310 



FINE ARTS IN 1892-'93. 



Another large picture without a title, by Henri 

 Camille Danger, illustrates the text of I John iii, 

 23, "And this is his commandment, that we 

 should love one another." On a great plain, 

 under a cloudy sky, glare the reflections of a fire, 

 with the foreground strewed with naked and 

 bleeding corpses, fragments of arms and stand- 

 ards, and ruins. In the midst, through the dev- 

 astation, passes the pitiful Christ, veiling his 

 eyes from the indications of human passion and 

 hatred. 



Among historical compositions Alma-Tadema's 

 " Roses d'Heliogabale," previously exhibited in 

 London, Georges Rochegrosse's " Pillage d'une 

 Villa gallo-rornaine par les Huns," Aime Morot's 

 "Retraite de St.-Jean d'Acre," and Cormon's 

 " Grenadiers de la Garde a Essling " deserve 

 mention. 



Landscape art was well represented by 

 Hubert Herkomer's " Notre Village," Emile 

 Michel's " En Foret," Alexandre Nozal's " Canal 

 abandonne," and Fernand Quignon's " Les Sain- 

 foins." 



Noteworthy among many fine portraits are 

 Leon Bonnat's " Portrait de Mine. B . . ." (his 

 mother). Benjamin-Constant's " Lord Dufferin," 

 and Marcel Baschet's " Francisque Sarcey." 



In sculpture, the marble statue " Caton 

 d'Utique," by Jules Labatut, and the marble 

 group " Le Prairie et le Ruisseau," by Raoul 

 Larcne, were awarded first-class medals. 



Paris: Salon of the Champ de Mars, 1893. 

 The fourth annual exhibition of the Societe 

 Nationale des Beaux Arts comprised 1,897 num- 

 bers, classified as follow: Paintings, 1,093 ; de- 

 signs, etc., 362; sculpture, 136; engraving, 113; 

 objets d'art, 171 ; architecture, 22. 



Noteworthy among the large canvases is Alfred 

 Roll's immense picture " Le Centenaire," de- 

 signed to perpetuate the ceremony commemora- 

 tive of the centenary (May 4, 1889) of the meet- 

 ing of the States-General at Versailles, on which 

 the artist has labored the past three years. The 

 President, M. Carnot, followed by the ministers, 

 Gen. Saussier, and other officers, has stepped 

 down from the tribune and is passing through 

 the crowd, the ranks of the official procession 

 being broken up. This picture is to occupy the 

 place at Versailles left vacant by " Le Sacre " of 

 David, removed to the Louvre. 



Puvis de Chavannes's principal exhibit, " Hom- 

 mage de Victor Hugo & la Ville de Paris," is a 

 drawing (in camaieu) of a ceiling intended for 

 the principal staircase of the Hotel de Ville. 



Ary Renan's " Saint Brandan " shows the saint 

 landing, on a beautiful morning, on a desert 

 island, where the sea birds are astonished but 

 not alarmed at their friendly visitor. The mis- 

 sionary holds in one hand a Bible and in the 

 other the anchor of his boat, which he is evident- 

 ly about to fasten in the grass. 



Burne- Jones contributed three pictures. " Per- 

 see." " Les Profondeurs de la Mer," and the por- 

 trait of a little child ; Alexander Harrison, 

 " La Solitude," and 3 marines and 3 studies 

 of the nude ; and Julius Gari Melchers " Les 

 Vepres." 



Paris : Miscellaneous. The pictures in the 

 Luxembourg have been rearranged, and many 

 recent additions hnng for the first time. Among 

 the new ones are Meissonier's "L'Attente," Bas- 



tien Lepage's "Les Foins," Detaille's "Reddi- 

 tion d'Huningue," Whistler's " Portrait of my 

 Mother," Sargent's " Carmencita," McLure Ham- 

 ilton's "Portrait of Gladstone," and three draw- 

 ings by Burne-Jones. 



An exhibition of the works of Meissonier 

 (March 6 to April 3) in the Galerie Georges 

 Petit. Rue de Seze, comprised more than 1,400 

 numbers, including paintings, water colors, stud- 

 ies, designs, and wax models. The proceeds 

 50,000 francs were devoted to several charitable 

 institutions. A second Meissonier exhibition, 

 organized by Madame Meissonier at the Ecole 

 des Beaux-Arts (March 15 to April 25) com- 

 prised principally the works of the last twenty 

 years of the master's life. 



M. Chauchard, of Paris, whose gallery includes 

 the " Angelus " of J. F. Millet, and many fine 

 Troyons, Corots. Dupres, and other painters of 

 the Barbizon school, has bought nearly the en- 

 tire Van Praet collection of Brussels. Among 

 the pictures acquired is Millet's " La Bergere." 

 for which he paid 700,000 francs. This work, 

 which ranks with the " Angelus," was exhibited 

 by Millet in the Salon of 1865, and sold to John 

 Wilson, another Belgian collector, for 2,000 

 francs. Wilson exchanged it for the " Angelus," 

 which he sold in 1881, and now the two have 

 found a common home. 



The sale of the studio effects of Meissonier, in 

 Paris, in May, realized a total of 2,216,600 francs ; 

 the first part, comprising paintings and painted 

 studies (May 12, 13, and 15), producing 1,741,- 

 000 francs, and the second, water colors and de- 

 signs (May 18, 19, and 20), 475,600 francs. The 

 principal picture, " Le Graveur a 1'eau-forte, 

 brought 272,100 francs from M. Bague, a Paris 

 dealer. Among others were "Le Trompette de 

 1807," 17,500 francs; "Gentilhomme LouisXIII," 

 35,000; "Portrait de Charles I," 16,000; "Dra- 

 gon en vedette," 20,000 ; " Le Pont de Poissy," 

 20.000: "Le Marechal Lannes." 50.000, Mar- 

 seilles Museum ; " Bessieres," 50,000, Montpellier 

 Museum ; " Pasquale," 33,000 ; " L'Ordonnance," 

 31,000; "1806," 66,000; " Le Matin de Casti- 

 glione." 25,500 ; " Un Philosophe," 23,000 ; 

 "Dragon en vedette," 36,000; "L'Attente," 17,- 

 000. Among the water colors, " Le Guide " 

 brought 58.000 francs ; " Dragon de FArmee 

 d'Espagne," 38,000 ; " Antibes," 14,000 : " Dra- 

 gon en vedette," 16,000; "Le Peintre," 14,000 ; 

 " Un Soupcon, 13,000. 



The Coquelin collection, sold in Paris, May 27, 

 produced in the aggregate about 530,000 francs. 

 Among the highest prices obtained were : 

 Meissonier, "Gentilhomme Louis XIII," 56,000 

 francs ; Daubigny, " Les Marais d'Optevoz," 

 38,200: Delacroix. "L'Education d'Achille," 

 37,500; Cazin, "Sur la Route," 32,000; "Les 

 Meules," 26,500; " Crepuscule d'Ete," 13,000; 

 Troyon. "Un Boeuf," 19,500: J. F. Millet, "Le 

 Sem'eur " (pastel), 24,000 ; " An Moulin " (pastel), 

 11,200; Alma-Tadema, " Farniente," 25,500: 

 "L'Attente," 15,000; J. Duprez, "Le Ruisseau," 

 20,000. 



London: Royal Academy, 1893. The 

 twenty-fourth winter exhibition was composed 

 chiefly of portraits and figure pieces of the Brit- 

 ish school, pictures of the Low Countries, and 

 Spanish and Italian art. In the water color and 

 black-and-white rooms were comprehensive ex- 



