DOI Heft:
Nr. 75 (June 1899)
DOI Artikel:Mourey, Gabriel: The art of 1899, [2]: the Paris Salons
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0021
The A ft of 1899
There is less to say of the Socie'te des Artistes
Frangais, less to glean, as one wanders through
these galleries, their walls hung from top to bottom
with allegories and bits of genre and portraits,
and pages of mythology and history, in quest of
some piece of really sincere work.
Where are we to make a halt ? Why stop to
look at these consecrated productions, these hors-
concours masterpieces by members of the Institute,
unless it be to do homage to their makers’ fame ?
What are we to say of all these Bonguereaiis,
these Jules Lefevres and Bonnats and Geromes
and Laurens and Roybets and Benjamin-Constants?
What can these artists show us of the soul within
them; what of their manner of seeing and thinking;
what can they teach us of Life or Fancy ? Alas,
nothing ! All these lines and shapes and colours
have been learnt by heart in the Schools, on fixed
academic principles. Never a touch of freshness
of spontaneity; never even an expressive defect,
which should at least show sign of a heart capable
of beating quick at the sight of some fresh aspect
of Nature’s loveliness, and thus excuse the errant
hand which strives, yet fails to interpret the sensa-
tion the mind has felt.
We must pause a moment, however, before M.
Henri Martin’s Serbiite, for this is one of the most
notable works in the Exhibition ; it compensates one
for all the mediocrity and mere cleverness around.
It is a lovely pastoral scene, nobly conceived and
executed, and proclaiming its creator one of the
great artists of the day.
The Ondines and the Baigneuses of M. Fantin-
Latour are admirable as ever. He is delightful in
this world of his, full of mystic poetry and fancy.
A truly noble artist !
In the Sculpture Section there is one work
which demands, if not our admiration, at least our
attentive notice. It is M. Falguiere’s Balzac. It
will raise no controversy, provoke no ribald laughter,
cause no display of hostility. The sculptor’s co-
associates of the Society of Artists will organise no
petition to remove his work from the Exhibition, as
was the case with Rodin’s statue last year, for he
is on the popular side. The contest between the
two artists has been won by Rodin; but by way of
revenge Falguiere has secured immortality in the
bust of himself done by Rodin—a work which, when
posterity comes to appraise it, will count for a
great deal more than all his own productions put
together.
Gabriel Mourey.
There is less to say of the Socie'te des Artistes
Frangais, less to glean, as one wanders through
these galleries, their walls hung from top to bottom
with allegories and bits of genre and portraits,
and pages of mythology and history, in quest of
some piece of really sincere work.
Where are we to make a halt ? Why stop to
look at these consecrated productions, these hors-
concours masterpieces by members of the Institute,
unless it be to do homage to their makers’ fame ?
What are we to say of all these Bonguereaiis,
these Jules Lefevres and Bonnats and Geromes
and Laurens and Roybets and Benjamin-Constants?
What can these artists show us of the soul within
them; what of their manner of seeing and thinking;
what can they teach us of Life or Fancy ? Alas,
nothing ! All these lines and shapes and colours
have been learnt by heart in the Schools, on fixed
academic principles. Never a touch of freshness
of spontaneity; never even an expressive defect,
which should at least show sign of a heart capable
of beating quick at the sight of some fresh aspect
of Nature’s loveliness, and thus excuse the errant
hand which strives, yet fails to interpret the sensa-
tion the mind has felt.
We must pause a moment, however, before M.
Henri Martin’s Serbiite, for this is one of the most
notable works in the Exhibition ; it compensates one
for all the mediocrity and mere cleverness around.
It is a lovely pastoral scene, nobly conceived and
executed, and proclaiming its creator one of the
great artists of the day.
The Ondines and the Baigneuses of M. Fantin-
Latour are admirable as ever. He is delightful in
this world of his, full of mystic poetry and fancy.
A truly noble artist !
In the Sculpture Section there is one work
which demands, if not our admiration, at least our
attentive notice. It is M. Falguiere’s Balzac. It
will raise no controversy, provoke no ribald laughter,
cause no display of hostility. The sculptor’s co-
associates of the Society of Artists will organise no
petition to remove his work from the Exhibition, as
was the case with Rodin’s statue last year, for he
is on the popular side. The contest between the
two artists has been won by Rodin; but by way of
revenge Falguiere has secured immortality in the
bust of himself done by Rodin—a work which, when
posterity comes to appraise it, will count for a
great deal more than all his own productions put
together.
Gabriel Mourey.