The sun., 1919-03-30

enemy trenches. killing two or three
Boches before the signal of alarm got
sounded and then making their way
back under fire but In safety to their
trenches. A Southern soldier, a mere
boy. told of the first and only charge
In which he participated. lie said his
company could scarcely wait for the
command to attack When It came
they piled out of their trenches,
whooping. yelling. whistling, the off,
GERS laughing, and my young man
added enthusiastically. at beat any
rabbit hunt ever saw"
Troubled somewhat by these unor-
tlodoX methods Of warfare. men
toned them to French friend Cap
tain In tank division, who got back
one night, covered with mud from the
front, and said."I was afraid our boys
were imprudent." He replied, That's
what We need. We've got to be i'm
prudent to win this war"
So as the two countries seem to have
an instinct for each other. any envoy
that the French might send here could
count upon a welcome. but when the
envoy happens to be a distinguished
painter, one who was blinded in battle,
one who was a hero among many, one
who gave up a certain career for his
country's service, then it is all the
more fine that the two countries should
have been so united. as it gives us a
claim of our own upon Lemordant.
We can and We have as promptly
adopted him as the French did our
soldiers. He has been here only few
days, but he has been honored already
by Yale, the artists of New York have
given him a dinner and all New York
will go to see his work.
The exhibition fills three galleries,
with drawings from models and color
schemes for decorations in both oil and
water color. 1t proves that NJ. Lemon
dant has a robust talent with much in
it that Is essentially and typically
French. He draws straightfofwardly
and commandingly after the tradition
of the Beauy Arts. 1t might give an
idea OF the style to those who will not
see the exhibition to say that 1t has
certain qualities of draught smanship
In common with that OF I.uCien Simon
In color NJ. Lemordant is strong He
Is Breton, and the atmosphere Of
Brittany with its brilliant blues is re-
| Elected in his palette.
There are SO many studies of work
men in the collection that one might
jump to the conclusion that Lemon
dant had chosen Work" a. his theme
"a la Meunier-but this is scarcely a
| fair conclusion. since the artist is still
! young. and not even he himself may
say how his career would have sha pod
His chief commissions before the war
| had been the decorations for the the
atre at Rennes and for the Fisheries
and Oyster Breeding Syndicate Of
France. For the theatre ceiling he did
one OF the most joyous scenes that
Brittany presents, a long string OF
/ peasants dancing on the green OF a
fete day. For the syndicate his sub
ject was The Sea- and il lead him
into studies of all the activities of the
| fishermen.
The drawings will give great pleas
ure-they are so direct--to students
and. it is to be hoped. TO collectors.
Lemordant studied art apparently in
the traditional manner. but he was not
one to be swamped by tradition He
used his acquired method sponta-
neously and in a quite personal way
uhh thSit van NC ilo u'upl tudi de tlIIlt
went on the BeauN Arts element in his
work would soften and diminish and
, the personality would develop. She
sound workmanship that is every
| where in evidence ought to have an
invigorating effect here. especially
among our young people. who are in
clined to shirl the work that leads to
| understanding.
! The catalogue has been sumptuously
turned out and contains graphic ac-
| counts not only OF Lemordants ex-
ploits in war but in peace from several
! sources. Gustave Geffroy, director Of
the GobeIins, in these words tells Of
the tragedy that happened TO the ar
! tist:
He volunteers, changing territorial
| for active service. the artist giving
place TO the soldier with the same ar
dent spirit which manifests itself
speeding toward the battlefield and
| victory: toward defeat also. toward
death. and. worse still, toward mar
| tyrdom.
"Lemordant joins those armies
| which struggle at Charleroi trying to
| arrest the progress of the barbarian in
vaders of Belgium who want to over
run and subjugate France. He is
wounded seriously enough to be re-
novel to a base hospital; yet he re-.
| fuses to leave the field: he has his
wound dressed temporarily and later
Is promoted to a lieutenancy on the
battlefield. He drops back with the
army in its strategic retreat and takes
part in the battle of the Marine.
Wounded afresh. he again refuses to
leave the lines. He IL with the troops
that pursue the enemy, taking part in
the battles Of Champagne. His third
wound strengthens his will to accom-
! plish what he considers his moral
duty.
I'VE find him again in Artois, |
wounded anew but still az his post. !
This vine. after his thighs and back |
have been pieced by fragments of shell, !
his right arm struck and almost use
less, he is hit again in the leg, his knee
| Is penetrated from side to side and the |
| joint stiffened. When he takes part |
| before Arras in the assault upon the |
German trenches, he Is obliged, in or
| Ger to be able to walk, to have his leg
! held by bayonet scabbards, as one ties
! the broken branch of a tree, and It is
! In this condition that with his company
he takes the German trenches and ma
chine gun posts. Then, at the mo-
ment OF firing upon the commanding