Following her outstretched hand I discerned a group of _taa-taas,_
arranged in wedge formation, the enclosing sides being formed by
swimmers carrying a web of woven _haro_, in the center of which
reposed a visiting chief with three or four of his wives.
[Illustration: The Lagoon at Dawn (Swank's Version)]
[Illustration Note: THE LAGOON AT DAWN
(Swank's Version)
An interesting example of the way in which the mind of a painter works
will be found in this reproduction of the masterpiece created by Herman
Swank in competition with the photograph of the same title. Both
camera and painter were to reproduce the same subject, yet how
differently they reacted to it. In the beauty of nature about him it
is evident that the great artist felt only the dominant feature of
island life, the glorious, untrammeled womanhood of the South Seas.
The wild abandon, the primitive gesture of modesty, the eyes of
adoration--symbolically expressed as detached entities floating about
the loved one--all are present in this remarkable picture. Thus
expressed, too, we may find the ever-present ocean, the waving palms
and, if we seek carefully, the Kawa herself, scudding before
the trade wind.
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