The Arizona sentinel., 1893-03-11
APATHY OF THE FRENCH.
Drawbacks to Their Art Exhibits
 at tho Worlds Far.
1t l. Thought That Paris Will Make al EcorL [, Surpass the Colum- 1iaa Exposition Seven
 Years Hence.

It is clear that many owners Of in t!g,st-ial works in France regard the worlds fair with great apathy, and, Ii i've are to jajge Of the display to be male ty that republic from a large number of published interviews with Ftcnchnen, it will be meager, says the New York Times. But in respect to the fine arts there is no baclzwardness on the part of the Gaul; he is already clamoring for more wall space on which to hang pictures.
 The inordinatc size of modern French paintings springs largely from the mis- take of the salon authorities in admit ting thousands, instead of hundreds, of canvases to the annual show. Sensa- tional must be the picture that gains the public eye in such ruck of paint ings; one Of the less difficult forms of sensationalism is the acre of paint which testifes at least to the expendi- ture of industry, of muscle and of more hard cash for models and material than is generally suspected. Consider ing that the passion for big pictures has had time to invade the American student of art in Paris, it is no wonder that the originally liberal space allowed France is seen to be all too small.
 This demand is noted by writer in the Figaro, but he adds to it another drawback to the French exhibition which is calculated to raise a smile. Learning by cable that youth has been arrested at New Jersey watering place for having no sleeves to his bath ing dress, and hearing of the efforts of the Sunday-closing zealots in regard to the worlds fair, this untraveled man Is possessed with fear lest Antonin Proust has made mistake in permitting paint ings of the nude to be included in the French contingent. He has not studied the American in France to much profit or he would know that Chicago will make no objection on this score. On the other hand, his suggestion that some one who knows American tastes in buying pictures should have been sent in order to give some idea of the kind of picture to show is not without shrewd worldly sense.
 Wonderful as the buildings and ar engagements at Chicago's lakeside are the successor to the worlds fair in France already looms portentous-on paper. The date, at least, is fixed, for 1900, which is actually the last year of the present century, not, as seems natural to think, the first year of the next. The place is also fxed-by Charles Devic. It is an old plan of his to build Titanic worlds fair at Cour- bevoie, beyond the Bois de Bologue, a suburb of Paris, traversed by the circu- lar railway, the western line, steam cars and omnibus lines, and by the Metropolitan and tubular lines to be built before 1900. This place received the vote of the late M. Alphaud, but the when it came to decision regarding the exposition of 1889. The nearer site seemed preferable, although the build- ings have occupied valuable open space for reviews and public meetings and ob- scured the old structures in the neigh borhood. M. Devic's plan for an expo sition is somewhat remarkable.
 He would build on the Courbevoie plateau series of structures assuming
 
 fan. These buildings are to be in five divisions-one division each to Flu rope, Asia, Africa, America and France Between the diverging lines gardens are to be arranged, with the trees, plants and flowers of the different con- tinents, so that from the buildings in which are assembled works of art one may step directly into the presence of living nature. The plan includes pal aces galore-one of electricity, another of iron, third of nickel, fourth of aluminium, fifth of ceramics, a sixth of crystals, a seventh of marble. All l these wonders-not to speak of a mimic | Niagara, blue grotto, Yellowstone 1 geyser and other watery marvels-are to cost about twenty million dollars, but the state is not to be asked to ad- vance it. Private fnanciering is to raise the sum without trouble. All that Charles Devic demands is the power to use the land and guarantee that he and financial friend shall not be dis turbed by rival promoters.
 For there are others who can build castles as well as M. Devic; two other SAOOo III SlA 10 AdNC OCOA dIOCnG1y One is on the western edge of the bo;s, | near the isle de Puteaux, where the | rowing and tennis clubs are. It would | include Bagatelle, little chateau and l park which belonged to Sir Richard Wallace. The chateau was built in one | months time by Charles X. for Marie Antoinette on bet she made with him | while Comte d'Artois, so the spot is al- l ready accustomed to that nasty build l ing which seems needful in the most | carefully exhibition. Another | site close to the bois is suggested by | Antonin Proust-the park and remains | of royal chateau near the gate of La | Muette. Like Bagatelle, this is in i private hands. But whatever be the | spot chosen" says our New York name sake, ''there can be no doubt that France will consider well all that is done at | Chicago, and seven years later will try to | show us that we are again outpaced. | Indeed, after the backing out of Berlin and the triumphant seizure of the year 1900 by the Parisians, it will be abso- lutely necessary for Paris to outshine all previous shows"