Studio: international art (84.1922)

MAXIME DETHOMAS

Nothing could be more violent, more
brutal, more incoherent,'more offensive to
the sight. Expressionist or not, it is just
detestable, and were I the only person in
the world to think so, I would not change
my opinion. " A thing of beauty is a joy
for ever." ... I adhere to the beautiful
words of the author of " Endymion,"
which to me are worth all the prophecies,
and all the comments, and all the gospels of
the sestheticians. Gabriel Mourey.

MAXIME DETHOMAS. BY E. A.
TAYLOR. a a a 0 0

IF one were asked to suggest a list of
the most eminent present day French
artists in black and white, the name of
Maxime Dethomas would certainly be
amongst the first included. It is some
years since I was first attracted to that
artist's work in an exhibition of a few of
his drawings in Messrs. Druet's gallery
in the Rue Royale. It was just about the
time when Cezanne's influence was being
widely felt throughout Paris, and the
superficialities of that interesting master's
many imitators were then so much in
evidence that it was delightfully refreshing
to come across an exhibition of the indi-
vidual work of an artist like Dethomas.
Later, when meeting him, it was to find
that, like all genuine artists, he was
sincerely simple and unaffected, a man
who certainly would not be influenced
in his work by any methods or thoughts
other than his own. 000a
Descended from a long line of ancient
painter-printers on one side of his family
and of lawyers on the other, he reveals
nothing in his work applicable to the latter
profession, except, perhaps, an intense
desire by force, vitality and simplicity
of massed detail to create for himself and
others his visualised impressions. The
seemingly spontaneous ease visible in his
work is not arrived at by mere technical
ability, but only after careful and deliberate
study. His early training was a brief
course of study in the Ecole des Arts
Decoratifs, which was followed by a more
varied course in the free studios directed
by Gervex, Carriere and others. But if
one were to ask him which of all artistic
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influences he considered had been the
best for himself, his answer would be :
" My sojourn in Italy and Spain with my
comrades Zuloaga and Toulouse Lautrec,"
though the only thing noticeable in his work
which in any way suggests an affinity with
the art of his friends is the expression of

" l'italien." by
maxime dethomas