Evening star., 1900-07-14
FINE ARTS EXHIBIT
A Description Of the Galleries at the
Paris Exposition.
WORKS OF AMERICAN PAINTERS
How the Display Compares With
That at Chicago.
INARTISTIC BUILDINGS S
Copyright, 1900. BY O. NJ. Kurts)
pecial Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| Copyright, 1900. By O. NJ Kurts)
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
| PARIS, June IS, 1900.
The visitor to the Chicago exposition of
| 1893 could scarcely avoid a feeling of sad
ness that the splendid white palaces, SO
artistic, dignified and SO impressive,
were to exist for a season only and then to
| disappear-to be remembered only as a
| dream Is remembered-in this case dream
| OF architectural beauty exceeding all other
| dreams and all realities. The visitor to the
Paris exposition Of 1900 is oppressed by no
| such feeling. He can contemplate the pros
pective disappearance of the majority of
! the famboyant. fantastic structures here
| with composure. for the exposition of 1900
is Disagreement OF Paris quite as con-
| spicuously as the exposition Of 1898 was a
| glorification of Chicago.
The present Paris exposition cannot in
| any way compete with Paris itself in at
| tractiveness. The views in the old Tuiller-
| les gardens, with the stately buildings of
| the Louvre in the background: the views
| IN the beautiful gardens of the Luxem-
| bourg, the views up and down the Seine
taking in Notre Dame, the old Conciergerie
| the graceful spire of the Saint Chapelle
| ara the picturesque Tour St. Jacques; the
|
| Triomphe and from many other points are
| aruStlcally far superior and far more i'm
| pressive than anything afforded By the ex-
| position.
The best Of the exposition vistas are
| those obtanable from the new Alexander
| III bridge, down the Seine and over the
| Es'planade des Invalides from the Pont de
| lAlma and from the Trocadero toward the
Blltel tower, and vice versa. But none of
| these compares in beauty or picturesuueness
| with the views about the Court of Honor
| the view from there looking toward the Art
| Paiace or the general view of the exposition
| buildings from the lake, at Chicago And
| while the various European exhibits at
| Paris may be more numerous more COM
prehenslVe, more carefully selected and
more advanced in certain WAYS than those
| which were at Chicago the exposition as a
| whole creates no such general impression
or magnitude and importance as was created
| by the Columbian exposition.
Inartistic Structures,
The exposition structures, as a rule, are
| pretentious. overloaded with ornament,
artificial looking and utterly lacking in dig
| nifty. They are very evidently ''onIy for
the moment" they do not comport In char
| acter with the exhibits with which they
| are crowded. There are few exceptions
| to this general characterization: The two
art palaces, which are permanent struc-
lures are fine in most of their details, and
| the buildings reproducing features of "old
4 o. 40 die SAceeuiIlSy y picturesque and
| well placed-though these last are not ex-
position structures in the specific sense any
more than are the buildings of the various
foreign powers-some of which are admir-
able, while others are needlessly hideous-
| or those of the numerous concessionaires
from various parts Of the world.
| The grand palace Of fine arts, in which
| the contemporary art exhibits of the var
| ious nations are shown, is far better adapt
| ed for it's purpose than the art palace
| at Chicago, but in its exterior it is not
| nearly so dignified or impressive as the
| Chicago building. Both the grand palace
| and the palace of retrospective art are
| most admirable in their general features,
but both are disfigured by portals that are
at variance with the other portions of the
structures and that depreciate the fine ef-
feet their beautiful colonnades would have
had if unbroken by such disproportionate
and inharmonious projections.
Contemporary Art.
The exhibit of contemporary art is not
quite SO large as that made at Chicago,
and while some nations show to better ad-
vantage here others were more creditably
represented there.
The contemporary art exhibit Of France
is enormously larger here than was that
| at Chicago. but it averages about the same
in quality. Many of the pictures exposed
in Chicago are in evidence here, prominent
among which are some of the strong por-
traits by Bonnat, including the Ernest
Renan, the beautiful portrait of Madame
Gauthereau and other works by Cortois;
the Horses of Besnard, the nude dancing
| figures of Collin. and SO on. Many Of the
| leading French painters are represented
| here much more fully than at Chicago,
notably among them being Roybet, who
exhibits, among other strong works. his
| colossal "Charles the Bold, at Nesle,"
which was shown at the St Louis exposi-
| ton three years ago. and Jean Beraud.
with his somewhat irreverent interpreta-
tions Of biblican subjects with types Of
o1,n oo%a nnGfI1 n
ings borrowed from the Paris of the pres
ent time.
Constanps "Victoria."
Then there IL Benjamin Constants por-
trait Of Queen Victoria, in royal robes and
crown, seated on the throne. This. while
one of the most pretentious. is one Of the
most inefficient of Benjamin Constants
works The figure Of the queen presents
the appearance of an overfed ghost 1t
emphasizes the least attractive feature of
the monarch's personality in Its outlines.
1t lacks substance and gives no suggestion
whatever of the queens womanly character
and dignity. The figure Is entirely subordi-
nate to the architectural details and gor-
geous adornments Of the throne. In color
the composition is monotonous.
One painter alone, in the French section,
stands head and shoulders above his fel-
agnan-Bouveret-who was very in
adequately represented at Chicago, but who
is seen here at his best. His Last Supper
is the most impressive picture in the French
section. In conception, in composition, in
color and In all artistic qualities 1t is one
Of the great pictures OF our time. 1.-The
Conscripts''-bought by the French govern
ment q few years ago-is another Of Dag
mans particularly fine works shown, and
this picture ranks among the masterpieces
OF art.
In Retrospect.
In the French retrospective section-repro-
senting the past hundred years Of painting
in France-which is in another part OF the
ert palace. one finds excellent representa-
tion Of nearly all the men who have con-
tributed toward making France famous in
art-includng. OF course, 'the men of $780,"
It Is a pleasure to record the fact that the