The San Francisco call., 1907-03-04

that the strong, rugged life of the
plain people appeals to the artist most
keenly. Society bellies have ne place In
his studio.
One of the most striking pictures IN
the exhibition is called The Old Fran
coise" 1T is an cid peasant woman sit
ting In her chair before the fire In an
attitude that reminds one of the pic
ture of Whistler's mother. The senti-
ment OF the picture, however, is as diff
ferent from that of Whistlers as the
plain peasant woman, with her short
dark blue dress Of coarse country
weave, her heavy shoes and gray
weelen stockings is removed from the
gentle dame that has come to symbolic
all motherhood. Instead of the peace
of full. rich life nearing its close
there is the rest which is only cessa-
tion from a lifetime of dull grind. only
an emptiness after the labor of life Is
over. The tragedy of old age" might
have been the names of the picture, II
tragedy is found as much in the dull,
slavish routine of a life spent In sup
plying the primevaf wants Of human
beings as in the keen, sharp anguish
of hour. The aged look Is not only
in the wrinkled face but In the straight
lines of the wrists and the workworn
hands resting idly in her lap. The
story is one which he who runs may
read. The woman OF the picture is
alone, her husband probably dead, the
children for whom she has toiled as
long as she had the strength are scat
tered all over the world, and II is moro
than likely that they do not write to
her, or IL they DO she cannot answer
the letters without calling in the help
of some younger neighbor. She is for
saken by every one but the cat ana
in truth the cat does not care much for
her, for it is devoting all its attention
to bowl OF milk on the floor Yet
there is the dignity of work we'll done
and rest well earned in the tired old
figure. The artists seeing eye and the
eloquence OF his crush have lifted the
scene from commonness and made It
appeal to us with the force OF common
human Fellowship.
Preparing the Soup" is a picture Of
an old woman of Normandy breaking
up fagots preparatory to lighting her
fire. In The Old FRANCHISE" the fig
ure is the picture. and the back
ground is kept subdued while Pre-
pairing the Soup is mainly an interior
the figure OF the old woman, though
done with sympathetic strokes, being
only the center of the interior. which
is an extremely clever representation
OF Norman peasants hut. 1t is done
realistically and yet with a loving
touch. No detail is neglected. and for
pure intellectual enjoyment of the tech
nique Of the painter il Is fascinating
study. The straight lines Of the wall
and the fireplace on one side give
strength and directness, while the up-
per line is broken by the rafters and
the posts of the bed The shelf above
the fireplace breaks the monotony Of
the wall. Above the shelf are three
pictures, one family picture, one
m a n fI,s-
Napoleon, humorously suggestive Of the
divided allegiance of the French peas
ants. There is the oven, where the big
round loaves of black bread are baked.
the glass standing near the old wo-
mans bed, her shawl thrown oyer the
back of chair. the crucifix and a bit
or palm from the celebration of Palm
Sunday, all necessary to the intimate
glimpse of the life of the OCCUPANT
The central note of color is in the red
brown of the bedstead, toning into the
red or the cover, the wooden frame Of
the fireplace and the bricks beneath.
the highest note being that of the
copper vessel rejecting the light.
Very different but equally pulsating
with the artists love of the simple
natural things of the life Of plain peo
pie are two pictures of children on the
Brittany sands In speaking of how
ne got them to pose so naturally Pages
said that the question of painting had
not been broached at all. He had
played marbles with the children. and
presently they composed themselves"
just as he wanted them. They were
such real children, their little sims OF
dresses sinking starchless about bare
legs, blown about by every breath of
air. The children seem to have been
caught In motion almost, there is such
freshness and absolute freedom from
pose In their attitude. They are paint
ed with bold rapid strokes and with an
absence of detail due to the binding
sun. The light and movement of these
TWO pictures alone would stamp the
painter as great artist Another ex-
ample of Pages genius for painting
ilght is group of Brittany cottages in
the last rays of the sun.
jolly would be the word TO annIv 70
the three scenes from Brittany peasant
gardens with their cabbages and holly
hooks and their plastered walls OF ir-
regular stones. There is no attempt at
idealizing, but they have homeIv
charm which cannot be expressed ax.
cept by the undignified word above
quoted
number of scenes from Venice are
painted in oils by peculiar process
which gives them the force and trans
parency of water colors while retaining
the ueptn ana glow or oils. Venice has
been painted so much that Pages has
felt 1t necessary to go out of his wav to
get some new scenes not in the book or
views" He treats them in his own
characteristic brilliant style the stron g
sunlight scenes predominating.- good
example is that Of the Canal de yesti
the walls bright with reds and yellows.
The water is more like real water than
one often sees in paintings. It has such
body, such wetness, such Iimpidity. The
high lights are so sparkling and the
shadows so black and cool There NAV
not be so much sentiment and poetry In
Pages pictures from Venice as the won
derful city offers an opportunity for.
but there is such brilliance, such
beauty OF line and color, such light on
land and water that it would be ungra-
cious to quarrel with the artist for not
giving US something else than what he
has done so superlatively we'll
An attempt has been made to mention
some of the principal groups of pic
lures. Tt would be impossible to dis
cuss each one in collection where
every picture has a complete and inter-
.esting individuality of it's own A large
canvas showing a gypsy girl has been
exhibited in the Salon In spite of the
great beauty of the head and the ex-
Il.