Grand Rapids herald., 1894-01-06
THAT PICTURE.

worked at that fanous painting which
~ AfErmed should represent the croes-
ng q the Red sea. and for Eve or six
rears this masterpieces Of color had been
.bstinateiy refused by the jury At the
annual salon-
So, from force Of habit In going and
,ozning 20 often from the studio to the
muses and from the muses 30 fhs
nudio. the picture knew the road 90
well that. IL one had sst Il ON wheels. IL
would have been able to 90 all alone 30
lie Louvre.
Marcel, who hsd ten times repainted
and rearranged this canvas from top 20
bottom, attributed 10 personal hostil-
isy Of the members Of the Jury against
himself the ostracism which rejected
II annually frUm the Square salon.
and In his idle moments he had COM
posed In honor Of the Cerberuses of the
institute Q little dictionary Of curses
with some illustrations Of a savage fe-
rocity. This collection. which had be-
come celebrated. had obtained in the
studios and at the School Cf the Fine
Arts the popular success which Is at
tsched 10 the immortal complaint Of
Jean Bslin. painter In ordinary to the
grand sultan of Turkey. All the daub-
srs Of Paris had q copy Of IL In their
memory.
For & l>>- l>><- ..s.>e ..>e Marcel was not dis
couragsd by tho determined reflections
which hs received at each annual ex-
hibifion. He was comfortably settled
In the opinion that his picture was. In
i'm least proportions, the long sought
for pendant 20 the Marriage Feast at
Cana. 90 that gigantic MASTERPIECES whose
brilliant splsndor the dust Of three cen
turies has not besn able TO tarnish. So.
every year st the epoch Of the salon.
Marcel sent his picture to be examined
by the jury. Only--in order to throw
tho examiners OF the scsnt and 10 try
to bafiis them In their preconceived de-
termination 70 exclude II. which preju-
dice they seemed to have against the
Crossing Of the Red Sea''-w1thout
changing anything In the general COM
position Of the painting. he modified
certain details and changed the title Of
his picture. Thus. one year 10 came
before the jury under the name Of 'The
Crossing Of the Rubicon." But Pha-
raoh. badly disguised under Cesar
mantle. was instantly recognized and re-
jsctsd with ell the honors due him.
The following year Marcel threw
upon the foreground OF bis canvas q lay
sr Of white paint 10 represent snow.
planted = tree In one corner. and dress
ing up an Egyptian In the uniform Of
the imperial guard Of France be bap-
tized bis picture The Crossing Of the
Bsrssins- The jury. which had rub
bed MP in spsctscies that day upon the
tails of fts green pslmed costs--on
oeicisI occasions the members Of the
institute wear dress coats having green
palms embroidered on the lapels and
collsrs-.was not dnped by this new
russ. 10 recognized perfectly the oh~ti.
nate canvss. especially by = big devil
ef . many colored hor.e that prancsd
about o<a top Of . wave Of the Red sea.
The dressing of this hoise served Mar.
eel Cor all his experiments In coloring.
and IN biz sv~vydsy speech he called u
~synopficai tsblssu Of fne tones. " b..
eaEss 10 reprodacsa all ths most varied
combinations Of color with ths,r plays
of light and shade. Bas oncs more,
unn,ovsd ~ this fns detail. the jury
had net black balls enough % fnlly en-
pres thsis fesIings IN rejecting Th>
Cru~<sng - the Beresins
VERY vel. " said Marcel. "f'll vsit
Nexf yeSs shall send ~ again unde,
ths title of ths Passage de- Psnors
mss
A few esys later. and when Mscrs
hsd already forEostsn t~rrihle thress'
AZ vengeance he hsd ust~rrd against hi'
per>ecutsrs. be received q vi-st fron
Fsfher Msdsciz Thus th~ hohennisn.
he'd nicknsn-d Jew named soiomai
Who 81 thss spech w.s wsli Known q
ell m~mb>rs a artistic and lifs<sry DO
h~niA vita wbsn ~ w.s In psrp<tns
rsiafions fsrs M~licis did hueins-
IN eli sorss - brsc- trsr. he sald eosn
plets .-ss a furnjture st frunn 10 frsno'
ne % :. GO. He boaeht svrsytksns sna
<n~w ho~ % -sii 70 .ssis ~ proht
rs- sxrhsnxs bank - n prosihss
49, . vsry little affair eompsrsa to 80
sv.ss<~ spplsrd hv heffess. whs 30
s~us~i fk> E-nsss 20 srs<.s ~ . Sesrs'
sever before sss~isea ~ even sfss raa~'
ate e kis fsiIo. b~ij~>srs His shap
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