Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-02-26
By RICHARD HIRsCH


Court art and royal acad-
emies have come to suggest
pompous boredom to the
people Of our time. Even
those Of us with the most
conservative tastes have been
brought, somehow, to believe
that art can only flourish in
total anarchy. For q century
or so our artists have de.
manded their freedom" in
Sisting that unless they were
encouraged in absolute ire
sponsibility their creative
ness would wither and die.
Whether we like or disap-
prove Of the artists who
scream these slogans it is
surprising to note that these
claims are. now, generally
and universally, accepted.
We have been successfully
brainwashed.
An exhibition which re-
flutes the art-for-anarchy's
sake philosophy Is currently
startling q significant seq.
ment Of our museum public.
The revelation has been pro-
vided by the collection Of
French 18th century art en-
titled 1.-THE Splendid Cen
tury." It has been visited by
huge crowds at The National
Gallery Of Art here and at
the Toledo Museum Of Art.
New Workers and tourists win
see it early March at the
Metropolitan. One must re-
gret that 'HThe Splendid Cen
tury" will not reach an even
greater audience. coast to
coast. One consolation Is that
our art periodicals have taken
considerable note Of the
event and have thus broad
ened Its public.
The Sum King
The Splendid Century Of
France lasted lis years, clos
ing only with the death Of
Louis XIV. He 1t was, the
Sun King, who gave the CEN
fury its grandeur, encour-
aged its arts as no one had
before him, set its goals and,
by his wisdom and his fol-
lies, made 1t unique in the
history Of Western man.
In that century French
became the great interna-
tional language, when only
Latin had served the pur-
pose before. French writing
and French thought set new
standards Of clarity, elo-
quence and reason within
and without the borders
which Louis XIV expanded and
stabilized. Academies were
established. to purify the
language from medieval OBJ
security, to find rules for the
arts, to encourage the SCI
enceS.
The Kings Painter
lie Brun, the Kings
painter, dominated the arts,
dictated a new style. He or
ganized the craftsmen Of
France into royal manufacA
tories, armies, regiments,
battalions, whose produc-
ton, under his influence, was
colossal, from tapestries to
doorknobs and from book
titles to palace ceilings. lie
Bruins creativeness was stag
gering: his gift Of organiza-
ton was practically infall-
ihle.
Louis XIV remembered the
terrors Of his youth when his
widowed mother, Marie de
Medicis, had had to smuggle
him out Of Paris because the
mobiles of the realm were
waging q civil war. He never
gave them such a chance
again. He bound them with
gilded chains to the court
where rumor and whispers
made major intrigue and con-
spiracy virtually impossible.
AS q result, the Splendid
Century is that of the COM
moner, whom Louis XIV I'M
derstood, admired, encour-
aged. His prime minister,
Colbert, doing the work Of
ten ministers, was the son Of
q cloth merchant and his
closest friend. The King
loved the common sense Of
his commoners and they
thrived upon his approval.
The Splendid Century upon
which he left his regal stamp
= made us heirs to the great
plays Of Moliere. Racine and
Corneille, to the philosophy
Of that honorary Missourian,
Descartes, who encouraged
belief only If its grounds
could be proved, and to the
mathematics and religious
fervor Of Pascal.
Arts Of "The Century"
In the arts the splen.
did Century, paradoxically,
~