The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-07-24

orations for the anphitheatre Of the sor'
bonnie. the decorations at Rouen. 'lnte'
Artss ct Naturam': at Lyons. Tho Sacred
Wood vision Antique The Rhone.
The SAone'; the decorations &C Amicns
War Peace" Rest Labor Ave
Pioardia Nutrix.' and two smaller gri-
saillss. Vigilance and Fancy; at Mar
settles the "Marssllles. Porte d'orient
and -MArssilles. the Greek Colony" &C.;
the decorations for the Boston Library.
and his easel picture The Poor Fisher
man now in tho Luxembourg. OF
this latter the painter explained that
no had found the model In q wretchedly
poor fisherman &C the estuary Of the Seine;
the young girl Ia a sister and the landscape
IL from the surroundings. though. a. n the
case With all OF Puvis. greatly gcneralixed.
The above 10 but q slender list; PRO
PatnA Ludus.' az Amisns. and Tho Re-
heading OF Sc. John the Baptist All his
frescos are applied canvases. He didn't
worry much over antique methods. nor
can IL be said his work In an attempt 20
rehabihtate the Italian Primitivcs. On
the contrary Puvis Ia distinctly modern.
and that In his chief offence In the eyes OF
official French art. while the fact that his
-modernity' was transposed 70 decorative
purposes and appeared in % strange q
guise Just az some recalcitrant critics
refuse TO recognize In certain compositions
Of johannes Brahms the temperamsntal
Romanticl made the younger men eye him
suspiciously. Thus In the estimation Of
the rival camps Puvis fell between two
stools.
H. b.. IL La L..
loo Ghirlandajo. but this attribution rings
more literary than literal. Mr.. Browpell
with his accustomed sense Of critical
values has 20 our notion definitely
summed up the question: His clAssicism
10 absolutely unAcademic. his romAnticism
unreal beyond the verge Of mysticism
and 80 preocoupiei with visions that he
may almost be called man for whom the
actual world does not exist-in the con-
verse OF Gautier's phrase. His distine-
ton IL wholly personal. He lives evil
IDENTIFY on q high plane. dwells hAbitualiy
In the deleotAble highlands OF the intel
lect. The fact that his work Is almost
wholly decorative IL not at all accidental.
His talent. his genius, II one chooses re-
quires large spaces, vast dimensions.
There has been q good deal OF profitless
discussion as 70 whether bs expressly imi-
tates the Primitivea or reproduces them
sympathetically; but really he does ned
ther. he deals with their subjects OCCASION
ally. but always in q completely modern
A. well as q thoroughly personal way.
His color il a. original a. his general
treatment and composition
His men and women are not precisely
pagan nor Biblical. They reveal traits
Of both. strained through q drastic mod
ern intsllect. They are not distractions;
tho men are virile. the women maternal
There 10 the spirit OF humanity, not Of
anemia or decadenos Puvis. like Mo-
reau. did not turn his back to the rising
sun. He admired Degas, Manet, Monet;
he patterned at first after his friend
ChAsseriau. q great and too little known
painter. once q mural decorator before
hs became mad over Oriental themes
The Lonten Landscapes Of Puvis are not
nero scenic background but are integral
parts Of the general decorative web, and
they are not conceived In q No Mans Land
but selected from the vicinity OF PARIS
He h by no means q virtuoso His pans
10 usually Andante. but he knows how to
evoke a mood. summon up the solemn
music OF mural spaces. His u a theme
with variations; the wall or ceiling ID
ever the thsme. His Grabbed higues
soon melt into the larger austere music
Of the wall His choral walls are true
epopees. He is . master harmonist.
He sounds oftener the symphonic than
the lyric note. (-Music.- says MAuolAir.
is the synthesis Of the rhythms OF all
arts He gains his moving effects
without setting in notion the creakins
allegorica machinery Of the Academy.
He shows the simple attitudes Of life
transhgured without rhetoric. He avoids
fTigid allegory. vet employs symbols
His tonal attenuations. his elliptical and
syncopated rhythms. his atmosphere of
the remote and the mysterious these
cover walls and give the spectator
the sense Of serenity, monetary freedom
from the feverishness OF everyday life.
and suggest the lofty wisdom Of the clAs-
sio poets. But the serpent Of futile mel
Ancholy and Of the brief cadence OF NOR
tai dreams, Of the perishing. vanishing
seconds that defle. has stolen into this
garden Of the Hesperidos. Puvis not more
than 0ustAve MoreAu could escape the
inquietude OF his age. He is often Paris
ian and pessimist.
ne lnADiity OF MS contemporaries 10 un-
derstand his profound decorative genl,is.
his tact in the handling Of light problems
the key 10 always higher because Of
the different or softer light Of public
buildings and the gloom Of churches
and his feeling for the wall as wall. a fat
space. not to he confounded with the art
that would make the picture like an open
window in the wall. but based on the
fatness Of the material and tho aerial
magic Of his spacinE-sorely troubled
him for half a century. Doubtless II
was his refusal 20 visit Boston and study
the architectural conditions Of the Public
Library there that resulted ia the hangfirs
OF his decorations. though several are Of
an exalted order One at least was a
spring board for the decorative genius Of
Besnard. as may be noted in his frescoes
on the ceiling at the Hotel de Vile, Paris
That Puvis de Chavannes was not an I'M
feeling Bonze Of art but a man Of warm
affections was proved after the death Of
his much loved Princess Marie Canta-
cuzene. Two months later sorrow over