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

THE futurists Of Paris and viennt
are in high good humor. The,
1 consider that their baltic |.
already practically won, and II
very truth II seems as though this wer,
The case. Tout Paris''--that IL to ga,
The real Tout Paris"--is dancing gayl,
Town the path covered with strang,
flowers which has been laid out by the
nltra-modernists in the world OF art.
L spoke in several of my recer,
articles of Il revolution which IL taking
place In the artistic circles of Paris
This revolution Is n subtle one: never.
theless IL may have a serious cflec;
Upon social life. Ii is the revolt OF ambl.
tious spirits against that which is
merely pretty and poetic in the ordinary
sense Of those words. 1t is in short u
evolt against conventional prettiness
But the danger which lies in the path
vt these futurists and modernist- is that
they seem to wish to replace conven-
tiOnal prettlness by equally conventional
ecccntricity. a very famous man once
said: 'L'orlginalite vuulue devient une
convention" and this is absolutely true.
IL you start out with the intention Of
being original or eccentric you become
at once merely conventional, but IL what
IS called eccentricity follows In the train
Of genuine discovery IN the realms OF
art 1t Is not only permissible but also
admirable.
AT the present moment we arc stsud-
ing on the threshold We are not salts
fed with the old order OF things; We
have not quite made up our minds to
have full confidence in the new. We
are in spirit saying II wonder"
Personally mud myself repeating
those words, 81 wonder" WIN the
Leon Bakst school prevail? And how
long will it take us 10 realize the inner
meaning of modern Russian artc one
thing Is certain and II is this: We are
in for IA period Of unrest and of inten-
tional ugiiness. We are even In for a
season OF vehement eccentricity.
Some eclectic parlsiennes are begin
ming to say. with the famous Nijinsky,
that mere prcttiness displeases them.
They are calling aloud for new senaa-
lions: they will have nothing TO do with
things, or people. that are ordinary. All
mis- vcrges upon the hateful "original,te
vouluc." Well. We must wait and watch.
\ good dea, Of change AMI excitement
viii be crowded into the year 1914; that
It least is certain.
| have sketChed this weel; n costume
""orr at charity fete which was given
iust before Christmas IN Paris II was
an immensely successful function and
"ttendcd 10y lovely women OF many diff
:erent nations. !: was Yet" tie mutt,
G.ven in the splendid winter gardens
S'hich are attached TO She beautiful
home of one OF the leading women in
Partisan society. All sorts OF lovely
."stumes We're worn. hut the gown
shown in my sketch had sensational
success.
II YVES futurist in tho hes. sense. The
woman who exploited this costume was
IN Austrian countess. who was dis
tant!y related TO the late Empress E!iz-
beth. She is very tall and stately.
with wonderfully white skin and large
lark eyes. Her costume was entirely
,arried out IN the subtle shades Of blue.
The trellis on the corsage was done
IN curious enamels and turquoiSes: here
and there facets OF antique paste
cleaned softly. The draped skirt vas
made of a wonderful material which
had been copied from some old Egyp-
tan stuffs at the Museum du Louvre.
The draperies were arranged to give
mummy effect and they fell back in