The sun., 1878-07-21

against Montpensier rs well as the King him
self. who continues 10 keep his mother and her
party In exile.
The jewels which tho King. when about to be
married. claimed from his mother as tho prop
erty Of the crown, and which she refused to de-
liver to him. did not bring half OF their valua-
tion. The first two days sale at auction brought
only 100000 Tho ex-Queen ought now to SEQ
clearly tho foolshness OF the stop which her adj
visers induced her to tako when tho jewels
question came upon the taps. They would
probably all have been better of had the Jewels
been duly surrendered to the young Queen
Mercedes.
IT, owing to the summer lull. tho political and
social life Of the continent OF Europe Is void OF
interest II is not SO with its art lie. 1t is now
universally Acknowledged that tho Paris Ex-
hibition will form memorable epoch In the
history Of painting. Never before have such
large number OF the finest works Of art been
brought together. and never has such an i'm
mcnse. heterogeneous mass Of people shown
such degree Of interest in them.
From tho surprising progress which painting
has made in France during the last ten or
twelve years. II was to be anticipated that that
country would carry of the palm at the uniyer-
sal concoursc. And 50 she has done, according
to the general verdict Of the other competitors.
Tho Germans can certainly not be suspected OF
partlality to the French yet this Is what tho
Angemeine Zeit,ng. one OF the highest German
authorities in art criticism, says Of the French
department OF fine arts
The imprc produced by the French halls Is truly
overpowering What Tremendous productive calnciue,
clibabe caannues has proved able to M about
selected from among an incalcuiale number produc.
ons OF minor merit Every one the pictures one sees
here has produced sensation before II made It's npncar
anee in The halls Of the Exhibition And the whole q
part only all the exhibits belong national museums.
Yet il must be borne In mind that some OF the
greatest modern painters Of France died In tho
last eleven years and are scarcely represented at
the Champ de Mars Theodore Rousseau Mil
let, Corot. Diaz. Courbet. Fromentin. Henry
Regnault-all are dead; their works arc scat
tered all over the world, and no effort has been
made to borrow them for this occasion. mere
request Of the Prince OF Wales. addressed TO the
collectors OF British paintings, brought together
in the art department Of Great Britain every
thing that was worth looking at. But no such
step was taken by the French authorities.
They simply loaned such specimens Of the
paintings Of deceased artists rs they had on
hand in tho national museums, and did not
even make an attempt to form anything like a
complete collection OF the works Of men who
will forever remain the foremost figures in the
history Of French art Of the nineteenth century.
But II the great dead artists have been neg
lected. the living artistic celebrities Of France
have had It all their own way. Meissonier not
only had the choice Of the place whore his
works we're to be shown. but had the walls gild-
ed as profuscly rs are those Of the Caf6 Richie.
| The conceted painter probably intended to in
| snuatc that he was not afraid Of the spectators
being dazzled by the gold Of tho background.
| His most remarkable work in the Exhibition is
tho "Cuirassicr Regiment waiting for an or
der to attack. There is no dust in the picture.
and every leg Of every one OF the many hun
dreds OF horses Is discernible. The picture is
so full OF life that the ooker-on fancies he hears
the clashng Of the arms and tho undertone Of
talk among the horsemen. More than ever has
! Mcissonier shown hero his great defect OF re-
| duclng painting to a microscopic art This
! tendency on his part was protest against the
sketchy broad school OF thirty years
ago; but he pushed the principle too
| far. and has generated q school much
more TT to paint on porcelain than on canvas.
His own pictures look on the gilded walls like
so many magniiied paintings on gilt Sevres
vases.
Around Meissonier are grouped most OF his
adhercnts 80 Georges Nibert. Louis Leloir
Worms. Moreau. Firmin Girard. Bcrne Belle
cour. and many others. Leloirs best canvas
ful pupils Of Meissoner's. Edouarl Dctaille. 4:
| missing. His pictures. having always reference
to tho late Franc German wnr. had TO be ex.
tludei from the Exhibition in accordance with
the rule established by the Government thai
nothing in any way offensive to foreign nations
participating In the Exhibition should be ne
copied The gallery Of Goupil. however anc
the numerous photographs from Detaille's pic
lures have given ample opportunities to th'
visitors to see what that young artist has beer
working at Of late.
Gcrdme has the most numerous collection
but most Of his canyases are already know
from the photographs and the cnEravings o
the illustrated papers. TIL" best among then
are Street in Cairo " The Dancing Baohi
Bou.ouks." " The Guard Of the Camp" Tn
Arab and his Charger His Gray Eminencc,
and The Turkish Monk (Santonl at the Door
Of the Mosque
Carolus Duran and Bonnat have an incalcu
liable number Of portraits Of men and women
More than all other modern portrait painter
they have contributed to the confirmation Of tn
verdict that French portrait painters bear III
palm Tor excellence in our age.
Tho best cattle pieces Of the French scctio
are those Of Eugene Lambert and Nayson. tn
former has already far surpassed Van Mark,
, end promises fairly to equal Troyon.
Landscape, in consequence Of the absenc
Of the works Of tho illustrious dead
but poorly represented. But artists lik
Harpignics. Guillemct. and pelouzc seer
, 20 ho highly appreciated not only /
, the French but 10y foreign critics. Men lik
Cahancl and Bougucrcau have, Of course the
usual contingen, Of admirers. but there seem
10 be nothing either newor striking in their e,
! | hibits The canvasos oi Cahancl arc selccte
= | chiefly from among the decorative works ha hf