Studio: international art (35.1905)

Studio- Talk

PARIS.—Two interesting exhibitions were
held recently in the Georges Petit Gal-
leries. The display by Eugene Chigot,
the emotional painter of the northern
provinces and their fishing folk, will shortly be
described in these pages by M. F. Jourdain, the
eminent president of the Syndicate of the Artistic
Press; and the other exhibition was that of the
Pastellists. Although many of the artists exhibiting
here have already been dealt with in the series
devoted to French Pastellists, it will still be inte-
resting, I think, to glance at their new productions.
One always looks again with pleasure on the work
of M. Aman-Jean, the delicate poet of womankind,
the creator of a beauty, a fragility, a melancholy
all his own, as also on that of M. Fhermitte, the
great singer of rustic life, who is by turns a
plein-airiste and a painter of interiors. I like this
artist’s little notes of rural scenes, wherein he
depicts the tranquil life of the country-side, with
sheep and cattle browsing by crystal streams and
harvesters busily working. In all these he reveals
himself the worthy disciple of J. F. Millet.

Elliot, with his charming variations of Montmartre
colour, complete the group of good landscapists.

When we come to the figure painters and por-
traitists we must recognise the great progress made
by M. Guirand, of Scevola, whose Femme a FEcharpe
Jaune is a real tour de force. But there is perhaps
more soul in Fevy-Dhurmer’s excellent morceaux,
which may almost be described as masterly.
The portrait of Mile. Fouise Bignon will be greatly
enjoyed.

M. Axilette is developing a broader style and a
simpler mode of treatment. M. Cornillier sees the
woman of to-day with genial eyes, and we meet
again with pleasure the study of a woman in red
by M. Desvallieres, which has already been seen
at other exhibitions. H. F.

MARSEIFFES. —- Marseilles is regarded
by many foreigners, and even by many
Frenchmen, merely as a great commer-
cial and industrial port. People for-
get that it is the centre of a province which has

M. Rene Billotte is another master,
and we cannot but enjoy the eloquent
poetry of his Vieux Moulin, le Soir, the
charm of the daybreak in Sologne, the
melancholy of the Clair de Lune en
Poitou and of the Nuit a Meulan, or
the tender feeling shown in the Bords
du Cher. Quite exceptional and fascin-
ating is the work of this artist, who
learnt from PTomentin to love and
study nature.

Water, great clouds, tall, graceful
trees by the riverside—these form the
favourite decor of Fagarde, another
sincere landscapist. The Provencal
studies by Montenard are not without
charm, despite their somewhat insistent
blue colouring. In a work like the
Pont Romain it were kinder not to
remember too vividly what was made
by Hubert-Robert of similar materials.

M. Mesle, with his Meules and his
Lever de Lune, which are by no means
bad; M. Nozal, with a series of divers
views of France; M. Sonnier, with
his wild and picturesque Corsican
scenery, particularly the Monte d’Oro;
M. Guignard, with his sheep, and M.

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“VIEUX MOULIN, LE SOIR ” FROM THE PASTEL BY

RENE BILLOTTE