International studio (31.1907)

A man-jeans Pastels

tone, of line and gradation, wherein a tempered
radiance vibrates beneath the general effect of
softness, and the inttnsity of some incarnadine or
lemon-yellow note is brought into accord with the
whole. Bold cross-hatchings are used in modelling
the forms, and they show the workmanship of a
draughtsman who admires the masterly classicism
of a Latour too much to attempt to emulate his
dexterous finish. Gone are the days of long and
patient labour! But these harmonies without a
definite theme speak to the eye; they are no dead
letter, and they are instinct with spiritual life.
Here are heads, women’s faces, souls which
shine through the flesh, beauties of contemporary
life, not always pretty, but constantly expressive
and self-revealing. Here are souls and soul-stales,
where individual character is shown up in a
lightning-flash of expression which gives it full
value—like an interesting landscape illuminated by
some special light. A woman’s smile, for the

artistic sense but a noble enchantment, becomes a
mystery, appears a riddle ; and as the painter is a
psychologist he discreetly emphasises the salient
feature, he insists upon it. He confesses his
psychological preferences without hesitation; in
his eyes “ L’expression vaut mieux que le regard.”
The most chastened form is nothing without the
inward soul. Is he not a poet who defined grace
as more beautiful even than beauty ?
Hence we have these delicate portraits or little
dreams, these young women half seen or dimly
suggested amid the simple or sumptuous setting
of their own boudoirs or of some old French park,
showing the artist’s aristocratic regret for past
times. The eye of the pastellist does not disdain
detail that is both suggestive and decorative: a
rose-coloured scarf floats carelessly across a sea-
green bench in the style of Louis Seize, modified
to suit the fashion of these days ; or some feature
of costume or hairdressing is precisely noted down.


“la rose”

BY AMAN-JEAN