International studio (34.1908)

Gaston La Touche

he has succeeded !—-every enchantment of colour
the universe has to give !
Most of the canvases shortly to be assembled
for exhibition at the Georges Petit Galleries, have
been brought together for some weeks past in the
atelier at Saint-Cloud ; and there it was I had the
opportunity to renew my acquaintance with this
great work, to find once more that they inspired
me with the same intense sensations as when I saw
them in the Salons of the Societe Nationale.
Now that these works are collected in such
imposing numbers, general classifications may be
set up, which may serve to guide the visitor in his
journey through the windings of the great ensemble.
In the first place we have the etudes—the little
studies so well known to the readers of The
Studio—notes of a certain hour, fugitive har-
monies, passing impressions dashed down by the
artist in a few minutes on paper, on canvas, on
wood. These he is anxious to reveal to us,
perhaps with a touch of coquetry, in order that
we may marvel at his immense fertility.
La Touche was first known as a water-colourist;
it is thus quite natural that one apartment should
be set apart for a collection of these broadly-

handled works, wherein the artist, breaking away
from the fluid, transparent aquarelle of his prede-
cessors, has created a bold technique, which, with
its empatements, holds the middle place between
fresco work and oils, with something in it more
vigorous than the one and more delicate than the
other. “Process ! ” the reader may exclaim. Yes,
to be sure, but a process which does not mean
everything, seeing that among the numerous
imitators of La Touche there is not one who
succeeds, save by some fortuitous luck, in
mastering this astonishing metier !
It should be observed that only in his water-
colours does La Touche touch on religious painting
—and he has signed some powerful and moving
Descents from the Cross and more than one tragic
Crucifixion.
“ Decorations and decorative experiments ”!
Here we have a series of highest importance, one
which well deserves the elaborate treatment I am
unable to devote to it on this occasion. To deal
with the matter thoroughly it would be necessary
to trace far back the influence of La Touche the
decorator, to show his sense of harmony, his skill
in distributing masses, his profound regard for the


“la 1'kTE DE NUIT” BY GASTON LA TOUCHE

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( The property of Baron des Ifs)