The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-22

picture galleries. A plain doorway plerces 9
wall and within are two figures in back view
On either side along the wall are groups OF
other figures In frieze Of high relief. The as
pect OF the work Ia severe and imposing, The
thoughtful character OF the conception. the
simplicity OF the execution and the fine on
sembls OF the composition are the features
that entitle II 10 be ranked with the best OF the
sculpture.
In the rotun da Of the inner court Of the Grand
Palais and in two very large adjoining galleries
on the ground floor l. placed the sculpture In
the Centennial FIX hibition Of French art. Many
of the works are we'll known to the general
public. Most Of them. except some by Rude
and his contemporaries or predecessors. are
known to artists and amateurs. The exhi-
bition Is a fine one. but need not be reviewed
in detail, II inclu dos such notable things In
the groups Of twenty works by a. Carpeaux
La Danse" and bronze bust Of Mr.. Gerome.
twenty-siI bronzes by Barge. including some
not before exhibited which have been lent by
Mr.. Bonnat and Mr.. O.. Lutz; a bas-relief por-
trait by Ba,tien-Teyage Chapu's Youth"
the figure on the Henri Resnault monument at
the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. and the same sculp-
tors Jeanne dare at Domremy;" Mr.. FIRE.
miet's STANDARD Bearer on Hors eback. from
the Paris Hotel de Vile. and his Jeanne d Arc
on Her Knees" Falguiere's "Tarcinus, Christian
Martyr, Mr., Gulllsume's bronze bust Of Mr..
Ingres. Houdon's Napoleon L." from the
Museum at Dton; Idrac's "Etienne Marcel, a"
Mr.. Mercie's David" Mr.. Saint Marceaux's
The Secret Of the Tomb" and Mr.. Robins
bust OF Victor Hugo. Each OF these artists
has other works besides these. There are
eleven works by Rude. three by Anne Millet,
two by Jouhroy. two by Mr.. HOLE, seven by
Giraud. twelve by Dumont, two by Mr.. Gerome,
and four by Mr.. Paul Dubois, Those by the
last-named artist are the General Lamoricike
monument. the "Narcssus." the "Florentine
Singer" and the Infant Ct. John" Some Of
the sculpture here figured In the decennial
exhibition Of 1850. and is now in the Centennial
OF 1000. The exhibition particularly AZ a whole
Is representative, and should interest students
OF French sculpture. For visitors unfamiliar
with ite progress and development the exhi-
biuon offers a fine collection OF picked works
by the best men. With examples Of now CON-
parattvely unknown artists Of the early part
OF this century. There are 42O works In all.
The Centennial Exhibition Of paintings is
not 40 good artistically as was the Retrospective
Exhibition OF 1880. That remarkable collection,
the first OF Its kind. contained many master
pieces. Corot. Millet. Troyon. Rousseau, Cour-
bet. Danbigny. Re9nault. Bastten- Lepaze,
Baudry. Delaunay and other famous artists
before their time were then represented In a way
that we shall not probably see again. Corot's
"BbDs. the pearl Of his show, Is now In the
United States In a private gallery. Millet's
The Cleaners" /. In the Louvre But even II it
had been possible to borrow such pictures as
these and TO take from museums many others
that shons In the Retrospective Of 1880 land In
many cases It would have been quite poseible,.
the authorities did not wish TO show them again
this year. The first thing settled was that the
pictures In this Centennial should all be such as
were not IN the last. As the cream OF the mu-
seums and private collections had been taken
In 1850. the task for this year was q more difficult
one. The result u that the exhibition IL more
interesting from an educational and instructive
point Of view than IL "a from a point Of view
purely artistic. The twenty-four Corots are
nearly all landscapes Of his earlier period. but
there are In the groups four or five figure stu dies
OF a later time.
Among the Ave Milletts there Ia a fine Man
With the Hoe" q different composition from the
famous picture with that title, showing the
peasant putting In his Jacket at twilight, and
an exoelient landscape. la Barriere." Portrait
OF an Oflcer OF the Navy" Is not a good specimen
Of Millett's work In portraiture. He painted
several that are pure masterpieces. The pic
lures by Rousseau, Troyon. jules Dupre and
Diaz present nothing Of special interest, but there
are several very good canvases among them.
The group Of twelve Daubisnys includes an
important landscape. Winter" and three other
complete. excellent examples. Among the
Courbet are an interior Will figures. The
Wheat Screeners." that is painted In light tints
and u In every way excellent and a pretentious
composition. Bon Jour. Monsieur Courbet!'
shows the painter loaded with his traps sa-
luted on tho highway by two gentlemen. The
Siesta" Is a very large canvas with cattle. vigor-
ously painted but not inspiring.
The Manets are thirteen in number. including
the celebrated -Dejeuner sur lAerbe," which
adds nothing TO his reputation, a full length,
( e-size figure Of a man In black. Portrait OF
the Engraver Maroslin Desboutin.- one Of his
best canvases, and several pictures that are
well known. One of these Ia The Breakfast
In the Studio" the picture with the boy with
black velvet jacket and straw hat. which was
shown at the Durand-R uel galleries on Fifth
avenue two or three years ago. 1t IL also a fine
example, and the boys head Is one of the best
morcedur Manet ever painted. There Is a large
Group Of Claude Monets. among which are
several early landscapes that are excellent. but
the group as a whole is depressing. In the train
Of this artist are several other impressionists
with groups Of pictures. but they do not add to
the dignity Of the exhibition. Mr.. Degas Is
represented by two pictures, but IL Is In the ex-
hibltion Of drawings that we find him az his full
worth.
The earlier painters Of the century. David,
Prid'hon. Baron Gros. Gericauit. Delacroix.
Ingres, Flandrln and others less cele-
brated are represented here by many very
interesting pictures. They have been brought
from provincial museums and constitute the
chief educational interest Of the exhibition.
while the works Of the latest men. such as Bau-
dry. Puvis ds Chavannes, Delaunay and Bastien-
Iepa9e. and Messrs. Bonnat. Laurens, Breton.
Carolus- Duran. Ben amin Constant. Besnard.
Cain. Fantin-Latour. Henner, Harpignies.
Alphonse, LeRros. Lefebore. Roll and vollon
offer the greatest artistic interest, Among
these last there are some pictures that are worth
eoingf far to see: Baudry's portrait ofhis brother
Ambrose Baudry, a veritable little masterpiece
At to hnng between a Holbein and a velasquez:
Mr.. Bonnat's imposing portraits Of Madame
Pasca, Mr.. Lefebvre's beautiful la Rieuse,"
a head painted with unsurpassabie suavity and
full strength Of technical resource; Mr. Besnard's
brilliant portrait Of Nine. Roger Jourdain. which
shows him at his best. and Mr.. ~Harpienies's
noble landscape. The Ravine at Cernay."
The exhibition OF drawings is admirable.