The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-04-19
WICHITA BILL COMES
TO THE FRONT AGAIN
John Noble of Kansas. Has
Crcditable Paintings in
Paris Salon.

PARIS. April a.---Wlchita Bill has ar
rived again. Critics who have had glimpse
OF the salon dc In Societe Rationale
DIES Beaux Arts which has its vernlssage
Sunday. say that two paintings by John
Noble. formerly Of southwestc I Kansas.
are among the most cred table In the
great exhibition. There have been few
more striking romances in the romantic
life OF the Quarter Latin than that In
which TIL. man has been the central
figure.
When Noble came here fifteen years
ago. with sombrero "A yard vide hair
that reached To his Shoulders vest OF
rattlesnare skins and the choicest collec-
ton OF early day frontier vernacular ever
Transported - France. the name John
Noble was REGARDED as "A distinctly dis
cordant note So he was dubbed wichita
Bill.
IL was n day long to b remembers, d
when he first reached Paris. Started
Frenchmen saw him mount horse and
ride calamity through the door and up
to the bar Of Boulevard Montpur-
nasse brasserie, a la Dodge city. one OF
his first homes in Paris was LA Ruche--
the becnive--a vast building near the
southern Qualifications. which Albert
lsOurnei, Inc sculptor. l'lli'u obEllNi
as a roomng house for artists nd models
on amazingly liberal terms. Almost every
nationality was represented there and the
confusion of tongues gain d for u the
name Tower of Babel. Also the atn1os-
phere -? the place breathcd the last wori
In bohem!anism In those days Noble
occasionally sent "A picture TO independent
exhibitions, but his ambition never SCARED
very high.
In the spring Of 1909 Wichita Bill dis
/ appeared from the old haunts. For weeks
the quarter wondered and the wonder
only increased when he reappcared with \
pretty little German girl whom he had
met In Strassburg and who had becom,
Mrs. Noble. That was his second arrival
! From that day Bill was n changed man
! lie formed the habit of visiting IA bar
| her shop now and then. substituted Il
! more conventional waistcoat for the rat
| tlrsnakc skin and tempered somewhat his
| manner of speech. He even asked some
| of his friends to forget the Wichita Bill
! the only name by which most of them has
ever known hlm-and call him John
! Noble,
simultaneously. Noble landed as a.
! artist For four years now his Offering
! have been accepted regularly by the jury
! of the new Salon. the most eNcluSi u
of the Paris exhibitions, and they have
| never failed to win the praise az th'
! critics. AS painter he gives allegiance
| to the so-called new school and his paint
/ ings. like his personality are breezy, hol'
| and differeAt.
! "ro really paint n man must put hi
soul into his works." Noble explains. "lI'
| must paint from the heart rather than
| according to mathematical rules, If III
best works were thoS" which portray 20
| the object painted with the greatest ne
curacy, the photographer would h" tn
real master aud the movie show the mos
| celebrated museum"
Noble, despite his rehabilitation ana "a
fact that h. IL now recognized. clings .
many Of the old memories and fancir
aud mann"risms. lie continues 10 glor
IN his Bohemianiam. refined and r"touch"
ana altered as it Is. "a Bohemian" h
says. "is born, not made. lived til
strenuous liz" in the early days ON the o.
Sante Fe trail and it suits mo better tina
any other