Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-11-26
AN AMERICAN STUDIO IN PARIS.

SN AME NiSAtN oCtS Nv SNNtSs
One Of these young men, whom | had
known at college, took me to his studio
last summer. and asked me to tell him
how liked It. IL was most embarrass-
ing question TO me, for to my unframed
eve the rooms seemed to be stricken
with poverty, and so bare as to appear
untenanted. | said, at last, that he had
a very fine view from his windows.
"Yes, but you say nothing OF the
room ITSELF" he protested; land | have
spent so much time and thought on 1t.
have been year and half In arrang-
ing this ROOM"
"But there is nothing In IT," object
ed "you couldn't have taken year
and a half TO arrange these things.
There Is not enough OF them. IL
shouldn't have taken more than half an
hour"
He smiled with sweet superior smile,
and shook his head at me. III am
afraid" he said, ''that you are one OF
those people who like studios filled with
tapestries and armor and palms and
huge hideous chests Of carved wood.
You are probably the sort OF person
who would hang tennis-racket on his
wall and consider 1t decorative. We be-
lieve In lines and subdued colors and
broad bare surfaces. There IL nothing
IN this room that has not meaning OF
its own. You are quite right; there Is
very little in IL; but what Is here could
not be altered or changed without spoil
ing the harmony OF the whole, and moth
ing In II could be replaced or improved
upon"
| regarded the studio with renewed
interest at this, and took a mental inven-
tory OF its contents for my own inn
proyement. WAS guiltily conscious
that once az college had placed two
lacrosse-sticks over my doorway, and
what made il worse was, that did not
play lacrosse, aud that they had been
borrowed from the man upstairs for
decorative purposes solely. hoped my
artist friend would not question me too
closely. His room had bare floor and
gray walls and green door. There was
a long low bookcase, and straight
legged table. on which stood, ranged
against the wall, blue and white jar,
gold Buddha, and Jade bottle. On one
wall hung gray silk poke-bonnet. OF
the fashion OF the year 1880, and on an
other an empty gold frame. With the
exception OF three chairs there was moth
ing else In the room. | moved slightly,
and with the nervous fear that IL | dis
turbed or dissrranged anything the bare
gray walls might fall in on me. And
then asked him why he did not put a
picture in his frame.
"Ah, exactly" he exclaimed, trium-
phantly; "that shows exactly wha: you
are; you are an American philistine.
You cannot see that picture Is beau
,iful thing In itself, and that dead
gold frame with It's four straight lines Is
also; but together they might
not be beautiful. That gray wall needs
a spot on Il, and so | hung that gold
frame there, not because II was frame,
but because IL was beautiful; for the
same reason hung that eighteen-thirty
bonnet on the other wall. The two
grsys harmonic. People do not gener-
slly hang bonnets on walls, but that is
because they regard them as things of
use. and not as things Of beauty"
pointed with my stick at the three
lonely ornaments on the solitary table.
''Then IL YOU were TO put the blue and
white jar on the right OF the Buddha, in
stead OF on the left" | asked. 1.-The
whole room would feel the shock
''Of course" answered my friend.
''Can't even you see thatf'
tried 10 see, but could not. had
only just arrived in Paris.
There was another artist with a studio
across the bridges, and his love Of art
cost him much money and some severe
trials. His suite of rooms was all In
blue, gray, white and black. He said
that il YOU looked at things in the world
YOU would see that they were
all gray, blue or black. He had painted
a gray lady in a gray dress, with blue
parrot on her shoulder. She had brown
lips and grayish teeth. He was very
much disappointed in me when told
him that lips always looked TO me either
pink or red. He explained that by say
ing that nv eyes were not trained prop
erly. resented this, and told him that
INV ewes were as good as his own, and
that a recruiting officer had once tested
them with colored yarns and letters OF
the alphabet held up in inaccessible
corners, and had given me higher
mark for eyesight than for anything
else. He said il was not question OF
colored yarns; and while might satisfy
a recruiting sergeant that | could dis
tinguish an ammunition train from a
circus, it did not render me
critic on art matters. He pointed out
that the eyes of the women In the Cau-
casus who make rugs are trained TO
hundred and eighty differ
ent shades of colors that other ewes can
not see; and in time, lie added, would
see that everything in real life looked
fat and gray. took red carnation
out OF my coat. and put il over the gray
lady's lips. and asked him whether he
would call il gray or red, and he said
that was no argument.--RICTIARD
II n.,.,s su H.rpar'c MAGAZINE.