Studio: international art (11.1897)

Constant in .) I c wrier

"collier at work" by constantin meunier

was always to him what
Balzac calls " a divine step
mother"; " she taught him
pity, fortitude, and humility,
knowledge of the world,
knowledge of life ; she gave
him that grand, that potent
education of chastisement,
which she imparts to all
those who are destined to be
great." But whilst Penury
was thus befriending the
artist, the man himself was
faring very badly at her
hands. His health she
weakened, and she marked
his face with such deep
lines of suffering as may
well set us thinking about
that very commercial saga-
city which causes so many
artists to make their work
popular and mediocre.
That mediocrity should be
so pleasing to the many
is in the nature of things;
for genuinely original tal-
ents, when even the dis-
criminating few first come
upon them, are always

to inform stone and clay
with many fine qualities
which belong, usually, to
the domain of painting.

Perhaps our artist's
work owes much of its
melancholy to the fact
that it was brought to
completion in the midst
of indescribable hardships
and humiliations. Few
men of genius, I think,
have suffered more than
M. Meunier has ; and no
one certainly could have
fought with greater cour-
age a very long, stern
battle. The battle lasted
more than thirty years,
yet Meunier never once

disgraced his colours. ^ bas.relief by constantin meunikr

Time ran on, and Penury "industry
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