Studio: international art (87.1924)

PARIS

“ SNOW-SCENE.” BY
LOUIS CHARLOT

PARIS.—As might have been expected,
the extravagances of the revolutionary
schools of painting have lately provoked
reactions which are interesting and salu-
tary. Some painters have been found to
prefer quiet and conscientious work rather
than noisy manifestos and the publicity of
wordy battles in the press ; and prominent
among these is Louis Chariot, whose
recent successful exhibition at the Petit
Galleries has consolidated a position gained
through merit alone, and not by the
exertions of coteries. 000

Born forty years ago at Cussy (Saone-
et-Loire), of simple and healthy yeoman
stock, his first employment was as a house-
painter. Then, after coming to Paris, where
he studied under Bonnat at the Ecole des
Beaux Arts, he returned to his native
country, which had made a strong im-
pression on his personality, and was to
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prove his great source of inspiration. In
the little village of Uchon he shares the
frugal existence of the peasants he takes as
models. Though he paints simple land-
scapes, I think he is best as a painter of
rural types. Here, above all, he shows his
talent for going beyond the externals and
portraying the permanent beauty at the
heart of things. The merely picturesque
side, so frequently exploited by painters
of peasants, leaves him cold : he tries to
get at the truth and express it without
artifice. His work is as simple as his
models and himself: his colouring is as
restrained as his drawing is powerful. 0
His drawing shows that sense of mass
and construction indispensable to a sculptor,
and there can be no doubt but that he
would have been successful in this domain
also, had he so chosen. 000

M. Valotaire.