International studio (23.1904)

Sketches by Paul Renouard

dependent, before he can get in touch with
the public, on the goodwill of a very limited
circle of possible patrons; and in France this
circle is certainly more restricted, and probably
even more conservative, than elsewhere. A draughts-
man so excellent as Renouard could always find
work, provided he be willing to subordinate his
own ideas to the prevailing canons of editorial
taste. The case is very different, however, should
he put forward the pretension of imposing his own
taste. This was what Renouard did, and, in con-
sequence, for ten years—a lapse of time easily
spoken of, but which may be long and weary in
the passing—the door of every editorial office in
Paris was systematically shut in his face. The
simple explanation is that he made his appearance
ten years too soon. The editors whom he appealed
to—or, rather, the public which the editors, as
business men, had to cater for—was not yet edu-
cated up to the point of being able to appreciate
what Renouard offered them; there was no demand
for reality pure and unadulterated, and he could
not bring himself to supply anything else. Without
nflinching courage and determination he must
inevitably have succumbed. Fortunately a few
amateurs found their way to his studio who had

sufficient faith in their own judgment as to be
ready to back their opinion by purchasing his
croquis. During the years of trial these occasional
lucky encounters formed absolutely his sole resource.
It was to the late Mr. Thomas, the founder of
the “ Graphic,” a journal which has done so much
to maintain a high standard in black-and-white art,
that Renouard was indebted for his first real chance.
Not only had he here the large audience he required,
but, better than all, he was allowed practically a free
hand, both in the choice of subject and treatment.
He was at liberty to represent men and things as
they actually were, not as they ought to be in an
editor’s opinion. He was not asked to display the
prophetic gift and furnish pictorial representations
of events a week or two before they happened, in
order that an impatient public might be deluded
into the belief that it was thoroughly up-to-date.
Everything Renouard did for the “ Graphic,”
the only English newspaper he has ever worked
for, was as near life as he could make it, a fact
which redounds not more to the honour of the
artist for his steadfastness of purpose than to the
conductors of the paper for their large-minded
liberality and comprehension.
It thus came about that while Renouard became


“IN THE QUARTIER LATIN”

FROM A SKETCH BY PAUL RENOUARD
229