DOI Heft:
No. 53 (July, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Mourey, Gabriel: The work of Jean-François Raffaëlli
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22775#0018
THE STUDIO
HE WORK OF JEAN-FRANCOIS
RAFFAELLI. BY GABRIEL
MOUREY.
M. Jean-Francois Raffaelli holds an ex-
ceptional place in French art. While his early
comrades—Degas, Claude Monet, Renoir, Pissarro,
for example, those with
whom, about the year 1880,
he fought the good fight for
individualism as against the
“ School,” for truth against
convention, in a word, for
light against darkness—
while these, I say, remain,
so to speak, the pariahs
of art, generally discounten-
anced, despite the admira-
tion of the true artist and
the true connoisseur —
despite, too, the prices
“ fetched ” by their works
on the market and in the
public sales, Raffaelli has
contrived to win his
position, has acquired
substantial foothold among
the public, and has even
gained recognition in official
circles. This, I hasten to
proclaim, he has achieved
without concession of any
sort, without the smallest
desire to flatter the taste
of the masses, without
in the slightest degree
sacrificing his artistic con-
victions ; and the case is
so rare as to deserve
recording. M. Raffaelli has
fulfilled, and more than
fulfilled, the early promise
he displayed; a strict
sense of the logical and
a powerful will have
been ever present in the
XIV. No. 53.—July, 1901.
development of his personality. Always keenly
critical with regard to himself, he has had the good
fortune to discover the exact extent of his natural
gifts, and thus has been able to march straight
towards that goal which his temperament—his par-
ticular sentiment—permitted him to reach, thereby
revealing a prescience seldom seen in the artists.
JEAN-FRANCOIS RAFFAELLI
(From a Photograph by the F. Gutekunst Co., Philadelphia, U.S.A.)
3
HE WORK OF JEAN-FRANCOIS
RAFFAELLI. BY GABRIEL
MOUREY.
M. Jean-Francois Raffaelli holds an ex-
ceptional place in French art. While his early
comrades—Degas, Claude Monet, Renoir, Pissarro,
for example, those with
whom, about the year 1880,
he fought the good fight for
individualism as against the
“ School,” for truth against
convention, in a word, for
light against darkness—
while these, I say, remain,
so to speak, the pariahs
of art, generally discounten-
anced, despite the admira-
tion of the true artist and
the true connoisseur —
despite, too, the prices
“ fetched ” by their works
on the market and in the
public sales, Raffaelli has
contrived to win his
position, has acquired
substantial foothold among
the public, and has even
gained recognition in official
circles. This, I hasten to
proclaim, he has achieved
without concession of any
sort, without the smallest
desire to flatter the taste
of the masses, without
in the slightest degree
sacrificing his artistic con-
victions ; and the case is
so rare as to deserve
recording. M. Raffaelli has
fulfilled, and more than
fulfilled, the early promise
he displayed; a strict
sense of the logical and
a powerful will have
been ever present in the
XIV. No. 53.—July, 1901.
development of his personality. Always keenly
critical with regard to himself, he has had the good
fortune to discover the exact extent of his natural
gifts, and thus has been able to march straight
towards that goal which his temperament—his par-
ticular sentiment—permitted him to reach, thereby
revealing a prescience seldom seen in the artists.
JEAN-FRANCOIS RAFFAELLI
(From a Photograph by the F. Gutekunst Co., Philadelphia, U.S.A.)
3