The daily gazette., 1879-10-31
The Paris Salon. 1879.

Il
The Republicl This word, once so
terrible, now frightens nobody. The
red nag which hostile parties wave
above her as o bugbear does not even
scare away the birds. Men in power
think that the heroic era is at end. Not
only do they abhor Republic, revolu-
tionary and bloody, but they desire il to
be literate, amiable, learned, moral, and
artistic. They omit no opportunity OF
proclaming that it has nothing more TO
do with the street, and that al length 1t
is fit to enter drawing-rooms.
THIS years exhibition abounds, as
might be expected, with emblems OF the
Republic. She is represented on the
earth and in the air; in painting and in
sculpture; seated, standing, and reclin-
ing. Nearly all these types are COM
mon, sometimes ridiculous, often igno-
BILE one especially is swollen aud gorg-
ed, displaying an apoplectic face, red dra-
peries, and bloody complexion.
Portraits of women are as calm, we
might almost say, as severe. as they were
turbulent of late years in color, attitude
and toilet. Some of them are entirely
monochrome, and the background itself
is only the low and veiled part of a
chromatic gamut played on one color
There are also symphonies in white,--fol
instance, Sarah Bernhardt's portrait by
Bastien Lepage,-Or in blue, like the
pOrtrait of Ehrmann of an actress of the
Theatre Francais,-which gave to the
pictures the charm of a strange monOto
nv, but require the painter to be a con
summate virtuoso. Some women will
even be painted entirely in the penum
bra, with a simple ray slightly touching
one side and illuminating the contour
Such is the young woman represented b.
M. Cot. These ladies will not abandon
even before painters, the clever chiaros
euro of their curtains, nor the well-fit
= ting frame of their boIdoirs, where the,
/ appear like goddesses in fairy plays il
a theatre full of brick and machines
The Pdrisiennes are wrong to seek afte
such mysteries their royalty does no
want the mysterious prestige OF empe
rors of China or Japan. They possess
marvellous skill in respect of their owl
toilet, a skill well fitted to excite the ad
miration and surprise of the grea'es
artists. What long education has bee
n needed to bring them where they no'
= stand! What profound meditations
Their prosperity might perhaps be e,
planned by that force of success meT
toned by Newton, which the imagini
ton gains when concentrated on OF
point. This science of small thing
evades masculine perspicacity. Wh'
then when they must be painted, whe
their charm must be shown In fe
summary touches, as it is by Miss Louis
Abbema? This artist has painted 81
Mile. Jeanne Samary of the Coined
Franchise, and young woman with
III few strokes of the brush, as a Pdrisienl
knows how to dress with ribbon. b.
then this ribbon is whole poem ; 1t h
its scientific color, and is put just whe
it ought to be, and with precisely Il
proper fold.
As to the portrait of Mile. Sarah Ber
hardt, it is only one more note in Il
never-ending concert which celcbrat
q the charming actress of theTheatre Fra
cais. All the world knows that she is
the same time actress, painter, sculpt(
. writer, and orator. We take at rando
two instances of her activity. She al
ed to learn English, and accordingly Sc
for mistress. 81 have only an hour
day to give you," she sad," after t
theatre, between half past twelve a.
half-past one in the morning." VIII
she began writing, ler productions
peared in five or six different forms, a
in as many papers. Her portrait by
e Bastien Lepage is only one whim mt
among those which Paris applauds vi
paternal indulgence. She is represent
ali in white, on white background, W
10. white lace and white furs. 1t is all frc
and foam; the face and the hands alo
present some darker and more substant
Is. spots.-Ch. Gandriez, IN Information
Repie,c for NOuember.