The San Francisco call., 1907-03-07

After all has been. said about chis-
eled features and hair OF Furnished
gold, ripe lips and peachbloom skin, OF
the loveIiness that is akin TO the sun
shine and the flowers. there is still
word q be spoken OF what Mrs. Ward
asks Of women-'the artists supreme
demand. character" This is not an
other way Of expressing the homely
old saw that handsome is as handsome
does" a saying which. like so many
OF the aphorisms Of our childhood, car
ried small conviction TO the beauty
loving or beauty-hungry heart Char
acter," in the artists vocabulary,
stands for what is significant and in
dividual It means the poignant ex-
preston in lines and colors of the inner
life Of the human being. II includes
poetry and sentiment and distinction
OF mind and nature. where these have
found an outward physical manifesto
ton II includes the spirit which IL
lumines the beauty OF feature and form
as the sunlight awakens the glow OF
color in a stained-glass window.
JULES PAGES ON BEAUTY
IN looking for the artists view on the
all-engrossing topic OF beauty, The
Sunday Call sought out man whose
fame Jules Pages, IN addition to his
training as an artist and his oppor-
tunity OF seeing beauty under many
skies. has the advantage OF being
native OF California. After many years
Of life abroad he has returned to wor-
ship At the old shrines. He needed
no urging to talk Of his views on
beauty. but warmed 10 the subject with
the vivacity OF a Frenchman and the
ardor Of a Californian. Almost his
first words were;
What look for is character. often
woman may not be what is usually
known as beautiful but she may have
an expression OF intelligence, of life
and grace that makes her more charm
ing than the woman II classic beauty"
Upon being asked how the women OF
California compared with those OF
other countries, particularly in regard
to the quality which he considered the
chief requisite, pages readily gave
credit to the climate and environment
OF California for bringing out all that
was best in the various types OF people
that came here. He said:
WHAT OUR CLIMATE DOES
california girls are beautiful with
out doubt The aliens who come
here develop and grow taller and more
vigorous. The women gain q splendid
physical development and the climate
gives them a fine complexion. rosy and
fresh. ] am inclined TO believe that
San Francisco, with its sea breezes
and even temperature. is even better
in this respect than other parts OF the
state. Los Angeles has more OF q hot
house climate. which is not so good.
The strongly individual types seen
here are the Italian and the Jewish
the latter retaining much OF the Arabic
In its composition. When these women
- Ho1ffnr-rfo fho~r
under the influence Of the climate. the
free. happy life and the absence o<
hardships. Then. II they retain their
individuality IL makes a striking
beauty That is the kind OF head
that expresses new things at every
turn. fn which the lines actually
seem TO speak TO one.
CHARACTER COUNTS
1T is character that charms us in
the Venus Of Milo. Look at her heavy
features and the nose so broad from
the base. II we should see her coming
down the street we should not think
her beautiful at all, but we should say
what a coarse. heavy thing No. Il IS
the strength in her expression tnat
impresses rs.
1T is seldom that great artists have
painted what are usually called pretty
women. / have seen in Florence paint
ings Of the beauties OF the Renais-
sance. but"-the artist shrugged his
shoulders with gesture that almost
rendered unnecessary the words-"one
very soon got tired of them. There
was no soul in them. On the other
hand, look at Whistler's portrait OF his
mother. Notice the sharp nose. the
thin lips: II is not beauty according to
the regular canons. yet II has charm
that is more than beauty.
y saw Sarah Bernhardt shortly be-
fore she set out on her Australian
tour. and she impressed me as beau
tiful though she was not usually col-
sidered so. You know she was vera
4hin in spite OF that she gave tn
impression Of beauty. IL was her graz
that die t.
Beautiful lines weary one very sooi
II there is nothing in the spirit united