New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-04
BASTIEN-LEPAGE.
MEMOIR BY ANDRE THEURIET.

New York: Macmillan d co.
The untimely death of Jules Hstlen-LepaSe, Ms
cutting of in the middle OF the iorihhAoh Vi i'
artistic character and the amazing body of work which
n, contrived To finish withal that his days were 50
te have set his admirers and detracors TO discuss
ing with singular vehemence the pronaoie ui''',''o
eriorescence of his genius. Whether he hau so""
or not We who poses his masterpiece the Joan VI
Arc Listening TO the Voices nave an oppoi'un''' w.
Judging that is not the less interesting because -
ssure m nrovoke differences OF opinion. more ui'
anv other OF Bastien-Lepages works the Joan Oh |
has caused schsm among his ciucs' WHO" ~
exhibited in the salon OF 1850 some sa" III "'o -
PRODUCTION OF the personfed voices only tie SUPP
error Of a realst playing with ideall'y ana ul's oco
the pcture on the realistic side, dehclei' l"
Others svmpathized with the painter In MS aVciip'
at svmboism understanding and appio'"is
his aim and regarded the eAoo'"o" A.,
loan and of the garden as ample oonn' NV Ivy,
of the idens relating TO eAac"'uu0 s for
ing with nature which had carry e,"0i ,aa
Rast,enIepage the title of "The Primitive anu nav
a h,, os tho innovator of new school OF natural
lem In this hook of NJ Theuriet's-augmenteo Dy snoi
napers on the subject of Bastien-Lepages worn ..
English artists, George Chusen ana waiter ,,,,rc
nv n rhapsody, more or less relevant v" Wv" ,,ee
aneyroseu Marie Bashkrtsef from the pen VI
p,,ndtbe "Joan of Arc. is stl a cause OF con'en'on
NJ Theuriet holds that Basten l%paSe never 80
' roro noatic,lIy true than this Lorraine shep
bertess so profoundly absorbed IN her h'io' ~
Mr. sickert on the contrary, says 'nal ,,d > and
tho leading figure Is not Impressive OF even ~ =, >.
no vould throw the canvas oVerDoaru a. -" e.. 30
on ,rveterate saonnier1 maker OF pictures io ','
exhibition, who had " the Ideals ana h'ii''''
typical unculturcd Paris artstudeh''
N Tbenriet docs not paint Bastien-Lepase as man
y, culture but neither does he paint Nun d 4" me-
"saonnier." "A farmers son, born AT D",,' 80
village on the Meuse. in 1S4o 1t TOOK ba'"', =,
,v seven wears after he went to Paris to STUDY arr "
or,rat pointer OF ability and distinction; ana III '"o
years more he had found the imperative anu 'o,i'o
Grating impulse In himself had determined .Io
~ his genius In 1876, cheerfnly s"allo"i"s 'l'
d,sappontment at his failure TO win the friA ue o''
he went home to work out his destiny as painter oi
ruraI scenes In the competition they hau ashe" n''n
to design picture having for subject frhn
Achilles IN restore 10 him the body Of his son hecor'
and all the time his heart was with the pe"'"n "
tho Meuse There be no doubt In tie ih'iu vi
reader OF NJ Theuriets memoir that basuen pos.
oued his success with his pastorals to oeep-rooVu
love of nature and gift of observation tha' h1.N
him 10 give them the sharp tang of reality rre,
,oJrc the canvas in july 1877 for The Hay fleiu
his first large picture Of country nv
he writes: 81 am going 10 CIV
self M to debauch in pearly tones hali."i' '
and towering grasses; and this IN the suhSi'0'
ing like q pale yellow tissue with silver threads ru'i
through it, little later, when the picture oesi's
correspondents: "My young peasant Is s'lhs VIII"
her arms apart her face hot and red; her hAeu eye
seeing nothing: her attitude altogether prVhe" ~
weary think she will give the true ldea OF lV''S.
woman Behind her. fiat on his back, her compai'o'
., asleep with his hands closed; and beyond III the
meadow in the full the lawmakers are pes''nis
q. -rorp ocajn | have had hard work 70 set up my
srst ideas being determined to keep simply 10 the
+yue aspect of a bit Of nature Nothlhe OF uc "'"'
willow arrangement, with its branches diVopihs o'o'
the heads of the people TO frame the scene. Eoiis
OF that sort. Ny people stood ont a9'ihS, uio nan
dry hay. :" Now Ihe VP''"i
write In this way. - -
From the second of the notes just quoted we car
ATTRACT one expression that would surely nave Dee.
edven the first place in asten-lepaee 'onP0 ,i
formal manifesto. had he lived 70 MAKE IT, =" -,
resolution ~ keen simply to the true aspect OF BIT
:, ,,,,, uos tho kernel Of his creed as far as We
,or 1, and there is every reason 10 believe ta' nv
expansion of his Imaginative powers no widening oil Ms
view of nature, no progression to"aN' tIe"'oi
In his handling, would ever have caused MN 10 u0P
from what he took be the true aspect OF rs sun
3ect This rectitude is what constitutes Basuen-Lc
,s c,.ip, N he compared in his portraits. with
C1ouet or Memlng Van Eyck Antonello da Messiha.
Mr. sickert is Of this opinion. and asserts 'ha J,
&c inst the formal" Of the portrait Of the Prince oil
Wales which has suggested the sixteenth century French
master bt that is the special pleading OF an opponent
which reflects small credit upon his own lntcileehoe'
To talk of foimat" alone in the presence OF the eX
ouistolv moduated color and precious yet never tmh
Or fun,blng drawing which Basten-Lepge has III com
mon with Clouet is 10 talk nonsense. Mr. 'h'"9o"
- soen,s In every WAY 10 understand Basten-Lcpage
better tl,an Mr. Sickert and VI. Theunet understand
him. is quick TO perceive the beauty OF PORTRAITS hA'
,hose ~ sarah Pernhardt The COMMUNICATE ana
aGrandfather Lepage" and he says exactly the ngh'
things about themhat they are altogether admirable
flat in them there Is forcing OF effect, no slurrhe
Of detail that everything is searched out relentlessy
1ovincly further observation of Mr. Clausens OF
these portraits-that they show how strictly impaIua
pastieD- Icpage was in his mental attitude how he
strove to keep himself ont of the pcture-calls up
characteristic OF the painter which, more than anything
ese has been made the basis for adverse criticism o.
his work. His method of pOtratuie. say his antago
pists-and they speak with reference to all his pictures
whether Of persons landscape-is optical, not psy
cholorca With him. they contend, 1t Is not matter
of spiritual insight OF analysis but OF extaordna
rily sympathetic photography.
We can refer reader to better disproof Of this
than the picture In the Metropolitan Museum OF Art
BY chance 1t hangs in exactly the same kind of position
which II occupied when Mr. Clausen saw II D the Salon
OF 1890 within few feet of painting by Courtet,
and the deduction from the comparison provoked BY
the tuxaposng OF the two great naturalSts Is as In
eyitabe now as 1t then. Where COurbet generalze
Bastion Lepage is literal and where the former gives
broad impression the latter gives an Intricate mosaic
of vegetation and foliage. The two principles have beer
weighed in comparison before. Because the "Joai
OF Arc. is an actual fact OF fine fibre and grea
b1Ilancy and not theory, the only remark that Is
pertinent now Is that Old one touching the gorles o.
the sun and moon Bastien Lepage's system may have
been radically wrong as critics Ike Mr. sickert tel
MS I'm this picture at il has sufced to give what
no one can deny IS a "trle aspect OF nature
and TO give 1t wearing bloom of beauty. NJ
Theurict does much to strengthen belief In what
Bas.ienLepage's glory might have been by bringing
out the sincere. simple and thoughtful traits In The
palnter's character and showing how underneath Tho
popular portrait painters apparent acquescence tc
the conditions of Partisan salons, the rural poet was
always ycarning for Damvlers and the models who
called him 10 reflection the truths Of nature