The Penn's Grove record., 1884-03-29
a Charming Picture.

In a recent letter Lucy Hooper said
81 paid a visit the other day, to the
studio Of Jules Lefebvre, Paris, which,
like the parlor Of the spider In the well
known poem, sis up a winding stair, -
and the courteous owner thereof carries
out the likeness still farther by having
''many pretty things to show you when
you're there" The accomplished
painter of La Verite, and Chloe, and
The Dream is one of those artists who
do not care for a show studio, but whose
studio Is literally an ''atelier"-a work
ing place. He was busted, when / en-
tered, upon q reduction Of his charming
Psyche, now the property OF Mrs. Mat
thew Baird, of Philadelphia, the small
copy being intended for the engraver.
But the picture that L had come ex-
pressly to see was the portrait of a
young New York lady-Miss Wilson,
the sister Of Mrs. Ogden Goelet. 1t is
impossible to imagine a more exquisite
representation of the charm and fresh
ness of youthful maidenhood. The
dainty little head, revealed against a
background of cream-tinged whlteness,
has the delicate charm of the first rose
bud of May. The lovely shoulders and
arms are set off in their rose-tinged
and rounded outlines by the vaporous
draperies of a dress in dead-white trans
parent gauze, the slender hapds repos-
ing with interlaced fingers on the
young lady's lap. Thus Lefebvre had
set for himself that always difficult
artistic task of blending together three
hues of white-the rosy white Of the
flesh, the snow white of the dress, and
the creamy white of the background
and he has accomplished it with consum-
A mass Of pale-blue and pink flowers
behind the white marble bench on which
the young girl is seated, blend their
tints with the soft, e hued cloudi-
ness of the background. The picture
is a vision of youth and springtime-
aerial, delicate and inexpressibly charm
ing. NJ. Lefebvre is also at work on
another portrait-that of Miss Lawrence
f New York. He told me that for
Miss Wilson's portrait he had himself
chosen the dress; he had gone to the
establishment of Nine. Doucet, select
ed the material, and had. superintendent
the arrangement of the diaphanous
folds that lend so aerial an effect to his
picture. Then he drew aside a curtain
and revealed to me the unfinished PIC
ture at which he is at work for the salon.
1t is a representation of Morning, a
female figure, nude, save for a floating
drapery of white transparent gauZe-
that is rising in the air out Of the mists
that are curling upwards at her feet
from a pool studded with water lilies.
A number of little ~zephyrs, small Gu
pid-like elves, hover around her, and
one audacious little fellow is trying to
imprint a kiss on her throat. She bends
away from him, laughing, and the
curve thus impaired to the figure is ex-
ceedingly graceful. The background
is the golden and rose-tinted atmosphere
of early sunrise. This most beautiful
and poetical work is destined to a noted
art collector of New York, who ordered
it as a pendant for a picture that he
already possessed, namely, Bougureau's
"Dawn," a female figure drinking from
the chalice of a flower. 1t was ordered
some two years ago, but Lefebvre is a
slow and conscientious worker, and
would not attempt to execute the pic
ture till he was fully satisfied with his
selection of a subject, and with the
result of his preliminary studies for it.