The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-11

tthSS, tiSh ptSha thNh WIN
figure, to represent Fernand, through
whom alone they acquired value.
Fernand attended Barrias's studio, con-
filming himself entirely to drawing, until
the day came when Barrias, having
nothing more to teach him, sent him
to Cabanel. In 1873 he competed for
"a PriX de Rome, among his competitors
being Morot, Chartran and BaStien Le-
page. Hardly had he begun work in one
of the cell like rooms in which the Prix
de Rome competitors are locked up.
each separately, to produce their best
work on a given subject, when he was
disturbed by q knock at the door and
a summons to so before the fine arts
commissioners. 1t seems that an an
onymous letter charged him with being
| a Spaniard. and so not qualified to COM
pete. After giving proofs that he was
II French citizen Fernand returned to
finish his picture, but this interruption
unsettled him and another artist won.
He was offered a second prize, but
| Cabancl persuaded him to refuse 1t SO
as 10 be able to Try for IA first the next
year.
An attempt to win a Salon prize was
| another disappointment as he achieved
only a third class medal. Raymond his
elder brother. got work in u business
| house to enable Fernand to continue
| painting. Then the father died. The
pawning of one of Fernand's medals
| and the sale Of pictures to second
hand dealer paid the funeral expenses
| and the most pressing debts.
| Then came the struggle for a living
and recognition His Murder of the
| Emperor Commodus." now in the Beziers
Museum, won him "A second class medal
| N 1879 and the offer of a travelling
scholarship from the Ministry of Fine
| Arts. But Pelez, though eager 10 travel
was unwilling to bind himself TO follow
the academic paths and principles OF
the School of Fine Arts. He had al
ready chosen his way in life and his
next picture was the 'Irreconcilables."
| Thenceforth he would paint nothing
| but the misery of life.
Until his time" writes Josephin Pela-
dan in the catalogue of the posthumous
exhibition. "beggars had been painted
with sweeping brush. for their pic
turesque or humorous effect. He set
| TO work on a far higher plane above
| such cheap cleverness.
| He knew or OWNED that as he stroked
with a brush that left no trace some
| sad little head, he accentuated the moral
| relief of that suffering by the infinite
care of his execution. Pelez finished
in the strict sense of this word, which
is unknown to our epoch of powerless-
| ness. And it is not enough 10 praise his
| drawing for its flawless purity of line;
his color. all his own. must be admired.
color that he has given to the poor lives
in which he has reproduced the very
| reflection of death.
| Strange artist who chose such
| 1t
exhausted, died as they posed Scru-
pulous artist! Whose first objects Of
admiration We're the Parthenon marbles,
Leonardo and Rembrandt whose favor
lite reading was Lamartine. Mussct and
Balzac and whose friend was puvis de
Chayannes.
"Pelez would have reused men Of the
Middle Ages, he stirred even the Mont
martrc set, In calling him the painter
ot tramps, outcasts, the unfortunate.
the world does not rightly christcn him.
He was a mystic, he bestowed on beg
garS III" purost, finest pictorial cNccu-
ton that dreams can conceive. His
brush has wiped tears Of unjust sorrow
from the face of the unhappy and he
deserves the iilustrious title Of painter
in ordinary To his sole Christian Majesty
Misery"
iclcH was Hdiilcu cHeNdIleT OF tne
Legion of Honor in 1891 and officer in
1910. He was a member of the Society
of French Artists ,the old SALON. and
later member of the jury and Of the
committee,
The Municipal Council of Paris has
before 1t a proposition offered by NJ.
Lampue to acquire four pictures by
Pelez namely. Homeless. or the out
casts; Martyrdom, or the Violet Sell
ler"; "A Nest of Misery" and "Grins
and Misery. or the Mountebanks," at a
cost Of $4,000