness," was his inspiration.
The competition which he entered
was for the best composition in color
en the theme "The Inspiration of
Music."
The Prix de Reme carries $1000
income for each of three years, resi
dence in the American Academy in
Reme, nil living expenses and op
portunities for travel ever the Con
tinent. The prize is the annual scholar
ship offered by the American Acad
emy in Reme, a philanthropic or
ganization endowed by the late J.
P. Morgan and ethers te enable tal
ented American students te study
art, sculpture and architecture in
Reme.
The stipend is provided by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art as a
trustee of a fund established in the
memory of Jeseph H. Lazarus, of
New Yerk. Mr. Fleegel is the ninth
fellow of the Academy te receive
this fellowship, which is awarded
every three years.
A year age Fleegel, who was at
tending art school with the money
he earned in the summertime by
doing church decorating, decided te
enter competition for the Prix de
Reme.
He figured out te the last cent
hew he could live in his garret room
by doing all his own cooking.
A delay in the preliminary compe
tition extended the duration of the
contest three weeks. Flecgel's
money gave out. His landlord was
obdurate. Out into the street he
must go. Friends who intervened
and a Judge who yielded enabled
him te complete his work, which a
few weeks later was declared the
prize winner.
In the midst of his friends' felici
tations upon hearing of the award
he did net forget te speak of this
Judge and te thank him.
The day after the announcement
of the award he was at work again;
he didn't take a day off te celebrate
his triumph.
Bis Heme in Garret
in Tenement District
Fleegel lives nnd works in nn apart
ment in New Yerk's dingy East Side n
street overrun by noisy, pnllid urchins
and echoing the squalls e( countless
babies, the hearse cries of venders, the
ramble of drays.
The world has net yet beaten a path
way te the painter's deer. It wes
bard te find him, but at Inst he was
found.
In the first room, first fleer front,
was the wemnn janitor. She opened
her deer, which revealed nn all-important
nnd ull-prevnlllng lingo kewpte
dell, dressed In pink ruffles outlined
with gnudy bright tinsel, which grinned
awny en the mantelpiece.
The lady herself, dressed in n florid
Pink gown, gave directions, ns she
munched an apple and wiped her hands
en the apron which covered pnrt of her
huge perben.
"Tep fleer under the reef farthest
worn." Thus her directions. Up dark
talrwnjs, past doorstep milk bottles,
lth several pauses te elicit gruff re
buffs from the tenement dwellers hidden
behind their dirty, forbidding doers, and
at lust Fleegel's room. Then come a
burst of freedom, the exhilaration of
throwing off the shackleh of u mean
existence.
The nrtlst's tiny, poverty-stricken
rem, squeezed into narrow confines,
"aches out nnd bejend Inte ages nnd
'mis ,i thoughts which have been nnd
a'e the inspiration of man.
It offers the richness of color of the
HennUbance, the fervid warmth of bib
lical scenes, the quiet of studies of ua ua
tere in this and foreign lands.
Fleegel sat nt the table which is in
tne middle of this room working en a
water-color design for a new compe cempe compe
tlen, a Beaux Arts prUe, offered .for
- ninee giasa window design.
tlen of greater, finer nnd mere beautiful
things.
Fleegel is of slight stature nnd of
quiet manner.
Urtish In hnnd, he snt nt his table,
and listened and tnlkcd nnd painted.
He was born In Leipzig, Oermany,
twenty-seven years age.
His father wns a lithographer, and
the boy wanted te Imitate his father
te de things Mich ns his father did.
As Bey in Leipzig, He
Loved te Sketch Family
At night, when the family would
be gathered together the mother and
father, the seven children the lad
would make sketches of them.
Then they would all laugh nnd say
what a funny child he wns.
"Something te make n living by"
thnt wbh what he was cautioned te
lenrn, nnd se he was put te work paint
ing fences.
His first nttempt at painting a fence
was n failure.
The man he worked for took him
aside and explained te him hew te
mix pnlnts.
"One never forgets such things,"
said Kleegcl. "One learns by making
mistakes but he should never become
discouraged," he ndded, and his deep
blue eyes shone with conviction.
"I try many things until I get a geed
result," he explained.
Frem painting fenrcs he was pro
moted te washing perches and later te
painting furniture.
Then he became a sailor and a
painter. He mixed paints the art
which he had been se kindly shown
for the sailors nnd did higher class
painting en the ships.
When he was off duty he made
sketches in water-colors because that
was cheapest, he said.
As he told nbeut this he took from
a disordered heap of paintings many
water-color pictures of immigrants with
their begs and baggage and their usual
three-cornered slinwls, pictures which
hnd delighted captains of ships and
which had brought Fleegel te their
notice.
His work as a sailor t,oek him te
England, France nnd the United States.
He made eighteen trips te America,
with brief steps in Bosten and New
l'erk.
"I saw America," he exclaimed,
"nnd it opened my eyes."
"America i.H hi) his." he mpilltnti1.
'Am..inn i. i .,., -. ...... ti. '
every one has a chance the rich nnd I
the peer. There is no class ruling. It
Is net autocracy. Yeu knew whnt l
mean." He erened for Knellsh words. '
i America ueveiepea
Latent Genius of Fleegel
And the significant thing about Floe Flee
gel Is that America made him.
The cloistered halls of foreign learn
ing, the study of ancient masters and of
long-founded rules of art, did net pro
duce this artist. The inspiration of
America the opportunity te work nnd
work and work with the knowlcdge
that If the work was geed It would be
rewarded that Is what brought forth
the Ideas nnd the creations thnt lay
kcrnelcd In this mnn.
When he arrived in New Yerk he
wnlked the greets looking for signs
which he might be able te make out.
"All I could read," he tells, "was
en a Second uvenue store. It reud,
DECOKATOH.' But they told me
there that there was no decorating te
be dene In America.
"Finally I get work with a small
church-decorating firm.
"This wns net really what I wanted
te de; but I could net speak the lan
guage, and I was glad te huve work."
Ah he learned te speak English he
began te talk with people and te learn
what work there wns te he done. Finally
he get a place with nn Interior deco
rating firm. This job took him nil ever
the country, even te the Pacific f'enst.
The opportunity te travel he relished.
He bellev-'H in seeing ns much ns pos
sible. He docs net belleve in staying In
a sequestered nook. Realism Is te him
net the end, but the beginning of all
things.
"My lden," he said, "is, as long,as I
am young, te eat and eat of the sub
stanre of, life; Meauie there will' be
plenty vef time. tltaest Mg
:w
H.4?i
::mmH
m&v.:j::
vyyv y-. '.
rA'i
iV'eWv. ,Jy
M
? A'"V
;-y
'S-?MW
,'?v..
-rZ:
r-hsi
''')v-
t-f
Alfred Fleegel, who came te this country as a penniless immigrant,
studied art at night and staked all en the competition for the Academy
of Reme Prize, which he wen
things and comparing them make life
much less cruel.
"Te reproduce life and te try te
help life one hns te see hew life Is
first."
This little man, you see, is net a
mere idealist. He is very practical.
An Artist Who Is Devoid
of Artistic Eccentricities
All the time It seemed that he should
be showing some eccentricities, some
peculiarities of manner or dress.
But he disclosed none unless one
would call a reddish blonde shock of
hair, a reddish blonde mustache and
nn artist's coat eccentricities.
The coat, te be sure, had sufficient
paint en it, and ns he worked nwuy
be added mere all the while.
"First of all the artist should see
things," Fleegel went en, "and then
work them ever in his mind.
"The artist re-crentes n thing in his
mind and gives back something true, 1
but something in n form which will ar
rest people's attention nnd make them
mere appreciative of all things of the
class te which this re-creation orlg erlg
inully belonged."
As Fleegel said this his eyes wi-ic
fixed en u bit of puintlng, us if that
would help him te draw out the sentence-forming
words.
"I can't tnfk much," he remarked,
and his eyes hud n rather abashed ex
nresslen. "se I have te de things. I
Press myself by painting. Puintlngs
can educate."
a'l,c nolse of tne 8trect bclew con'
tinned. The din nnd crash of vehicles,
te apparently distracting, sccmeu ns a
whisper te Fleegel as he talked of art
and its powers.
The reek of fiBh crept in through the
window en a gentle breeze. Fleegel
sniffed it, nnd did net seem disconcerted.
This surely did net seem like the tern
pcramentul, ethereal, tradltlenul type
of nrtlst.
"A decorator," stated this exponent
of the art, "must be fnmljlar with
everything, for he ucver knows what
sort of a place he may be called te
decorate."
And he speaks from experience. Res
tnurants, dingy side street eating plnces,
gay cafes nnd plain whitewashed ones
have a'l been purt of bis work.
"Art ns decoration."
Thnt is Flecgel's conception of it.
He would net live in a garret,
cook his own meals out of a dally
meager apportionment, and spend his
dnys nnd nights in painting nnd re
painting nnd retouching for art "for
art's sake."
That is foolishness te him. He
pnlnts, he says, because he believe
that color and warmth should be put
Inte the dully lives and habitats of the
people.
Went te Night Scheel
and Wen Recognition
While this church decorator wns
doing Ills regulnr work he attended night
classes at the Industrial Art Scheel
and studied in the mural decoration
class nt the Beaux Arts studio Saturday
and Sunday, and whenever he had u
free night.
Here for the first time' he made
drawings "from life. Before, he had
J. done them -only ak imagination '
W.clchM' v,t,,af ivv'" , ''
'r-
feii'
iy'i
' ','''
?tJS
&.&-!.
i.it 'S?Ss
:iri'.i,-U
yr'','tW.t
UW'SiA'ie'
i:.f&
YS
)U.
v-thi:
S:
,.
fjf-ifi
''PA
m
ft:
. ,. 4
.w 1
CC'5
"SWAfcy
vired
'vs-i-
: ' ,-
'f?
'..
gave the artist his canvas and pnlnts
free.
When he had earned and saved suffi
cient money from his decorating work
he went te the Nntlennl Academy of
Design. Hera he studied pertrnlt work
under Curran nnd Frnnces C. Jenes.
Frem the first he took prizes regularly
monthly awards ranging from .$5 te
$25.
His rooms are filled with portraits
and figures which lie did while attend
ing school. And nreund him are many
works of his leisure the time when,
ns Wnlt Whltmnn says, one "leafs and
Invites his soul."
Behind Flecgel's tnble is a screen of
Spanish motif with the dusky colors
of evening. People are coming home
from the vineyard with bowls full of
grapes en their heads.
"They are going te make grapejulce
en the morrow," Fleegel announced in
all earnestness.
"Every pnlntlng must have an Idea,"
he supplemented.
Behind the deer Is a fascinating
screen of the period of the Italian
Renaissance.
The little room is packed with stacks
en stacks of unmeunteTl paintings. The
mantelpiece is filled with bits of won
derfully adorned pottery which the stu
dent made In his clnsses.
Fer two seasons he attended the
clnsses in the Academy of Design, going
regulnrly te the night school nlse all the
Wlille.
"I like getting the ideas of two dif
ferent schools of painting," he said.
"I listen te both and tuke what Is In
between. I tnke the two nnd put them
up In n prescription inslde myself."
The pnluter has n nulve wny of ex
pressing his Ideas lij figures.
"Twe persons explaining a thing," he
3$.
MBtaMiHHftiiiNsSSHKaHKKpmKKKKKtAfiiuftiBlHiCBMBQHia; j V .a Mv-a
gggggggggggEOTMHCVHHngwggmggvlgggg4KlgggviHSBgg?aHmT, v v y yggggggggs
IHEIgggBK'', 'Kfej'''! .1
IIHS1BrK "V f 'f' s c'J i l;!wS
1ilBiitMItmMlli
-ibbr n. ,kv a - i v .' ; w , .j Jt'i c 'n::Axw -
u .RsiiHk 7ri tcmrrx9Br' ' rm v.s,. '- &kh: x tr wkhi
. (sssmmssssmm3smmmmmmHBmmMMA rreim umM
.-;'
'.,',
t (W.
'?Si;
T si '
'V
W.
'iff
'JJ-C'
'jy
ifr'f
n.
WV.'
L- i
" tyv.
w
'"'?'?,.
V
MM:
vm&.
,'?'''
MW'stey-A
?a t
"l ?Ti.L4li
viizTf:
ix
7?
"
?M
mi
tT
m
..
rtt-i
'-,'
.;.
hm
V M
. t t'jt. i
sS'
1W
The painting "Music," which wen the Prix de Reme, one of the
most coveted prizes known te artists. While at work en it Fleegel
almost starved in his garret
brushed the thought Inte words, "are
like two persons fighting for some
thing; a third person comes ulnng and
takes what they are fighting for."
It wns Inst season that Fleegel heard
of the Prix de Heme competition, and
he decided te take part In it.
Fleegel, like the l."0 ether entrants
in the contest, first submitted with his
application "sou.e original drawings
from the nude, designs nnd sketches of n
decorntive character, drawings of orna
ment nnd nrniects nf ileconitlen dp
photographs thereof indicating general
ability, together with nn explanatory
personal letter.
The competition was narrowed down
.'-
eC'i
a :U
'
y iy'
&M&!tefi4r
Wf
$M
: u f'iiv
i.. A
&y;
?ii8.
.KtiJr.-
WA
y , t f i : :.
vv- t
,N.-,'..v''r'S
"JL.& S
t
A
i U - '''-! '
)-.. ''?''??
$&&&;
W".
&M
L- Y-.4''l
;?!&
.'.'
m
?fi
''J.CA
.-Vv
HK
m&2&
m
mj
?$&
te five checen ones who submitted "n
drawing nnd painting from life, a prob
lem in linear perspective, n problem In
anatomy and a composition treated os
a decorative detail in n specified number
of hours and settings."
Final Competition for Prize
Narrowed Down te Three
'Ihrce contestants were allowed te
compete in the final work "The In-
' 8I'Iratinn e Musl
a composition in
' color.
The immigrant boy completed his
conception of the subject nsslgned. Then
jj
trHT'i fi'
-it
w&.
,?'. )
, ri '
K,
W. k
m&
R?&
.. s,m
T.r i
LLJ
T
$m
-.-'si''
2fM:
t-:
&v.
(LS&
ir-
t'tt
pt
X&
:&
i$
x$?&
'Al .
gjj2PyJ!PH
kM
iy&.
$$&:
&y
-&M,
m
l v
&
$mm
Kl4i&
wmmm
Alfred Fleegel at work en
he set te work en ether creations while
he waited for the announcement of the
wlnncr-
Fleegel ns he explained this nree
from his cluir Mini walked uvi-r te a
tapestry which couth one side nf the
wall, en which he is painting "The
Last Supper."
There was a rare nole of humility in
the bearing of this diminutive person as '
he steed before these werU of art his
own -but te him only the awesome el
deuce of the cruntUe peer in life.
Acress f.em the biblical tapestry js ,,, nrtM C11U.,, h , , Wor, 'w.
a jellew satin sciren en which tire asks for the music, and who h bring
painted black butterflies. Above it aic !''"' ,u,':ift of hiurels nnd hope te the
nt.li.iiu .f n......ll I ...i.. e. ...
"vt .vwi,iUn xuuves luuen ireju
u Corinthian capital.
Fleegel believes In the harmony of
colors', lleiisllkcs futiirlsn becnuss,
lie says, )ti
ojw;celor tries te kill tnf
ulcr., Ilfs'fjyfiViVs nie huseff
purples nre nil te be used but thty
must be harmonized.
"A decoration," he elucidated,
"should net make n hole in the wall It.
should be a flat pattern which dee-'
rates, which livens up the wall." -
'
Pets, Pans and Paintings
Predominate in Kitchen
By this time he had walked out lat
his tiny kitchen, where one finds a lit
ter of pets nnd pnns and a stove amid
paintings of historic talcs and persons.
Above Fleegel's two-by-four table art
Knights of the Round Table.
And imagine cooking at a stove under
a picture of Mnry Magdalene 1
Around the white wall is a border, a
cnlclmlncd frleze of flying silhouettes.
Whcn Fleegel painted the wall he left
green spaces te form the silhouettes.
On his kitchen table is a day book,
the kind In which little shopkeepers
mnkc their day's entries. In this Floe Flee
gel keeps a dnlly account of everything
he docs and every cent he spends.
It wns because of this llttle day book
that he wan able te figure out Just
hew he could live during the months he
took off for painting.
"A diary is the way te give system
te life," he suld. "It enables one te
leek bnck nnd te work out a future.
"Every ene should keep a diary.
"I work out my tomorrow," be ex
plained, os he wrote something in the '
gray, cloth-backed book.
Then he went te his pnlntlng, and
consented te discuss the picture which
took the prize.
In It the Muse of Music filts accom
panying and inspiring the Musician,
who Is plnvlng en a violin. Te the
VC',f ,
&?
3
C' TVqf
M
!&
$?4
m
W4KM
?i
m
..
ejEJ
!'i
another of his compositions
I left are Mirth nnd Pathos, with heads
m hands, (
A child, who is led by n weman'e
"I'lrit, is bringing flowers te give tha
'uslclan iciit-weil ombltlen.
Winning of Prix de Reme
Gave Fleegel New Hepe
"Thnt," Fleegel said, Introspective!,
i "Is what the prize has doue te me."
At the right is Humanity a group
, f mother, father and child, looking en
i nnd listening.
"Tim iitliinlfit' Int.. ,li. ..I,.,..--.
.UliniCHIM
On butli sides of tint tilrtur.. nn. ir
and Rcwuril.
Fleegel was nsked hew he could paint
optimism when he himself was' endur
lug such poverty te crentel
An,) he, aiihw'rreil, .ulU
. '.'It 14 'he -mntW if'f A
j?V
v jm
.
I
m
'
e I
i
'I
t
MMmm,
iyii. .
JiMfcrijUl ;r(jwnrdM.v, 'HWi
,n
' in i"1 " " "ifBM
J&k
t&SA