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LITERARY PAPERS 



to those who have seen it in southern France and Spain. The 

 rich colored vault is apparently brought almost within reach. 

 On gazing at it steadily, the eye becomes fatigued, and the 

 sky is no longer blue, but of a leaden color. This can also be 

 seen on examining the picture by gaslight; the sky, by arti- 

 ficial light, loses its blue tone and assumes the dull, leaden 

 hue. It may be noted that the skies of Monet are the most 

 carefully painted of any parts of his pictures. 



Two little children stand on the flight of steps leading to 

 the dwelling, in a diagonal line. The immediate impression 

 conveyed by this scene is one of warmth and vitality. Rich 

 tones of green, blue, red, and orange are used with wondrous 

 skill. It is a midsummer scene; the vegetation is at its highest, 

 the air sultry and heavy with heat. It is a picture of the pre- 

 sent moment, and the only pause to check the joy which such 

 a surrounding offers is the sky, by its depth suggestive of the 

 impenetrability to human understanding of the termini of 

 life. 



Everywhere is seen this theory of triangulation. It is the 

 painter's guide for composition. In these color idyls, draw- 

 ing is scarcely present. The artist's mind rests upon this sim- 

 ple geometrical foundation, and his thoughts are turned into 

 a perfect form, because true to nature. Frequently the pic- 

 tures can be divided into several triangles; these triangles 

 are formed by shadows, lights, clouds, fields, the sea, houses, 

 or lines of trees, and are always significant of the underly- 

 ing truths of life, which these painters have felt. In 123, " Mail 

 Post at Etretat," the roll of the waves, the dip of the rock, 

 and the direction in which the clouds are flying, are all ex- 

 pressed in lines corresponding to the hypotenuse. The oblique 

 parallelism of the picture is indicative of movement. Motion 

 is suggested by every stroke of the knife. The sunlight is com- 

 ing from the same direction as the lines run; and the shadow 

 of the great rock upon the water is in motion. As the observer 

 moves from one to the other side of the picture, the shadow 

 seems to change its position. The effect is strange. The sea 

 is shimmering in the sunlight and seems to be many fathoms 

 deep. Its lovely transparency, which is finally lost in depth, 



