DOI issue:
No. 124 (July, 1903)
DOI article:Keyzer, Frances: The work of Albert Paul Besnard
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19879#0102
Albert Paul Besnard
satisfy his irresistible craving for colour, and it is comment at the time it was painted. It was
to the brilliant beauty of Algiers that we owe the described by one of the critics of the day as
most remarkable of the painter's later works. All " a portrait of an elegant woman with one-half of
the Algerian scenes, with their vivid colouring, have the face violently illuminated by the yellow light of
been rendered by the great French painter with the a lamp in an adjoining room, literally drowned in
appreciation of an artist. Everything has appealed a saffron sauce ; the other half immersed in the
to him in this richly-endowed land—the women, blue rays of the moon, imparting a green hue to
the horses, the landscape. Yet only one of his the long chamois glove." This painting was
impressions of Eastern life has found a place in exhibited a year after the First National Fete,
the Luxembourg collection—A View of the Port of representing some beautiful women grouped in
A Igiers— and this not one of his best. a boat beneath one of the bridges across the Seine,
It is as a painter of horses that M. Besnard while the city in the distance sparkles with myriad
claims our greatest regard. He evidently under- lights from Bengal fires. Both these works were
stands the animal, and his labour is one of love. much discussed and the latter was admired for its
We feel the caress in the ruddy browns, in the originality and colour. Only a few months ago
glossy coats of the Ponies, and admire the freedom the portrait of Mme. Jourdain was- shown at the
of his drawing in all his impressions of the horse. Georges Petit Gallery in the Rue de Seze, in con-
In fact, it may be said that as a horse painter junction with the paintings of Cazin, Claude
M. Besnard has no equal in France. Monet, Sisley, Thaulow, and others. This time,
The portrait of Mme. R. Jourdain—the first of however, public opinion was no longer hostile to
his so - called eccentricities—which has become the severely criticised work. The charm of the
celebrated as La femme iaune, raised a storm of composition, the graceful outline of the figure
appealed to them, and
that which was once called
"saffron" was now deemed
delicately beautiful and in
no way eccentric.
The world is always
shy of new ideas, of any
departure from the trod-
den paths. In M. Bes-
nard's paintings any
attempt at originality has
always been violently dis-
cussed, and in many in-
stances condemned. Must
we look for the reason in
the fact that the effects
are sought after, and not
the outcome of feeling ?
Or is the remarkable com-
bination of colour a natural
vision, a development
that only this artist has
reached ?
In his decorative work,
especially in the most
ambitious efforts, the lack
of harmony can be at-
tributed to the absence of
the musical sense to which
allusion has already been
made. A striking in-
by albert paul besnard stance is afforded in the
85
satisfy his irresistible craving for colour, and it is comment at the time it was painted. It was
to the brilliant beauty of Algiers that we owe the described by one of the critics of the day as
most remarkable of the painter's later works. All " a portrait of an elegant woman with one-half of
the Algerian scenes, with their vivid colouring, have the face violently illuminated by the yellow light of
been rendered by the great French painter with the a lamp in an adjoining room, literally drowned in
appreciation of an artist. Everything has appealed a saffron sauce ; the other half immersed in the
to him in this richly-endowed land—the women, blue rays of the moon, imparting a green hue to
the horses, the landscape. Yet only one of his the long chamois glove." This painting was
impressions of Eastern life has found a place in exhibited a year after the First National Fete,
the Luxembourg collection—A View of the Port of representing some beautiful women grouped in
A Igiers— and this not one of his best. a boat beneath one of the bridges across the Seine,
It is as a painter of horses that M. Besnard while the city in the distance sparkles with myriad
claims our greatest regard. He evidently under- lights from Bengal fires. Both these works were
stands the animal, and his labour is one of love. much discussed and the latter was admired for its
We feel the caress in the ruddy browns, in the originality and colour. Only a few months ago
glossy coats of the Ponies, and admire the freedom the portrait of Mme. Jourdain was- shown at the
of his drawing in all his impressions of the horse. Georges Petit Gallery in the Rue de Seze, in con-
In fact, it may be said that as a horse painter junction with the paintings of Cazin, Claude
M. Besnard has no equal in France. Monet, Sisley, Thaulow, and others. This time,
The portrait of Mme. R. Jourdain—the first of however, public opinion was no longer hostile to
his so - called eccentricities—which has become the severely criticised work. The charm of the
celebrated as La femme iaune, raised a storm of composition, the graceful outline of the figure
appealed to them, and
that which was once called
"saffron" was now deemed
delicately beautiful and in
no way eccentric.
The world is always
shy of new ideas, of any
departure from the trod-
den paths. In M. Bes-
nard's paintings any
attempt at originality has
always been violently dis-
cussed, and in many in-
stances condemned. Must
we look for the reason in
the fact that the effects
are sought after, and not
the outcome of feeling ?
Or is the remarkable com-
bination of colour a natural
vision, a development
that only this artist has
reached ?
In his decorative work,
especially in the most
ambitious efforts, the lack
of harmony can be at-
tributed to the absence of
the musical sense to which
allusion has already been
made. A striking in-
by albert paul besnard stance is afforded in the
85