The Washington times., 1922-09-10

were not all men artists. by any
means, for the women painters Of
Paris are equally quick, perhaps
even more 30. to grasp at a new
idea. and many brilliant ladies'
came to seek the privilege Of ex-
hibiting their work in Washington
next winter. One of the most
famous was Mime. de Montchenu
Lavirotte, "artiste peintre" Of the
first order, q marvellous portrait
list. Her pictures at once con-
vinced F'lambeau Of her rare gen.
ius. for in general he has the
old.fashion idea that men win al
ways paint better than women.
but Nine. de Monchenu Lavirotte
is a grand exception. and he can
heartily recommend her portraits.
One which he begged from her
to send home was Of q beautiful
young French demoiselle. Mile.
syman.- seated. gowned most SIM
ply but so well painted. with her
velvet toqae. necklace Of beads,
and white fichu. 30 gracefully
posed. and with such q pleasing
smile on her charming face, that
It would well be worth crossing
tho ocean to find a portrait painter
who could produce this effect.
PROBLEM OF EXPENSES.
Flambeau 10 very hopeful that
madame the artist will be able TO
vidt America next winter. but
the problem Of expenses Is q seri.
Gus one. Should Americans wish
to find her in Paris. her address
Is No. 8. Square Rapp.
One Of the heartrending things
about the visit Of the artists. who
came en- masse to Flambeau's
hotel. was to observe how many
had served at the front during
the war, and bravely, too, for they
bore serious wounds. OF which they
never spoke, and yet the evidence
Of their bravery was eloquent. The
wounds were by no means obvious,
but only guessed from q slight
limp, or q faint scar. perhaps, and
one artist. painter. even had
the misfortune to lose tho sight
of one eye, not at all to be detected
today, but of course to an artist
an almost tragic loss, though
fortunately only one was injured.
The requests to Flambeau to
purchase art objects. or to obtain
commissions, perhaps for copies Of
famous works in the Louvre or
Luxembourg, such as the Mona
Lisa" were also touching. and
Flambeau was obliged to explain
that he was himself only a poor
writer, American. but not rich,
poor like themselves, and that
though he loved art and the artists
more than all else, he could not
enrich them except by his pen.
They were sympathetic, indeed.
and as most Of them spoke no
English at all. he had a grand
time explaining in French his
mission, and then they explained
IL further one to another in
French, and 30 interested were
they In Flambeau's letters Of In
PRODUCTION, one from The Wash
ington Times in particular, and
another from "The Art and
Archaeology League" Of WASH
ington, that some artist by mis-
take ran away with the letters.
and Flambeau had to proceed on
his way without them. though
later on In Brussels he received
back the art league letter, and he
is expecting to get The Times
letter again in Prague, having at
length recalled who took 1t. and
written the gentleman where to
find Il.
REGRETTED MISTAKE.
This little mistake on their part
was seriously regretted by the
artists, though It was q very
natural one, as they supposed
Fiambeau was offering them
merely q duplicate copy Of his
precious letters.
One OF the best Of the modern