New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-05-02
NATIONAL FRENCH SALON.
WHAT THE SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS HAS
N ITS EXHIBITION st PARASITIC
PRINCIPAL ARTISTS AND THEIR
WORKS OF SOMBRE HUE.



The salient features and general Impressions
Of the annual salon Of the National Society Of
Fine Arts which opened Sunday in the west
wing Of the Grand Palace Of the Champs Ely
sees. were cabled TO The Tribune last Saturday
on the occasion of the vanishing day" The
exhibition win not close until July l. 1t was
just twelve years ago that a group Of independ-
ent artists including MISSIONER Puvis de Cha
vannes CaroIus- Duran. Roll. Dagnan- Bouveret,
Cain. Duez Besnard, Jean Beraud. Montenard
Gervex. Rodn and Dalou, cut themselves loose
from the cast iron academic traditions of the
Official salon" or Society Of French Artists
under the lead Of Bouguereau. Jean-Paul Lau-
rens, Bonnat, Henner. Jules Lefebvre, Benja-
min-Constant Edouard Detaille, Gabriel Fer
rier. Tony Robert-Fleury, Raphael Collin and
the sculptors Paul Dubois. Barrias, Merci6, FREE
MET Falguiere earlier and Bartholdi The
secession or rather the emancipation
strongly encouraged by public opinion. The
revolution resulted in Institution, and after
twelve years Of solid progress the salon Of the
National Society Of Fine Arts, popularity known
as the salon Of the Champs de Mars has become
an Indispensable manifestation Of the intellect
ual life Of Paris
The dominating tendency of the painters of
the National Society Of Fine Arts, or, they
term themselves. the younger and more ad-
vanced school, is melancholy vergtng upon de-
Gallo gayety. Standardization is expressed in
soft, graceful lines, hazy compositions and sub
dued anRmic color tones With few notable
exceptions, vanishing twilight appeals to them
more than the monday sun. and they prefer
the orchid to the rose. These qualities have
never before been so prominent as in this years
salon.
What can be more melancholy than Cottet's
procession Of Brittany isherfolk. attired in
v-feF1 min
slowly toward cold gray church, across cold
gray path, while in the distance is a cold gray
sea- and overhead a cold gray sky? It is, never
theIess. a beautiful picture. evoking purity Of
feeling and disclosing q marvellous variety Of
delicate grays and a profusiOn OF shaded re-
Elections Of blacks. but it is, after all supreme
expression Of sadness. This is also applicable
to Lucien Smon's three sable clad Sisters of
Mercy, seated near a closed black piano talking
to a middle aged lady attired in a black gown,
entitled Les Queteuses''-a picture that justi-
fes the judgment Of the French critics who have
pronounced il a masterpiece. and which is
n0bIer work than the same painters Process
sion" which was last year purchased by the
government for the Luxembourg Gallery.
Whistler's exquisite portrait of a woman
wearing an immense white lace ruffle. called
Ivory and Gold" Whistler's Blue and Silver
open Sea. Whistler's "Phryne. Who Built Tenn
PIES" in shades Of pearl grays. are distinctly
sad. Carriere's six cameolike heads Of the same
woman but each with different expressions. are
mournful. There IS something funereal about
Rolls Drama OF the Sofia page Of lola on
canvas peasant girl stretched at full length
face downward in a village street with streak
Of blood indicating a wound on the temple in
hicted by a stone. The apotheosis Of Gounod,
painted by GuiIlaume Dubufe. who IS nephew
Of the great composer, represents Gounod play
ing a piano. while lowering about him are
sappho. A1ireile, Juliet and Marguerite, all sor-
rovful. with downcast faces.
Dagnan- Bouveret's portrait of Ger0me. Acad-
emician, painter and sculptor. is by all odds
the best portrait Of a man in the salon, but the
female portraits by the same master seem like
CabaneIs viewed through a mourning veil.
Jacques BIanches two small figures Of women
in white. seated on pale lemon tinted sofas read
irg show qualities Of delicate and rich coloring,
but they are emphatcaTy pathetic. Alexander
Harrison. who reappears at the salon with six
studies Of rnoont. sunlit and gray day seas,
with the soft, oily smOothness Of still weather;
Lavery. with his charming study Of a young
girl in white ready for the confirmation service;
Melchers, with his portrait Of Mrs George
Hitchcock standing beside a table, in Dutch
olive toned interior holding in her hand tiny
white and green glistening Delft horse; Osbert,
with his truthful Fall Of the Leaves; Aman-
Jean with his fine but pretentious composition
The Park" intended for reproduction in tapes
try, where six anamic women toying with
pair Of peacocks. Eugene Vail. with his blue
and sheeny white gondoers and ghostlike gon-
doas gliding by twilight on the grand canal
of Venice, Humphreys-Jo Johnston, with his deep
purple "Spola Oprna" a chain armored hero
reclining on a couch and his smaller but much
more pleasing pictures Of a woman looking at
mirror, and woman seated a sofa; Au-
burtin, with his decorative panel, "Danses
Nues," recalling family the tonalites Of Puvis
De Chavannes; Delachaux, with his sober,
porous compositions, The Young Mother" and
the Two Sisters; Baudoin. who has
cessfulIy revived the charms of the art Of
frescos with his Athletes Back" and his
view Of cattle drinking in the Ieaden waters Of
the Andele in Normandy; Friant with his
bre orphan girl in the attitude Of prayer;
Agache, with his La Loi." kissing the
point Of the sword Of Justice; Van Der Weyden,
with his charming Moonlight Promenade;
Miss Florence Este, with her grayish pastel
drawing Of The Sleeping Village; lie Sidaner
with his half-dozen moonlit views in white with
lamp counterights Duhem and Guinard. with
their hocks Of sheep mournfully bleating by
night; Billotte. with his sombre mill on the
river Brese. and Burnand's mystic Christ, sur
rounded by the Apostles composition that
appears 10 be inspired by Dagnan- Bouveret-
are one and all sad. melancholy works. They
are admirably drawn and painted and are thor
oughly typical Of the highest qualities Of this
years salon Of the National Society Of Fine
Arts.
John SaIgents Daughters of n. Wertheim-
er, called in the French catalogue Portrait
De Deux SGurs" exhibited last year at the
Royal Academy, more than holds IT'S own amid
Partisan