278 



FINE ARTS IN 1894. 



Georges Rochegrosse, in his " Le Chevalier aux 

 Fleurs," has borrowed a theme from Wagner's 

 Parsifal, in which the hero is shown in the magic 

 gardens of Klingsor with the flowers springing 

 to life under his footsteps and assuming the 

 forms of beautiful women, rising around him, 

 placing themselves in his path, and twining 

 about and embracing him, while his silver breast- 

 plate reflects their varicolored hues. 



Elizabeth Gardner's " A travers le Ruisseau " 

 is a pretty group representing a barefooted boy 

 and girl with clasped hands forming a seat for a 

 little child whom they are carrying across a 

 brook. 



Theobald Chartran's " Saint Francois d' Assise 

 chantant au Labour " is a noble picture showing 

 the saint singing his chant as he guides two oxen 

 attached to a rude plow across barren uplands. 



Henry S. Bisbing's " Le Combat," one of the 

 best of the animal pictures, represents a fight of 

 bulls. 



Among the landscapes with figures may be 

 noted Jules Breton's " La Fin de la Recolte," a 

 dignified picture of field laborers at sundown on 

 the last day of the potato harvest ; and among 

 sea pieces, Auguste Flameng's " Maree basse " 

 and Max Bouvet's " Lever de Lune au Crepus- 

 cule." 



Noteworthy among the sculptures was the 

 marble "Orphee" of Emmanuel Hannaux, to 

 which a first-class medal was awarded. It repre- 

 sents the singer lying at full length on the 

 ground beside his lyre, where he has cast himself 

 in his despair after the loss of Eurydice. 



" La Seine," by Denys Puech, a bas-relief in 

 marble, shows a graceful nymph with a seductive 

 face lying at full length amid grass and reeds, 

 holding in her left hand a jar from which water 

 is flowing. 



Ernest Dubois, another first medalist, exhibited 

 a notable group in plaster entitled " Le Pardon," 

 and Alphonse Cordonnier a group in marble and 

 wood, entitled " Obsession," representing an an- 

 chorite seated and tempted by three nude nymphs 

 who have evidently laid siege to his soul. Alfred 

 Boucher and Hector Lemaire (first-class medal) 

 exhibited monumental statues, the former for the 

 tomb of the Duchesse de Vienne, the latter for 

 that of the Princesse d'Orleans in the chapel at 

 Dreux. Worthy of notice, too, is the bronze re- 

 lief of Ernest Louis Barrias. entitled " Nubiens." 

 a spirited group representing a Nubian thrusting 

 his spear into the throat of a crocodile that is 

 crawling up a river bank, and which has seized 

 and nearly pulled into the water a figure lying 

 head downward. At the left a woman clasps to 

 her breast two children. 



Paris : Salon de Champ de Mars. The So- 

 ci6 te Nationale des Beaux-Arts, which still holds 

 aloof from the older society from which it seceded 

 in 1889, opened its fifth annual exhibition on the 

 25th of April. Its officers are: President, Puvis 

 de Chavannes; Vice-Presidents, Carolus Duran, 

 0. Rodin, and Waltner. The society consists of 

 18 founders, 20 honorary members, 176 societa- 

 ries, and 147 associates. 



The exhibition comprised 2,251 numbers, of 

 which 1,201 were paintings, 487 water colors, 

 pastels, etc., 135 sculptures, 134 engravings, 254 

 art objects, and 40 architectural designs. 



Puvis de Chavannes's exhibit comprised the 



composition for the ceiling of the Escalier du Pre- 

 fet in the Paris Hotel de Ville, the cartoon of which 

 was exhibited in 1893, and the designs to fill the 

 compartments (spandrels and tympana) around 

 it. The central subject is entitled " Victor 

 Hugo offrant sa Lyre a la Ville de Paris " The 

 poet, in flowing robes and laurel-crowned, stands 

 with one hand upon his lyre, which is borne by 

 a winged genius, before the City of Paris, a female 

 figure seated under a portico and about to be 

 crowned by Letters, the Sciences, and the Arts. 

 Behind them a group of ephebi wave palm 

 branches, and one, nearly nude, bears a standard 

 with the arms of Paris. Behind Hugo are flying 

 figures symbolical of his works. Of the fifteen 

 compartments, the artist exhibited designs for 

 four spandrels, entitled Patriotisme, Charite, 

 Ardeur Artistique, and Foyer Intellectuel ; and 

 for six tympana in the heads of arches, entitled 

 Esprit, Generosite, Fantaisie, Beaute, Intrepidite, 

 Culte de Souvenir, and Urbanite. 



Jean Beraud : s chief exhibit, " Le Chemin de 

 la Croix," is a clever and dexterous anachro- 

 nism, representing the scene with characters of 

 the present. He sent also "La Meditation," 

 " Au Fille de 1'eau," and several portraits. 



Carolus Duran exhibited " Le Poete et la Man- 

 doline," " Crepuscule d'Or," " La Derniere Heure 

 du Christ " (sketch), and 4 portraits. 



Some of the best landscapes and sea pieces 

 were by foreigners, as Mesdag's " Maree basse," 

 Hagborg's " Au Bord de la Mer," and Henry 

 Moore's " Calme avant 1'Orage." 



Alfred Stevens was represented by 8 canvases, 

 which were among the best of the exhibits. 

 John S. Sargent showed his " Mrs. H. Hamers- 

 ley " and " Etude," and Alexander Harrison 4 

 " Tableaux." 



M. J. Tissot's "Vie de notre Seigneur Jesus- 

 Christ," a marvelous series of about 300 illus- 

 trations painted in body colors, was one of the 

 most important art exhibits of the year. 



Paris : Miscellaneous. The sale of the col- 

 lection of M. Tavernier, in Paris, June 11, pro- 

 duced 304,150 francs. Among the best prices 

 obtained were : Delacroix, " La Mise au Tom- 

 beau," 88,000 f. ; " Cavaliers Arabes sortant de 

 1'eau," 21,600 f. Daubigny, " Laveuses," 68,000 f. 

 Jules Dupre, " Petit Pecheur," 10,700 f. Isabey, 

 " Retour de Chasse," 10,100 f. Troyon, " L'Abreu- 

 voir," 40,000 f. Greuze, " Tete de petite Fille," 

 17,500 f. 



At the sale in November of works of M. C. 

 Jacque, the famous animal and landscape painter, 

 the following prices were obtained : " Le Grand 

 Troupeau," 30,000 francs : " Troupeau de Vaches 

 a 1'Abrenvoir," 12,000 f. ; " Qentree du Trou- 

 peau," 13,000 f. ; " Sortie du Village," 13,950 f. ; 

 " Le Tertre," 15,000 f.; " Interieur de Bergerie," 

 12,000 f. ; " Rentree a la Ferme," 8,000 f. ; " Re- 

 tour du Labour," 9,800 f. 



London: Royal Academy. The following 

 were elected .associates of the Royal Academy 

 in January : John S. Sargent, Frank Bramley, 

 John M. Swan, and A. Hacker, painters, and 

 George J. Frampton, sculptor. In June, Valen- 

 tine C. Prinsep, associate, was elected an aca- 

 demician. 



The twenty-fifth winter exhibition was com- 

 posed chieftVof the British school, especially of 

 examples of Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, 



