The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-08
THE SHOW OF FRENCH ART.
PICTURES AT THE ELEVEN YEARS
EXHIBITION IN PARIS.

EXHIBITION IN PARIS.
Famous Artists Represented some Immense
Paintinss Of the Omcial Variety Notable
Pictares by New Men-Detanies Eight Ex-
hibits = The Portraits and Landscapes.
PARIS June at the head Of the month
mental staircase In the Grand Palais Is the
largest gallery In the building, II Is about
eox20O feet. Doorways at either end lead into
long suites Of rooms and the one opposite the
main entrance gives entrance to the inner court,
the centre. with its rotunda on the ground floor
and its galleries on the second. Of the centen-
ial Retrospective exhibition. In the great
gallery first mentioned there Is q fine mural
painting by NJ. Z. Dubufe. dedicated to Puvis
De Chavannes, including In Its composition a
seated portrait figure Of the celebrated artist
In voluminous gown Of brown. female figures
and idyllic landscape. This. Of course, is
q permanent decoration In place. In this
great room are a few Of the vast canvases
termed "pienture ofacietle which form part
Of the eleven years show OF French art, among
them The Distribution OF Recompenses at
the Palais de l. Industrie. Universal EXPOSE
ton. 1885," ts4o) by NJ. GerveI. II Is a good
specimen OF this sort Of work and represents
the French colonial delegations deflins before
President Carnot. 1t IL about 3Oxt0 feet In
size and the special qualities for treating such
Q subject on such a scale seem TO be possessed
By NJ. Gervex. for the work while not artisti-
cally inspiring Is very well done. The same
artist In another place on the walls in this gal
kry exhibits several portraits. These give a
much better idea Of the present powers Of the
wel-known painter Of the fine nude figure
In "Rolla." q picture painted about 1880. The
- 80 IaAN - n-.A--t .
Mile. g. tss2). a picture Of a little girl. are
both tender in color and subtly drawn.
In another Of the very large galleries il an
immense canvas by NJ. Roybet. not p~einture
s1soieiis but a historical composition, Charles
the Bold at Nesles" (ioeO). It has become
black In parts with the lapse Of years but It
abounds In fine morcedur amid the innumer-
able figures which crowd the canvas. This
artists greatest SUCCESS. however, Is not found
In the Charles the Bold" but In three other pic
lures Of more moderate dimensions, though
each would be called In New York exhibitions
q very large canvas. The most celebrated
OF these three works IL " La Main Claude
(ieoi) for which the painter received the medal
Of honor at the Salon a few years ago, II has
been much written about and represents a
group OF ten or eleven men and women. SOL
z anu WI ~ Univ VI IOhlN AIil.
and tavern Rossips or playing at
the exhilarating pastlme of La Main Claude
In which he or she who Is 1T" holds the hand
palm outward behind. while leaning over. and
guesses who gives the slap. A buxom woman
with her head turned TO face the spectator Is
lit" a the moment depicted. It Il the paint
ing n the head Of this woman more than any
thing else that has won for NJ. Roybet such
oDpIopo frnp, hta folInw articta To 10 tpAnoA
a wonderful piece Of modelling and It Is painted
with robust splendor. To find a parallel for
M. Roybet's methods in this moroccan one
would nave to go to Frans Halls himself. The
other figures In the picture are very finely
painted also and as a matter Of course the CO.'S
tunes and still life are exceedingly we'll done.
"The Geographer" 1895. a grave subject.
with nine or ten figures or heads. all of men.
Is a. a whole equally able. Possibly some
critics will think that the figure Of the Demon
strator clad In black. his head covered with
thick iron-sray hair. Is as fine as the woman
In ia Main Claude" II is a question of taste
somewhat but the woman's head Ia without
doubt the more brilliant performance. In
The Lutte Player" tiess). the figure Of the
man is remarkably fine. The lady who sits
in the immediate foreground is technically
speaking. very good Roybet" but reminds
us more Of the painters earlier work when he
was turning out innumerable cavaliers and
ladies Of the Louis XIII. period. NJ. Roybet
shows two other pictures and two portraits
and his group IL one OF the strongest in the
whole exhibition.
A painter who has obtained his medals in
the last ten years and whose work is new to
us, Is M. Joseph Boil. His pictures are ex-
tremely good and while the figures which are
life size are well painted, the chief point OF
interest in his compositions. very attractive.
while sober In color by the way, lies in his
really extraordinary accomplishment in paint
ing still life. Some large brass or copper YES
sells figure prominently in each Of his pictures.
except in Soap Bubbles" 1907. where some
little boys are engaged in the rastime indi-
Gated by the title and the iridescent hues OF
the liquid spheres are cleverly rendered In
one. the "Housemaid" t52l. a young woman
II drawing water at a hydrant. In ano ther,
Reflections" bi). a boy and a girl in red jack
cts are cleaning big brass and copper pots.
The general effect In each il harmonious and
the still life Is in no case blatant. but II Is painted
with such admirable fidelity and at the same
time will such excellent artistic feeling that
the name Of Joseph Bail must be set down as
that Of an artist who possesses rare individu-
ality and a fine feeling for that charm In art
which IL only given by a painters manifest
delight In painting for paintings sake.
NJ. Antoine Calbet. another new name,
strikes quite an original note and exhibits
commendable observation Of effects Of light
out Of doors in his "Bathers" 1851, and NJ.
Charles Cottet. a man comparatively young,
SOM Of whose pictures have been seen in the
United States. exhibits a large triptiQue, The
Parting Meal" t5G2), wherein. In the central
panel, vi see fishermen who are about to go
way In their boats to the Newfoundland
banks in all probability grouped about the
supper table with their family. A lamp H.
Eliminates the faces and the table and with
out, through a window. appears the dark blue
night sky. The artists fondness for low tones
IL here apparent, but unlike the work Of some
Of his, confreres. there is full reason for his
Hiking In his subject. The Parting Meal" ia
rich and full In color and Is a work OF consider
able merit. deserving mention among the good
oanvases by the younger men.
M. Detafle Is much In evidence In the ex-
hibition. He has eight pictures, all Of which
except two are Of large or OF immense size.
The Evacuation Of the Garrison Of Huningue"
@s3), a well-known Salon success. one Of the
biggest of his canvases, is perhaps the best.
His example Of "peinture oficielle." repre-
senting the Gar, the Czarina and President
Faure going to the railway station at Bouy
after the military review at Chalons (85i) is
not one Of the largest compositions, but 1t IL
quite big enough, and 1t H. painted with an
eye TO the picturesque as well as the accurate