New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-22
ALFRED GREVIN.
DEATH OF THE GREAT CARICATCRlST or
THE BOULEvARDS.

Paris. May T.
In the death Of Alfred Grcvin the world loses
it's best record of the gay life Of the gnSes' cap
ital. No one so truly as he has set down the
| tricks and manners of the Boulevards. lhere
! have been greater artists in caricature. doubt
| less Gavarn and Cham and Lcecf belonged 10
| o. distinct and higher class Ienniel Is more
| powerful political cartoonis,. Du Mauifr is mo'e
graceful and refined But in his especial sphere
Grevin was inimtabe. lie created new school
| Of caricature. in which he had many pup'i' "'"
| imtators. hut NO rivals
His choicest and favorte type was the iarlS-
cnn,. and his creation Of her was curious episode
| He BEGAN picturing her in the journal Amusaht,
| and oft.rword i'm the Charivari.' lie literally
| invented her. for. like Mrs Harris. there was no
| such person She WIS not bit pretty. Bnt she
had piquant. tptted nose and bright eyes her
dress was coouettish and her whole expression was
| captivating No such person had ever been sem
But Grevin kept on portraying her. week ai'ef
| week And at last the women OF P'rs '"gan
IN model themselves after her I don't know that
they made the ends of their noses turn up. AS
surcdly they did copy the style OF dress shown III
Grcvin's sketches. and the attitudes and eAprcs-
sions SO that the artist. instead OF merely carl
caturing that which he saw. had the sa'isiacto'
Of seeing generation of Parsiennes grow up 10
conform to his pictures
This interesting creature ranges in his Sketches
all the way from the cocOtte 10 the grande dame
| In each case she has some of the special char
actrristcs Of her class but in all cases she is I'M
| mistal,aby Grcvns Pariscnnc. His succ IS In
this line led 70 another profitable line OF work.
| namely, the designing of dresses. Iheo ana
| Jude and other comic opera stars used to GET
him to sketch all their costumes for them ana
more than one actress Of the great theatres was
often glad to do likewise. In the invention OF
| costumes for masked balls he the envy and
the despair of Paris. And. indeed. in tie de-
| signing of elaborate gowns for ordinary in
| society he had no equal. Not only was his fer
| tility of invention inexhaustiblc, but his taste
! was unerring. He had the faculty OF color AZ
we'll as form, and he knew. did no one else,
| just how to adapt the costume not only TO the
| figure and complexion, but to the very DISPOSE
ton Of the wearer One of the foremost women's
tailors in Paris offered him q salary Of 81 1000
year to design exclusively for him; but he de-
| clined it,
| One would say then, that he born BOulc-
Warbler No mistake could be greater. lie was
| q c0untryman, born sixty-ivc years aGo at Ep
| neui lie a big, heavy, brawny fellow, look
| ing more like blacksmith than man Of tho
world. lie was fond Of wearing wooden shoes
and a blouse, and smoking a big wooden pipe
lie was good companion, witty n his conver>a-
tion, and full oil good stories. Yet he dslikrd
society, and loved nothing more than to get away
from the Boulevards TO his quiet home in the
country, and there li'c Ike q contente1, IMAM
| bilious peasant
| His first business engagement was as clerk
| in the employ of the Paris and Lyons railway:
| place. by the way that has been held by many
| "a man since famous in art or letters II
that l. 49,.
| Sketches inst TO an,ise himself and his com.
| rades. One of the latter 80 impressed by
them that he secretly purloincI oil them and
took them % the Editor OF the Journal Amusant.
| The editor was elshtcd with them, and went
that very day to see their author. Grevin at
| once became the chief artist Of that paper, and
| afterward became "A member also OF the stat OF
| the "Charivari."
Ills style peculiar. The pictures always
looked unfinished No one could do 30 much with so
| few strokes. Two three touches OF the pencil
and there was the Parisienne. In a single line
| he could portray her whole character, in a dot
or two her entire disposition.
| lie had a third occupation, that Of maker and
exhibitor Of wax figures. lie opened some Years
| ago a museum, somewhat on the lines of Nine
| Tussaud's in London. II never was rs large as
Nine. Tussaud's, but its artistic excellence was
greater. The figures Of Gambetta, Sarah Bern.
hardt and others singulary perfect like
nesses, and were dressed in the clothes once
actually worn by those persons. The completion
and opening Of this museum was the last work
| Crcvin accomplished before he was stricken with
| The lingering malay which has at last proved
fatal That was several years ago. Since then he
| was in daily expectation of the death that has
| at last mercifuy come.