The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-05
The PICTURE BOOK PRINCE.


Book, is to make quite long stay in Amer
lea OF this visit. Had he arrived in time fol
the Portrait Show of New York the maids
and matrons of that city would surely have
carried him by force to the Academy, and
there set him upon pedestal for popular
worship.
Many volumes might be written upon the
way great pictures are painted but the vol
est.
A little girl, looking at a big elegantly
bound volume of masterpieces, came upon a
portrait painted by Duran. After studying ii
a long time the little one exclaimed: "Mamma
l see the dress, but where is the LADY," That
IS the criticism, made upon Duran's paintings
They are all dress and no LADY,
This contrasts strangely with the advice
sent by Duran to coming sitter. The wom-
an, W no bears one of the worlds great mon
eyed names, wrote to the portrait painter
asking him to describe accurately the dress
in which he wished her to appear st the first
sitting. The reply came back brief and com
prehenSive: Wear nothing at ALI!
Taking great umbrage the lady sent her
husband to inquire the meaning of such q
strange letter But on the way the husband
met a gentleman who, knowing the artist, ex-
planned. Duran drapes," said he; but he
never dresses"
1t is whispered that many Of the fair sit
ters for portraits never had velvet gowns like
those shown in the completed pictures. They
wore anything-or nothing-and Duran made
1t great by draping around them yards and
yards of handsome fabrics which somehow
seemed to take convential shape under his
talented hands. Others very nervous sitters
sat for the features and the outlines of the
figure, leaving Duran to supply all the de-
tails of dress, even to fashion and color
In Paris there are several beautiful models
who go around advertising themselves as
girls who pose for Duran's figures. This, tC
the art world of that artistic city, means that
when high born lady gets tired of posing
she leaves the studio; and her place is taken
a model WI
pose and patiently fills it until the picture is
done. To be a Duran model may mean any
thing of wide range of beauty of figure
1t may mean that you are short and fat with
a neat waist-something that does not always
belong to a short, fat figure 1t may mean
that you are tall and wiowly-quite the
ideal. 1t may mean that you very young
young enough for the Duchess of Marl-
borough, or old enough for old lady figures
like Mrs. Aston. Perhaps another name
might have been mentioned-for this society
woman has preserved her fgure-but as she
is the Oldest of Duran's recent famous sitters
she must bear the penalty, if mot the figure
Duran is a clothes horse his critics say
Yes, but so is a fashionable woman his
defenders reply.
A young portrait painter in New York CITY
quietly advertised among his patrons that he
could, and would, paint portraits Just like
Duran and he soon received an order to do
so, from very prominent woman of wealth.
When the picture came home it was
veritable chrome. The colors stood out with
startling fervor against a background that
was not very subdued The patroness looked
at it obviously. Don't you like it," asked
the artist. Then 1 fear you do not like
Duran"
Well" said she, after a minutes study
Of the picture. 1T isn't just Duran, to me.
You see" she added alphabetically. He uses
very red paint-as red as that, but-but he
always puts something in between"
Unconsciously she was contrasting the bril-
liant side-by-side colors, with the gentle
shadows with which Duran glides from one
brilliant hue to another; the shadows are so
like life in the reality, and so hard to find
in the pictures.
Other strange tales are told of this mar
velously expensive portrait painter, besides
those of his painting. 1t is said that he has
a way of keeping his sitters in pose and that
when all else fails and they refuse to sit
pleading some excuse, he seats himself at the
piano and plays brilliantly, plays to charm
plays until the pleased look comes back to
the corners of the mouth, the aristocratic sat
isfed smile of the grand dame the smile
which, if it were broader, would be too broad
if less pronounced, would be too naughty
Duran is said to prefer people that are not
too pretty. The sad fate Of the portrait
painters who work upon subjects that are
drawn beauties" has led him into selecting
the opposite type.
I'm painting a beauty Reynolds once re-
marked, there is no hope for you nothing
to gain. You cannot even equal Stir yorr
peach blow paint and mix your roses vet
you will lack, they will tell you the bloom
and the velvet will not be there
With a homely woman it is different Won
can preserve the likeness but you can idealiza
little.
The two great moments in a woman's life
of supreme happiness, told by Thomas Bailey
Aldrich, brings mystic light into the palest
eyes; and the true painter will find the light
and put it there for her dear ones to see and
love.
Duran is not the only painter who can paint