International studio (24.1904/1905(1905))

Fantin-Latour

sirens ; there is Siegfried and the Rhine Maidens
(1886), the meeting of the heedless hero with the
sprightly water-nymphs before the dark hour of the
tragical denouement, a mute dialogue which at the
time of the last Centennial Exhibition in 1900
accompanied the grand and touching scene of
EAnniversaire (1884), where the feminine creations
of Berlioz come to pay homage at their author’s
tomb—a poetical idea which touches us the more
after having so recently celebrated the centenary
of France’s great musician. And then there is
the tender duet of Beatrice et Benedict (1888), a
nocturne in the depths of an old park, dimly
illumined by obscure twilight reflections from a
fountain. Berlioz and Wagner, those two hostile
brothers, are reconciled by the sympathy of a
master of the pencil.
That inward music spoken of by one of
Shakespeare’s heroines, which every man carries
in himself, breathes in like
manner from many other
allegories. Micsique et Poesie
(1894), L’Aurore et la Nuit
(1887), Un Jugement de
Paris (1890), Une Evoca-
tion (1892), Ondine {1896)
—a nymph whose rosy nud-
ity is caressed by the blue-
green wave, and who is
more of an enchantress
than the Germanised fancy
of the Baron de la Motte-
Fouque could ever have
imagined—are all of them
pastels which attest the
originality of a beautiful
dream, and confirm us in
our admiration for one of
the masters of our own time.
Dwelling apart, afar from
mere ephemeral fashion,
counselled only by his
great initiators, Schumann
and Prud’hon, M. Fantin-
Latour contrived to endow
with new life the familiar
attributes of the ancient
allegories; the soul of a
poet animates his forms,
rhythmic vapours enshroud
them; his scenes are set
in romantic landscapes;
motes dance in the sun-
beams ; and [his figures,

nobly draped, move easily in their atmosphere.
Finally, an Etude dated 1882, and as an exception
almost a portrait, might be entitled EEventail
Rouge and be given as a musical commentary on these
lines of Victor Hugo, the painter’s favourite poet:—
“ Voyez-vous, un parfum eveille la pensee.
Repliez, belle enfant par l’aube caressee,
Cet eventail aile, pourpre, or et vermilion,
Qui tremble dans vos mains comme un grand papillon.'’
This simple study, the sweet meditation of a fair
young woman in a white evening dress, is the best
pastel of the painter who made music visible. His
very method of vibrant cross-hatching does in fact
express the melody of the lines; and he reveals
himself a musician by his mastery of nuances.
Nowadays, when painting aspires to become musical,
M. Fantin-Latour appears the herald of a new
technique. But to speak fittingly of pastel as
wielded by a poet it would be necessary, following


“ L’ANNIVERSAIRE DE BERLIOZ” FROM THE PASTEL BY FANTIN-LATOUR
(By permission of M. Esnaull-rellerie)

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