Studio: international art (19.1900)

Studio- Talk

rid himself of a defect which mars his work.
The defect in question lies in the fact that he
frequently fails to attack his subjects with sufficient
earnestness, his work only too often showing
virtuosity rather than depth.

Madame Ronner is well known, not only here,
but also in England. Despite her great age, this
gifted woman, who seems not to know the meaning
of the word Rest, continues to produce her little
scenes from cat-life with as much observation and
humour as ever. To be sure, they are simply
anecdotes, and trivial anecdotes too; but so wittily,
so convincingly does she record them that we
must needs listen, nor ever cease to be amused.
Mdlle. Ronner, her daughter, devotes herself
chiefly to flower painting. She has taste, and a
style that is particularly feminine, somewhat akin
to that of Mdlle. Georgette Meunier. Her
paintings have no great profundity, but they
express very effectively all that is light and airy,
and (I had almost said) artificial, in the flower
world.

I cannot conscientiously say his newest works
show great advance on those of two or three
years since. The latter, it seems to me, were
superior in conception and in harmony of
treatment, and truer and richer in tone. In some of
his sea-pieces, for instance, it is by no means
difficult to detect certain deficiencies which might
have been easily remedied ; while in several of his
still-life studies one comes across loud, prosaic,
unsatisfactory bits of colour. I greatly prefer
some of his pastels, and most of his black and
white work is excellent, notably the remarkable
series—Soirees cTHiver. Here Morren has caught
to perfection the atmosphere of our homes in
winter time.

Among the sculpture should be noted his
Femme a sa toilette, the Buste de Zelandaise, the
Nymphes lutinant un Satyre, the Femme a la
monche, and above all, despite one somewhat
puerile piece of detail, the Trots Zelandaises en
promenade du dimanche. This is a thing of beauty
in its truest sense, the whole group being full of
charm and character.

At the Cercle Artistique, or " Kunstverbond," Several of his objects of art are also worthy of
last month M. Lemmers displayed several land- mention, especially an amphora and an ink-stand,
scapes and a large number of portraits. I say it both in bronze, a ring-box in bronze cite perdue, a
with regret, but there was nothing in this collection tin-ware coffee service, and a few brooches and
so good as his Portrait de mon Fere, produced clasps. P. de M.

two years ago. His newer work is
as bewilderingly unequal in artistic
value as it is varied in method.
Certainly he secures a resemblance,
not merely physical, but moral
too ; but, as a rule, he does not
trouble to penetrate far into the
psychology of his models, while
his somewhat garish colouring
often lacks distinction. By pro-
ducing fewer works, and devoting
himself to them with greater care,
Lemmers might assuredly develop
into an excellent portrait-painter.

Of very uneven merit, too, was
the exhibition of the works of
George Morren, displayed in a
very badly-lighted gallery in the
Meir. Morren, an artist of much
versatility, showed paintings, pas-
tels, fusains, and pencil work,
together with several pieces of ,llustration from " meissner porzellan "

sculpture and various objets d'art. (lkifsig : f. a. brockhaus)

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