International studio (20.1903)

M. Besnard is at his best in his portrayal of
women. Be they the creatures of his imagination
or portraits of celebrities, there is something in the
nature of the daughter of Eve that appeals to his
fantastic temperament. Of these ^77^
7W1W3.S' and T%77277;<? yzzz* w in the Luxem-
bourg Galleries, are splendid examples of the
charm of his colouring and the boldness of his
touch. The ^77*z'7*^z'z' that brilliant
apparition of the famous actress with the luminous
satin robe that seemed to have become inflated
with the breath of inspiration, is the embodiment
of this painter's art with all its faults and all its
qualities. The rapidly-
gliding movement of the
figure, the slight exaggera-
tion in the reflection of
light upon the shoulders,
the pose, the background,
and the texture of the
dress, are all personal notes
executed with a brio that
comes like a flash of
genius. Of all M.
Besnard's works, decorative
and others, it is perhaps
this portrait of Mme.
Rejane, which has given
rise to so much comment
in the artistic world, that
will immortalise the
painter.
In the Salon of 1899
another mood was upon
him. There were proofs
of a seeking after fresh
paths, merging into the
road trodden by Watteau.
M. Besnard, with his piping
shepherds and his sylvan
glades, has re-become
French. He has thrown
off the early English influ-
ence, and is the son of his
soil ; a Watteau of the
nineteenth century sub-
mitting to the influences
surrounding him, breathing
that taint of vulgarity
that marks the difference
between the great cen-
tury and our own, and
reproducing it in the danc-
PORTRAIT OF MADAME REJANE BY A. P. BESNARD ing nymphs, who, With
88

working the earth, the woman nursing her child.
This is another example of the small account that
so many painters take of the intellectual life. It
has occurred to none, in their search after perfection
and truth, to represent a poet, in the widest
recognition of the term, a painter in words or on
canvas, a musician or a scientist, a man at the
zenith of his mental as well as his physical power.
It is, however, M. Besnard's province to depict the
external colour of life, and the .Ezwzz'zz.g' is more
complete. Leafless trees, a dimly luminous sky,
two old people gazing into space, give an easy
translation of the approach of the end.