,,on ,,art                              
,,and ,,artists                         
,,by                                    
,,max ,,nordau                          
,,author ,,of 8,,degeneration0          
,,translated ,,by ,w4 ,f4 ,,harvey1     
,m4,a4                                  
,,london                                
,t4 ,,fisher ,,unwin                    
,,adelphi ,,terrace                     
,,mcmvii                                
,all rights reserved4                   
,,contents        ,,chap4               
,,page         ,i4 ,the ,social ,mission
 of ,art                          #a    
,,ii4 ,socialistic ,art--,constantin    
,meunier                #cj       ,,iii4
 ,the ,question of ,style               
#dd        ,,iv4 ,the ,old ,french      
,masters                            #ef 
,v4 ,a ,century of ,french ,art         
#gj        ,,vi4 ,the ,school of #ahcj  
#if       ,,vii4 ,the ,triumph of a     
,revolution--            ,the ,realists 
#ajg            ,alfred ,sisley         

#abc            ,camille ,pissarro      
#acc            ,whistler's ,psychology 
#ade      ,,viii4 ,gustave ,moreau      
#aee        ,,ix4 ,eugne ,carrire       
#aff         ,x4 ,puvis de ,chavannes   
#ahe        ,,xi4 ,bright and ,dark     
,painting--,charles ,cottet             
#bja       ,,xii4 ,physiognomies in     
,painting                        #bag   
,,xiii4 ,auguste ,rodin                 
#bge       ,,xiv4                       
,resurrection--,bartholom               
#bid        ,,xv4 ,jean ,carris         
#cjh       ,,xvi4 ,works of ,art and    
,art ,criticisms                  #cbj  
,,xvii4 ,my ,own ,opinion               
#ccf            ,index                  
#cdi                                    
,,on ,,art ,,and ,,artists              
,,on ,,art ,,and ,,artists              
,i                            ,,the     
,,social ,,mission ,,of ,,art           
,there exists a school of stheticism    
which laughs contemptuously at  the mere
 sight of this superscription4 ,art     

having a mission6 ,what  utter nonsense4
 ,a person must be a rank ,philistine to
 connect with the  idea of art the      
conception of a non-artistic mission1 be
 it social or  otherwise4 ,has a work of
 art any other mission than to give     
pleasure by  beauty8 ,it strives to     
attain no goal that lies outside of     
itself4 ,it  is its own object1 and     
whoever assigns to it another1 sins     
against the  sanctity of art4    ,this  
is1 in short1 the theory of art for     
art's sake3 l'art pour  l'art4 ,i deem  
this theory false and a hallmark of     
crass ignorance1 for  psychology and the
 history of civilisation and art1 the   
history of all  arts1 prove irrefutably 
the vanity and worthlessness of the     
concept  that denies to art any other   
task and mission than that of being     
beautiful4    ,certainly art is1 in the 
main1 a purely subjective activity1 in  
which the artist wishes solely to       
satisfy himself1 without thinking  of   
any person or thing external to himself4

 ,the psychological roots  of all       
artistic creation are1 in fact1 an      
exceptional sensitiveness  and feeling  
on the part of the artist4 ,we know that
 every moderately  strong impression    
which man--and1 moreover1 not only man1 
but also every  living creature1 however
 low in the scale--receives from the    
external  world1 excites in him         
processes1 which1 in the case of man and
 the  higher animals1 attain            
consciousness as emotion or passion4    
,the emotion  imperiously urges in      
towards liberation through movements1   
that is  to say1 muscular activity1     
which1 in many cases1 is accompanied by 
glandular activity1 e4g4 tears1         
secretion of saliva1 perspiration1  etc4
 ,to men of the average type the usual  
forms of manifesting their  emotion     
suffice4 ,if they have wept in sorrow1  
laughed for joy1 cursed  or clenched    
their fist in anger1 they are pacified4 
,their emotion has  spent itself and    
become exhausted1 and their physical    

life once more  flows in its accustomed 
channels4    ,however1 if1 instead of   
the average man1 we have before us a    
creature  of exceptional sensitiveness  
and emotionality1 the psychical         
processes  assume another shape4 ,this  
creature feels all phenomena more       
acutely2  they arouse in him more       
violent passions2 his emotions are      
deeper  and more lasting4 ,their normal 
forms of expression do not suffice to   
lull them4 ,they take possession of his 
soul1 organise themselves1  show a      
tendency to become compelling ideas1 and
 oppress it with  psycho-motorial       
incitements or impulses until it has    
freed itself from  them by acts which   
stand in proper ratio to the number or  
violence of  the emotions4 ,a being     
whose excessive emotionality is of an   
angry1  malicious nature attains relief 
only through deeds of destruction4      
,such is the case with most sub-species 
of born criminals4 ,should the          
exceptionally strong emotions not be of 

a destructive nature1 they find  their  
outlet otherwise by artistic creations1 
which1 therefore1 are a  liberation and 
solution of emotion that has become     
overmastering4    ,but this simple1 as  
it were1 normal case1 in which the work 
of art  actually fulfils a purely       
subjective mission1 and aims at no other
  object than to relieve the artist's   
nervous system and to unburden his  mind
 of a compelling idea--this case is     
actually met with only in the  earliest 
ages of mankind4 ,art for art's         
sake--the art which is practised  purely
 for the relief and satisfaction of the 
artist--is that of the  cave-man of the 
quaternary period4 ,the artist who      
adorned the walls  of the ,caves of     
,mouthe#a with figures of animals2 who  
scratched  the famous mammoth on the    
tusk of ,la ,madeleine in the ,dordogne2
  the draughtsman of ,bruniquel1 of     
,schaffhausen2 the author of the        
rock-pictures in ,sweden1 probably did  
not trouble himself as to whether  he   

was producing any effect on others4 ,in 
all likelihood he did not  work for     
society4 ,his psychology is disclosed to
 us by the subjects he  treated4 ,he was
 an enthusiastic hunter1 endowed with a 
particularly  lively intuition and      
manual dexterity4 ,on the days when he  
could not go  hunting1 either because   
bad weather prevented him doing so1 or  
external  compulsion--perhaps an        
accident met with in the chase--confined
 him to  his cave1 he thought longingly 
of his favourite occupation4 ,the beasts
  that composed his usual booty lived in
 his imagination4 ,his grotto  was      
peopled with the monsters of the forest 
and plain of primitive  times4 ,he saw  
the mammoth with its stiff mane1 the    
grisly cave-bear1  the aurochs and      
giant-elk1 the shaggy1 thick-set horse  
of ,solutr2 he  pursued1 fought1 slew   
them4 ,he felt all the keen joys of     
these mighty  deeds1 and became so      
strongly excited that he could not      
refrain from  realising the lively      

pictures of his fancy1 by drawing them  
on bones1  tusks1 or rocks1 or carving  
them on stags' horns and elephants'     
teeth4  ,it would not gainsay this      
psychology of primitive human art1 if   
the  artists in remote ages 7as the     
latest pre-historic investigations seem 
to attest7 connected superstitious ideas
 with the imitation of their  animals of
 the chase1 perhaps believed by such    
means they cast a spell  on the animals 
portrayed1 and facilitated their        
capture4 ,a superstition  like this     
would1 in its turn1 become a source of  
fresh emotions which  also seek outward 
expression4    ,besides the hunter there
 was also the warrior1 who liked to     
portray his  conquered enemies1 and the 
sensualist1 who sought delight in       
carving  female busts1 the types of     
which1 to our taste1 seem very ugly1 but
 may  have appeared alluring to him4    
,these savage forefathers who adorned   
the caves of the early stone age  with  
works of art not invariably crude2 who  

woke the echo of the forest  valleys    
with plaintive or yearning melodies2 who
 excited themselves  by sensuous dances 
in the moonlight nights of spring2 who  
formed1 in  symbolic and allegorical    
songs1 their mystic impressions of the  
great  phenomena of the weather and     
sky2--these savage forefathers were the 
first1 but at the same time last1 purely
 subjective artists1 the only  real     
believers in the dogma of 8art for art's
 sake40    ,in order to find them once  
more in our own times1 we must seek them
 in  the nursery or the ,board ,school  
class-room4 ,the artist of primitive    
times survives by atavism in the child4 
,but he substitutes for the  rock-wall  
of the cave and the mammoth's tooth his 
slate1 copy-book1  school-books1 often  
enough his desk and form1 which he      
adorns with  drawings that1 if not      
particularly finished1 are1             
nevertheless1  always full of           
expression1 and recognisable4 ,the child
 does not give  way to his artistic     

wantonness in order to please others4   
,he hides  it1 moreover1 mostly for     
obvious reasons1 from the eyes of       
strangers2  he only draws to portray    
symbolically that which has made a      
strong  impression on him4 ,he always   
notes down the important1 distinguishing
  features which have struck him in the 
phenomenon4 ,this fierce  mustache1 the 
circle drawn across which represents the
 head1 is for  the little draughtsman   
the characteristic of manly dignity2    
this  right-angled broken stroke1 which 
bristles up over a row of men1 is  the  
formidable bayonet that marks the       
soldier2 this disproportionately  big   
stick in another man's hand is the      
dreaded badge that embodies the         
schoolmaster's power4 ,the young artist 
has obeyed genuine impulses4 ,his  art  
forms really spring out of the deep     
grounds of his emotion4    ,with        
advancing civilisation1 however1 this   
state of things quickly  changes4 ,the  
artist soon notices that he is          

differently conditioned  to the rest1   
the average men2 that his feelings are  
keener1 their  manifestation more       
expressive than with the latter4 ,he    
becomes  conscious of his superiority1  
fancies himself something in regard  to 
it1 and cultivates it4 ,other men find  
sthetic pleasure in his  creations1 and 
encourage him by flattering applause    
which easily  rises to admiration4 ,that
 calls forth an energetic metamorphosis 
in the inmost processes of his work1 in 
its causes and aims4 ,what  was once    
organic necessity now becomes           
craftsmanship2 uncontrollable           
inspiration is replaced by custom and by
 style4 ,the artist becomes his  own    
imitator4 ,in years of cool1 methodical1
 routine work1 he simply  calls to mind 
the moment when the feverish workings of
 his brain  powerfully drove him into   
the paths of art4 ,he observes all rites
 of  the creator by impulse1 but they   
are now only an attitude which he has   
learnt4 ,in theory he is still inspired 

by impulse2 practically1 he is  a       
professional craftsman who performs the 
day's work imposed on him by            
intelligent volition4 ,he is still      
always in search of self-satisfaction   
whilst engaged on works of art1 but it  
is of another nature than that  of the  
unsophisticated artist4 ,the unconscious
 aim of his efforts is  not to find     
relief from an emotional tension3 he    
strives after the  voluptuous feeling of
 flattered amour propre2 he grows       
ambitious1  very often1 indeed1 only    
vain4 ,he thinks of his public4 ,he     
anticipates  his success4 ,the thought  
of approbation takes the place of the   
effort  to deliver himself from a       
painfully obsessing conception4    ,this
 also is always the psychology of the   
born artist1 who is one  because his    
organisation forces him to it4 ,beside  
him1 however1 swarms  the innumerable   
crowd of imitation artists1 of average1 
and very  average men1 who would never  
of themselves have thought of becoming  

artists--men who would never have       
discovered art of themselves1 if they   
had not had before their eyes the       
example of the original artists1  their 
successes1 their recognition by         
civilised society4 ,these  individuals  
pursue art1 not to deliver themselves   
from an obsessing  conception1 but as a 
means of attaining privileges1 gold1 and
 honours4  ,for them art is an avocation
 like any other1 a trade learnt1 which  
is  to bring them1 not to subjective    
psychological1 but to practical and     
social ends4 ,they try by a sort of     
mimicry to become like the original     
artists1 but they belong to another     
species4 ,nevertheless1 it is not       
permissible to neglect them in this     
consideration1 for1 for one thing1  they
 constitute the vast majority of        
artists1 from the moment when  the      
pursuit of art has become a             
differentiated activity1 the habitual   
and exclusive occupation of a separate  
class of society2 and then the          

productions of these imitators are      
always modelled after works done        
through organic necessity4 ,they are1 to
 a certain extent1 the small  change of 
originally great values2 they would like
 to be changed for  them1 and everything
 which is to be said of any particular  
problem of  art1 necessarily finds its  
application to the imitations as well as
 to  the original pictures4    ,these   
are then the origins and stages of      
development of art4 ,at the  outset1 it 
is actually what the school of 8art for 
art's sake0 asserts  of it3 a subjective
 purpose1 a satisfaction of an organic  
need on  the part of the artist4 ,soon1 
however1 the artist ceases to confine   
himself to satisfying himself in        
relieving himself2 he also seeks to     
please others4 ,in the most secret and  
mysterious moments of creation1  the    
thought of other men is present in his  
mind2 considerations as to  effect and  
success are mixed with his productive   
emotions4 ,substitute  mere             

craftsmanship for inspiration1 then     
these considerations become  more and   
more dominant1 and when art has once    
become a regular ordinary  business1 and
 the imitators1 the mere echoes and     
reflections1 have  once become the      
majority among those who practise it1   
then the artist  has his eyes           
continually fixed on his tribunal1 viz41
 society4 ,in the  moment his work of   
art is germinating1 it is strongly      
influenced by  consideration of the     
known or the supposed taste of the      
society whose  applause the artist      
courts1 and the work undergoes a        
development more  or less remote from   
the form it would have acquired under   
the pure  influence of emotion1 its     
primary source4    ,society naturally   
sees what place it occupies in the      
artist's mind1  what share it has in his
 creations1 and how important to him its
  verdict is4 ,it promptly perceives its
 advantage4 ,it takes possession of  the
 artist1 forces its tastes on him1 and  

insists on his working1 not  for        
himself1 but for it4 ,henceforward it   
has in him a paid servant2 he  has to   
conform his special energy to the       
general plan of the society  organism of
 which he is a part1 and1 in this way1 a
 manifestation  which was originally a  
purely subjective performance becomes a 
social  performance4    ,art1 engendered
 by individual emotion and transfigured 
into a social  work1 shares this lot    
which we have no right to call a        
degradation1  with innumerable other    
main instincts1 strivings1 desires4 ,it 
is the  peculiarity of civilisation that
 it subdues to itself human emotions1   
and applies them as motive powers for   
the purpose of creating results  which  
are not always1 which are not even      
frequently1 the natural  purpose of     
these emotions4 ,the whole existence of 
society1 every  organisation1 every     
civilisation1 rests on the application  
of this  method2 in fact1 every attitude
 and action of man is affected by an    

emotion at its base4 ,without emotion1  
man is a sluggish mass1 with  which     
nothing can be done4 ,in order to get   
anything from him1 he must  first have  
his mind excited1 and after that we must
 be able to direct  this excitement4    
,all usages and regulations are merely a
 collection  of channels dug in order to
 act as conduits to the emotions1 and to
  utilise their force in regular        
employment4 ,by the help of the emotions
  of love1 society has been enabled to  
create marriage1 which does not  serve  
for the satisfaction of the instinct1   
but should guarantee  economic security 
for the wife and children4 ,with the    
emotion of  sympathy--this preliminary  
condition of every social               
structure--with  this fount of pity1    
altruism1 and solidarity1 mankind has   
created the  political order1 the       
,state1 with all its burdensome tyranny1
 which  seems no longer to have anything
 at all in common with sympathy1 which  
is1 nevertheless1 its emotional root4   

,with the emotion of mysticism  and     
superstition1 society has produced      
practical morality and all its          
constraint2 with self-love and vanity1  
patriotism and its caricature1          
,chauvinism2 with the wicked impulses to
 destruction and murder1 the            
professional qualities of the soldier1  
still indispensable for the  security of
 the political organism4 ,in short1 the 
whole work of  civilisation consists in 
making itself master of individual      
emotions1  diverting them from their    
natural goals1 applying them to the good
 of  the whole body4 ,the ,state society
 is a machine that is moved only by  the
 emotions of individuals4 ,social life  
is simply the product of a  very complex
 and skilfully conducted work of        
primitive emotions4 ,if1  therefore1 any
 one exclaims slightingly at the mention
 of the social  productions of art3     
8,that's common1 rank utilitarianism60  
we are  justified in shrugging our      
shoulders4 ,utilitarianism8 ,why1       

certainly4  ,utility is the primary law 
of every society1 of every living       
organism4  ,the lowest living creature  
of one cell could not support itself for
  a single instant1 unless all its parts
 were continually working with  the     
object of promoting its existence1 of   
serving the demands of its  life--in    
short1 making themselves useful to the  
whole4    ,when men came to observe that
 they possessed among them beings who   
had stronger emotions than the rest1 and
 made these emotions evident  by        
creations which were calculated to make 
a deep impression on other  men1 they1  
according to the standing rule--,i might
 say1 according to  the biological      
rule--of society1 made haste to place   
these exceptional  natures1 these       
artists1 in the service of the great    
interests of  society4    ,whoever can  
still entertain a doubt that art has    
always performed a  task which was by no
 means sthetic1 even if fulfilled by    
sthetic  means1 let him cast a glance at

 the history of the arts4    ,let him   
read the poems of antiquity1 gaze on the
 sculptures and  paintings of the       
,egyptians or ,assyrians or ,greeks4    
,let him listen to  the far-off1 and    
doubtless sadly distorted echo of       
ancient music in  the ,hymn to ,apollo1 
restored by over-daring scholarship4    
,where will  he find a work--a single   
work--which corresponds with the        
psychological  scheme of the origin of  
artistic creation and with the          
definitions of  the party of 8,art for  
art's sake08 ,where is the work that has
 been  achieved purely for              
self-satisfaction1 for the relief of the
 artist's  nerves8 ,where is the work   
that is only to serve beauty8 ,i cannot 
see  it2 but what ,i do see is that all 
known works serve some purpose of       
society4 ,they glorify the gods1 the    
kings1 the commonwealth4 ,they  extol   
the dignity of belief1 of government1 of
 the mother-country4  ,homer shows the  
heroes of the ,hellenic race in the     

bloody apotheosis  of their exploits4   
schylus1 ,sophocles1 and ,euripides     
unfold on the  stage the myths and sagas
 of their ancestors4 ,on the ,acropolis1
 in  the ,parthenon1 gleam the gods of  
the mother-country1 the guardians of    
the commonwealth1 shaped by the magic   
chisel of ,phidias4 ,the ,stoa1  the    
,poikile1 the ,stadium1 are peopled with
 the monuments of athletes1  warriors1  
archons1 legislators1 of all great men  
who are the people's  pride1 and are to 
serve them as models4 ,tyrtus chants his
 sublime  marches to excite the warriors
 to fight for their country4 ,the singer
  of the ,hymn to ,apollo composes his  
cantatas to make the temple service     
more impressive4 ,i am well aware that1 
besides these monuments1 there  are the 
little lyric poems of the ,anthology1   
the charming little  ,tanagra figures1  
that is to say1 very individual         
revelations1 which  sing the joys and   
sorrows of a single soul1 which seize   
the graceful  movements and gait of     

young women who had enraptured a single 
kneader  of the clay4 ,but these pretty 
little things1 although chef d'uvres  of
 their kind1 are not1 however1 to be    
compared with the triumphant  creations 
prompted by religious belief and        
patriotism1 whose superhuman  splendour 
fills the centuries4    ,if we go from  
pagan antiquity to the ,christian       
,middle ,ages and the  free-thinking or 
the openly atheistic ,renaissance1 the  
rle of art  remains unchanged4 ,for whom
 does the artist work8 ,only for the    
,church  and the palace4 ,the pope1 the 
bishop1 the abbot demand of him the     
decoration of the cathedral and         
monastery4 ,the priest under the vaulted
  arch1 the monk in his refectory--these
 must have before their eyes  images to 
remind them of the doctrines of which   
they are preachers and  servants4 ,the  
people1 when they enter ,god's house1   
must be caught hold  of by the          
representations of suffering and        
martyrdoms1 of beneficent  and          

comforting miracles1 of the horrors of  
hell and the bliss of  paradise1 and be 
strengthened in their faith1 seeing with
 their eyes  and touching with their    
hands what religion teaches4 ,the king's
 castle1  the palace of the great       
vassals1 plume themselves on the works  
of arts  that are consecrated to the    
glory of their ancestors1 of their rank1
  or1 simply1 of the dominant system4   
,here the stately tombs of kings or     
knights1 here the statues showing the   
ancestor as hero or demi-god4  ,here the
 pictures of battles and sieges1 of     
butcheries and victories4  ,here the    
painted memorials of great state        
ceremonies1 triumphal  entries1         
receptions of ambassadors1 conclusions  
of advantageous  treaties1 famous       
meetings of mighty lords4 ,the object of
 all this art  is always to flatter the 
vanity of the great1 to impose on the   
populace  a high notion of their wealth 
and power1 to make it feel1 by all      
possible means of expression1 the       

superiority of its leaders4 ,we must  go
 down to the ,italian ,renaissance in   
order to discover1 by the side of       
religious1 dynastic1 aristocratic1 and  
political art--for historical art  was  
always designed to serve a political    
idea or arrangement--in order  to       
discover1 ,i say1 by the side of this   
prescriptive art1 the beginning  of a   
purely sthetic art4 ,when ,mantegna     
paints the 8,muses on ,olympus10  or    
,leonardo the 8,mona ,lisa10 they are no
 longer desirous of kindling  faith or  
strengthening subjects in obedience1 but
 they want to enrich  and brighten      
existence4 ,but whose existence8 ,that  
of a wealthy and  distinguished patron1 
of him who has placed the order with    
them4 ,it is  not before the            
,renaissance that we see the artist     
gradually emancipate  himself from the  
rule that sternly dictates to him the   
choice of his  theme1 and even1 up to a 
certain point1 the method of his        
treatment4  ,he then acquired to some   

degree the freedom to follow his own    
power of  imagination1 and could hope to
 get a return for his creations1 even   
if he did not serve a dogma or a policy1
 even if he did not glorify a  saint1 a 
king1 or a nobleman2 if he simply tried 
to move a man's soul  by revealing the  
secret movements of a human soul4    ,we
 see then that1 through long centuries1 
art had the sole task to  serve the     
great institutions of society3 religion1
 monarchy1 or one's  native country     
under another form of government1 the   
dominant castes4  ,the mechanism by     
which art was held in bondage was the   
simplest and  most nave3 the artist had 
no other customer for his works except  
the  powers that be4 ,these bound him by
 his necessity to eat daily1 or  nearly 
so4 ,the ,church1 the king1 the         
republic1 the city1 the ruler1  gave the
 artist commissions1 and paid him4 ,if  
he found no patron in  the castle or    
palace1 he had no gold or honour to hope
 for from any  other quarter4 ,now      

neither the ,church1 nor the            
,government1 nor the  privileged classes
 were in the habit of throwing their    
money out of  the window4 ,the money    
they expended had to bring them profit4 
,they  wanted the artist in their pay to
 become a champion for their cause1  in 
exactly the same way as the cross-bowmen
 of their body-guard1 their  judge1     
their herald1 steward1 aye1 their jailer
 and executioner4 ,art1  in those days1 
preached the fear of ,god and his       
servants1 submission to  the king and   
the ,state1 respect for nobles and      
officials4 ,the ruling  powers made the 
artist suggest to the people all that   
was favourable  to them4 ,art was the   
school of the good subject1 the artist  
the main  prop of priestly and          
monarchical-aristocratic society4 ,the  
common herd1  the million1 found none of
 their human emotions satisfied in art2 
the  voices that rang out of these works
 only cried to them3 8,pray1 obey1      
tremble40    ,the ,netherlanders1 a free

 people1 were the first to know an art  
other than the traditional one4 ,in     
,flanders and ,holland1 writers1  and   
especially painters1 began to speak no  
longer exclusively of ,god  and the     
saints1 the king and the great1 but of  
the humble1 obscure1  and nameless      
multitude4 ,genre painting revived for  
the first time  since ancient days4 ,it 
told the everyday life of the middle and
  lower classes1 their somewhat gross   
joys1 their somewhat commonplace        
sorrows2 it showed the ale-house and the
 mill1 the sitting-room and  the retail 
shop4 ,this was not edifying1 it is     
true4 ,the philosophy of  this art is   
low2 it hardly widens the spiritual     
horizon1 and is of  poor comfort amid   
the narrowness and bitterness of real   
life4 ,and yet  this art was a          
forerunner4 ,it denoted a turning-point1
 the beginning  of great and important  
things4 ,one great king1 ,lewis ,,xiv41 
was not  deceived about it4 ,with the   
sharpened keen feeling of the mighty for

  everything that can encroach on their 
superhuman dignity1 he perceived  at    
once that this new art offended against 
his kingly majesty4 ,how8  ,there are   
painters who dare to treat of plebeian  
subjects6 ,what should  that mean8 ,does
 art perhaps even fancy that it can be  
other than a  continual homage to the   
greatness and omnipotence of kings8     
,and1 with  an annihilating wave of his 
hand1 he banished from his august       
presence  these daring little pictures1 
these democratic works of ,teniers1     
,ostade1 ,dirk ,hals1 and ,gerard ,dow1 
whilst uttering the historic words3     
8,enlevez-moi ces grotesques40    ,but  
time stands not still2 development is   
achieved4 ,modern democracy  appears1   
and transposes all the conditions of    
existence of society and  its members4  
,art cannot escape the general          
revolution4 ,it experiences  its        
influence spiritually and economically2 
changes its judgment hall  and its mart4
 ,we do not realise the tremendous      

meaning of this change4  ,the court that
 decided as to the worth of the artist  
and his work was  formerly the small    
circle of possible patrons--princes of  
the ,church1  the great1 the courtiers4 
,to-day this court is criticism1        
professional  criticism4 ,in earlier    
times it was enough for the artist to   
please a  few people1 perhaps only one  
individual1 if the latter happened to be
 a  magnate4 ,he had not to trouble     
himself about the crowd2 moreover1 the  
crowd followed docilely the lead from   
above4 ,when ,dante said3               
8,credete ,cimabue nella pintura        
,tener lo campo1 ed ora ha ,giotto il   
grido1      ,si che la fama di colui    
oscura20--    ,what did grido mean8     
,what was fama8 ,it was the opinion of a
 court1  that of ,rome or ,pisa1 perhaps
 of ,ravenna4 ,we must go to ,aretino to
  discover a specimen of an art critic  
who was neither a ,mcenas like  ,leo ,x4
 or ,lorenzo the ,magnificent1 or even a
 painter like ,vasari1  but merely an   

audacious spirit who arrogated to       
himself the right of  dealing out praise
 and blame1 and conferring glory in the 
name of  something absolutely novel1 in 
the name of public opinion4    ,from    
that time it is professional criticism  
which suggests to the  multitude1 and   
imposes on the mighty1 its judgment on  
the artist4  ,but the criticism is      
disinterested1 or at least can be so4   
,it does  not expect of the work of art 
a direct personal advantage1 its own    
glorification1 the vindication of its   
spiritual and material influence4  ,its 
measure1 therefore1 grows larger and    
broader4 ,it brings to its  office      
philosophical and sthetic               
considerations1 which the popes and     
kings could not know when they gave     
commissions to the artists1 their       
protgs4 ,in order to secure success1 the
 artist must now please  the            
critic--many critics--and the latter    
pass a verdict on him with  perceptions1
 with taste and spiritual prepossessions

 that very seldom  are those of the     
bishops and great men4    ,and as the   
artist has got another tribunal1 he also
 comes before the  public under other   
material and spiritual conditions1 and  
seeks in  other ways a market for his   
work4    ,in feudal times1 as we have   
seen1 the church and palace were the    
places  for works of art4 ,they were    
seen there under circumstances little   
favourable for a purely sthetic         
appreciation4 ,in the cathedral people  
were intimidated by the significance of 
the vast space1 the acts of  faith1 and 
the perfume of incense2 in the castle1  
by the magnificent  garments of the     
officials1 and the weapons of the guard4
 ,it was in  #afgc that a 8,salon10     
i4e41 a regular art-exhibition1 was     
opened in  ,paris2 and besides the      
8,salon0 public museums were opened     
everywhere1  to which every one had     
access without invitation or            
introduction4  ,the artist was now quite
 independent2 he could work without     

waiting  for orders4 ,he no more needed1
 in order to become known1 to crave     
humbly a visit to his possibly          
poverty-stricken studio4 ,here was  a   
definite place where he could exhibit   
his work to thousands of                
spectators--connoisseurs1 judges1       
possible buyers4 ,from that time he     
worked with an eye to the great public  
which was sure not to be lacking  at his
 regular rendezvous4 ,if the            
professional critic became his judge1   
the mass of people became his ,mcenas4  
,universal suffrage has dethroned       
,church and royalty1 and remains the    
artist's only patron4    ,i say         
expressly--the only4 ,it still happens  
that the ,state1 i4e41 a  high official1
 perhaps a monarch1 orders works1       
assigns to the artist  the task of      
adorning churches and palaces1 perhaps  
even public places  and walks1 or even  
creating a monument of political import4
 ,but who  receives these commissions8  
,the artist pointed out by public       

opinion1  i4e41 the democratic crowd    
acting under the suggestion of the      
critics1 who also belong to the crowd4  
,the artist who has gained the          
advantage of an officially favoured     
position otherwise than by popular      
acclamation1 who owes it to the whim of 
a ruler1 the mere favouritism  of a     
bishop or some other great personage1 is
 nowadays not esteemed1  but despised4  
,he may receive some alms in the shape  
of money2 he may  collect ridiculous    
titles and wretched tags of coloured    
ribbons1 but he  will be branded with   
the name of court-artist1 and this name 
excludes  him irredeemably from fame4   
,the literary man in earlier times lived
 by the favour of a protector1  whom    
alone he had to trouble about pleasing4 
,nowadays he lives1  through newspapers 
and books1 by the public at large4 ,the 
dramatic  poet had1 for his productions1
 only the subsidised theatre1 the       
theatre royal1 which imposed on him its 
regulations4 ,to-day this  theatre is   

insignificant as compared with the free 
and independent  stage1 and the poet    
need know no other care and             
consideration than  that of getting a   
good grip on his public4 ,then the      
artist had  nothing to hope for1 unless 
he served religion1 the monarchy1 or the
  aristocracy4 ,now subjects from these 
spheres have actually become            
laughing-stocks--pompiers1 as they are  
termed with an expression of  contempt2 
and the artist1 if he would become rich 
and famous1 must  fish for his subjects 
in other streams of thought4 ,this is so
 true  that there are rulers who1 from  
feeling that art is making itself       
independent of them1 and will no longer 
serve as the herald of their  thoughts1 
try even to produce works of art1 and   
would impress their  works on the       
admiration of the multitude1 which1     
nevertheless1 does not  admire4    ,the 
great revolution is consequently        
accomplished2 art now works only  for   
the masses4 ,it is still always the     

,state that commissions2 it is  still   
always the few rich who buy2 but it is  
really universal suffrage  that imposes 
on them its own inclinations4 ,but we do
 not believe that  that new ,mcenas1 the
 people at large1 has other habits of   
mind or ways  of acting than had the    
,mcenas of the past4 ,the people too1   
exactly  like the priests and kings of  
old1 demands that art should please and 
flatter it4 ,but it further demands     
something else1 something more than     
pleasure and obsequiousness--viz41 a    
high satisfaction1 a corrective  of an  
evil of which it is perhaps not clearly 
conscious1 but which1  nevertheless1 it 
feels strongly4 ,and ,i will now try to 
point out this  evil4    ,one of the    
most striking phenomena of modern life  
is specialisation  applied to all       
departments4 ,every one tills merely a  
very little bit  of field or rather he  
ploughs only one and the same furrow4   
,this is  true of mental craftsmen4 ,it 
is still more true of handicraftsmen4   

,what existence does such a man lead    
nowadays8 ,there is no longer one  who  
fabricates an entire chair4 ,one always 
makes the arms1 another the  legs1 a    
third the back1 a fourth the cane-work4 
,a knife goes through a  dozen hands1 a 
needle1 ,i believe1 through thirty4 ,in 
order to attain  that extreme skill     
which competition demands of him and    
which he must  supply1 if he would earn 
his bread1 the workman continually      
repeats  the movement1 becomes a        
machine1 less than a machine1 a tiny    
part of  a machine1 a single wheel1 a   
single screw4 ,his being shrivels up1   
his  soul suffers4 ,all development is  
denied him2 all his faculties1 except   
the one he is always employing1 become  
crippled1 and disappear4 ,the man       
gradually sinks almost to the low level 
of a polypus1 which is only an  organ of
 a hydramedusa4    ,whence comes the    
strange fascination that the foremost   
men of the  ,italian ,renaissance       
exercise on us8 ,the reason is that they

 were  complete men4 ,all their         
faculties were fully developed--all that
  offered a possibility in them was     
developed to the utmost4 ,nothing  human
 was alien to them4 ,with marvellous    
freedom they circumscribed  the whole   
circle of human knowledge and faculties4
 ,then the learned  man was an universal
 scholar2 his knowledge was encyclopdic4
 ,the  poets were at the same time men  
of action4 ,men of rank were artists    
and writers1 and the artists were all   
they wished to be4 ,michael  ,angelo    
painted1 modelled1 built the cupola of  
,st ,peter's1 and wrote  charming       
verses4 ,benvenuto ,cellini handled the 
spatula as well as the  mallet1 the     
crayon as well as the pen1 and the sword
 as well as all  these tools4           
,macchiavelli governed as wonderfully as
 he wrote1 and  ,leonardo painted the   
8,last ,supper0 between a musical       
composition1 a  treatise on mechanics1 a
 plan of a fortification1 the model of a
  triumphal car1 and the plan of a canal

 for the purpose of irrigation4  ,count 
,castiglione's 8,cortegiano0 shows us   
the ideal of the man at  the time of the
 ,renaissance4 ,he was probably the     
fairest flower ever  produced by the    
human plant4 ,the modern man may envy   
him2 he can never  be his peer1 but must
 shrivel up in his narrow corner4       
,hypertrophy of  a single1 often        
subordinate faculty1 atrophy of all the 
rest--such is  the lot to which he is   
ruthlessly condemned4 ,and there is no  
change  possible in respect of it2 no   
herb grown can prove an antidote to that
  bane4 ,division of labour gives to the
 whole advantages too great to be       
dispensed with out of consideration for 
the individual4 ,division of  labour is 
the true condition of all progress1     
though in this case1 as  in so many     
others1 progress exacts a heavy1 very   
heavy1 price for its  services4         
,every one is painfully aware of this   
reverse side of progress2 many          
consciously take themselves to task for 

it4 ,why has the madhouse  philosophy   
which extols the superman been able to  
subjugate  spirited youth8 ,because it  
meets the longing for a fuller life of  
the personality4 ,and anarchism8 ,what  
is the secret that makes it  attractive 
to true consciences and loving hearts8  
,nothing except that  anarchy seems to  
promise unchecked development of the    
individuality4  ,in all these           
nonsensical1 wild1 and criminal         
movements there is  some little revolt  
against the pinching and tightening in  
of the  personality entailed by the     
modern conditions of labour1 and this is
  the ingredient that recruits adherents
 among those unaccustomed to  rigorous  
examination of their thoughts4 ,and when
 the workmen demand an  eight-hours'    
day1 what do they want8 ,to find time to
 go and drink at  the public house1 to  
be able to idle1 as the ill-wishers who 
calumniate  them assert8 ,no2 they want 
to have a few hours in which to cease to
 be  mechanical tools1 in which they may

 again be men1 and participate in  the  
great life of the community4    ,but by 
what means can we give back to men what 
division of labour  and                 
specialisation--these irrefragable      
consequences of contemporary            
progress--have taken from them8 ,by what
 means can we remake beings  developed  
from them harmonic8 ,perhaps in a very  
distant future science  will effect this
 necessary1 demanded1 and longed for    
miracle4 ,perhaps  mankind will once    
more see these workers who earn their   
bread during a  part of the day by      
handicraft1 and during the rest of the  
time linger  on the highest summits of  
human thought and knowledge2 a          
,socrates1 who  is a stonemason2 a      
,spinoza1 who polishes spectacle        
glasses4 ,but1 as ,i  have said before1 
that will be feasible only in a very    
remote future1  for science is not      
easily accessible2 the way leading to it
 is long and  rough1 and the full life  
through science is possible only to men 

of a  higher spiritual development than 
the average people nowadays4    ,but if 
science is no longer the usual companion
 of the man of the  masses1 and1        
unfortunately1 will not be so for a long
 time1 art1 on the  other hand1 admits  
him to familiar intercourse4 ,no tedious
 initiation  is requisite for it1 nor   
any hard labours which the majority     
cannot  perform4 ,it is sufficient to   
have eyes and ears1 and a human heart   
in one's breast4 ,after an              
apprenticeship1 which may be very short2
  after some habituation which one      
easily acquires by intercourse with     
beautiful works1 almost every one       
arrives so far that1 even if he  cannot 
appreciate the technical and            
philosophical merits of a work of  art  
with consciousness1 yet he can feel its 
charm and be susceptible of  emotions   
from it4    ,art it is1 then1 which can 
give to modern humanity what it most    
needs--the means of attaining the full  
life4 ,here lies1 unless ,i am          

deceived1 the greatness1 the lofty      
mission of art in a democratic  society 
which rests on a civilisation1 the marks
 of which1 the real  condition of which1
 are severe specialisation and division 
of labour  carried to an extreme4       
,art raises man out of industrialism and
 introduces him to a higher  world4 ,in 
this artist-created world the man who is
 bundled together  stretches himself    
straight2 the shrivelled broadens out2  
the fraction  of a man becomes complete4
 ,here he who belongs to his machine or 
observation-instrument becomes once more
 a free man and citizen of the  world--a
 man participating in the life of the   
community1 and enjoying  with the rest  
all the beauties of heaven and earth1   
all the greatness  of heart and soul of 
the pick of men4 ,through art a person  
imprisoned  in his daily avocation comes
 into communion with all civilisation4  
,here is the paradise to which the      
astronomer descends from his            
constellations1 to which the miner      

ascends from his pit1 in order to       
participate in the same joys and        
raptures1 to bring to flower whatever   
potentialities they possess4 ,the       
mission of art in society present and   
future is1 in short1 to liberate the    
prisoner of subdivided labour1  to      
restore the dignity of manhood to the   
being degraded into a little  wheel of a
 machine4    ,but art1 which is to      
fulfil this new and lofty mission1      
cannot1  manifestly1 be conventional    
art4 ,on this theocracy1 monarchy1 and  
aristocracy have stamped the character  
that suited them4 ,the multitude  at the
 present day find no sort of joy in     
works which depict to  them the bliss of
 paradise and the torments of hell1     
which extol  some paste-board king with 
crown and sceptre1 which offer for their
  admiration the greatness of           
blue-blooded privileged beings4 ,like   
the  patrons of earlier times1 the      
people1 who now represent ,mcenas of    
old1 are interested in art only for     

themselves4 ,the sources of their       
emotions in art are the emotions of     
their own lives4 ,in the work of  art   
that is to attract them1 they must find 
themselves again1 but1 as  formerly the 
priest and king did1 magnified and      
ennobled4 ,the work of  art must show   
him his own likeness1 but a beautiful   
one2 it must raise  the people in their 
own eyes1 and teach them to respect     
themselves4    ,this the common realism 
has not comprehended1 which broke in on 
art  with a din1 and dared to call upon 
the democracy4 ,the genuine people  has 
never had a mind to realism of this     
sort1 but has always dismissed  it      
roughly4 ,the rough proof of a hateful  
and tedious reality1 such as  the       
pictures of ,courbet or ,bastien        
,lepage1 has never attracted any but    
the superfine1 and this only1 by the    
well-known psychological law of         
contrast1 whereby an impression that is 
the exact opposite of the usual         
impression can impart a pleasurable     

feeling for a short time4 ,the rich  and
 luxurious like to see works of ugliness
 and misery2 the poor and  afflicted do 
not like them4 ,it is the same in regard
 to literature4  ,reluctant protests    
have frequently become loud1 in these   
socialistic  days1 against the realism  
which a party organ offers its readers4 
,the working class do not wish to know  
anything about this realism  which      
professes to be modern and democratic1  
yet is1 in reality1 only  wretched and  
repulsive4 ,it coops them up in the     
narrowness of their  everyday existence1
 but their wish is to get out of it4    
,pictures such as ,millet's1 sculptures 
such as ,constantin  ,meunier's--works  
which seek to show the dignity and      
beauty of the  occupations of the       
masses1 which constitute a hallowing of 
work1 an  apotheosis of the tragedies   
and idylls1 of all the sweet and bitter 
emotions of the people's life--these    
works1 to my thinking1 exhibit the  type
 of future art4    ,some great genius   

will1 perhaps1 find another formula4    
,what one may1  however1 say for certain
 is this1 that the art of the future    
will  not be realistic in the narrow    
sense of the word4 ,but it will not be  
mystical and sthetic either4 ,the people
 will never interest themselves  in     
half-tone angels of boundless length1 in
 violet-hued ,virgins  with lilies in   
their hands in a conventional bush1 in  
enigmatical1  mysterious verses4 ,and   
esoteric art will never give the people 
what  they need1 viz41 the liberating   
ideal4 ,the art of the cultivator of the
  ,ego1 the dilletante1 of the snobs of 
a ,talmi-aristocracy1 presumes  to      
demand the future for itself4 ,is that  
to be an art of the future1  an art of  
progress8 ,one can only laugh at the    
notion4 ,the art of the  future will be 
no 8little chapel10 but a mighty        
cathedral1 wide enough  to admit the    
whole of mankind4 ,and that will be     
exactly its vocation3  to be the        
hallowed place wherein mankind will rise

 again to the  childship of ,god for    
which religion has educated them in past
 stages of  evolution4                  
,,ii                                    
,,socialistic ,,art                     
,,constantin ,,meunier      ,is there a 
socialistic art8 ,can such a thing      
exist8 ,so far as ,socialism  is an     
economic and political philosophy it is 
hardly comprehensible  with the means of
 expression of art4 ,if the plastic arts
 are to  be instructive1 they do not    
amount to more than chill symbols and   
halting allegories4 ,on the other hand1 
they are not prevented from  digging    
down to the psychical roots of          
,socialism1 and presenting the          
fundamental feelings and ultimate       
intuitions from which it springs4 ,one  
of these fundamental feelings is pity   
for the disinherited4 ,one of the       
ultimate intuitions is that of the      
dignity of all work done with moral     
earnestness and entire devotion4    ,the
 artist can show us the destitute1 to   

whose presence amidst our  civilisation 
applies more sharply1 what the          
,psalmist#b asserts of the  life of man 
in general3 8,and if it has been        
splendid1 it has been toil  and         
labour0--toil and labour without a ray  
of happiness2 severe physical  exertion 
rendered more wretched by sorrow and    
distress4 ,such a picture  grips our    
hearts1 and urges on us painful         
questions3 is this misery  inevitable8  
,is it cruelly ordained by nature       
herself or a consequence  of faulty     
institutions1 capable of improvement on 
the part of man8  ,cannot we introduce  
into the lot of this ill-used brother   
something of  joy8    ,and the artist   
can also show us the worker1 not in want
 and suffering1  like the beast of      
burden1 humiliated into the slave of    
matter1 but  rather as creating eagerly1
 proud of displaying his strength1      
joyful  in the conviction of success1   
regarding his skill as his honour4 ,this
  aspect fills us with respect1 perhaps 

with admiration4 ,it opens to us  the   
comprehension of the import of the      
workman1 and the lofty reality  of his  
achievement4    ,in both cases the      
artist fashions fully from life2 he need
 not  exaggerate1 he need add nothing2  
he can confine himself to the plain     
facts of life4 ,he need not betray any  
prejudice or any extra-artistic  aim4   
,he will1 nevertheless1 so contrive that
 one will be able to speak  without     
falsification of his art as of a        
socialistic one4 ,for his work  will put
 the spectator in the mood in which he  
will be inclined to hail  as progress   
every transformation which can improve  
the earthly lot of  the worker1 and     
increase his value in the community4    
,the school of sthetes1 which maintains 
the principle of art for art's  sake1   
will1 ,i grant1 admit works of this sort
 as a form of ,socialism1  indeed1 but  
not as a form of art4 ,i do not belong  
to this school4 ,i  oppose it at all    
times and everywhere as strongly as ,i  

am able4 ,i am  convinced that art has a
 social mission which reaches far beyond
 mere  gratification1 that it must      
necessarily be moral1 and1 in the       
highest  sense of the word1 useful2 not 
useful in the simple way of painted or  
chiselled aids to intelligence1 not     
moral in the vulgar way of tracts2  but 
moral through stimulating what is most  
human and noble in our  spirit and soul1
 and useful through educating us to     
deeper and wider  conceptions of        
phenomena4 ,in one point1 however1 ,i   
agree with the  heralds of l'art pour   
l'art--,i demand beauty in a work of    
art2 not  beauty alone1 but beauty in   
the first place4    ,in order1 then1    
that we can speak of a ,socialistic art1
 the works  that would deserve this     
designation must not only excite        
sympathy  with the disinherited1 and    
respect for the workman1 but they must  
also arouse sthetic feeling1 they must  
be beautiful4 ,this claim1 of  course1  
excludes no kind of beauty4 ,the tragic 

is absolutely beautiful4  ,purification 
is one of the most powerful sthetic     
influences4 ,truth  can be beautiful if 
essential and expressive4 ,the socialist
 who would  prove himself an artist must
 possess the lucky gift to see and      
exhibit  beauty in the figures and      
actions of the class of society for     
which his  heart beats4    ,all these   
conditions no contemporary artist known 
to me fulfils in  the same degree as    
,constantin ,meunier1 the ,belgian      
sculptor1 painter1  and draughtsman4    
,meunier died an old man in #aije4 ,he  
was born in the  #8thirties' of the last
 century4 ,the world was slow to        
recognise him1  not because he did not  
deserve recognition1 but because he did 
not seek  it4 ,he was big and           
unassuming4 ,he lived quietly in a      
little ,belgian  town as a teacher in an
 art school1 and modestly avoided the   
roar of  fame's mart4 ,he had even      
refused to allow the reproduction of one
 of  his noble bronzes1 for business    

purposes1 by a first-rate ,paris house  
which was prepared to pay a munificent  
price for the right of sale4 ,he  was   
loth that his piece should become a     
factory-cast and a shop-window  article4
 ,he belongs to the narrowest circle of 
the blessed1 of the  chosen4 ,he is one 
of the ,prometheus-like artists2 he     
informs and  inspires life4 ,he feels   
like a ,samaritan1 he thinks like an    
apostle of  the submerged1 who utters a 
great cry of wrath over the harshness   
and  unrighteousness of the social      
scheme1 and he compels the bronze1 like 
a ,benvenuto ,cellini1 translated from  
what was aristocratic and classic  into 
that which is modern and democratic4    
,in ,meunier's work there is a unity    
from which he seldom digresses4 ,he     
lived in a ,belgian district of         
coal-pits and smelting furnaces1 in the 
very midst of rough labourers who passed
 their lives in the galleries  of mines1
 or in the fiery glow of furnace mouths4
 ,he found his models  among these      

figures4 ,there the ,labour movement in 
,belgium arose--one of  the most rapid  
in ,europe2 there ,meunier's art grew   
up--one of the most  intensive at the   
present time4 ,the miner and the        
iron-smelter are his  heroes2 he admires
 their strength1 and from the bottom of 
his heart  he bewails their pains4 ,and 
if he is unfaithful to his ,cyclopses1  
it  is only1 touched and enraptured1 to 
look after his other darlings--the      
country folk working in the fields1 a   
subject which instils in him as  much   
reverence as the burrowing of the       
coal-miners underground1 and the        
powerful hammer-strokes of the          
iron-smiths4    ,one of his greatest    
creations1 perhaps his greatest is a    
bronze a  span high1 representing an old
 woman1 the wife or1 as ,i would rather 
assume from the stormy intensity of her 
emotion1 the mother of a miner1  who1   
after a driving storm1 has gone to the  
mouth of the shaft of a  coal-pit1 to   
which the corpse of some one belonging  

to her has been  brought4    ,the woman 
stands there1 leaning slightly forward1 
her countenance  petrified with dumb    
despair1 her arms limp1 her one hand    
lying in the  other1 yet without any    
convulsion1 and powerless1 her knees    
through  a very slight bend betraying   
her trembling1 her feet instinctively   
somewhat turned inwards1 so as to give a
 broader support to the body1  and to   
protect the almost crippled figure from 
falling down4 ,the whole  is such a     
frightfully expressive picture of a poor
 human creature  who has1 as it were1   
received a blow on the head1 and in her 
crushed  condition is not strong enough 
even for sobbing and wringing her hands1
  that it strikes the spectator with a  
cold shudder4 ,observe1 the old  woman  
wears the garments of the poor          
,walloons1 heavy1 stiff gowns and       
neckerchiefs1 the hard angles and folds 
of which can express only very  roughly 
and indistinctly the soft play of the   
weakly-quivering muscles4  ,what        

penetrating keenness of observation does
 it need to recognise in  an entirely   
self-contained form shrouded in uncouth1
 shapeless clothes1  without gestures or
 play of features1 and to imitate1      
without the  slightest exaggeration1 yet
 overpoweringly1 the tenderest lines    
which1  even in such unfavourable       
conditions of material1 express clearly 
and  dramatically all that is passing in
 this almost impenetrably veiled  human 
soul4 ,this little figure1 no larger    
than the decoration of a  clock1 is a   
great monument1 and1 like every real    
work of art1 it points  far beyond the  
limits of itself4 ,it reveals much more 
to the power of  imagination than it    
manifests to the eye4 ,this is actually 
proved in  this very case2 for ,meunier 
has a group which supplements the work  
described3 the same old woman1 and      
before her1 lying outstretched on  the  
ground1 the corpse of him whom she is   
bewailing4 ,we might think  that this   
more complete work would be more deeply 

affecting than the  fragmentary one4    
,the contrary1 however1 is the case4    
,the corpse1  although modelled so      
exquisitely1 leaves us cold2 it does not
 realise  the conception we have formed 
of it4 ,we had expected to feel a horror
  at the sight of it1 at which the blood
 would congeal in our veins4 ,we  are   
astonished and disappointed at seeing   
lying there only an unknown  man who    
does not concern us4 ,when we look at   
the old woman petrified by  grief we    
think of the corpse which is not        
exhibited to us2 we see it  with our    
spiritual eyes in the horror of the old 
woman1 we share the  feelings of the old
 woman1 the unseen corpse is that of a  
relation of  our own1 the dead man      
himself is dear to us1 we ourselves have
 suffered  the loss of him4 ,on the     
other hand1 the completed group makes   
any  co-operative exertion of our       
imaginative powers superfluous4    ,the 
corpse lies there visible2 it distracts 
our attention from the  old woman2 we   

feel less keenly her emotion2 the       
incident no longer  occurs in the ,holy 
of ,holies of our soul1 but in a        
forecourt1 in a  place of inspection4   
,we could1 in imagination1 endow the    
corpse with  the features of a dear     
relative1 and feel sorrow for the dead  
man3  inspection teaches us that the    
corpse is a stranger to us1 and we  have
 no grounds for shedding tears over it4 
,the two works1 placed in               
juxta-position1 fully bear out the old  
dictum1 that a work of art is  more     
powerfully effective in proportion as it
 more strongly excites our  imaginative 
faculties to creative co-operation4     
,a series of works brings before us the 
life of the coal-miners4  ,some of them 
come to daylight after their shift is   
ended4 ,they are  tired1 but cheerful4  
,about their wearied countenances there 
seems to  quiver a reflection of the    
hearth-fire which awaits them familiarly
  in their poor homes4 ,here is a miner 
at his work4 ,in a painful1             

half-recumbent position he handles the  
mattock in the narrow gallery  under the
 seam from which he is dislodging the   
coal4 ,here another  is sitting         
inactive1 with his spade and lamp1 with 
only a pair of  trousers on1 the upper  
part of his body naked1 without a       
particle  of fat on his muscles steeled 
by toil4 ,here a worker at a smelting   
furnace1 likewise sitting--a            
reminiscence of the famous 8,les ,foins0
  of ,bastien ,lepage1 which is at      
present in the ,luxembourg4 ,like this  
peasant lass1 ,meunier's labourer is    
completely bestialised2 he stares       
vacantly before him1 with a jaw open    
like that of an animal2 his hand1       
unused to inactivity1 hangs down        
heavily4 ,it is a shocking picture of   
the degradation of man through a        
one-sided exertion of the muscles2 a    
forcible harangue in favour of the eight
 hours' day1 which would leave  more    
time for the human working machine1 not 
only1 as his opponents  assert1 to visit

 the public-house1 but also for         
spiritual life4    ,meunier rises to the
 height of the ,vedic hymns when he     
turns towards  the countryman and his   
heroic deeds in nourishing mankind4 ,in 
the  relief1 8,the ,harvest10 a band of 
reapers--four men and two women--are    
grappling with the ripe corn4 ,one      
seizes violently the stalks1 the        
second1 bending forward1 makes a wide   
stroke with his sickle1 a woman  binds  
into sheaves the ears that have been    
mown4 ,in the background1 one  longing  
for rest looks at the position of the   
sun1 and another1 rapido  fessus aestu  
7fatigued by the scorching summer heat71
 to use ,vergil's  words1 wipes the     
sweat from his brow4 ,there is the note 
of the ,eclogues  about this work4 ,over
 it floats the consecration of the lofty
 act with  which the rooted son of the  
soil1 the ploughman--the creator and    
bearer  of all civilisation--gains the  
bread of mankind out of the earth4 ,a   
single figure1 8,june10 is also created 

from this emotion4 ,it is the           
realisation in free sculpture of a motif
 from the relief4 ,a reaper1  stripped  
to the waist1 emaciated by the heavy    
toil of harvesting1  exhausted by his   
day's work1 leans upon his scythe and   
glances1 shading  his eyes with his     
hand1 at the sun--8,i would it were     
bedtime and all was  over40 ,one would  
like to press the hand of this brave1   
good fellow1  or at any rate that of the
 artist who has represented him to us so
  faithfully and straightforwardly4     
,all ,meunier's works have not this     
delicacy2 many are weak1 some  absolute 
failures4 ,as an instance of such ,i    
point to 8,the ,puddlers10  though it   
has been particularly admired by some   
critics4 ,three  iron-founders stand at 
the open stoke-hole of the              
puddle-furnace1 and  feed it with mighty
 pieces for melting4 ,from the opening  
issue steam  and smoke1 which curl round
 the three men wielding rakes and tongs1
 and  eddy upwards4 ,meunier has tried  

to represent this steam in sculpture4   
,he has given it a concrete form1       
necessarily the same corporeality as    
the bodies1 tools1 blocks of metal1 the 
flaming furnace2 for sculpture          
possesses no means of differentiating   
the thickness of matter1 when  it       
abandons the mere engraved line or the  
make-shift of various  perforations4    
,the result is1 that instead of smoke   
there is an amazing  image which partly 
reminds us of an untrimmed dab of       
plaster1 partly  of a weather-beaten    
stalactite4 ,meunier was originally a   
painter1 and  took to sculpture only    
late in life4 ,his 8,puddlers0 are      
formed with  the technique of a painter1
 from which the artist did not          
immediately  emancipate himself4        
,another relief1 8,the ,bricklayers10 is
 absolutely  a mistake4 ,two men are    
standing in the loam-pit and handing up 
the  bricks to their mates above4 ,they 
do this with theatrical gestures1  as if
 a conquered king were handing over his 

crown to his conqueror4  ,the contrast  
between the bombastic movement and its  
vulgar purpose is  so grotesque that the
 picture has an irresistibly comic      
effect4 ,here  ,meunier is1 for the only
 occasion in all the works of his with  
which ,i  am acquainted1 insincere and  
affected4 ,i have looked for a long time
  at this deplorable work1 and it made  
me thoughtful4 ,how heavy is the        
responsibility of the critic6 ,supposing
 ,i knew nothing of ,meunier and  only  
saw this work1 ,i should find it hard to
 resist the impulse to  abuse him in the
 sharpest terms1 for it unites the two  
worst faults  that can be found in a    
work of art3 it is at the same time     
inanely  futile and obtrusively         
pretentious4 ,so far ,i should be acting
 within  the scope of my perfect rights4
 ,but am ,i certain that ,i was not     
allowing myself to be carried away by my
 own natural propensity to  generalise1 
and to condemn not only the work1 but   
also its author1 to  call him a bungler 

and a botcher8 ,such a verdict would1   
apparently1  be well-grounded and1 in   
fact1 revoltingly false4 ,works such as 
8,the  ,bricklayers0 are a warning to   
the critic2 they admonish him to be     
conscientious4 ,their teaching is that  
every comprehensive verdict on an       
artist must presuppose a knowledge of   
his whole life's work1 and that  no     
single work can offer sufficient basis  
for the general appreciation  of its    
author1 especially of his depreciation4 
,in his figures of the miners and       
iron-founders1 ,meunier showed sympathy 
with the lot of the proletariate2 in his
 portrayals of the countryman's  life1  
reverence for the civilising work of the
 man who ploughs the  soil4 ,but he     
reveals in certain other works of       
similar subjects beauty  which prevents 
us from wishing for one moment for those
 ,invalides of  ,olympus1 the           
unchangeable troop of academic          
sculpture4 ,the 8,blacksmith0  wielding 
his hammer1 the 8,harbour-,workers10 the

 more than life-sized  8,smith10 are    
discoveries which are tantamount to     
revelations4  ,especially this smith in 
his working garb1 with his stiff leather
  apron1 leggings1 and the foot         
coverings that are intended to protect  
him from the sparks4 ,leaning on the    
tongs that are almost the height  of a  
man1 he rests his hand on his hips and  
waits until it is his turn  to attack   
the work4 ,there is a proud             
tranquillity1 and a reserve of  ready   
strength in him that carry us away4     
,this artisan is every whit  as handsome
 in his way as an antique statue in a   
toga of ample fold1  or a noble nudity1 
or a knight in romantic armour4 ,his    
body possesses  the elegance which      
perfect fitness confers1 his movement   
the energetic  restraint that the       
workman1 thrifty in exerting himself1   
acquires  through being in the habit of 
avoiding every prodigal expenditure of  
his strength4 ,meunier trains our eyes  
to appreciate the sthetic  charm of this

 phenomenon of our own days1 which great
 art has hitherto  stupidly passed by4  
,of what expressive poetry ,meunier is  
capable we recognise with  admiration in
 a statue of an animal1 the             
mine-horse--one of those  unfortunate   
nags which are brought to the mine as   
foals1 in order to  draw the coal       
waggons to the galleries1 and who are   
condemned to spend  the whole of their  
lives in the bowels of the earth1 far   
from the  sun4 ,the animal's head       
droops1 its lips are flabby1 eyes       
half-closed1  ears sunken1 flanks fallen
 in2 the whole wretchedness of an       
innocent  creature condemned to night   
and woe is embodied in this shivering   
beast4 ,the mine-nag has certainly no   
sense of its disconsolate fate2  it does
 not miss the sun1 or long for green    
pastures4 ,it does not envy  its luckier
 brothers who can skip in the fresh     
grass beneath the blue  sky4 ,meunier   
has all these feelings for it2 he       
infuses them into the  animal's stupid  

soul2 but doubly amazing is the power   
with which he  himself can express      
through a coarse animal body humanly    
lofty tragedy4    ,what had already     
become clear to me when ,i saw          
,meunier's works  separately in the     
salon at the ,champs de ,mars1 deepened 
itself within  me1 at the sight of the  
whole collection of them1 into a certain
  conviction that ,meunier is1 perhaps  
unconsciously1 a pupil of ,millet's4    
,he learnt from him to look with        
reverence on the homely men who with    
holy zeal1 without gazing to the left or
 right1 with body and soul  in their    
work1 wrest the works of civilisation   
from the forces of  nature4 ,he improves
 ,millet's peasants and artisans into   
the plastic  and monumental4 ,it is the 
same simplicity1 almost crudeness2 the  
same  contempt of pose1 the same extreme
 energy of activity1 and the same  deep1
 inward life as in the master who       
painted the 8,angelus40 ,and what  makes
 the most vivid impression on us in     

,meunier1 as in ,millet1 is the  ardent 
piety with which the sight of true and  
earnestly working people  fills         
him--people who rise high in their      
apparently humble1 yet fruitful  and1   
through its connection with the         
corporate life of mankind1  especially  
significant labour4 ,an artist1 however1
 who discloses to us  such outlooks on  
the path of civilisation1 and such      
insight into the  human soul1 has some  
claim to a place near the acknowledged  
masters4                                
,,iii                              ,,the
 ,,question ,,of ,,style      ,a history
 of style--,i mean of style in general1 
not of one particular  style--has1 so   
far as ,i am aware1 never been written4 
,that ,i can  understand4 ,it would be a
 gigantic task1 even exceeding the power
 of an  encyclopdist4 ,it would have to 
show from what spiritual peculiarities  
of the artist2 from what necessities and
 intuitions of the time2 from  what     
requirements of the material1 and from  

what compulsion on the part  of the     
technique1 the style develops1 and it   
would have to measure  the whole range  
of individual and national psychology1  
of customs1 of  material and of         
technology4 ,the individual1 however1   
whose powers do  not suffice for an     
exhaustive and systematic exposition of 
the genesis  and mutation of styles1 can
 constantly register partial            
observations1  and throw light on       
sections of this wide province4         
,every human activity is excited by a   
need4 ,we fabricate weapons1            
implements1 shelter1 and clothing1      
because we need them4 ,in the  earliest 
stages of human artistic skill1 purpose 
and material alone  control the         
productions of the human hand2 style1 so
 far as we can  speak of such a thing1  
is purely constructive4 ,it makes us    
recognise  the influence of a small     
number of bio-mechanical and            
psychological  laws--laws that have     
hardly varied during all the thousands  

of years in  the history of human       
morals4 ,these laws are those of the    
least effort  and of selfishness4 ,by   
virtue of the law of least effort we    
choose the  most promising material1    
i4e41 at which we have most conveniently
 to  hand1 which can be worked in the   
easiest way1 or is most durable1 and    
for that reason1 more especially saves  
us the too frequent repetition  of the  
effort4 ,we choose the form to which the
 material employed  adapts itself most  
readily4 ,the problem which the         
constructive element  in style has to   
solve is this3 given a determined task  
which should  be performed by an        
artistic expedient1 how will this object
 be most  readily1 and yet most         
perfectly1 attained with the material   
available8    ,the law of selfishness   
alters the natural course of the law of 
least  effort1 and often operates quite 
in opposition to it4 ,the possessor  of 
an object wishes to be remarked2 he will
 distinguish himself from  others1 be   

admired and envied by them1 whereby he  
will gain influence  over their minds4  
,he will therefore demand that for the  
object not the  most easily procured    
material1 but the rarest1 and that which
 can  be furnished only with the utmost 
difficulty1 be employed1 that the  form 
require not the least1 but greatest     
possible amount of labour4 ,he  will    
likewise wish the workmen to sacrifice  
the elegance of economy1  not to        
represent what is alone real and        
necessary with the smallest  expenditure
 of material1 but1 on the contrary1 to  
lavish material1 and  make it quite     
visible and quite striking2 to add to   
the ,useful and  ,essential1 also the   
,superfluous1 so as to suggest the      
notion of wealth4  ,the idea of elegance
 will alter its meaning4 ,it will no    
longer signify  the greatest suitability
 and perfect appropriateness1 but1 in   
the first  place1 costliness of         
material1 difficulty of work1           
wastefulness--in a  word1 luxury4       

,the law of selfishness bursts the      
narrow frame of construction1 and  adds 
to style its second element1 decoration4
 ,this1 too1 is still  under the law of 
least expenditure of force2 this1 too1  
is still  primarily subordinate to      
construction1 i4e41 utility1 but it     
strives  to render itself independent of
 the constructive element1 and to       
become its own object4 ,the history of  
each particular style shows this        
conflict between the constructive and   
decorative elements4 ,at first          
construction rules alone2 next1         
decoration1 called forth by the amour   
propre of the fabricator or possessor1  
joins it1 but very timidly and  very    
modestly4 ,it obsequiously gets out of  
the way of construction1  and contents  
itself with corners where the           
constructive element has  nothing to do4
 ,but gradually it gets bolder1 steps   
from its holes and  corners1 confronts  
construction1 compels it to give way and
 take less  comfortable by-paths1 and   

finally subjects the constructive       
element  entirely to its will and       
caprice1 so that1 in the decadent period
 of a  style1 a useful object becomes   
wholly unserviceable for its original   
purpose1 and is only an excuse for      
decoration1 which self-gloriously  gives
 itself airs4    ,there is another      
contrast between construction and       
decoration4 ,the  constructive is the   
social element in the product of human  
labour2  the decorative the individual  
one4 ,i do not think that this dictum   
needs an elaborate explanation2 it seems
 clear enough to me4 ,in  construction  
expression is given to a need which is1 
at a given time  and in a given place1  
shared by many or all2 it answers not   
only a  condition1 but a demand of the  
community4 ,decoration is--at any rate  
originally--the outcome of individual   
taste and individual imaginative  power4
 ,construction is a thing necessitated1 
and therefore banal2  decoration is     
superfluous1 and therefore charming4    

,the former appeals  to the             
understanding2 the latter is fantastic  
and sentimental4 ,the  human            
consciousness is1 however1 so arranged  
that--for its gain8 for its  loss8 7,i  
have treated this question so often and 
so thoroughly in other  places that ,i  
may here leave it undiscussed7--it      
derives its feelings of  pleasure and   
aversion incomparably more from its     
sensuous than from  its intellectual    
life4 ,wherefore1 for practical purpose 
in style1 only  those who are most      
highly developed intellectually have    
appreciation2  on the other hand1 for   
what is pleasing1 all whose nervous     
system is  susceptible to pleasurable   
feelings4    ,an individual decorative  
invention becomes style by the imitation
  of others1 which can be slavish or    
free4 ,a single work1 a single  artist1 
will never be felt as a phenomenon of   
style4 ,there is the same  difference   
between originality and style as between
 the picture of  a certain person and   

the composite or average photograph of  
,galton4  ,the feature of family        
likeness that runs through the works of 
one  period and one place1 however1 like
 that which all members of a            
blood-relationship exhibit1 is explained
 most simply through descent  from a    
common ancestor4    ,decoration is      
either organic or transferred4 ,the     
former is the  outgrowth of             
construction1 and gives it a new        
meaning1 unites to  the idea of its     
purpose a simile that can be correct or 
false1  pleasant or silly2 the latter is
 added externally1 and only aims  at the
 beautification of the surface1 without 
adopting living and  necessary relations
 to the structure and destination of the
 object4  ,surface decoration may be    
pretty and rich1 but it is always       
something  subordinate1 and always      
speaks of poor imagination and slight   
inventive  power4 ,organic decoration is
 alone the outcome of a creative gift   
for  art4    ,the psychical mechanism1  

which produces organic decoration1 is   
always the same2 it is the co-operation 
of association of ideas  and            
anthropomorphism4 ,i know very well that
 this latter is only a  particular      
instance of the former2 but ,i cite the 
really identical1  nevertheless1 as two 
apparently different ideas1 so as not to
 become  vague through too wide         
generalisation4    ,for the sake of     
clearness ,i will quote a concrete      
example4 ,in  collections1 one not      
infrequently meets with a medival plane 
having  the figure of a crouching lion  
with jaws open and a wild expression4   
,it  is easy to reproduce the psychic   
process through which this form arose4  
,the joiner who uses the plane1 and     
follows his own work reflectively1  sees
 how the mouth of the plane1 when       
applied1 strikes the iron into  the     
surface of the wood1 and tears the      
splinters from it4 ,what is more        
obvious than to think at the same time  
of jaws pouncing on the wood to  flay   

and mangle it8 ,the technical ,german   
expressions1 ,hobelmaul and             
,hobelwangen 7plane-mouth and           
plane-cheeks7 for the aperture in which 
the ,hobeleisen 7plane-iron7 is fixed1  
show that the association of  ideas at  
once presented itself when the tool     
assumed the form familiar  to us4 ,the  
medival artist went further2 he has     
logically developed  the image of a     
rending and devouring mouth suggested by
 association  of ideas4 ,he has given it
 form2 he has examined it with          
sufficient  artistic intensity to embody
 materially the picture presented by the
  word1 to raise it from the rhetorical 
to the plastic4 ,but whilst the  artist 
advanced from the mouth of the plane to 
a lion's jaws1 and  from the latter to  
an entire lion crouching over the board 
as over a  victim that he has attacked  
and torn down1 and mangling it with     
raging  delight1 he has at the same time
 made use of anthropomorphism1 has      
imputed to the plane will1 passion1     

gruesome enjoyment1 and turned the      
planing into the tool's riotous         
satisfaction of bloodthirsty wild-beast 
instincts4    ,this plane in the shape  
of a crouching lion is the model of a   
good  organic decoration4 ,the          
construction is not injured2 it does no 
damage  to the under-surface of the     
plane1 that it is the smooth-lying belly
 of  the lion with drawn claws2 it does 
not prejudice the working capacity  of  
the iron1 that it is let into a mouth of
 a slightly waving lip  shape2 it does  
not make it difficult to work1 that the 
handle is shaped  like a round lion's   
head4 ,a sense is communicated to the   
tool which it  did not originally       
possess2 it does not shave and smoothe1 
but lives1  tears1 devours1 and finds   
its joy therein4 ,organic decoration is 
thus  an infusing of soul into that     
which possessed no soul2 and not only   
this1 but also in a higher and nobler   
way1 a submerging of oneself in  the    
soul that the artist has inspired into  

that which was soulless4  ,he must live 
in the being which his                  
anthropomorphising association of  ideas
 has excogitated4 8,what should ,i feel1
 how should ,i act1 what  movements     
should ,i make1 what expression should  
,i have1 if ,i were this  object1 but   
thinking1 willing1 feeling--in short1   
living and conscious8  ,how should ,i1  
for instance1 as a plane which was      
really a beast of  prey1 dispose myself1
 if ,i had the board--my victim--under  
me1 and began  devouring it80 ,the      
organically decorative artist is1       
therefore1 really  the dramatiser of the
 inanimate1 for he creates beings1      
bestows on  them character1 and makes   
them act according to the latter and the
  situation1 and1 if not speak1         
nevertheless imitate4    ,if an artist  
has1 from some especially vivid         
intuition and active  association of    
ideas1 found and embodied an            
anthropomorphic likeness  which is very 
strikingly clear1 imitation seizes it   

and repeats it with  slight individual  
changes1 which are1 now and then1       
spirited and happy1  but1 for the most  
part1 make the original picture dull1   
nay1 through  stupidity or              
misunderstanding may degrade it to      
nonsense4 ,such is  exactly the case    
with the material picture as with the   
word-picture4 ,at  first it is the new  
and peculiar discovery of a poetic mind1
 then it is  repeated well or ill so    
often that it ends with being a         
characterless  commonplace4 ,every      
cultivated language is made up of such  
commonplaces1  and1 in like manner1     
style is made up of repetitions and     
tones1 which  are the plastic equivalent
 of rhetorical phrases4    ,the psychic 
sources of style--in contradistinction  
to those or  freely devised organic     
decoration1 which style only repeats and
  vulgarises--originate in very mean    
domains of mind4 ,they are              
thoughtlessness1 or1 to put it more     
clearly and briefly1 stupidity and      

mental inertia in their special forms as
 imitativeness and detestation  of      
novelty4    ,it is thoughtlessness when 
we imitate forms that are suited to a   
particular material in a quite different
 material1 simply because we  are used  
to the sight of them4 ,the far-famed    
,greek temple architecture  is largely a
 result of this thoughtlessness3 it     
slavishly imitates in  stone the wooden 
architecture1 the place of which it has 
taken2 it  retains the beams with       
projecting beam-heads and cross-braces  
that  have neither object nor meaning in
 stone4 ,to the same category belong    
the tablets1 with manifold curled up and
 twisted edges1 which the  ,renaissance 
and the ,rococo executed in stone and   
wood1 although they  have no sense or   
justification except in sheet metal3 the
 contemporary  ,moscow silver-work1     
which imitate painfully enough damask   
linen with  ,russo-,byzantine coloured  
embroidery1 or cakes and black-bread in 
precious metals or enamel3 the marble   

veils1 lace garments1 and knitted       
stockings of the ,north-,italian        
sculptors of the decadence1 etc4    ,it 
is mental inertia when we mechanically  
persist in repeating forms  which either
 are unfitted for a given object1 or    
have lost all meaning4  ,for two        
thousand years artists of all sorts have
 made a decorative  use of acanthus     
leaves in countries where no human eye  
has ever had  an acanthus leaf before   
it4 ,the ,middle ,ages decorated with a 
whole  menagerie of beasts from ,asia   
and ,africa1 which they knew only from  
fables1 foreign textures1 and pictures4 
,from imitation to imitation  the       
outlines1 which no comparison with the  
actual model corrected and  restored to 
accuracy1 became more inexact and       
grotesque4 ,thus arose  acanthus        
capitals which are more like rough logs 
than the elegantly  curled plant1 and   
heraldic lions and leopards1 in which no
 feature any  longer reminds us of the  
great cats4 ,this is then called        

improving  upon the natural form1 and   
people even discover a particular beauty
  in it3 a striking proof of the ability
 of mankind to make a virtue  out of    
necessity4 ,for the so-called           
stylisation is conscious and            
intentional only in late conservative   
imitation4 ,it arises1 however1  quite  
involuntarily through unintelligent     
imitation of a pattern that  is         
incorrectly felt and grasped1 because   
one has never known its living  model4  
,so1 too1 the whole mythology of the    
,greeks still haunts our  present-day   
decoration1 which mythology was to the  
,greek artists a part  of their living  
feeling and religious conviction1 whilst
 to-day it has  lost all thought and    
feeling4 ,what can ,neptune's trident1  
,orpheus'  lyre1 the ,sirens and the    
,centaur1 the ,sphynx and the ,gorgon1  
signify  to a son of this century8 ,but 
whilst these bits of inherited form     
wander from one imitator to another1    
until they become hopelessly            

unrecognisable1 they gain a beauty of   
another sort which they did not         
originally possess3 the venerable spell 
of antiquity surrounds them1  and this  
charm1 in its turn1 touches certain     
susceptibilities of the  soul1 the      
inclination to mystic1 twilight         
conceptions of what is remote  in time  
and place1 the pleasurable feeling of   
comfortable persistance  in that to     
which we are accustomed1 the connection 
of the familiar  and always known with  
the remembrance of all strong           
impressions1 both  happy and unhappy1 of
 childhood and youth4 ,this             
mystico-archaic and  subjectively       
sentimental element1 which occurs in    
every style handed  down traditionally1 
furnishes it with fanatical devotees    
whom its  original decorative value     
could never win4 ,that is1 if ,i may say
 so1  the religious side of the feeling 
for1 and appreciation of1 style4        
,from the oppressive mass of material1  
which ,i must1 for the most  part1 leave

 untouched1 ,i am afraid ,i must deal   
with only one more  question3--,is there
 a new style8 ,is the so-called         
8,secessionism0 a style  which          
characterises our time1 or1 perhaps1 a  
fugitive moment of our  time8 ,he who   
has attentively observed the later      
exhibitions on this  point will be bound
 to say 8,no0 decisively4 ,household    
furniture and  room decoration of the   
8secessionist0 order are tortured into  
appearing  new and original2 but they   
are neither the one nor the other1 but a
  patient1 methodical eclecticism which 
aims at the influence of what  is       
foreign and peculiar4 ,we distinguish   
accurately that rooms built  and painted
 in the secession style are patched     
together of ,chinese  motives1 with an  
addition of ,loie ,fuller's serpentine  
twistings1 and  that secessionist       
furniture imitates1 in good wood and    
metal1 the  slenderness1 knottiness1 and
 pliancy of bamboos4 ,the secession     
contains  a very minute percentage of   

independent invention and a great many  
reminiscences of ,eastern ,asia4 ,the   
,west ,european style1 which should     
ostensibly be the expression of the     
latest high ,european tendencies1  is1  
in reality1 ,chinese and ,japanese      
style1 exaggerated by absurdity of  form
 and assumed or real delirium4          
,,iv                             ,,the  
,,old ,,french ,,masters      ,we must  
once more change our method of study4   
,that is the immediate  result of the   
,exhibition of ,old ,french             
artists--painters1 draughtsmen1         
enamellers1 sculptors--which1 in #aijd1 
in the ,pavilion de ,marsan at  the     
,louvre1 brought together several       
hundred fascinating1 and perhaps  half a
 dozen overpowering works4 ,with the    
proofs furnished by these  masterpieces 
full of earnestness and beauty1 a       
chapter in the history  of ,french and  
,european art will have to be           
rewritten--not1 to be sure1  altogether 
in the sense intended and proclaimed by 

those who prepared  this exceedingly    
important arrangement4    ,comparatively
 few medival ,french works of art have  
been preserved to  us4 ,the ,hundred    
,years' ,war1 the devastations of the   
,league1 and the  ,great ,revolution    
made a clean sweep of them with fiendish
 thoroughness4  ,with the chteaux1      
abbeys1 and monasteries1 their contents 
so far as  works of art were concerned  
also perished4 ,what survived has up to 
now appeared to a pre-conceived idea    
scarcely native4 ,one historian of  art 
wrote after another1 that1 up to the    
period of the ,renaissance1  the plastic
 artists who worked in ,france came     
partly from the ,low  ,countries1 partly
 from ,italy1 but were only quite       
exceptionally1 if at  all1 ,frenchmen4  
,from a geographical standpoint1 we     
might speak of a  ,french medival art2  
but from the nature and form of the     
work1 on the  other hand1 we should     
admit only a ,flemish or ,italian1 but  
no ,french  art4    ,this view is no    

longer defensible4 ,france1 too1 had1 in
 the ,middle  ,ages1 her own artists and
 schools of art1 and if she also offered
  hospitality to foreign talent1 she was
 not dependent on it4 ,the strong1      
creative genius that developed in       
,northern ,france from the prosaic      
semi-circular arch of the ,byzantine    
style the pointed-arch poetry of  the   
,gothic1 knew also how to make use of   
the chisel and paint-brush  as means of 
expression1 and to satisfy by painting  
and carving its  impulse for depicting  
form4 ,the medival art of ,france is not
 inferior  to any other4 ,it must no    
longer be treated as a mere appendage of
 art  development in the ,low ,countries
 and ,lombardy4    ,to be sure1 if the  
learned compilers of the ,exhibition    
,catalogue--,george  ,lafenestre1 ,henri
 ,bouchot1 ,leopold ,delisle and other  
academicians  or directors of museums   
and libraries--claim to have discovered1
 in  the pictures and statues1 a        
particular ,french national feature     

which distinguishes them clearly from   
other contemporary works1 they  are led 
astray by patriotic prejudice4 ,the     
works bear the stamp of  a period1 not  
of a people4 ,nothing is more like a    
fourteenth- or  fifteenth-century       
,french work of art than a ,flemish or  
,italian1 and  vice vers4 ,it is        
noticeable that people have taken       
,bourdichon's  masterpiece1 one of the  
gems of the collection--the portrait of 
the  little ,dauphin ,charles ,roland1  
to be a work of ,memling2 and of the    
most  beautiful paintings of one and the
 same painter--des ,moulins--have long  
ascribed one to ,van der ,goes1 the     
other to ,ghirlandajo4    ,no2 the      
temperaments of the artists at this     
period were not  differentiated         
nationally4 ,they are1 moreover1 not so 
at the present  day either1 and if      
analogies are established between       
artists of the  same origin1 they may1  
in all cases1 be naturally explained    
otherwise  than by a common descent4    

,the influence of strong personalities1 
who  influence as prototypes1 external  
successes1 which form a current of      
fashion and incite to imitation1 or     
simply a tenaciously held tradition  of 
a school1 in which in a long series of  
artist generations has grown  up1       
suffice to impress on the art of a      
country through extensive  epochs1 a    
certain family physiognomy1 which only a
 mystically inclined  mind will be      
tempted to refer to race and blood4     
,topographical and national             
classifications have in fact no inward  
spiritual justification in art1 but at  
most a value of convenience1  in so far 
as they render possible external        
groupings1 which facilitate  a survey4  
,the whole art of ,europe is one4 ,it   
has developed from  the ,greek1 the     
tradition of which has remained living  
through all  the centuries1 and has     
crept1 from country to country1         
connecting  inseparably all separate    
national developments with their common 

origin4 ,the ,greeks were the teachers  
of the ,romans1 and their  inspirations 
and rules were carried down into the    
,christian catacombs1  and from them    
blossomed the art of the ,middle ,ages4 
,byzantine artists from the ,roman      
empire of the ,east itself or from      
,italy1 initiated1 at the ,court of     
,charlemagne1 the barbarians of the     
,frankish kingdom in the mysteries of   
their craft1 and carried the            
,promethean spark1 however weakly it    
glimmered1 from ,attica to the banks  of
 the ,seine and ,scheldt1 where it did  
not expire1 but1 later on1 was  fanned  
again to bright flame by the fresh      
breeze of the ,renaissance4  ,the       
,eastern branch of ,greek art withered  
into actual ,byzantism1  whose last     
off-shoots are the ,russian icons of    
to-day4 ,the ,church  in the ,east1 to  
suit the fetish-loving views of her     
superstitious  semi-barbarians1         
attributes to the picture the meaning   
and value of an  idol1 and opposes      

mistrustfully every deviation from the  
canon which1  according to her          
conception1 might weaken the power of   
the idol4 ,in  the ,west less credence  
was given to the picture's magical      
virtue1 its  form obtained no dogmatic  
consecration1 the ,church allowed the   
artist  freer movement1 and thus        
development was possible1 which broke   
through  the stiff1 lifeless rule of the
 school1 and found its way back to the  
inexhaustible primitive source of ,greek
 art itself1 namely1 nature4    ,the    
emancipation from the ,byzantine system 
is not the work of ,cimabue  and        
,giotto1 or of an individual at all1 but
 an effort of almost all  the artists of
 ,western ,europe at the close of the   
thirteenth and the  beginning of the    
fourteenth century4 ,the portrait of    
,john ,,ii4 7#acaj-fd7  in the          
,exhibition1 which was painted about    
#acei1 of course in tempera  on a gold  
ground1 by ,girard of ,orleans1 is of a 
marvellous realism1  unchecked by the   

slightest restraint of any studied rule4
 ,the head in  profile1 turned towards  
the left1 of the melancholy-looking man 
in the  'fifties with the long1         
well-formed nose1 the scanty moustache  
and  beard1 and the long hair1 gleams   
with warm life4 ,girard copied his      
model modestly and truly1 without       
troubling himself about a golden        
profit1 and he could put soul into the  
portrait of his king in the  measure in 
which he himself felt the latter's      
inward life4    ,the awakening of a     
feeling for nature in art is generally  
ascribed  to the ,flemings1 particularly
 to the brothers ,van ,eyck4 ,that1 too1
  is arbitrary1 as a glance at the works
 of the old ,frenchmen1 who  flourished 
contemporaneously with the ,van ,eycks1 
or even before them1  teaches us4 ,the  
feeling for nature was always active in 
the few with  bright eyes and joyous    
consciousness of life1 who dedicated    
themselves  to art from inner impulse4  
,the themes to which the plastic arts   

had for  many centuries to restrict     
themselves were certainly as            
unfavourable  as possible to a healthy  
naturalism4 ,the only subjects the      
painter  dared to treat were            
illustrations of the ,old and ,new      
,testament1 legends  of the saints1 and 
the symbols of faith4 ,scenes of heaven 
and hell1  ,biblical miracles1 and      
personification of the dogmas of the    
,church  could assuredly no more be     
painted from the model than the ,holy   
,ghost1  or transubstantiation4 ,and yet
 nature herself came to her rights in   
this fundamental representation of the  
supernatural and what lay  outside of   
nature1 for she does not allow herself  
now to be driven out1  even by the      
violent methods of the pitch-fork spoken
 of by ,horace in  a famous verse4      
,without taking particular thought about
 it1 or with a  cunning conscious of its
 purpose1 the artists fashioned their   
works  most foreign to actual life out  
of elements of reality1 and achieved    

them by nature1 truth1 and life4 ,for   
this reason even the earliest           
miniatures of the manuscripts become a  
trustworthy source for the  history of  
manners4 ,because the art-workers of    
limited capacity1 who  wrought servilely
 according to the tradition of their    
gild1 reproduced  accurately all the    
accessories--clothes1 weapons1          
furniture1 buildings1  and scenery--as  
they actually saw them4    ,the little  
picture1 8,the ,virgin and ,child10     
which is ascribed to ,jean  ,malouel1   
and was painted about #acie1 and can    
therefore have owed  nothing to the ,van
 ,eycks1 then in ,dijon1 and perhaps1   
too1 elsewhere1  certainly still quite  
obscure young people1 is of such        
charming realism  that one might rather 
class it as a genre picture than as a   
sacred  picture4 ,the ,virgin is making 
the ,child a frock1 and is just drawing 
the thread tight1 with the needle turned
 in a correct horizontal  direction1 and
 the child ,jesus is amusing ,himself by

 putting ,his rosy  little foot in ,his 
,mother's red leather slipper1 of       
enormous size  to ,him1 which she has   
taken off and placed before her4 ,there 
is no  reason why we should not assume  
that ,malouel--if it was he--gave his   
patron--perhaps the ,duke of            
,burgundy--his 7the artist's7 own dear  
wife  and little son as a ,holy ,family4
    ,in 8,the ,death of the ,virgin10 of
 the same school of ,burgundy1 but about
  a century later1 the apostle1 kneeling
 at the foot of the death-bed  and      
reading his prayer-book devoutly1 with a
 big pair of spectacles  on his nose1   
is1 in spite of the pathos of the       
moment1 so natural as  to be almost     
comic4 8,the ,miracle of the ,saint10   
with his head in his  hands1 who is     
walking barefoot1 by a pupil of ,nicolas
 ,froment--perhaps  by the master       
himself--painted1 about #adhj1 at ,aix  
in ,provence1 attests  the painter's    
most nave indifference to probability4  
,in the middle of  the street where the 

decapitated saint is walking1 and the   
executioner1  leaning on his sword1     
stands dumbfounded1 kneel1 in measured  
symmetry1  to the right and left of the 
saint1 the founder and his consort2 he  
with four little sons1 she with four    
little daughters in a row1 like so  many
 organ-pipes1 behind them4 ,the picture 
of the city is1 however1 so  realistic  
that even to-day an old corner of ,aix  
is recognisable in it1  and the gazers  
running up or standing in knots and     
laying their heads  together1 or        
hurrying to the windows1 are of         
everlasting human verity4    ,exactly   
the same holds good of the altar        
decoration1 ascribed to ,john  of       
,orleans 7circ4 #acgd71 a wonderful     
sepia painting on white silk4 ,the      
sections which depict the ,scourging of 
,christ by two brutal fellows  with     
hang-dog faces1 the ,carrying of the    
,cross1 with the ,mocking of  ,jesus by 
the rabble of ,jerusalem1 and the       
,entombment1 with the ,blessed  ,virgin 

kissing the corpse1 show that striving  
after truth1 which  has hitherto been   
pronounced to be a peculiarity of the   
,dutch4 ,in  the 8,martyrdom of a ,holy 
,bishop0--most likely by ,jean ,malouel 
7circ4  #adjj7--the martyr1 in mitre and
 pallium1 gazes from a strongly barred  
prison window1 near which an angel      
kneels1 and through the bars of  which  
the ,saviour in person administers to   
him the viaticum4 ,but the  castle in   
the ,lombard style--stone rafters and   
corbels with red tiled  spaces--on to   
the ground-floor of which the oval      
window opens1 may be  regarded as an    
architectural design4    ,nicolas       
,froment's famous 8,burning ,thornbush0 
from ,aix ,cathedral  7#adge-f7 is      
entirely fabulous in the middle4 ,a     
soft1 cloud-like1 lumpy  hill of rock   
supports a dense group of thick-stemmed 
trees1 the tops of  which unite in a    
kind of gigantic bird's nest1 wherein   
the ,virgin and  ,child sit enthroned4  
,but this miracle1 with no measure of   

reality to  gauge it1 is framed in a    
deep landscape with great distances2 in 
which  white towns lie by mirroring     
waters1 and thickly-leaved trees rise up
  from green hills to the bright sky1   
and in the foreground1 beside an  angel 
of ,annunciation1 sits1 surrounded by   
his drove of wethers and his  quaintly  
posed dog1 the white-bearded shepherd   
with his legs crossed in  the most      
natural posture you could conceive4     
,in the case of almost all the paintings
 in the ,exhibition1 and chiefly  of the
 best of them1 this proposition can be  
repeated4 ,the painter  loyally carries 
out the subject commissioned1 treating  
it faithfully  according to the         
traditional formula2 but what is not    
covered by the  formula he shapes with  
sovereign freedom and an honest joyous  
realism  which is by no means the       
prerogative of the ,dutch and ,germans1 
as has  been so long believed1 but is to
 be met with1 according to the evidence 
of this ,exhibition1 in the same measure

 in the ,french4    ,sculpture might    
become crude in the earlier ,middle     
,ages1 but it did not  cease to be      
fostered4 ,sculpture in stone or wood   
was the complement of  building1 that   
strongest expression of medival energy1 
ivory-carving1  or the jewel of precious
 metal1 the adornment of the altar or   
the  state-rooms in the palace4         
,painting1 on the other hand1 after the 
collapse of the old world1 went back to 
the adornment of books1 and  from this  
the great art of wall- and              
easel-painting was again developed  only
 after the age of the ,crusades4 ,this1 
in many details1 betrays its  origin    
from miniature4 ,for a long time it was 
nothing but an enlarged  miniature4 ,the
 works in the ,exhibition show1 at any  
rate up to the  last third of the       
fifteenth century1 all the features that
 distinguish  the pictorial             
ornamentation of the manuscripts3 the   
gold ground1 the  neat1 nay1 painful    
perfection1 the gay1 unqualified1 almost

 glaring1  colours1 the equal clearness 
of objects in the furthest background   
and  in the foreground1 the puerile joy 
in innumerably repeated complicated     
decorations of the surface1 the framing1
 with richly figured wreaths1           
ornamental borders1 or picture margins4 
,even the standing formul of  manuscript
 miniatures are repeated for centuries  
in the paintings1  viz41 the movements  
of all the personages at the            
,annunciation1  ,crucifixion1           
,entombment1 and ,ascension4 ,only      
towards the end of the  fifteenth       
century does painting fully escape from 
the still clinging  egg-shell of the    
miniature1 and grow accustomed to a     
large1 bold line1  and a freedom of     
composition which finally reckons with  
considerations  of distance1 and        
prevails upon itself to neglect         
comparatively the  subsidiary in favour 
of the essential4 ,the glorious ,master 
of ,moulins  has1 it is clear1 no longer
 the old inherited habit of feeling     

himself  banished to a page in a book4  
,he no longer shows the same somewhat   
mechanical respect to all work1         
principal and accessory4 ,in the        
8,virgin  and ,child between the        
,founders10 and particularly in the     
8,nativity0  with the twilight landscape
 in the background1 and the fat poodle  
in  front sitting on the kneeling       
cardinal's mantle1 the precedence of    
values is observed1 and the painter     
reserves his piety and devotion for  the
 noble parts4    ,the author of these   
pictures--one of the greatest painters  
that ever  lived--is only known as the  
,master of ,moulins1 or the ,painter of 
the  ,bourbons4 ,his name was probably  
,jean ,perral1 but there is no certainty
  about it4 ,only a few definite names  
have come down to us from the           
beginnings of modern art4 ,we must      
search for them in the inventories  and 
account books of princely households or 
cathedral chapters4 ,the  artists did   
not yet sign their works2 they indulged 

in no dreams of  immortality4 ,they did 
not yet feel they were the supermen1    
that the  ,renaissance1 later on1 made  
of them1 and that1 in the estimation of 
the upper class1 especially of its      
feminine and effeminate portion1  they  
have remained till the present day4     
,they were honest and genuine  artisans1
 just like other respectable artisans2  
and in ,france they1  for the most part1
 enrolled themselves in the ,saddlers'  
,guild1 perhaps  because they1 like the 
latter1 had originally1 as miniature    
painters1  to do with parchment1 i4e41 a
 species of leather4 ,they regarded it  
as  a special distinction to be         
appointed servant1--valet or varlet--of 
a prince1 on whose commissions for      
church and palace they lived4 ,jean     
,malouel and his pupils1 ,jacques ,cone 
and ,jean ,mignot1 ,jehan ,fouquet1  his
 sons ,jean and ,franois1 and his great 
pupil ,jean ,bourdichon1  ,enguerrand   
,charonton and ,nicolas ,froment1       
perhaps also ,perral and  ,king ,ren the

 ,good 7#adji-hj71 are perhaps the only 
painters whose  personality stands out  
clearly outlined in the dawn of art     
history  before ,clouet1 and his        
contemporary ,corneille of ,lyons4      
,perhaps  a number of forgotten names   
may yet be dug up from archives4 ,the   
obscurity of the few who have either    
been handed down to us1 or been  rescued
 from oblivion by industrious           
investigators in recent years is  a     
heavy injustice4 ,they deserve to shine 
with the same glory as the  most        
illustrious that ,vasari has preserved  
for us in a work of amusing  studio     
gossip4    ,jehan ,fouquet stands in a  
line with the greatest portrait painters
 of  all times4 ,he may be named in the 
same breath with ,holbein--nay1 with    
,velasquez4 ,his portrait of a man in   
the ,liechtenstein ,gallery at  ,vienna1
 which shone as one of the gems of the  
exhibition1 is perhaps  the most        
powerful work that the great master     
created1 and the 8,man with  the        

,wine-glass10 in the ,vienna collection 
of ,count ,wilczek1 is hardly  inferior 
to it in significance4    ,of the       
numerous suggestions of an artistic1    
moral1 and psychological  nature that   
were the outcome of this unique         
exhibition1 the deepest  and most       
abiding--at least for me--was that one  
felt the spiritual  condition of the    
artists who created these works on      
commission and1  for the most part1     
according to precise instructions from  
princes  and prelates1 lords and        
governments of cities4 ,in nearly every 
one  of them is played the great drama  
of the struggle of souls thirsting  for 
freedom with the fearful oppression of  
intellect of the darkest  ,middle ,ages4
 ,secret corners and angles1 easily     
overlooked backgrounds  of the pictures1
 suggest already the future art1        
untrammelled by the  world1 which will  
overcome this art of the guilds1 with   
its fixed1  dogmatic formul4 ,a         
,fouquet1 a ,bourdichon1 a ,clouet who1 

in kings and  princes sees1 and paints  
with horrible realism1 poor1 sick1 ugly1
 dull  fools1 stands no longer under the
 control of royalty4 ,he is inwardly a  
disrespectful rebel1 and is1 in his way1
 a prelude to the procession  of the    
market-women to ,versailles1 which1 two 
or three centuries  later1 was destined 
to overthrow the kingdom4 ,a master of  
the 8,mount  ,calvary0 7#adfj71 who     
makes the holy women and disciples stare
 with  such unmoved1 wooden countenances
 at the ,body of ,christ1 not because   
he is incapable of painting             
sorrow-stricken faces--all the details  
of  the painting witness to his artistic
 power--but because he contemplates  the
 incident with coldness of heart1 and   
expresses his unbelief to the  initiate 
as plainly as the rack and stake of the 
period allowed4 ,in  these early works  
there is a very soft and very weak      
rumble of thunder  of a very far-off    
storm4 ,they are a first indistinct     
announcement of  the ,revolutions that  

are slowly preparing4                   
,v                             ,a       
,,century ,,of ,,french ,,art           
,sincerity did not rule in all parts of 
the ,paris ,universal ,exhibition  of   
#aijj1 but a quickening air of freedom  
was breathed in the great  palace of    
art4 ,the temporary proprietors of this 
colossal building1  the ,french artists1
 did not pretend to any motive that they
 did not  possess4 8,make room6 ,out of 
the way6 ,out60 we fancied we heard from
 all  the dusky corners of the vast     
halls in a voice of thunder4            
8,foreigners  from both worlds8 ,to the 
south wing with them6 ,in the corner6   
,under  the staircase6 ,that's quite too
 good for them4 ,the dead8 ,the famous  
of  yesterday8 ,what do the disturbers  
want8 ,haven't they had their share  of 
ribbons1 titles1 commissions from the   
,state1 and other forms of the  artist's
 ideals8 ,back with you6 ,to the        
furthermost building in the  rear6 ,if  
any one wants to make journeys of       

discovery1 he can steer  away4 ,the     
chief buildings1 the foregrounds1 the   
splendid halls for us1  the chers matres
 of to-day4 ,we are the strongest1      
therefore we need  do no violence to our
 feelings4 ,we are alive1 therefore we  
are right40    ,certainly1 certainly4 ,i
 do not contradict this2 but it suits my
  inclination to wander past the        
conquerors of the day to the shadows  in
 the back premises1 into the remote and 
also1 as to equipment1  significantly   
neglected halls of the ,century         
,exhibition1 to the  great vault in     
which is collected that which was to    
make plain  the development of ,french  
art from the ,revolution to ,carnot1 the
  grandson4 ,what remains when the human
 being who gives dinners1 haunts        
antechambers1 has cousins in the        
,ministry of the ,fine ,arts1 whispers  
malice in one's ear1 ceases to          
acknowledge greetings1 and writes       
flattering letters1 has fallen to dust2 
when rivals and parasites have          

disappeared2 when the puffs of toadies1 
and the no less valuable ones  of       
envious men and poison-boilers1 are     
hushed and forgotten8    ,not much1 and 
there lies the melancholy humour of such
 wanderings  through the realm of       
shadows4 ,the only feature that always  
wounded  me somewhat in the 8,divine    
,comedy10 is that ,dante awards his     
curses  and execrations on the departed 
according to the rank they occupied     
among the living4 ,the invectives on the
 poor soul of a pope have  three        
stripes1 those on a prince1 two1 and on 
a lord1 one4 ,that is an  inartistic    
forgetfulness of the frame chosen by    
,dante for his poem4  ,if he remained   
always mindful of his programme of death
 and hell1 he  would not be able to     
distinguish crowns or purple mantles in 
the red  illumination of the            
under-world4 ,the laughing and sighing  
philosophy of  ,hamlet--alas1 poor      
,yorick6--stands higher than the        
resentful fury of the  passionate       

,italian1 who makes the hierarchy       
overstep the threshold of  the grave4   
,it is perhaps the most profound usage  
of the ,french language  that they      
deprive the dead of the 8,monsieur10 to 
which every living  man1 with the       
exception of those criminally prosecuted
 and condemned1  has a claim4 ,the dead 
has no longer a title--so much more     
sorry a fate  for him1 if1 when he was  
alive1 he was nothing more than a title4
    ,the practice is even here somewhat 
different from the pure theory4 ,the    
deceased is no longer 8,excellency10    
8,professor10 not even 8,mr40 ,but  the 
usage of contemporaries to give him a   
title is still expressed in  the        
respectful tone in which they pronounce 
his now naked name1 and  in which one   
possessed with a delicate sense of      
hearing perceives the  rustle of all the
 tinsel that surrounded him when alive4 
,in this tone1  however1 the name       
becomes familiar to the younger ones1   
who1 without  thinking1 continue this   

veneration1 unconscious that their      
accent  expresses respect because the   
bearer of the name so pronounced was    
once a ,grand ,officer of the ,legion of
 ,honour and an ,academician4 ,thus1  my
 dear ,schiller1 are your confident     
words to be understood1 you who  would  
never perceive the weft of vulgarity in 
the ways of man3 8,he  who has satisfied
 the best men of his time has lived for 
all time40  ,certainly1 if by 8best0 we 
would understand the best placed1 best  
paid1  invested with the best office1 or
 the best decorated4 ,he who during  his
 lifetime has belonged to those favoured
 by the grace of official  newspapers1  
who has been gauged by them and provided
 with a 8full0  mark1 will be recognised
 for all time as full without further   
test4  ,the ,pantheon is the            
continuation of the minister's official 
rooms1 the  golden book of spiritual    
history an anthology from the ,official 
,gazette  and the ,army ,list1 for the  
use of the children of later centuries4 

,if  ,i must emphasise the essential3   
the appraisement even of the artist1    
therefore of the most individual man    
that exists1 is the outcome of  social1 
not individual1 factors1 or of the      
latter only when they are  socially     
successful1 and1 therefore1 themselves  
become social factors4  ,there are1 ,i  
admit1 always proud--perhaps only       
haughty--natures with an  anarchistic1  
anti-social trait1 who will not         
recognise any arrangement  or fixing of 
the community1 not even its hierarchy of
 fame1 and clench  their fists against  
laurel crowns just as they do against   
crowns4  ,their rebellion1 however1 is  
seldom successful4 ,i know of no case of
 a  bomb-thrower having destroyed a     
,pantheon4    ,but as we do not take    
ourselves tragically1 do not begin our  
own  verdict with the threatening       
formula1 8,in the name of the ,law10 and
 do  not exact any submission from      
others1 we are always entitled to be of 
our own opinion1 and to let the dead    

influence us without prejudice1         
untroubled by the distinctions of rank  
which were bestowed on them  in life1   
and were buried with them4 ,such a      
method of observation is  unhistorical1 
but subjectively fruitful2 it leads to  
self-emancipation  from many            
superstitions4    ,the ,century         
,exhibition of ,french painting was far 
from being complete2  it was            
incomparably more fragmentary than the  
,louvre ,museum1 which  is also not     
without gaps4 ,but it afforded a general
 view of the art  development of the    
period represented1 and it gave the     
independent man  the chance of          
correcting numerous opinions which had  
taken hold of him  from study and       
reading4    ,it began with the masters  
who created and flourished before the   
deluge  of #aghi--,watteau1 ,greuze1    
,fragonard1 ,vige-,lebrun4 ,the three   
first  had1 for two generations1 sunk   
deeply in general estimation4 ,then the 
force of fashion raised them up again to

 dizzy heights of fame4 ,i do  not      
believe that they will maintain         
themselves there4 ,it pleases the       
reactionaries to glorify the ancien     
rgime at the expense of the             
,revolution1 and to this planned and    
deliberate toil belongs also the        
unmeasured overestimate of eighteenth   
century art and artistic work4  ,but it 
is politics1 not sthetics--no taste for 
art1 but a tendency4 ,in  reality1 the  
darlings of the age of the ,pompadour   
and ,louis ,,xvi4 were  petty masters1  
mere fillings of a particular frame1    
and1 lifted out of  this1 they lose     
their best qualities4    ,watteau still 
holds his ground most easily1 for he is 
an amiable teller  of stories that are  
agreeable if nothing of a more serious  
character  occupies one's mind4 ,he     
draws elegantly1 although without       
pedantry2 his  colouring is cheerful1   
and suits admirably his hushed1 silken  
carpets1  coquettish ,gobelins1 and     
light lacquered furniture4 ,he is the   

painter  of joyous days wherein life    
seems an eternal feast4 ,gracious spring
  bedecks the earth1 his men and women  
are all young and handsome1 his  ladies 
wear entrancing toilettes and coiffures1
 and his gentlemen  silk doublets and   
lace shirt-frills4 ,even if they dress  
as shepherds1  they are laughingly      
addressed thus3 8,i know you1 fair      
masque2 you are  a marquis in disguise  
with your charming friend1 the duchess40
 ,rosy  angels hover about them1 and    
mingle familiarly in their pastimes4    
,they  have nothing on earth to do      
except pay each other witty compliments 
and play at love4 ,i understand why     
,american multi-millionaires pay any    
price to be surrounded by ,watteaus4 ,it
 is really honourable to the  artists of
 our time that the ,trust magnates have 
not yet succeeded in  finding or rearing
 painters who would flatter their       
egotism through  servile suggestions of 
a ,watteau aspect of the world4         
,fragonard appears in a secondary       

position besides ,watteau4 ,he is       
drier1 and with less 8swing40 ,he is not
 really present in his heart at  the    
pastimes he paints4 ,watteau is himself 
a guest at his festivals2  ,fragonard   
takes part in the soires only under a   
sealed order4 ,the  former amuses       
himself1 the latter amuses the person   
who gives him the  commission4          
,greuze lives on the fame bestowed on   
him by the grateful ,diderot4 ,he  was  
enthusiastic for ,diderot's tearful     
bourgeois tragedy1 and ,diderot  repaid 
him with enthusiasm for his painting2   
but we have no longer  any grounds1 ,i  
suppose1 for regarding him with         
,diderot's eyes4 ,when  he paints his   
eternal model of the 8,broken ,pitcher0 
in the ,louvre1  and of his sundry      
counterparts of it in the ,century      
,exhibition1 he is  pitilessly pretty4  
,when he sets great dramatic scenes in  
the ,diderot  style on the stage--the   
8,village ,betrothal10 the 8,father's   
,curse10  etc4--he is depressingly      

melodramatic4 ,his young maiden is      
marvellously  pretty and tame1 and will 
always delight childlike spectators with
 the  charm of her blooming girlhood4   
,he suffered himself to be infected  in 
,italy by ,guido ,reni's sweetness1 and 
only transplanted his soft  beauties1   
rolling their eyes1 from paradise to the
 middle-class earth4  ,he is simply the 
,bouguereau of his age4 ,that name      
comprises all  that can be said of him  
in praise or blame4 ,greuze is          
,bouguereau's  superior in so far as he 
paints more vigorously1 and forms his   
pretty  ingnues of real flesh--not1 like
 ,bouguereau1 of alabaster and          
sugar-candy4    ,beside the softness of 
,greuze1 ,madame ,vige-,lebrun seems a  
man and  a fighter4 ,in a century of    
gallantry she alone was not gallant4    
,she  painted women's likenesses1 and   
did not pay court to her models2 but    
she elevated them1 and gave them        
meaning4 ,where the male painters of    
the period saw only beauty-patches1 she 

suspected she saw a soul4 ,if  we look  
at these women with curiously poised    
heads1 gazing boldly out  of their      
frames1 they say proudly and calmly3 8,i
 am no trying-on hand2  ,i am no        
creature of luxury2 ,i am no flesh for  
lust2 ,i am a personage40  ,at a        
distance of a hundred years             
,vige-,lebrun is a forerunner of the    
now innumerable ,american painters of   
emancipated womanhood4 ,this brave      
woman1 who was beautiful1 and did not   
overprize1 nay1 hardly prized her       
beauty1 was an asserter of women's      
rights long before the word or the      
thing was invented4    ,prudhon was     
represented by a 8,zephyr10 which has   
the same peculiarities  as his          
8,crucifixion0 and 8,crime and          
,punishment0 in the ,louvre4 ,he  models
 a human body so that one must take     
one's hat off to it4 ,he has  the       
infallible feeling of the great         
,spaniards for the value of light  and  
shade2 but what will always stand in the

 way of his being loved  and not merely 
respected is his hatred of colour4 ,he  
confines himself  to a strict black and 
white style1 which banishes all gladness
 and  discourages the most willing      
admiration4    ,and now the great deluge
 breaks in1 and1 like a sea-god ,david  
emerges  over the raging waves4 ,it is  
really with him that the century begins1
  for what preceded him was the art of  
the ancien rgime and of the  ,trianon4  
,he had at the ,exhibition a            
8,distribution of the ,colours10 an     
8,ugolino10 some portraits2 all of the  
most genuine ,david in choice  of       
subject as well as treatment4           
,everywhere the capricious 8seeing      
yellow0 which seems to have been a      
peculiarity of his eye2 everywhere  the 
grandly imposing1 professorial          
infallibility of drawing which knows  no
 first trying1 no anxious searching1 no 
hot struggle with the never  quite      
attainable ,nature4 ,david compels with 
an imperious ,medusa-glance  the        

ever-stirring1 the ever-flowing1 so that
 it becomes fixed1 and  he can shackle  
the now immovable vision in brazen      
outlines4 ,so his  human beings appear  
statues1 or mimes1 which maintain a     
pose1 and his  most blameless anatomies 
acquire a tendency towards the          
artificial4  ,david's mood is always    
uniformly high-pitched4 ,good-humoured  
people1  who would like to see the      
majestic man in shirt sleeves for once1 
lurk  in vain for him to unbutton       
himself4 ,he never forsakes the         
decoration  and costume of high tragedy4
 ,at first he sought the drama in       
ancient  history or world-famed poetry4 
,afterwards1 he found it in his         
immediate  surroundings4 ,fate          
vouchsafed him the favour of living in a
 time1 the  pathos of which was mightier
 than that of ,athens1 ,sparta1 or      
,rome4  ,he satisfied his deepest       
longings when1 in the 8,sabine ,women10 
he  preached to the murderous factions  
among his people reconciliation  and    

brotherly love1 and1 in 8,the           
,distribution of the ,colours0 and the  
8,coronation10 he made ,napoleon the    
equal of the heroes of mythology4 ,he   
is1 therefore1 always genuine1 even when
 he may seem to the superficial  gaze   
theatrical4 ,it is the difference       
between a tone naturally  sustained     
during moments of life at high pressure1
 and declamation  learnt from a teacher 
of rhetoric4    ,his pupils1 imitators1 
and rivals have1 on the contrary1 not   
succeeded  in avoiding declamation4     
,grard1 ,gros1 ,riesener1 and ,drolling 
were1  consciously or unconsciously1 the
 greatest flatterers that ever painted  
portraits4 ,because ,david represented  
,napoleon in the character of an        
,alexander of ,macedon1 or an ancient   
god of war1 the others1 the smaller     
painters1 in their portraits gave to    
even the ordinary men of the  period the
 deportment of ,olympian gods4 ,only    
,grard's 8,letitia10 who1  too1 bore    
apotheosis most easily1 is a good modest

 human being4 ,all the  other women are 
,juno or ,pallas ,athene2 all the men   
,mars or ,achilles4  ,the contrast      
between the commonplace physiognomies   
and the magnificence  of their          
appearance is now and then so violent   
that one is led to  surmise that the    
painter wanted to make fun of his       
models4 8,charles ,x4  in his           
,coronation ,robes10 by ,ingres1 seems1 
for example1 virtually a  parody of     
,david's 8,coronation of ,napoleon40    
,gricault stands an examination of his  
title to fame badly4 ,he has  not so    
correct an eye for the figures of horses
 as was believed  before instantaneous  
photographs4 ,his portraits of soldiers 
are  really more crude than powerful4   
,even the sketch for the 8,raft of the  
,medusa10 reveals evidence of straining 
after effect which our pious  admiration
 refused to notice in the colossal work 
in the ,louvre4 ,on  the other hand1 the
 figure of ,louis ,leopold ,boilly      
gained strangely  in the ,century       

,exhibition4 ,up till then ,i knew only 
his 8,arrival of  a ,diligence at a     
,posting-house10 in the ,louvre1 and ,i 
did not rate  him very highly on account
 of the affected atelier light of this  
otherwise prettily studied little       
picture4 ,here he disclosed himself  as 
a great philosopher and satirist4 ,one  
picture represents a popular            
merry-making with wine gratis1 another a
 free performance at the                
,ambigu-,comique ,theatre4 ,there the   
crowd is fighting murderously over  a   
drink that can be had for nothing2      
half-grown hobbledehoys throttle        
bestial greybeards2 bullies claw hold of
 furies2 dreadful feet trample  on faces
 and necks in the mad storming of the   
wine supplies1 and the  victors in this 
struggle have their reward3 they lie on 
the ground  bestially drunk4 ,the scenes
 at the entrance of the theatre are not 
quite so vulgar4 ,there is a less dogged
 scramble for intellectual  enjoyment   
than for that of the palate4 ,yet here1 

too1 the most brutal  lack of           
consideration and greedy selfishness    
triumph2 here1 too1 the  strong man     
overmasters the weak2 here1 too1 among  
beings who seem  to belie their human   
form1 the law of the jungle holds good2 
and  here1 too1 poor people pay for a   
little doubtful pleasure with the       
sufferings1 dangers1 and exertions of a 
storming of the ,malakoff4  ,in the     
foreground of both pictures stands a    
group of well-dressed  persons who1 half
 in pity1 half in disgust1 look at the  
disorderly  pushing of the rabble from a
 respectful distance4 ,these rich people
  have the rle of teaching the moral of 
the fable4 ,they express  the           
sociological thought of the painter4    
,boilly deplores the low  moral         
condition of the masses1 and reproaches 
the dominant class  with having degraded
 them to beasts1 when it pretends to    
give them  a feast4 ,he rejects with    
utter disdain the dogma of equality1 yet
  without haughtiness1 for he has for   

the disinherited the somewhat           
condescending1 yet warm pity of a       
genuine patrician4 ,these are  extremely
 modern--,i might call them             
,toynbee-feelings--and they are         
expressed with an exact1 judicious brush
 that can conjure forth the  confused   
turmoil of a great1 raging multitude1   
and1 nevertheless1  remain faithful in  
all details4 ,boilly was decidedly a    
master4    ,the ,century ,exhibition    
also gave the opportunity for a         
discovery1  not only to me1 but also to 
all who brought to it an open mind4     
,there is a painter1 ,trutat1 of whom no
 one had ever heard anything4  ,seekers 
who investigated the provincial         
newspaper of #ahdj-fj succeeded  in     
discovering one or two articles about   
him4 ,that is all4 ,he once  or twice   
exhibited in the 8,salon10 but the      
8,salon0 reports of the  time make no   
mention of him4 ,he lived in the first  
half of the last  century1 and died at  
the age of twenty-four4 ,before his     

picture--one  single picture--men were  
amazed1 and women stood with moist eyes4
 ,it  is a double picture2 in the       
foreground1 a fair young man1 pale with 
sickness1 with deep blue eyes and a     
proud1 wild mane2 his firm forehead     
full of impatient dreams of joyous      
creations1 fame1 and happiness1 yet1  in
 his hollow cheeks1 faint shadows of    
death4 ,behind him1 half obscured  in   
dusk1 a woman's profile1 his mother's   
head2 a good ,samaritan with  tender    
gaze1 and lips closed in sadness1 which 
once sang cradle-songs1  but have learnt
 silence in the sick-room4 ,in its      
composition there  is a reminiscence of 
,ary ,scheffer's 8,st ,augustin and ,st 
,monica10 in  the ,louvre4 ,but it is   
incomparably more profound1 for ,trutat 
depicts  himself1 not saints whom the   
power of imagination has first to bring 
before him4 ,the painting is wonderful1 
firm and full as that of  ,franz        
,hals--,i deliberately utter this strong
 statement--so surely and  organically  

matured that one traces beneath the skin
 all the most  delicate muscles and     
bones4 ,and add to this technique1 of   
which one  does not discern how he could
 have acquired it in a fleeting morning 
of  life1 the intensity of feeling which
 has raised the work to the rank  of    
those high creations in which a soul is 
revealed4 ,the picture is  full as a    
swan's song1 of foreboding and love4    
,the great youth does not  understand   
himself alone1 without his mother--the  
dear mother must be  with him1 if he    
goes out to the market among people4    
,shall she nurse  him8 ,shall she       
protect him8 ,can he dispense with her  
for a moment as  he must be taken away  
from her so soon8 ,all this is in that  
mysterious  picture1 and it was in it   
when ,trutat1 though he did not know it1
  painted his own requiem4 ,only nobody 
then understood the riddle2  ,trutat as 
little as the rest4 ,he is another      
,regnault1 only a still  more genuine   
one4 ,and no one has made lamentation   

about him1 although  his tragedy is more
 painful than ,regnault's4 ,for the     
latter attained  immortality in the     
apotheosis of death in battle1 whilst   
miserable  consumption slew ,trutat     
ingloriously4    ,the ,romantic fever   
begins to seize the century4 ,the       
painters hasten to  hang round them the 
botanical box1 and seek the blue flower4
 ,the first  to go forth into the       
moon-illumined1 witching night was      
,chassriau6  ,poor ,chassriau6 ,it would
 have better suited his bent to paint   
salons  with rich ,empire-furniture1    
wherein respectably dressed citizens sit
  with their wives and daughters1 and   
pleasantly tell each other the          
anecdotes of the day4 ,his portrait of  
the two sisters in red shawls  and      
yellow plaited dresses shows this--a    
neat1 pretty1 bourgeois  painting1 which
 denies itself all enthusiasm1 and all  
soaring4 ,but now  the tarantula stings 
him1 and he occupies himself only with  
obsolete  subjects such as ,orpheus1    

chtelaines1 fairy-tale princesses with  
black slaves1 ,macbeth and the three    
witches4 ,the last picture is           
particularly characteristic of him4 ,the
 three witches have their white  beards 
and pointed noses1 as prescribed by the 
romantic code2 but  they are merely     
grotesque1 but not in the least weird4  
,we have the  impression that they have 
met in a peaceful country in order to   
gossip  about their neighbours1 and make
 coffee4 ,they publicly proffer the     
knight1 who should be ,macbeth1 a small 
bowl4 ,the heath by night lacks  every  
trace of mood2 the ugly old women every 
touch of the demoniac4  ,chassriau      
painted1 just as ,j4 ,fr4 ,kind--the    
8,freischtz0 ,kind--wrote  poetry4    ,i
 am afraid ,i must likewise be guilty of
 heresy in respect of another  great    
man2 but ,delacroix1 too1 fails to      
justify the idolatry people  have       
displayed and1 to some extent1 still    
display towards him4 ,i do  not misjudge
 his joyous coloriture1 although his    

harmonies are rather  loud than grand4  
,i am not blind to the characteristic   
mobility of his  composition1 although  
it is generally far more a stagey       
flourish than  assertion of strength in 
the service of a will conscious of what 
it is  aiming at4 ,what excites in me1  
however1 unconquerable opposition is    
his phrasing4 ,if any art demands       
intuition it is painting4 ,delacroix1   
however1 usually has not exercised      
intuition1 but has clothed with the     
cool work of his brain abstract thoughts
 in conventional forms4 ,for  this1 look
 at 8,greece expiring on the ,ruins of  
,missalonghi0--a picture  which was once
 of enormous influence and highly       
praised4 ,on some  disordered masonry   
stands a young lady in the bal masqu    
dress of a  ,greek1 who has no thought  
of giving up the ghost1 but is playing a
 part  in robust health1 and will change
 her dress1 and have supper later4 ,at  
some distance behind her we catch sight 
of a young negro in the uniform  of a   

,janissary1 climbing a rubbish heap1    
brandishing a flag with a  crescent on  
it1 and a curved sabre4 ,this slightly  
painted ,turkish  warrior appears not to
 see the young ,greek girl2 at all      
events he does  nothing to her1 and does
 not even threaten her4 ,there is no    
association  between the two figures2   
the action is disconnected4 ,at most the
  ,turk is interesting as an acrobat or 
banner-swinger4 ,no murderous           
propensities are noticeable in him4 ,the
 countenance of the ,greek lady  is pale
 and weary2 but a rest in bed seems the 
only thing she needs4  ,it says much for
 the keenness of their ,philhellenism   
that this picture  could move the people
 of the period4 ,delacroix had1 however1
 no  intuition at all when he painted   
it2 he only illustrated an unplastic1   
insipid phrase4    ,his other paintings 
are mostly illustrations of a text4     
8,comedians and  ,buffoons0 were        
unmistakably suggested by ,victor ,hugo4
 ,confused ideas  occur to him4 ,thus   

8,the ,good ,samaritan0 was not painted 
to the passage  in the ,gospel1 but to a
 story of chivalry2 for the gentle      
benefactor  takes the sick man on his   
charger--he is a mounted                
,samaritan6--just as a  knight takes the
 noble lady he is carrying off4         
,delacroix was a literary painter2 we   
know that from his correspondence2  but 
without that1 his pictures would betray 
it4 ,he read much more in  books than in
 nature1 and he supplied paintings that 
gave evidence  of education and much    
reading1 in which the art-hating1       
blind-souled  ,philistines of education 
delight royally4 ,it may be that the    
confusion  of his portrayal and the     
loudness of his palette was felt by his 
contemporaries as a deliverance from the
 coldness and precision of  ,david's    
school4 ,i suspect1 however1 his        
earliest admirers valued him  chiefly   
because he fed on the same books1 plays1
 and newspapers as  themselves4    ,ary 
,scheffer stands in the same spiritual  

plane as ,delacroix1 but lacks  the     
keenly joyous colour and the            
theatricality of his stage-setting4     
,schubert's songs and ,schumann's are   
music even without the lyric text1  and 
what music6 ,i cannot imagine what ,ary 
,scheffer's pictures from  ,shakespeare1
 ,goethe1 and ,byron would be without   
the poets and their  poems4 ,his picture
 in the ,century ,exhibition1 8,the     
,dead ride fast10 is1  if ,i exclude    
from my conception my remembrance of    
,brger's ballad1 an  almost touching    
example of tastelessness4 ,leonora's    
dishevelled hair1  blown by the wind    
into a stiff1 horizontal position1 is   
supposed1 for  instance1 to illustrate  
the swiftness of the ride--a notion     
which may  have seemed to ,scheffer     
terrible1 but is comic4    ,horace      
,vernet had a 8,mazeppa10 of course a   
big modern battle1 and  several         
likenesses4 ,he is as popular as on the 
first day1 and will  always remain so as
 long as children play with tin soldiers

 and the  picture sheets of ,epinal--the
 ,french ,neu-,ruppin--find a ready     
sale4 ,how  he dazzles6 ,he does so to a
 degree which deserves admiration4 ,from
 a  distance his pictures appear to be  
something2 one must look at them  quite 
closely to see that they are nothing1   
absolutely nothing4 ,the  colossal      
canvas is apparently full of men3       
thousands of soldiers march1  encamp1   
storm1 fight2 but1 as a matter of fact1 
not a single figure  is painted2 the    
whole pomp of war and victory is        
composed of little  stencilled          
gingerbread men1 without any bones in   
their bodies1 and with  scarcely the    
remotest resemblance to human beings4   
,could ,horace ,vernet  draw8 ,had he   
really any other conception of the human
 form than that  of an inflated         
india-rubber figure8 ,in ,paris and     
,versailles ,i have seen  many paintings
 by him1 but ,i cannot yet answer these 
questions4 ,horace  ,vernet is the      
fourth of a dynasty of painters3 the    

first1 ,antoine1 was  great at little   
figures on sedan-chair panels2 the      
second1 ,joseph1  painted the well-known
 series of ,french harbours2 the third1 
,carle1 is  a master in depicting       
horses2 ,horace1 the fourth1 is the     
weakest of  them all1 incomparably      
inferior in ability to his father1      
grandfather1  and great-grandfather4 ,he
 alone1 however1 has attained fame1 and 
his  renown throws his ancestors into   
the shade4 ,the wheel of fortune now    
and then plays immoral jokes of this    
sort1 perhaps in order to teach  its own
 futility4    ,daumier was known to me  
and1 ,i suppose1 most people1 only as a 
draughtsman4 ,we learnt now to prize him
 as a painter of high rank4  ,his       
numerous paintings are illustrations to 
8,don ,quixote10 romantic               
merry-,andrews1 street-singers1         
,molire's ,malade ,imaginaire1 and a    
crowded group of lawyers in cap and     
gown4 ,his manner is the same in oil  as
 in lead-pencil and crayon-drawing3 his 

lines of movement broad and  firm1 the  
outlines blunted1 and now and again     
rubbed2 all his figures  mysteriously   
surrounded in mist1 yet all so clearly  
and faultlessly  represented that one is
 never led to suspect that their        
mysteriousness  is a trick to hide      
carelessness or lack of skill4 ,even his
 oil-painting  is really caricature1 but
 discreet caricature4 ,the nobler method
  instils into him self-respect1 and    
preserves him from caricature2 he  just 
marks roguishly the burlesque features1 
but does not diverge from  reality4     
,thus his lawyers are portraits1 but    
they look so maliciously  intelligent1  
so inexorably penetrating1 that we can  
doubt of this or  that head whether it  
is a likeness or a caricature4 ,let us  
say this3  the model will take it for a 
caricature1 but his friends will regard 
it as a portrait4 ,daumier is a         
solitary2 he is akin to none of his     
contemporaries1 yet an example of the   
migration of souls2 for in him  ,hogarth

 comes to life again1 but a ,hogarth who
 for his part would be  animated by a   
spark of ,rembrandt's spirit4           
,suddenly another solitary appears in   
the ranks of the allied men of  school  
and tradition1 viz41 ,millet4           
,precipitation would infer3 the         
romantic is overcome2 a new generation  
with new modes of feeling  arises2 the  
nerves of the century begin to vibrate  
according to a  new rhythm4 ,that is    
sheer nonsense2 nothing has been        
overcome4 ,the  romantic masters still  
form romantic pupils1 the crowd still   
feels in  the traditional way2 the range
 of themes and the fashion of treating  
them remain what they have been for a   
generation1 but amidst the  dependent1  
the docile ones1 the imitator forms for 
himself1 by the law  of elective        
affinity1 a divergent group--the group  
of the forest-folk  of ,barbizon--and   
amidst this group steps forth an        
individual man who  forgets the master's
 atelier1 who1 in painting1 thinks of   

neither the  salon nor the art-dealers1 
who looks not into books and newspapers 
nor on prototypes1 but out into the     
world1 and on that account falls        
completely out of the century4    ,if we
 follow up the development of art in the
 ,exhibition1 we may easily  fall into  
the error of thinking that with ,millet 
one epoch closes and  another begins4   
,such was not the case in reality4 ,the 
contemporaries  who appreciated ,millet 
were a diminishing few4 ,official art   
despised  him4 ,there were no           
distinctions for him on the part of the 
,state4 ,the  critical phrase-makers    
knew nothing of him or mocked him       
horribly4  ,the rich connoisseurs passed
 him by4 ,a very small congregation of  
moderately well-off admirers1 whose     
valuation appraised their most  honest  
admiration at #a1jjj francs at most1    
bought his pictures at  prices which    
just made it possible for him to live in
 ,barbizon in  wooden shoes and a       
blouse1 and to bring up his numerous    

family on  potatoes and bacon4 ,but as  
he was a personality he                 
succeeded--though  only after his death4
 ,he made a school1 like every one who  
has  something to teach4 ,he gained     
influence on the views of the creators1 
the critics1 and the public4 ,people    
began to understand his speech1  nay1 to
 feel that what he said was beautiful4  
,but to this day there  is no ,millet   
epoch in ,french art1 and his fame is   
really an optical  delusion4 ,his works 
did not bring him into the mouth of the 
masses1  but the caprice of a           
millionaire4 ,on the day when it        
occurred to ,m4  ,chauchard to pay      
#fjj1jjj francs for ,millet's           
8,angelus10 snobs of  both worlds took  
off their hats and murmured in a voice  
hushed with  reverence3 8,that must be a
 great painter40 ,as we see1 the world's
 fame  is but a question of money4 ,many
 more men are able to reckon than are   
able to feel the beauty of art1 and1 to 
the vast majority1 its price is  the    

infallible1 the one key to the          
understanding of a work4    ,i must say 
that the millionaire who acted as       
,millet's herald of fame1  had no sense 
of proportion4 ,if the work of an artist
 is to be measured  by a gauge1 the     
figures of which represent gold coins1  
,millet does  not reach the altitude of 
#fjj1jjj francs1 unless we estimate at  
least  thirty of his contemporaries     
equally high4 ,in technique1 ,millet    
follows  the ,dutch2 a ,david ,teniers  
without humour and without aim at       
humour4  ,his landscape1 never the      
essential with him1 is poorer than that 
of  ,rousseau and ,franois1 not to speak
 of ,corot4 ,his greatness lies in  his 
personality1 in his simplicity1 in his  
avoidance of pose1 in the  pious        
earnestness with which he follows the   
daily toil of the field  labourer4 ,that
 is no new note in art1 but it is the   
manifestation of an  individuality4     
,many are his superiors purely as       
painters4 ,but souls  cannot be compared

 and measured3 they are incommensurable4
    ,courbet follows on ,millet4 ,those 
mad on systematising have classed  the  
two together as pioneers of ,naturalism4
 ,what blindness to the  essential6 ,if 
anything does connect them--according to
 the ,hegelian  method--it is their very
 antithesis4 ,millet--let us think of   
the 8,man  with the ,mattock10 8,the    
,gleaners10 even 8,the ,pig-,killing10  
and the two  pictures in the ,century   
,exhibition3 the field-labourer1 who1   
his day's  work ended1 is putting on his
 coat1 and the mother feeding her little
  child with pap1 as well as 8,the      
,angelus0--,millet indicates1 in heavy  
painting and little-pleasing colours1 in
 people whose coarse externals  do not  
attract a spirituality that ennobles    
them and makes us forget  their         
soil-stained smock-frocks and their hard
 features4 ,courbet1 on  the other hand1
 draws faultlessly1 and is master of    
every knack of the  trade2 but1 with his
 rich means1 he never gets above the    

spiritual  stage of photography1 and he 
knows not how to open to us the smallest
  corner of the moral and spiritual     
being of his men and women4    ,but1    
strangely enough1 this same ,courbet1   
who never conceives human  beings except
 as soulless forms1 can put a soul into 
nature and her  lower-conditioned life4 
,his justly famed 8,sea-,waves0 breathes
 a  dramatic will-power4 ,his 8,roes in 
the ,wood0 are spirited4 ,ancient1      
mysterious wisdom appears to possess    
even his trees4 ,animals and  plants1   
sea and land1 speak in ,courbet2 man    
alone is dumb4 ,he is a  pantheist who  
excludes only man from the ,all-,divine4
 ,that is pessimism  rooted in the most 
profound unconsciousness1 which hints at
 serious  organic disturbance4    ,rosa 
,bonheur1 represented by a wonderful    
8,team of ,oxen before a ,hay  ,waggon10
 is in this respect akin to ,courbet4   
,she1 too1 is an eloquent  advocate of  
the beauty and profound feeling of the  
brute2 but1 more  logical than ,courbet1

 she confines herself to representing   
animals1 and  does not meddle with human
 beings4 ,man fails to interest her2 she
 takes  no heed of his indifferent      
appearance4 ,the animal alone attracts  
her  attention4 ,a ,rudyard ,kipling of 
the brush1 she has painted all her life 
the 8,jungle-,book10 that tells of the  
wise and good and honest beasts1  and   
the cunning men4 ,sir ,edwin ,landseer  
was also an animal-painter1 but  of     
quite another sort than ,rosa ,bonheur4 
,when ,landseer wanted to flatter  the  
beasts1 he gave them human qualities4   
,rosa ,bonheur would have  felt she was 
insulting her dear animals1 if she had  
painted a picture  like the 8,diogenes0 
in the ,national ,gallery in ,london4   
,the humanising  of animals seems to her
 like degrading their special animal    
beauty4  ,her love of animals was       
morbid2 it was1 however1 a deep and     
powerful  emotion that made of her a    
great artist4    ,our wandering through 
the ,century ,exhibition led us finally 

past  the great landscape-men1 the      
founders of modern landscape-painting1  
to ,manet and ,monet1 ,renoir and       
,degas1 with whom a new century of art  
begins4 ,in a later section on the      
,caillebotte room in the ,luxembourg    
,museum1 ,i shall study closely the     
authors of the ,open ,air ,movement4    
,the  fight against the children of     
classicism and romance was furious1 and 
8free-light0 was victorious in the      
degree in which it deserved victory4    
,but even in those days of turmoil there
 were idyllists who remained            
undisturbed by the tumult1 and did not  
notice it4 ,gustave ,moreau  painted his
 colour stories from a palette of gold  
and precious stones1  from a palette of 
,limosin and the glass-painters of      
,gothic cathedrals1  as if there had    
never existed an 8,olympia0 of ,manet or
 a 8,funeral  ,procession of ,ornans10  
of ,courbet4 ,the high importance of    
,moreau1 to  whom ,i return in a special
 study1 lies in the fact that he teaches

 us  the feebleness of all              
classification of art development into  
epochs4  ,true artists are not subject  
to time1 and move side by side without  
influencing reciprocally their orbits4  
,they are not subject to ,newton's  law 
of gravitation4    ,the ,century        
,exhibition taught us something more4   
,it sharpened our sight  for            
distinguishing between the literary     
painters and the painters  proper4 ,the 
former1 as a rule1 find fame quicker    
than the latter1 but  their fame affects
 posterity as a bad jest4 ,they are     
illustrators of  the time1 and what it  
brings1 that is the worthless1          
art-destroying  8actuality40 ,every     
attempt to put painting at the service  
of  contemporary thought1 to demand of  
it philosophical collaboration in  the  
development of political1 moral1 and    
social doctrines1 is a sin  against an  
art whose essence directs it to the     
eternal aspects of the  phenomenal      
world4 ,only those are genuine painter  

temperaments which  can follow          
reflectively the play of light on       
surfaces in motion1 and  tell us what   
feelings this play awakens in them4 ,all
 symbolism1 all  allegory1 all graphic  
accompaniment of poetry1 is weak4 ,only 
what has  been really seen has          
permanence1 even if it is reproduced    
with little  skill4 ,you cannot paint   
from hearsay1 only from the impressions 
which  the eye takes in1 and the soul   
delivers4 ,it is astonishing that so    
primitive a biological truth should be  
so difficult to grasp4                  
,,vi                               ,,the
 ,,school ,,of #ahcj      ,thomy ,thiry 
was a rich man of the formerly ,french1 
but afterwards  ,english1 island of     
,mauritius1 who lived and died in       
,paris1 and left  his art collection1   
consisting of paintings1 ,barye bronzes1
 and some  ,gobelins1 to the ,louvre4   
,thomy ,thiry was a man of a single     
passion  and a single thought2 he loved 
only the ,barbizon ,school and some of  

its artistic contemporaries who1 in his 
opinion1 stood in an elective  affinity 
to it2 but he loved them with unshaken  
fidelity and constant  self-sacrifice4  
,and in contrast to other more eclectic 
amateurs1 he  did not perform his heroic
 deeds of an undaunted purchaser in     
auction  rooms and art-shops1 but       
carried his money to the studios of the 
living  and struggling as long as he was
 able1 and appeared on the market as  an
 ordinary collector only when the brush 
had slipped from the hand of  the       
creators4 ,in this way his gallery got  
the warmth and unity of an  organic     
being1 and besides its beauty1 gave joy 
through the idea that  it was not the   
result of parvenu vanity1 or of that    
cruel fancy that  takes satisfaction in 
a work without troubling about the      
originator1  but that a grateful        
patronage1 which not only wishes to     
purchase art  treasures1 but also to    
lighten and beautify the artist's       
earthly  pilgrimage1 had created it4 ,as

 a legacy to the ,louvre1 the collection
  has from a fraction become an integral
 section that methodically  dovetails   
into its place in the frame of this     
incomparable museum1 in  which the      
history of art is made to live before   
our gaze in select  examples4 ,the      
management has added the pictures which 
it formerly  possessed of ,thomy        
,thiry's favourites1 so that the three  
halls of the  collection now afford a   
good survey of the fruitful movement1   
which1  about #ahcj1 took place in      
,french painting1 and diverted it from  
the  degraded classicism then dominant  
into the path pursued at present4       
,the ,school of ,barbizon6 ,a           
convenient1 but1 for that very reason1  
a meaningless1 expression4 ,the men     
comprised in this commonplace           
designation have not much in common4 ,in
 age not far apart1 they were  bound to 
each other by personal friendship1 and  
partly inhabitants of  that             
,fontainebleau wood1 in which some of   

them experienced ,nature's  revelation4 
,they were1 however1 very different in  
temperament1 genius1  and impulse1 and  
they strove for personal ideals with    
dissimilar modes  of expression4 ,only  
one peculiarity belongs in like degree  
to all1  viz41 the burning longing with 
which they yearned to get out of the    
stupid hole-in-the-wall of the academic 
studio that had become to them  a goal  
into freedom and life4    ,without      
punning1 the free air and freedom meant 
to them the same thing4  ,landscape     
furnished them with the means of        
renewing their acquaintance  with       
,nature4 ,under a completely ,faust-like
 impulse1 they struggled out  of the    
atelier1 where1 8in reek and decay1 only
 the skeletons of  brutes and dead men's
 bones0 surrounded them1 8into the far  
country40  ,their appearance about the  
time of the ,july ,revolution was the   
,easter-morning walk after brooding in  
the ,gothic studio4    ,the ,david      
tradition held painting in thrall4 ,the 

master's greatest  pupil1 ,baron ,gros1 
and1 with him1 the gifted ,gricault1    
sought to  overcome the stiff           
mummifiedness and dryness of forms1 the 
staginess of  subject of this art1 which
 found its triumph in the 8,rape of the 
,sabine  ,women0 and the 8,coronation at
 ,notre ,dame40 ,but ,gricault1         
misjudged  and undervalued1 died early a
 conquered man1 and ,gros1 going astray 
in  uncertain sounding of himself1      
returned1 after his short revolt1 to the
  tin and paste formulary of his first  
epoch1 recognised in alarm its          
hollowness1 and1 by voluntary death in  
the ,seine1 got rid of the pains  of the
 sceptic who has lost his faith and his 
ideal4 ,the then young  generation1     
warned and shaken by the tragedy of this
 seeker who found  nothing1 broke with  
the dominant rule1 and sat down at the  
feet of  ,nature1 to learn from her4    
,the country is the great               
master-workshop4 ,there ,nature speaks  
her most  eloquent language of form4    

,there she finds the tones that awaken  
the  loudest echo in the soul of the    
genuine born painter4 ,the creation of  
a pictorial artist is1 like each of the 
higher mental activities1 very          
complicated2 the most opposed organs of 
the brain have a variously  graded and  
mixed share in it4 ,the vivid reception 
and rendition of  a phenomenon at rest1 
of the expressive line of one in motion1
 is  an exercise of the motor centres4  
,in the representation of man1 or  what 
pertains to man1 which is1 directly or  
indirectly1 through the  awakening of   
anthropomorphic ideas1 to seize on our  
minds1 trains of  thought1 reason1 and  
judgment play a part by the side of the 
emotions  growing out of the            
unconscious4 ,but the real and essential
 element  in painting is neither the    
motorial production of the drawing1 nor 
the travail of thought in the           
composition1 but is ever the giving  of 
light and colour4 ,now what counts in   
landscape is the effect of  light and   

colour4 ,here the painter stands before 
the magic changes  of lights and the    
alluring colour-mysteries of ,nature1   
which excite  him most keenly2 for they 
stimulate his optical centre1 of which  
the  extraordinary development and      
particular susceptibility of light is   
the psycho-physical basis and           
preliminary condition of the primitive1 
impulsive gift of painting4 ,ever when  
men of talent feel the stiffened        
traditions of the schools to be         
intolerable1 and want to follow their   
own inward impulse1 they flee to the    
country in order1 in its free  light1 to
 wash themselves clean from the dust of 
the schools1 and bathe  into health     
their limbs1 aching from constrained    
positions4 ,there  is profound          
instruction in the fact that to ,giotto1
 in his effort  completely to burst the 
fetters of ,byzantinism1 which his      
master1  ,cimabue1 had already strongly 
shaken1 it first occurred to introduce  
into his work the elements of landscape4

 ,his picture in the ,louvre of  ,st    
,francis of ,assisi is a touchingly nave
 example of this4    ,it was ,corot who 
first uttered in the ,french painting of
 the nineteenth  century the creative   
words1 8,let there be light40 ,of       
course1 he did  not discover day1 for   
there were masters before him in whose  
pictures  the sun shone4 ,we find in    
,ruysdael the keen1 chilly clearness of 
a  northern sky4 ,claude ,lorrain gives 
warm1 tender evening tones of the       
south1 which have the effect of         
luxurious warm baths4 ,from him1 ,turner
  directly traces his descent1 who      
overheats ,claude's pleasant tepidity   
to a glow1 and raises his gentle        
clearness to a blinding splendour  of   
radiancy4 ,but no one before ,corot has 
understood1 like him1 how  to fill      
pictures with such discreet yet         
penetrating1 delicate yet  glowing      
light4 ,it is no melodramatic1 no       
,bengal or concocted light1  no light of
 strange1 exceptional occasions1 of     

confusing colours1 no  vulgar1 pompous1 
excessively brilliant light1 but a      
restfully even1  inexhaustibly rich1    
cheerful light that fills the soul with 
joy and  hope4    ,corot's light sheds  
its rays from a hopeful soul4 ,it is    
luminous  optimism in visible form4     
,some years ago1 a ,corot ,exhibition   
took  place in the ,galliera ,museum1   
and those who arranged it contrived  to 
collect about the whole of the master's 
life-work4 ,i looked  attentively at one
 point3 it contained hardly a single    
evening1 not  a single autumn note or   
muttering of a storm1 but only morning  
and  spring and blue sky4 ,that is      
characteristic of this child of the sun4
  ,in ,corot the elements of beauty are 
nearly always the same3 pleasant        
hill-countries1 winding paths that lead 
to weird distances and invite  our      
yearning to fare thither2 at a curve of 
the road gleaming water  mirroring      
silver cloudlets2 in the foreground     
delicately-leaved trees2  around and    

over everything the wondrous air        
thrilling with light1  animated with a  
thin haze of mist1 in which1 bewitched  
by the feeling  of spring1 by an        
association of ideas1 we fancy we can   
hear the soft  bell-notes of invisible  
church towers1 the twitter of pairing   
birds  engaged in building their nests1 
and the buzz of early beetles4 ,some  of
 the ,corots in the ,thiry rooms1 e4g41 
the view of the ,coliseum1  are youthful
 productions1 and do not yet show the   
dreamily soft1 as it  were1 inspired    
style and silver glow of his maturity4  
,they are still  somewhat dry and hard1 
yet1 even in these more prosaic         
pictures1 the  heart-quickening light   
falls from heaven--,corot's incomparable
 strength4    ,corot did not belong to  
the forestmen of ,barbizon1 but he was  
the  founder of their religion of light4
 ,th4 ,rousseau shares with him the     
silkiness1 and approaches him in the    
down-like delicacy of his young         
foliage4 ,daubigny has more temperament2

 he is sturdier1 more manly1  perhaps ,i
 should say3 more like a peasant4 ,what 
raises him to the  rank of master is the
 depth of his pictures1 and his gift of 
working  out his subjects in almost     
stereoscopic relief1 in all planes--in  
the  fore-1 middle-1 and background4    
,his 8,skiff0 is1 therefore1 an         
excellent  example4 ,the mast of the    
vessel stands absolutely free4 ,we see  
how  air is encompassing it on all      
sides4 ,dupr shares in equal degree the 
praise of his two friends4 ,that is not 
quite just1 for he has by no  means so  
much personality as they4 ,he does not  
feel originally1 but  imitatively4      
,nature moves him first through the eyes
 of his companions  in art4 ,he imitates
 alternately the softness of ,corot's   
foliage and his  silvery mistiness1     
,rousseau's smoothness and insinuating  
harmony of  colour1 and ,daubigny's     
tree-poetry1 but ,i look in vain for the
 feature  that distinguishes him from   
the others4    ,the delicate1 and at the

 same time reverential love with which  
the  ,barbizon-men treat the individual 
tree1 ,troyon expends on domestic       
animals4 ,as to the former the tree1 so 
long as it does not melt in the  haze of
 distance1 is never merely part of the  
scheme1 but a distinct1  living being1  
possessing a physiognomy of its own1 of 
which they render  a strongly           
individualised likeness2 so the latter  
regards animals with  the understanding 
of a shepherd1 who is known to recognise
 by their  countenances all the sheep of
 a numerous flock4 ,he will correctly   
depict the physiognomy of animals1      
without any propensity to giving  them  
the look of human beings1 through which 
animal painters only too  easily become1
 without intending it1 comic4    ,millet
 is the continuation and consummation of
 the great landscape  painters of #ahcj4
 ,we are not conscious of this if we    
regard him only  by himself2 but it is  
at once forced on us if we see him in   
the  ,thiry ,collection in connection   

with his comrades4 ,millet is also1     
fundamentally1 a landscape painter1 only
 his landscapes are animated  by men2   
but not by men who are accessories1 as  
is the case with  ,corot1 but by men who
 are a part of the landscape1 its most  
important  and essential part1 precisely
 as the trees and clouds are1 but more  
dignified and spiritual than trees or   
clouds4 ,with him man grows  together   
with his rural environment1 is himself a
 bit of nature in the  midst of nature1 
and it is not easy to decide whether he 
is degrading  man1 or is elevating the  
earth with all that on it creeps and    
flies1  when he puts them on the same   
level4 ,millet discerns in nature an    
all-living element that can take        
manifold bodily forms and be expressed  
in a variety of ways1 but is one and the
 same in all different forms4  ,this    
grand pantheistic feature uplifts his   
pictures from genre to  high1 spiritual 
art4 ,and since nature is never comic1  
so ,millet's  peasants--themselves a bit

 of nature--never affect us comically1  
but  always pathetically1 even when they
 are as sturdy1 clumsy1 and simple  as  
,david ,teniers's boors4 ,in one picture
 in the collection1 8,maternal          
,foresight10 ,millet has apparently a   
humorous intention3 a peasant woman  is 
assisting her very small youngster at   
the doorstep of her house in a  little  
necessity4 ,even here ,i cannot find    
anything to laugh at1 unless  from      
kindly sympathy for the hop-o'-my-thumb 
and his tender mother4 ,it  is just a   
glance at life1 and at such no one who  
feels a reverence for  the sanctity of  
life ever laughs4    ,the devotees of   
the great ,pan--,corot1 ,rousseau1      
,daubigny1 ,millet1 and  their followers
 of the second rank1 gain in            
significance side by side4  ,their      
contemporary1 ,delacroix1 loses beside  
them4 ,what ,i felt at the  ,century    
,exhibition of ,french art1 ,i feel even
 more strongly in the  ,thiry rooms at  
the ,louvre4 ,i am afraid ,delacroix is 

one whose trial  must be revised4       
,perhaps we shall then be obliged to    
confirm the  unfavourable verdict that  
the adherents of the ,classical movement
  passed on him at his appearance1      
although on quite different grounds4    
,delacroix was not in love with life2 he
 did not seek and find nature2  he      
followed in her footsteps only in books4
 ,he was essentially an  illustrator2   
apart from ,victor ,hugo he is not to be
 thought of4 ,the  ,romantics performed 
a duty of gratitude when1 with fanatical
 violence1  they carried him            
triumphantly through his detractors4 ,he
 is their  henchman with the brush2 he  
fights with them and for them4 ,they    
only  act according to the rules of     
chivalry when they protect him4 ,his    
magic colouring is not to be contested1 
although it is often gaudy and          
theatrical4 ,but out of his 8,hamlet    
with the ,gravediggers10 his 8,medea10  
his 8,bride of ,abydos10 his 8,abduction
 of ,rebecca0 78,ivanhoe071 a dreary    

waste stares us in the face1 which would
 be hardly bearable if we did  not      
happen to know the poems from which     
,delacroix drew his subjects4  ,we must 
put life into his dead pictures by what 
we remember of our  reading4 ,delacroix 
stops at the externals4 ,we have to add 
soul and  passion4    ,after the men of 
#ahcj came1 on the one side1 the neat   
painters of  the ,empire1 of whom       
,meissonier is the best type2 on the    
other1 the  naturalists with ,courbet1  
the impressionists with ,manet and      
,monet2 and  so the development went on 
to the confused struggles of this       
moment4  ,that period of the ,july      
,revolution was felt by its             
contemporaries as  an age of storm and  
stress in art4 ,on us later-born        
children it has  the effect of halcyon  
days1 the full1 rapturous life and sunny
 joys of  which the present generation  
longs for in vain4                      
,,vii                           ,,the   
,,triumph ,,of ,a ,,revolution          

,,the ,,realists    ,in the last years  
of the ,empire and the first of the     
,republic1 great  things occurred on the
 sacred hill of ,montmartre1 on the     
summit of  which the ,church of the     
,sacred ,heart had not yet supplanted   
the ,muses  and ,graces4 ,a group of    
painters1 diminishing in number1 yet    
brave  as lions1 and pugnacious1 arose  
in defence and attack against the       
official art of the ,acadmie1 the cole  
des ,beaux ,arts1 and the  ,salon1 which
 was still an institution of the ,state4
 ,their palette  was a battle-shield1   
their brush a lethal weapon for cutting 
and  thrusting1 their easel a barricade4
 ,uproar was what they painted1 and     
plunder and carnage were the subjects of
 their conversation in endless  beer and
 tobacco sessions4 ,they wanted to      
massacre the old idols in  oil-painting1
 and the tyrants of the plastic arts now
 become twaddlers4  ,no more painting by
 tinker1 plumber1 or chimney-sweep6 ,no 
soot in  place of air6 ,no ,dutch dolls 

in tin armour1 with volunteer firemen's 
brass helmets on their gingerbread      
heads6 ,on the contrary1 an honest      
rendering of phenomena of light and     
colour from actual observation1         
sincerity1 open air1 and impression4    
,the first to gather with fury and wild 
gesticulation around the daring         
preachers of the new gospel were        
literary men and journalists4 ,they  did
 not understand anything about painting1
 and would not have been  capable of    
distinguishing a varnished oleograph for
 a cab-drivers'  public house from a    
real ,leonardo2 whether a picture was   
blackened or  saturated by sunlight1    
whether a human figure was clumsily     
conventional  or felt and understood    
with truth to nature1 that was to them  
quite as  indifferent as the colour of  
the ,empress of ,china's dressing-gown4 
,they  had1 however1 the feeling that   
this movement in art was1 in some way   
or other1 connected with thought of     
general subversion1 and attacked  the   

government4 ,they thought they heard the
 naked women in ,eduard  ,manet's 8,down
 with ,napoleon0 shriek4 ,the gleaming1 
noonday lights of  ,claude ,monet seemed
 to them a cry for vengeance for the    
coup d'tat4  ,they understood           
,pissarro's landscapes as illustrating  
,victor ,hugo's  ,chtiments1 and        
,renoir's dancing grisettes clearly     
pronounced a  crushing verdict on the   
,mexican ,expedition4 ,all the enemies  
of the  ,empire regarded open air as an 
item of their political programme4  ,to 
be a true republican one must swear     
allegiance to realism4 ,thus  ,gambetta 
and ,zola became fanatics of the new    
movement1 not on sthetic                
principles--such did not exist for      
either--but from a tendency to          
opposition4    ,we should be wrong to   
laugh at a ,radical mob orator and an   
anarchist  novelist being fervent       
advocates of a school of painting from  
party  interests4 ,it arises out of a   
quite correct feeling4 8,all is in all40

  ,a close relationship unites all the  
phenomena of one time1 and the  most    
opposed forms may express a single      
fundamental mood4 ,about #ahfh  realism 
meant quite as much a revolt against a  
bit of authority as  republicanism did4 
,were not a luxuriant beard and a soft  
hat in #ahdh  proof positive of         
revolutionary sentiments8 ,and about    
#ahie were not a  tail-coat and a       
flowing neck-tie the acknowledgment of  
belief in blank  verse and ,maeterlinck8
    ,from the first moment1 then1       
realism had the honours of the          
opposition  press and the support of    
those politicians1 the majority of whom1
 later  on1 were to play the principal  
parts in the revolt of the ,commune4    
,the artists1 to be sure1 despised it at
 first1 as long as it gained  no ,salon 
distinctions and had no market4 ,for a  
long time--for some  decades--it had    
none4 ,the public regarded the works of 
the new movement  only as expressions of
 unconscious or intentional artistic    

humour4  ,it laughed at them as it did  
at the saucy caricatures in the comic   
papers4 ,there was perhaps only one     
individual who1 a generation ago1  took 
the ,manets and ,monets1 the ,renoirs   
and ,pissarros seriously1 and  was      
prepared to manifest his belief in them 
by ready money--the only  genuine       
martyrdom in our days--and this seer1   
prophet1 and confessor was              
,caillebotte4 ,he bought their pictures2
 not at a big price1 it is true1  for we
 must not expect the superhuman from    
mere mortals1 but he bought  them2 he   
poured out his red gold for them1 and   
this sacrifice probably  preserved the  
life of realism1 or1 at any rate1 of its
 teachers4    ,caillebotte himself      
painted1 but only for himself1 and that 
was  praiseworthy2 but what was more    
important1 he had acquired a handsome   
fortune by commerce1 and spent the major
 portion of his fine income on  open-air
 pictures4 ,he did not exhaust his      
enthusiasm by that4 ,when he  died1 he  

bequeathed the most striking            
pieces--8the pearls10 he called         
them--of his collection to the ,french  
,state1 on the condition that it  left  
them together and accommodated them with
 a room in a ,paris museum4    ,the     
,department of ,fine ,arts at first made
 difficulties2 but finally1  it resolved
 to accept the bequest4 ,the ,luxembourg
 ,museum was enlarged  by an additional 
building1 and a small room in the new   
wing now  accommodates the pictures left
 by ,caillebotte1 amongst which he also 
smuggled in two from his own brush4     
,thus the ,revolutionaries attained  the
 honours of a ,state museum4 ,this      
triumph crowns an adventurous  campaign 
which1 after apparently fatal defeats at
 first1 led from  victory to victory1   
and from conquest to conquest4 ,for a   
decade and a  half the art of the       
,manets and ,monets has dominated       
painting4 ,only in  the works of a few  
obstinate old fogies is their spirit    
untraceable1  at any rate on the        

,continent2 for in ,england1 to be sure1
 they have  not succeeded in gaining the
 slightest influence on the             
,pr-,raphaelite  movement4 ,on the other
 hand1 in countries without old and     
uninterrupted  art traditions of their  
own1 for which the history of painting  
begins  at the moment in which they     
themselves first co-operate actively in 
it1  therefore especially in ,north     
,america and ,scandinavia1 there is1 as 
a  rule1 no other art4 ,when the        
painters in these countries awoke to    
art1  that was the newest thing1 le     
dernier cri of realism1 and they took   
to this latest fashion1 just as1 in new 
colonies1 negro ladies1 who  yesterday  
knew no other aid to their dusky        
loveliness than an apron of  plaited    
grass and a few glass beads1 insist that
 their toilet1 or1 at  any rate1        
portions of it1 shall be quite up to    
date4    ,but the victory in lands      
barbaric so far as art is concerned1 and
  the apotheosis in the ,luxembourg     

,museum1 do not spell the end of the    
battle or the conclusion of peace4      
,realism had even recently to  fight    
hard battles of persecution4 ,whilst the
 crowd pressed into the  ,caillebotte   
room1 which was opened in #ahig1 and1 it
 must be admitted1  gave expression to  
very mixed feelings1 certain masters of 
the ,art  ,school1 the narrow           
,academician1 ,grme1 at their head1 sent
 to the  ,minister concerned a fiercely 
angry warning against the desecration   
of the ,museum's hallowed rooms by the  
admission of rubbish which  they        
characterised as 8scandalous daubs10 the
 8offspring of utter  incompetency or   
lunacy40    ,the warning was wrongly    
timed4 ,in #ahig it came too early1 or  
too late4  ,too late1 because ,manet and
 ,monet have apparently held their own  
against ,grme and ,gustave ,moreau1 and 
protests are futile against  facts1 or  
what are regarded as such at a given    
period4 ,too early1 for  people then    
still stood--and probably they stand    

now--at an insufficient  distance from  
the movement now called impressionist to
 regard it from  the perspective of     
history1 and to assign it its proper    
place in the  development of painting4  
,that moment will come1 most likely very
 soon4  ,then the protest of the        
,academicians will be superfluous1 for  
even the  sthetic boors will repeat the 
verdict1 then become a commonplace1 that
  realism had its justification2 that1  
besides transient harm1 it was the      
author of permanent utility2 and that1  
after a half-miraculous progress  not   
uncommon in the history of art1 the new 
men1 who themselves could  do little or 
nothing at all1 taught more competent   
successors something  precious4    ,the 
,caillebotte room will help to bring    
about a correct estimate of  the        
revolutionists of 8the 'sixties40 ,grme 
ought to have rejoiced  at the opening  
of that room1 for it really1 for the    
first time1 sets  a legend in the light 
of history4 ,for twenty years everybody 

has  thought he had a right to chatter  
about realism1 though few have really   
seen the documentary monuments of it1   
because up to now they were  never      
conveniently accessible as a whole4 ,the
 prototypical works of  the ,naturalist 
,school were mostly shown cursorily in  
rare and little  noticed exhibitions4   
,then they hung in their authors'       
studios1 or in  some private            
collections4 ,he who had not lived in   
,paris for thirty  years1 and observed  
with close attention all the details of 
the art  movement1 or did not undertake 
troublesome journeys of exploration and 
discovery1 could speak of them only from
 untrustworthy imitations1 or  from     
absolutely worthless hearsay4 ,now1 at  
last1 the material can be  seen by all4 
,whoever is capable of receiving his own
 impressions can  procure them4         
,extravagant enthusiasm for the pioneers
 of the 8,open ,air0 movement will  now 
be quite as little excusable as its     
condemnation without mitigating         

circumstances4 ,the former will1 in face
 of the ,caillebotte room1 be           
recognised at the first glance as sheer 
weak-mindedness1 the latter as  lack of 
understanding4 ,that is the great       
service of this room in the  ,museum3 it
 adduces all that can be said on behalf 
of realism1 and shows  at the same time1
 inexorably1 its limitations4    ,i     
should like beforehand to exclude       
,raffaelli from the painters  that      
appear in this collection4 ,he is not a 
labourer from the first  hour4 ,even    
later on1 when he joined the movement1  
he was no orthodox  believer4 ,people1  
from their superficial knowledge1       
jumbled him up  with the realists1      
because he was at first always1 as the  
latter were  often1 a pessimistic       
confessor of the truth4 ,his peculiar   
temperament  decided his choice of sad  
subjects4 ,in his outlook on life he was
 wont  to dwell1 with self-torturing    
choice1 on depressing sights3 on the    
sick  in lazar-houses2 on the homeless  

tramps in the moats about the ,paris    
forts2 on poor1 human wrecks that float 
through the street-current of  the great
 city4 ,he told the story of these men  
with heart-breaking  accuracy4 ,he      
depicted them in mean1 miserable1       
mud-tints2 in the  dust-grey of unswept1
 suburban streets2 the sickly lime-white
 and  dung-brown of neglected           
house-walls2 the washed-out             
greenish-blue of  worn-out cotton       
blouses4 ,in this mood was painted his  
8,convalescents in  the ,hospital       
,yard10 with its livid faces beneath the
 white skull-caps1  and emaciated bodies
 in blue dressing-gowns1 on the dank1   
moss-covered  stone benches1 in front of
 the sullen lazar-house4 ,this picture1 
like  all of ,raffaelli's1 makes up for 
the unpleasantness of its story by  the 
severe honesty of its drawing2 and in   
the street picture1 8,behind  ,notre    
,dame10 the astonishingly effective     
employment of the gay red  kerchief of a
 workwoman in the foreground1 amidst the

 subdued tones  of a murky ,paris day in
 uncertain weather1 shows what a clever 
and  faithful colourist this painter is1
 who so long painted obstinately  from a
 degraded palette4 ,nowadays1 he has1 in
 the main1 overcome his  depression of  
spirits1 and in his soul a bright       
sunshine laughs1 the  rays of which are 
discernible in all his later works4     
,the real originator of the new tendency
 was ,eduard ,manet4 ,of his three      
pictures in the ,caillebotte room1 one1 
the 8,olympia10 is a masterpiece4  ,it  
had already long been the property of   
the ,luxembourg collection1  and amongst
 the academic works of that ,museum it  
seemed so strange  that it forced       
expressions of repugnance from most     
visitors4 ,after  this comes an insipid 
brown lady in a mantilla1 and the       
important  8,balcony40 8,olympia0 is a  
faded1 decayed lady of the class which  
people in ,paris are accustomed to      
describe as 8the old guard40 ,the       
person1 whose hair is dressed for a     

soire1 but who is entirely  without     
clothing1 lies outstretched on a bed1   
displaying her charms1  which might     
convert ,don ,juan himself to the       
monastic rule of chastity4  ,by the     
couch stands a pretty negress1 busied   
with her mistress4 ,the  8,balcony0     
shows two ladies with a gentleman       
friend1 and a man-servant  in the       
background4 ,the two pictures display   
,manet's purpose and method4  ,there is 
nothing of impressionism and open air to
 be remarked in the  8,olympia40 ,the   
scene is a closed room filled with      
diffused rays of  chamber-light4 ,the   
figures of the two women are accurately 
painted1  indeed in a painfully and     
curiously dry style4 ,in vain would one 
look for the smartness and bold dashing 
on of colour that are now  held to be   
the characteristics of impressionism4   
,it is all painfully  and laboriously   
measured1 without swing or freedom1     
without mastery  over the model or the  
tone4 ,the picture is revolutionary only

 in its  straightforwardness4 ,when it  
appeared1 the academic masters painted  
prettily4 ,when they had to represent   
nudity1 they painted a sort of          
conventional rose-coloured jelly1       
without bones or physiognomy1 smooth1   
ordinary1 and superficially pleasing as 
a china doll1 inartistic1 and           
unspeakably tedious4 ,in his 8,olympia10
 ,manet rebelled against this           
prettiness in painting that so falsifies
 nature4 ,he chose the most  repulsive  
model he could find1 and reproduced it  
with literal exactness  in all its      
repulsive truth4 ,he showed that there  
is female flesh not  altogether too old 
that is not composed of snow and rose   
leaves4 ,he  taught his truth brutally  
and unwisely1 with churlish violation of
 good  taste and gallantry1 but with    
ardour and conviction4 ,the 8,balcony0  
already announces the joyous tidings of 
open air4 ,the two women are  bathed in 
full daylight1 which cruelly misuses    
their faces4 ,here1 too1  ,manet wears  

the blinkers that narrow his artistic   
horizon4 ,he wishes to  oppose sunny    
brightness to the brown broth which was 
given out in the  masters' studios as   
the only colour whereby one could find  
salvation4  ,he therefore lavishes his  
light1 which overcomes and disperses the
  darkness2 but he forgets that sunshine
 influences local colours2 that  it     
gives them various effects1 according to
 their illuminative power2  that it     
envelops and blends them1 however       
opposite they may be1 in one  single    
underlying harmony of silver or gold    
tone1 and with no more  misgiving than a
 saucy child1 he lays on the canvas the 
true colours of  things unaltered and   
unbalanced4 ,i do not doubt that the    
grey-green of  the window-shutters and  
the arsenical green of the obliquely    
crossed  iron bars of the balcony are   
painted with the very trade colours     
which  the house-painters actually use  
for these objects4 ,of course1 this     
truth in detail produces the greatest   

artistic untruth in the whole1  and the 
picture that was to be the ,whitsun     
sermon of holy 8,open ,air10  becomes1  
through ,manet's inadequacy1 a speech   
for the prosecution of  the sun4        
,claude ,monet1 the classic of          
impressionism1 is not to be reproached  
with any incapacity4 ,his execution     
never betrays him4 ,he says what he     
wants to say to the last dot on the 8i10
 and if what he has said fails  to      
satisfy1 it is not because he lacked    
words1 but solely because he  had no    
more to say4 ,monet is a tippler1 a     
drunkard so far as light is  concerned4 
,he cannot pass by any lively brilliant 
illumination without  turning in for a  
painting-bout4 ,form1 however1 is to him
 a matter of  indifference2 it has no   
physiognomy for him1 nor does it arouse 
in him  any association of ideas4 ,he   
neglects it absolutely4 ,he does not    
draw  or compose4 ,in his pictures      
everything is without form1 as in nature
  herself1 unless we regard her with    

pre-existing thoughts of arrangement    
and meaning--in short1 under the optical
 and logical categories4 ,but  he has   
not his peer in arresting the fugitive  
magic of sportive rays1  their motes1   
their refractions on surfaces of every  
kind1 on fixed  bodies1 liquids1 and    
gases4 ,his 8,railway ,station10 with   
its wide  opening towards the railway   
line1 the bluish clouds of smoke and    
steam  from the puffing locomotive      
transfused with light1 the shimmering   
vapour under the framework of the iron  
roof1 is unsurpassable as a  rendering  
of absolutely meaningless effects of    
light4 ,pictures of  this sort will     
become expressive only when the         
photography of natural  colours is so   
perfected as to admit of instantaneous  
copies4 ,equally  remarkable as         
painting1 and more valuable as higher   
art1 is his  8,interior of a ,room10    
with a shadowy boy and plants in the    
foreground1  and a shining floor flooded
 with blue from daylight pouring in like

  a cataract through the window in the  
background4 ,more valuable              
artistically1 because this interior of  
great elegance1 this outline  of a      
child1 and this blue1 fairy-tale tone of
 the flood of light1 are  capable of    
awakening mood1 i4e41 will have an      
effect not only on the  senses but also 
on the soul2 will stimulate not only the
 optic centres  of perception1 but also 
the higher centres of conception and    
judgment4  8,breakfast in the ,open     
,air10 and two landscapes and marine    
pieces1 are  painted after the same rule
 as the two panels ,i have described4   
,gueuneutte's 8,morning ,porridge0 draws
 its inspiration from ,raffaelli1       
,degas's 8,dancers and their ,mothers0  
from ,manet4 ,i put ,degas1 however1    
above ,manet1 for he draws more lightly 
and smoothly than the latter1  and when 
he has to depose to ugly reality under  
the witness's oath of  his naturalistic 
conscience1 he does it1 not in an angry 
and provoking  way like ,manet1 but with

 the divine gift of humour4    ,monet's 
joy in light becomes with ,p4 ,m4       
,renoir an affectation4 ,he has  not the
 simple love of truth of his comrade4   
,he falls into exaggeration  which      
betrays conscious purpose and straining 
after originality4 ,his  two 8,young    
,girls0 at a piano of the colour of     
cranberry syrup2 his  nude figure of a  
woman1 on whose skin lights and shadows 
play so  unfortunately that she looks as
 if beaten black and blue1 in places    
even as if studded with the             
corpse-stains of putrescence in the     
second  degree2 the 8,girl in the       
,swing10 and particularly the 8,ball at 
the  ,moulin de la ,galette10 seek      
rather to disconcert than to convince us
  by their unwonted tones4 ,these       
pictures have historical importance  as 
ancestors4 ,from their jests of colour  
are descended the jokes of  ,besnard1   
from their rain of sunlight through     
shadowing foliage comes  the piebaldness
 of a ,zorn and particularly of a ,max  

,lieberman1 who make  an eruption of    
yellow and reddish spots fall on their  
bodies4 ,renoir's  8,girl ,reading0     
finally is a simple aberration4 ,he who 
tolerates such  stumps of hands in a    
picture that is not meant for a mere    
sketch is  either without capacity or   
without conscience--the one as bad as   
the  other4    ,pissarro is the triumph 
of seeing without thought4 ,he seizes   
all the  marvels of transformation which
 the light of various periods of the    
year and hours of the day accomplishes  
on objects over which it skims1  with   
the same certainty as ,monet1 but he    
imagines even less over it  than does   
the latter4 ,with him the impressions   
which he feels from  the outer world do 
not generally pierce beyond the back of 
his eyes4  ,he is a remarkable instance 
of the sharpest sight with the retina in
  conjunction with absolute             
soul-blindness4    ,the panegyrists of  
impressionism assert that it was not    
well  represented in the ,caillebotte   

collection4 ,that is a pretext of       
perplexed swaggerers who can now be     
nailed fast1 and who should in  shame   
and confusion crowd here1 where it is   
easy to test their  wild exaggerations4 
,impressionism has never produced       
confessed more  characteristic works    
than those gathered in the ,caillebotte 
room4 ,it  has never been more          
straightforward than in ,manet's        
8,olympia0 and  ,degas's 8,theatre      
,mothers10 never more bright than in    
,monet's 8,breakfast  in the ,open ,air0
 and ,pissarro's landscape1 never was it
 in a higher  degree lightening-sight   
and instantaneous painting than in      
,monet's  8,railway ,station40 ,every   
verdict on impressionism based on this  
room  is an adequately grounded verdict1
 against which the attempted higher     
appeal to ,i know not what unknown works
 must be rejected4    ,the painters who 
entered on the new movement are         
interesting as men1  because they aimed 
at much1 and at what was comparatively  

great4 ,they  are1 from an artistic     
standpoint1 uninteresting1 because they 
achieved  little4 ,it is the old tragedy
 of the will1 to which the strength     
plays traitor2 of the mind1 which       
subjectively and in posse brings  about 
the highest1 but objectively produces   
nothing1 because it fails  in           
realisation4 ,the ,manets and ,monets1  
the ,renoirs and ,pissarros1  wanted to 
create a new art by returning to the old
 truth4 ,it gives  them a right to      
reckon themselves as belonging to the   
family of the  illustrious heroes of the
 ,renaissance1 who emancipated          
themselves  from the traditions of the  
,byzantine ,school1 as the former did   
from  the sham-classic rule of a        
,couture1 a ,cabanel1 or a ,baudry4 ,the
 man  affected by a ,cimabue and a      
,giotto will not be unmoved in the      
presence  of ,manet and ,monet1         
especially of ,monet1 for he performed a
 creative  act4 ,he said3 8,let there be
 light10 and 8there was light0 in       

painting4  ,the miracle of ,genesis is  
still being wrought to-day1 and only in 
,gustave ,moreau and the                
,pr-,raphaelites has the ,logos proved  
itself  powerless4    ,after paying them
 this tribute of recognition we will    
also take leave  of them4 ,they have    
pointed out paths1 but they have not    
walked in  them4 ,in place of intricate 
,chinese signs1 they have invented a    
free1  brilliantly progressive alphabet1
 but in this script they had nothing  to
 say4 ,their art is merely              
optical--neither emotional nor ideal4   
,they  were commonplace--nay1 to some   
extent--unbeautiful souls4 ,that is why1
  despite their honest passion for      
truth1 and despite their precious       
medium of sunshine1 they have not been  
able to produce genuine art-work4       
,they have meanwhile not lived in vain4 
,their influence has been  fruitful4 ,at
 first it indeed generally did harm4    
,all bunglers flew to  imitating them1  
and the impudent rabble of both worlds  

alleged they  understood their teaching 
thus3 8,drawing is superstition1 and the
  more repulsive a hide looks1 so much  
more beautiful and especially  more     
modern it is40 ,but after this scum of  
the artistic rabble those  who had a    
vocation came over to the new movement1 
and showed what it  could achieve in    
consecrated hands4 ,with the open air   
,roll became the  master he is2         
impressionism brought a ,brangwyn to    
maturity2 truth--the  beautiful truth1  
not the repulsive1 vulgar truth--found  
its triumphs  in a ,whistler and a      
,sargent4 ,the weaknesses and mistakes  
of the  forerunners have furnished      
despicable parasites with the transitory
  reputation1 among the weak-minded1 for
 genius1 which will quickly  disappear  
before the recognition of their         
wretchedness4 ,their lofty  views1 and1 
to some extent1 the means of expression 
suggested by them1  have1 however1      
equipped men of illustrious talent1 who 
permanently  enrich mankind's property  

in works of beauty4                     
,,alfred ,,sisley    ,alfred ,sisley was
 one of the most renowned amongst that  
group  of realists to which ,i alluded  
in my foregoing appreciation of  the    
,caillebotte room in the ,luxembourg    
,museum4 ,he1 too1 like his             
companions--,manet and ,monet1 ,pissarro
 and ,renouard--was a rebel against     
traditions1 and a preacher of new       
gospels4 ,he also denied old idols  with
 fine disdain1 and preached doctrines   
that seemed to him to embrace  in       
themselves the whole truth4 ,he managed1
 indeed1 to collect a few  convinced    
disciples1 but1 on the other hand1      
hardly any congregation  about his altar
 or pulpit2 and this was due simply to  
the sobriety and  uncongeniality of his 
dogmas1 which failed to satisfy the     
cravings for  sthetic devotion of the   
faithful4    ,sisley was a landscape    
painter4 ,he was purely this1 to the    
exclusion of  every admixture4 ,he never
 introduced a human figure1 and1 so far 

as ,i  remember1 only one of an animal1 
into his paintings4 ,the only life that 
moved and stirred in them was that of   
atmosphere3 the play of lights1  of     
their refractions1 of their coloured    
dust1 of their vanishing in  shadows and
 darkness of various depths4 ,even the  
vegetable world1  though one of the most
 important elements in academical       
landscape  painting1 he treated         
slightingly4 ,he had no respect for the 
attractive  individuality of a tree4 ,it
 interested him at most as an object in 
his field of view1 which catches and    
diverts the beams of the sun in  a      
particular way4 ,he saw nothing of the  
marvels of colour and form  of the      
minute life1 that is displayed in a     
piece of turf1 a bush1 or  underwood1   
and reveals to the thoughtful and       
experienced eye the whole               
nature-tragedy of the struggle for      
existence3 the despairing striving  in  
the various plants for air and light1 or
 moisture and shade2 the  victorious    

domination of one or several species2   
the meek supplication  for mercy of     
single scattered flowers or plants2 the 
defeat and  flight of families unable to
 maintain their position against        
superior  antagonists2 the intrusion of 
bold strangers demanding for themselves 
a  place among the old settlers2 the    
confederacies of friendly groups that   
reside together and trust each other2   
the single combats of enemies  seeking  
to throttle and uproot one another4 ,he 
who has never gazed  deeply into nature 
perhaps regards all these pictures of   
combat and  triumph as mere phrases1    
corresponding to nothing real4 ,the     
biologist  of plants knows better1 to be
 sure1 and many a landscape painter too2
  so did the first ,english             
,pr-,raphaelites especially4 ,however   
unbearable  their vagaries and          
perversions may be--on these ,i will not
 enter  now--this one thing must be said
 in their praise3 they understand and   
love plant-life4 ,for them every grass  

and herb1 to say nothing of those       
lords1 the trees1 has a physiognomy1 a  
personal mystery1 which they  know how  
to unriddle1 and reveal1 or1 at any     
rate1 indicate4 ,of all  this ,sisley   
knows nothing4 ,for him a grassy mead is
 a plain of colours  with gradations1   
starred with varied patches2 always a   
mere study of  light and nothing else2  
never an expression of events of life4  
,here lies the limitation of his        
capacity4 ,in my book1 8,paradoxes10 ,i 
have tried to classify painters         
according to the rank of that segment   
of the central nerve-system1 in which   
their talent is rooted4 ,by  this method
 ,i arrived at a distinction between    
painters who feel  joy only in colours  
and their harmonies1 and others who1    
besides  delighting in colour1 often    
even without this1 have a developed     
sense  of the proportion of things in   
space1 therefore1 of forms1 reciprocal  
distances1 movements so far as these    
latter can be indicated by means  of the

 painter's fixed process3 those1 in     
short1 who know how to elicit  from     
visible phenomena an invisible1         
emotional significance1 and to          
represent them so that they express1 in 
a natural way1 psychical  processes and 
feelings1 without becoming falsified    
through the  intentional introduction of
 arbitrary features foreign to them4    
,now1  ,sisley is an instructive        
instance of those painters who are      
painters  only through their retina and 
lowest centres of perception1 viz41     
their  feeling for colour1 and the vivid
 sensation of enjoyment it affords      
them4    ,sisley has the most delicate  
sense for the lightest gradations and   
depths of colour4 ,if ,i may use an     
image from an adjacent intellectual     
domain1 he does optically what an ear   
would do acoustically which  was capable
 of feeling purely all the tones of a   
chromatic divided1  perhaps1 into       
sixty-fourths4 ,this faculty gives him  
his rank as an  artist1 but it was also 

the torturing demon of his life2 for he 
wanted  to reproduce with equal         
clearness what he saw so distinctly4    
,that is1  however1 impossible by the   
medium of oil-painting4 ,let it never be
  forgotten that the colours an artist  
uses are very different from  the       
natural appearances which they wish to  
recall4 ,all painting is  a translation 
that falls short of the original text1  
and even the  most refined palette only 
permits a vulgar groping after the      
subtle  play of colour in the reality4  
,it is sheer convention1 to which our   
eyes are artificially trained1 that we  
recognise in definite play of  colours1 
human flesh1 an evening sky1 foliage1 or
 mirroring water4 ,in  all cases we     
have1 at most1 approximations before us1
 and even a man's  countenance by ,franz
 ,hals reproduces the true coloration of
 the skin  on a human face1 as little as
 perhaps the well-known scherzo in the  
second movement of the ,pastoral        
reproduces the true note of the golden  

oriole4 ,sisley1 overlooked1 like the   
majority indeed of impressionists1  and 
like many very juvenile stipplers and   
black and white artists1  this technical
 main condition--if you like1 this main 
defect--of all  painting with media as  
at present known2 and he obstinately    
insisted on  overcoming a difficulty    
that is1 as a matter of fact1           
insuperable4 ,the  whole labour of his  
life is a struggle with the resistance  
of matter1  intensely pathetic1 but1    
nevertheless1 finally only irritating1  
because  its utter hopelessness is      
admitted4 ,he tries to square the       
circle1  which1 as may be proved to him1
 is not feasible1 and he aimlessly      
dissipates his energies in this futile  
effort4 ,he is bent on arresting  the   
most fugitive vanishing1 the gentlest   
swaying of a ray of light1  and1 as it  
were1 the fourth decimal place of a     
fraction of colour1 and  on fixing it on
 the canvas4 ,and as he cannot conjure  
forth this feat  from his colour-tubes1 

in spite of the most learned and        
complicated  mixing1 he tries to reach  
his goal by newly invented tricks of the
  brush4 ,thus he gets to dotting and   
spotting4 ,innumerable minute touches   
with the brush are to leave behind a    
chaos of colour-dots1 from which  the   
eye may come to discern1 or1 at any     
rate1 get an inkling of1 the  play of   
colour in the actual object4 ,this      
method is extremely laborious  and      
risky4 ,it postulates great patience and
 ability to emphasise in  the minute    
work the firm lines of the drawing4 ,for
 if one loses sight  of these lines1 or 
cannot make them ring out clearly from  
the colour  gamut disseminated equally  
over the whole canvas1 the picture      
dissolves  into a shapeless daub4       
,sisley himself is often wrecked on this
 rock4 ,by  his method1 however1 in a   
few happy moments1 he obtains1 to be    
sure1  effects which would scarcely be  
deemed possible4 ,then we may enjoy in  
his pictures a real dance of sun-motes  

in transfulgent air4    ,a single       
picture of ,sisley's even the           
connoisseur easily passes by4  ,it is   
insignificant4 ,even a whole row of     
pictures which represent  different     
themes will hardly make a great         
impression4 ,at most1 certain           
delicacies of tone1 a certain           
far-sighted clearness of atmosphere1    
make an impression4 ,if1 on the other   
hand1 you see near one another  panels  
which depict the same subjects at       
different hours of the day or  seasons  
of the year1 under different lights and 
conditions of weather1  you grasp in    
astonishment the meaning of this artist4
 ,the subject is  the same1 but so      
altered as to be hardly recognisable4   
,people marvel  at the power with which 
,sisley can arrest strangely changing   
aspects1  and gain some faint idea of   
the difficulty which the exposition of  
observations calls for1 observations    
which are generally out of reach  of any
 but the most acute feeling and the most

 painful attention4  ,sisley has openly 
admitted that his skill is              
unintelligible without  the key afforded
 by comparison4 ,that was why he        
exhibited1 as a rule1  at least         
two--usually many more--treatments of   
the same subject4 ,thus in  the ,salon  
in the ,champs de ,mars in #ahih1 he    
showed a beach1 8,lady's  ,cove10 in two
 lights2 and1 in #ahif1 ,moret ,church1 
in transparent pale  lilac just before  
sunset1 and also in softly-veiled       
slate-grey in rainy  weather4 ,i        
remember a row of studies of the same   
village church1 which  ran through all  
the divisions of the spectrum1 one after
 another1  and1 on each succeeding      
panel1 was a revelation the more        
dazzling in  proportion as one already  
knew its form in all its details4       
,sisley has  hardly ever had his equal  
in transposing a piece into different   
keys4    ,admiration for the almost     
morbidly exaggerated sensitiveness to   
the  slightest differences in tones of  

colour1 and sympathetic feeling for  the
 artist's despair at the inadequacy of a
 technique1 gross1 after  all1 as the   
medium of the most delicate             
intentions--these are the  impressions  
which one feels at even the most        
friendly consideration  of ,sisley's    
most successful works4 ,dreaming and    
longing1 reminiscence  and presentiment1
 on the other hand1 they never inspire1 
for they are  absolutely lacking in all 
psychic1 emotional1 and imaginative     
sense4    ,from the example of ,sisley1 
we recognise the accuracy of the maxim  
which1 when put nakedly1 sounds almost  
provokingly paradoxical1 and  yet is    
literally correct1 viz41 that landscape 
painting1 or1 at any  rate1 a certain   
kind of landscape painting1 is the most 
literary of  all species of plastic art1
 the one from which the least is        
received1  and into which the most is   
put4 ,landscape painting seems to       
reproduce  nature herself1 and therefore
 necessarily to be as objective as a    

land  surveyor's plan1 or even as a     
photograph4 ,it is1 as a matter of fact1
  incomparably more subjective than     
portrait1 historical1 or genre          
painting1 for there is throughout1 not  
nature over again1 but the  features of 
nature which have excited the attention 
of the painter1  and aroused in him a   
mood4 ,it therefore discloses to us1    
more than  any other kind of painting1  
the soul of the painter1 the peculiarity
  of his mode of feeling1 the bent of   
his dreams1 and the object of  his      
longing4 ,if every work of art is a     
confession on the part of the  artist1  
landscape painting is a particularly    
complete and honest  acknowledgment4 ,it
 is a portrait of the artist1 which he  
himself has  painted1 transcribing all  
the wrinkles of his soul4    ,nature in 
herself is absolutely expressionless4   
,the feeling of the  person who         
contemplates her first adds expression1 
just as his senses  translate the       
movements of the atmosphere and matter1 

which are1 in  themselves1 devoid of    
colour and sound to the perceptible     
values  of colours and tones4 ,the      
contemplation of nature awakens in us   
associations of ideas1 and these we     
project into nature4 ,therefore we      
find1 again1 in this latter the whole   
range of emotion and thought of  our    
consciousness1 and nature1 therefore1   
influences every one who  contemplates  
her correspondingly to his education and
 mental habits4    ,landscape painting  
is1 then1 also a continuous illustration
 of the  literature of its time4 ,it is 
anti-classical in the ,renaissance and  
,late ,renaissance up to ,poussin2      
,ossianic and ,rousseauesque in the     
eighteenth century1 and1 in ,corot1 is  
,lamartinish4 ,it would1 of course1  be 
going too far to point out here what the
 relations are between  each individual 
great landscape painter and the writings
 of his  contemporaries2 and how certain
 notable exceptions from the rule of    
parallelism between landscape painting  

and the fashion of the day in           
literature--,salvator ,rosa1 ,ruysdael1 
and ,turner 7just to mention only       
three7--are to be explained4 ,it is1    
meanwhile1 not to be disputed that  the 
landscape painter approaches nature with
 a soul filled with the  literary spirit
 of his time1 and puts into her what he 
has retained  from his reading4 ,a      
painting1 then1 awakens also in the mind
 of the  spectator an echo of all the   
poetic melodies that have enthralled    
him1  and it is the soft echo of these  
thousands of poetic voices in our  soul1
 to which we listen when we enjoy a     
landscape painting4    ,we listen1      
however1 in vain before a picture of    
,sisley's2 all is still  in our soul4   
,this is because the painter has        
regarded nature from a  wholly          
unliterary standpoint4 ,she awakens in  
him no associations of  ideas1 therefore
 his pictures awaken none in us4 ,he has
 seen the play  of colour1 found his    
delight in it1 and has taken no further 

thought1  but has merely striven to     
reproduce it accurately4 ,we follow his 
efforts with curiosity1 and approve the 
results if they are successful4  ,but in
 this appraisement1 humour and          
imaginative power have no part4    ,is  
such landscape painting art1 or a clever
 trick8 ,the question is  worth careful 
consideration4                          
,,camille ,,pissarro    ,one of the most
 interesting artists in our times was   
this ,pissarro1  born at ,st ,thomas in 
the ,danish ,antilles1 though of a      
,dutch ,jewish  family of ,spanish      
extraction settled in ,curaoa1 who died 
in ,paris in  #aijc at the age of       
seventy-three4 ,he was a born painter1  
of the class  whose sense of form hardly
 exceeds the average1 whose remarkably  
fine  perception of colour1 however1    
reacting very strongly on every optical 
irritation1 makes the excitement of the 
retina the source for them of  profound 
feelings of pleasure or the contrary1   
and fixes their idea and  thought1 to a 

certain extent polarises it according to
 colour4    ,it is sufficient to say few
 words as to his outer life4 ,impelled  
by his bent for painting1 he came to    
,paris at the age of twenty1  and had   
the good fortune to be taken as a pupil 
by old ,corot4 ,he  saw ,th4 ,rousseau  
and ,millet working with his master1 and
 he lived  during the most susceptible  
years of youth amongst such originals1  
in the most glorious ,barbizon period4  
,his natural tendency directed  him     
imperiously to landscape painting4      
,this1 then1 is the substance  of his   
whole life as an artist4 ,incited by    
,millet's example1 in his  young days he
 put peasants in his fields and meadows1
 but they were  always mere accessories 
in the landscape1 and arrested the eye  
less  than the ground and plants4 ,he   
had then also sufficient knowledge of   
himself to abandon1 at an early stage1  
human figures1 for he realised  that    
there was more life in the tiniest sod  
of his turf than in his  conscientious  

but insignificant villagers4 ,in the    
high school1 in  which it was his       
privilege to learn1 he acquired that    
certainty and  force which distinguished
 him up to his old age4 ,when1 however1 
he had  mastered ,corot's brilliant     
technique and ,rousseau's               
draughtsmanship  and composition1 he    
ceased to be an imitative disciple1 and 
with full  deliberation1 went his own   
ways1 which for a time lay far from     
,corot's  goal1 but at last1 by a       
wonderfully circuitous route1 brought   
him back  to it once more4 ,not long did
 he try modestly and laudably1 with a   
good  young man's carefully moderated   
works1 in the ,salon for certificates   
of industry and good marks from the     
academical masters4 ,at once he  joined 
the hot-headed set2 he exhibited1 from  
#ahfd onwards1 only in the  8,salon of  
the ,rejected0 and with the             
8,independents10 and became one of  the 
most prominent men in the group of      
impressionists4    ,nothing is funnier  

than to read the explanation of the     
terms  8,impressionists0 and            
8,impressionism0 of certain             
art-gossipers among  the critics in     
,germany4 ,these transcendental         
phrasegrinders1 who have  no notion how 
the word arose1 believe it was invented 
by painters or  sthetics with the set   
purpose of characterising an artistic   
tendency1  and of indicating            
elliptically a method of execution2 and1
 with the  rapturous1 prophet-mien      
common among this brotherhood1 they     
treat us  to the deepest and most       
breath-ravishing explanations of the    
word4 ,the  truth is that the expression
 owes its origin to the jest of a comic 
paper that intended nothing special by  
it1 least of all an sthetic  theory4 ,in
 #ahgd the painters who for ten years   
had been known as the  8,open ,air0     
artists or 8,realists0 exhibited a      
number of their works  in the           
reception-room of the writer and        
photographer1 ,nadar4 ,claude  ,monet   

appeared1 amongst others1 with a sunset1
 which was quite in the  manner of      
,turner's last years1 and he entitled it
 8,impression40 ,it was  a remarkable   
and characteristic work1 without form1  
consisting only of  streaks of red and  
orange1 in the highest degree offensive 
to those who  will not have the         
contemplation of nature restricted to   
the observation  of colours1 but look   
also for outline and modelling4 ,a      
wanton scoffer1  making merry in the    
8,charivari0 over this exhibition1      
seized on ,monet's  8,impression0 as the
 pattern of the new style1 sneered at it
 in the  tone of a genuine back-biter1  
and1 with the object of belittling them1
  called ,monet's fellow-combatants     
8,impressionists10 by which he meant    
only that1 according to his view1 their 
pictures were daubs1 just like  ,claude 
,monet's 8,impression40 ,that is the    
simple origin of the word  into which   
the ,german commentators have read      
something exceedingly  mysterious and   

wonderful4    ,pissarro belonged to     
,monet's circle of friends1 and fell    
under the  designation1 which rapidly   
became current1 of 8,impressionist40 ,in
 his  case1 it only means that he sought
 and found in nature only effects of    
light1 only the play of sunbeams on     
things and around things4    ,in the    
three or four centuries that landscape  
painting has been raised  to the rank of
 a branch of art--,i leave out of       
consideration1 in this  place1 the      
ancient landscape1 because the modern   
development is  unconnected with it--an 
enquiry1 which enters into the motives  
and aims  of painters1 can distinguish  
three different kinds of landscape1     
which  ,i would term respectively the   
literary1 the lyric1 and the optical4   
,i do not choose these new designations 
for old and well-known things           
arbitrarily1 but because1 in my opinion1
 they mark what is essential  better    
than do the prescriptive ones4          
,literary landscape1 on which ,i have   

already briefly expressed my  views in  
treating of ,sisley1 is that which      
traditionally goes under  the names of  
historical1 heroic1 ideal1 or artificial
 landscape4 ,it  is not prompted by     
delight in nature1 but is either the    
offspring of  imaginative power or a    
piece of intellectual know-all work1 in 
both  cases1 the result of reading4 ,it 
is1 to put it briefly1 a continuous     
illustration of the literature in vogue4
 ,since the ,renaissance1 ancient       
heroic materials have been specially    
favoured in poetry4 ,the ,spanish       
theatre1 ,corneille1 and ,racine lived  
on them4 ,even if they placed the  lofty
 exploits of their heroes in a less     
remote past and on another  stage than  
the ancient world1 still1 they endowed  
them with hundreds  of reminiscences of 
the ,grco-,roman mythology and history4 
,poussin1  and even ,claude ,lorrain1   
conceived their landscapes as the frames
 of  heroic romances and dramas4 ,they  
were designed as stage decoration1      

which the spectator might people from   
his memory with figures in ,roman       
mail-armour or ,gothic plate-armour1    
familiar to him from contemporary       
poetry4 ,in order to facilitate this    
play of fancy1 ancient temples  or      
ruins1 perhaps even men in classical    
garb1 helpfully stimulate  the          
association of ideas4 ,j4 ,j4 ,rousseau 
substituted the sentimental  for the    
heroic fashion2 but the return to       
nature1 which he and his  innumerable   
imitators preached1 did not to landscape
 painters at  all mean the sinking into 
the contemplation of ,god's actual      
world1  but only the substitution for   
the heroes and knights1 the upright  or 
fallen marble pillars of their          
predecessors1 of shepherds and          
shepherdesses1 rustic cottages and      
herdsmen's fires4 ,thus landscape       
painting illustrated in turn ,orlando   
,furioso1 ,jerusalem ,delivered1  the   
neid1 the tragedies of ,corneille and   
,racine1 ,rousseau1 ,gessner1  and      

,ossian2 then1 nearer to our time1      
,victor ,hugo and the ,romantics1  ,zola
 and the ,naturalists1 down to the      
latest symbolists and mystics1  whose   
contemplation1 so far as one can speak  
of such a thing in their  gassy heads1  
greets us from the pictures of          
,burne-,jones and his  continental      
imitators1 and also from the landscape  
compositions of  ,puvis de ,chavannes   
and ,henri ,martin4 ,it may be safely   
affirmed that1  of the pictures of      
literary landscape1 not a single one    
would have  been painted unless a book  
or some species of literature had1 to   
some  extent1 commissioned them with an 
exact specification of all details4     
,lyrical landscape is that which is     
perhaps also designated landscape  of   
mood4 ,it is more consistent with nature
 than literary landscape4 ,it  owes much
 less to reminiscence of books or plays2
 its only relation  to literature is    
that through this the painter is        
schooled to be more  susceptible of     

certain features of nature4 ,landscape  
pictures of this  species could be      
painted under some circumstances by     
artists who had  never read a book or   
heard a poem1 if only their own         
disposition  were attuned to poetry4    
,for this painting the landscape itself 
is  a poem--ballad1 romance1 or idyll1  
in many cases1 perhaps1 even a          
melodrama4 ,it tells some tale1 or hints
 at one1 the more delicately  so much   
the more expressively4 ,the wrinkles of 
the ground1 the  irregularity and       
abruptness of the lines of mountains1   
the gloom of the  woods1 awaken         
presentiments2 our yearning follows the 
paths which are  lost in the blue       
distance1 or behind hills and bends2    
coolness rises  from the foaming        
rivulet2 mystery broods over the        
motionless fish-pond4  ,everything      
unspoken1 or partly unspeakable1 which a
 keenly perceptive  man of deep         
contemplation imports into nature1 moves
 and reigns in and  over the lyric      

landscape painting4 ,it expresses a     
complex1 subjective  mood1 embracing in 
itself many elements of sense1 feeling1 
and  thought--the joy of spring1 the    
melancholy of autumn1 the cheerlessness 
of winter1 the shudder at the weird1 the
 dread of eternity4 ,it is  viewed      
anthropomorphically4 ,it owes its       
strongest effects to traits  which do   
not exist in nature herself1 but are    
added to her by human  imagination4     
,japanese art knows only lyric          
landscape4 ,in ,europe it was  first    
developed by the great ,dutchmen1       
,ruysdael and ,van ,ostade1 to  attain  
in ,corot its zenith unsurpassed up to  
the present time4 ,as it  lays          
expression into its forms1 it must      
figure the latter distinctly4  ,it draws
 and composes1 therefore1 with          
deliberation4 ,it proceeds from  the    
realistically rendered topographical    
anecdote1 even if it achieves  this by  
the transcendental4    ,optical         
landscape1 finally1 is that which seeks 

to reproduce only  the play of          
convergent or divergent1 of reflected or
 broken light  in nature4 ,it is neither
 book-illustration nor views of places4 
,it  does not invite to the enjoyment of
 nature in the sense of the ,sunday     
excursionist from big towns1 or the     
summer tripper4 ,it offers no scene     
with suggestion that we should live out 
our subjective moods there4  ,the       
outlines1 the plastic of the bodies1 are
 a matter of indifference  to it4       
,everything is merely a patch of colour 
to it2 only an arena  of dancing        
sunbeams4 ,it wants to reproduce1 as    
truly and fully as  possible1 the change
 and merging of lights and shades1 the  
reciprocal  influence of neighbouring   
and overlapping colours1 the crescendo  
of  hues in the foreground and their    
fading away in the perspective4 ,it     
systematically rates the intellectual   
and moral relations as foreign to  its  
art4 ,it is not enthusiastic for a      
particular season of the year or  a     

certain architecture of cliffs and      
mountains4 ,it knows nothing of the     
secret magic of water1 heath1 forest1 or
 snow-plain4 ,it gives light in  scales1
 and in harmonised and dissonant chords1
 and will give nothing  else4 ,this     
landscape painting is an art of purely  
sensual preception1  which may call     
pre-existent feelings and thoughts over 
the threshold of  consciousness1 but    
brings about no feelings and thoughts of
 itself4 ,it  is to be compared with the
 effect of the olian harp1 which        
stimulates  our hearing with melodious  
sound1 but says nothing thematically    
differentiated to it4 ,debussy1         
latterly1 consciously strives back to   
these origins of acoustic pleasure4 ,the
 disciples of ,turner in ,england  and  
on the ,continent enter in landscape on 
the same way back to a style  of        
painting which1 neglecting form1 lays   
stress on the harmonies of  light and   
colour4    ,in practice1 besides the    
three sharply outlined species of       

landscape  painting1 manifold           
transitions and mixed forms are1 of     
course1 also  observable4 ,if1 perhaps1 
,g4 ,poussin represents literary1 ,corot
 lyric1  ,turner1 at the time the       
formation of his cataract began1 optical
  landscape1 in its theoretical purity1 
we see in ,claude ,lorrain a  revelling 
in light and a poetic mood penetrate the
 mytho-heroic  literary painting which  
he owes to his artistic training1 and   
from  which1 in spite of higher flights1
 he could never entirely free  himself2 
and ,segantini is a good example of an  
originally lyrical  landscape that is   
always more strongly inclining to the   
optical2  for if at the beginning he    
loved to copy high mountains1 at last he
  busied himself only with fixing the   
wonder of light in thin air on the      
mirroring ice and glacier snow4         
,camille ,pissarro was mainly1 in       
separate periods of his artistic        
development exclusively1 an optical     
landscape painter4 ,the attunement  with

 nature which is afforded by the meeting
 of mountain and wood1  water and reed1 
by the forms of trees and cliffs1 the   
peculiarities of  plant-life1 and the   
movements of open country1 he evidently 
did not  feel and he cannot arouse4 ,he 
was nothing1 and he wanted to be        
nothing1  but a priest and poet of      
light4 ,when light fell1 what objects it
  illumined and played on was a matter  
of such indifference to him that  this  
landscape painter painted city scenes   
just as often as those of  open country4
 ,views of the ,paris ,boulevards1 the  
,avenue de l',opra1 the  ,seine seen    
from the bridges1 the streets and       
squares of ,rouen1 occupy  quite as     
large a space in his work as studies of 
the valley of the  ,marne and the hills 
of ,southern ,england4 ,thanks to the   
good school from  which he came1 he     
never1 like so many of his rivals1 melts
 away into  formlessness4 ,he could not 
refrain from drawing distinctly4 ,it was
 the  movement of his bold and skilful  

hand that pervaded his will2 but the    
sole hero of his pictures1 to whom he   
gave his love and attention1 was  light4
    ,after he had outgrown the formul of
 the ,corot type of landscape1 he       
sought with persistent1 hot endeavour to
 find a method that would  qualify him  
to draw into his picture as much light  
as possible1 as  intense light as       
possible1 even the whole sun4 ,what he  
himself found  failed to satisfy him4   
,when ,seurat1 who suffered undoubtedly 
from  eye troubles1 came forward with   
his stippling1 ,pissarro at once took   
possession of the new manner1 and became
 a stippler even unconsciously4         
,seurat1 it is well known1 taught that  
the painter1 if he would give  truth and
 force to colour1 must not mix the shade
 on his palette and  transfer it        
ready-made to the canvas1 but must      
dissect it into its  primary colours1   
which are known from the spectrum1 and  
insert them  in little dabs by one      
another1 so as to leave it to the eye to

 put  them together again on the retina4
 ,this optical proceeding professes  to 
have been learnt by listening to nature1
 which also offers us only  as single   
colours what we feel as a synthesis of  
colour4 ,the theory  is sheer nonsense4 
,nothing of the sort happens in nature4 
,when we  see green grass we do not see 
yellow and blue grass which our eye     
mixes into green1 but we see a body     
proceed from the ther-vibrations  of the
 undulations1 which call forth on the   
retina a sensation of  green2 and to    
imitate this influence of the grass we  
have to employ  only one colour stuff   
from which atmospheric vibrations of    
similar  undulations proceed4           
,unscientific painters were1 however1   
impressed by  the sham-scientific jabber
 of ,seurat1 who tried1 in his wonted   
manner1  through a subsequently         
discovered theory1 to convert a defect  
of sight  into an advantage2 and they   
applied themselves the more zealously to
  stippling as the innumerable specks   

really made bright a twinkling1         
whirling impression1 which superficially
 reminded one of the vibration  of hot  
air on a sunny plain at midsummer noon4 
,only superficially4 ,pissarro soon     
discovered that stippling really  did   
not bring more light into his pictures1 
and he gave it up4 ,he  resigned the    
,seurat method to rivals who rush after 
eccentricity  because they hope to      
astonish by it1 and to whom a style of  
painting  was particularly suitable1    
which blurred the line with colour and  
saved them that tedious drawing that    
always gave them the greatest           
affliction4 ,he himself1 however1       
returned again to the honest style of   
wielding the brush1 which he had learnt 
of his great masters4    ,the stippling 
episode of his life1 which he got over1 
throws light1  however1 on the painful1 
fundamental mistake of ,pissarro and his
  companions4 ,they wanted to paint     
light1 and by that wanted something     
impossible1 for light is not to be      

represented by colours which do not     
themselves emit light1 and are neither  
phosphorescent nor fluorescent4  ,all   
that is attainable by colour is         
awakening the reminiscence of  light1   
and1 by means of the memory-picture     
illuminating the brain1  to cheat our   
consciousness with the idea of a        
directly received  impression4 ,the very
 great masters of optical landscape     
painting soon  acknowledge1 or feel1    
that the brush can indeed conjure forth 
the  illusion of illumination1 but is   
unable to paint light1 and they turn    
from a hopeless ,sisyphus-task to create
 pictures of mist and dusk1  from which 
sunlight--a thing inimitable--is        
absolutely banished4 ,the  most         
instructive example of this is ,james   
,whistler2 but he who does  not possess 
the instinctive certainty of genius will
 not be conscious  of the limitations of
 human capacity1 and ever rolls the     
round stone  unweariedly up the         
mountain4    ,pissarro would have saved 

himself many hours of tragic quest1     
struggle1  and sense of powerlessness1  
had he known or recognised the primary  
fact  which ,friedrich ,hebbel seized in
 his theological but lucid epigram3     
8,he who the sun has created will ever  
remain quite another      ,than the     
industrious wight who for us prospects  
shall paint40                           
,,whistler',s ,,psychology    8,do you  
think1 prince1 that ,raphael would not  
have been the greatest  genius among    
painters if he had been unlucky enough  
to be born without  hands80 ,lessing    
makes the painter ,conti say to ,prince 
,gonzaga4 ,a  century and a half ago    
that seemed paradoxical1 and was1       
probably on  that account1 one of the   
most quoted maxims of ,lessing's4 ,it   
has1  meanwhile1 experienced the fate of
 many paradoxes1 viz41 become a         
commonplace4 ,nowadays1 every dabbler in
 psychology knows that not  arm and     
hand--i4e41 execution--make the painter1
 but his optical  brain centres1 i4e41  

his sensitiveness to impressions of     
sight1 his  specific reactions on colour
 and form4 ,one is a born painter--a    
painter  from organic necessity and     
natural bent preceding all              
education--only by  special development 
or susceptibility of this centre4    ,in
 painting1 however1 there are two       
elements to be kept  distinct--drawing  
and colour4 ,both these are traceable to
 the centres of  sight1 but they        
correspond to different sensibilities4  
,optical centres1  which perceive with  
particular keenness and delicacy the    
distinctions  between intensities of    
light1 are the real1 organic hypothesis 
of the  talent for drawing2 for what we 
perceive with the eye1 without the  aid 
of the senses of touch and muscle1 as   
outline or form1 is purely  distinction 
of intensity in light4 ,optical centres1
 on the other hand1  which are          
particularly sensitive to the variations
 of undulations  of light1 form the     
basis of the sense of colour and the    

talent for  colouring4 ,as a rule the   
talents for drawing and colouring appear
  coupled1 even if one or the other     
preponderates1 for highly developed  or 
particularly sensitive optical centres  
are naturally receptive  beyond the     
average of optical impression of every  
sort1 of differences  both of intensity 
and of undulations of light4 ,this is1  
however1 not  always the case1 and there
 are dry1 sharp draughtsmen without     
sense of  colour1 and some who revel in 
colour without the ability to grasp the 
idea of form and render it plastically4 
,in a brain that is characterised by a  
special morphological or  functional    
development or sensitiveness of the     
optical centres1 this  dominates all    
functions of the brain1 especially      
memory and association  of ideas4 ,the  
entire thinking faculty has an optical  
or visual  character2 it stands in a    
dependent relation to sight4 ,memory    
clings  almost exclusively to           
reminiscent pictures of the sense of    

sight1 and  association of ideas        
connects mainly pictures of this        
category4 ,every  perception of form    
calls up in the consciousness           
representations of  form4 ,the fancy is 
8inwardly completely full of figures10  
as ,albert  ,drer quaintly and with     
wonderful intuition expresses it in his 
8,diaries40 ,the world-picture of this  
brain1 always disposed to intense       
observation1 is neither loud nor        
excited1 but bright1 flashing1 and      
radiant like a mosaic work of precious  
stones and enamel4 ,all the inner       
connections between the different       
domains of the brain are sharpened      
towards the optic centres1 and all the  
activities of the brain1 all  emotions1 
all processes on the threshold of       
consciousness also release  central     
optical excitements4    ,whistler's     
life-work reveals more than that of any 
other artist  in our times the deep1    
organic primitiveness of his genius as a
  painter4 ,we can observe in him1 as in

 a school text1 the psychology  of the  
born painter4 ,his signature is at once 
a fine example of the  association of   
ideas on the part of a visionary4 ,it   
consists1 as  everybody knows who has   
seen ,whistler's works1 of a butterfly  
with  evenly outstretched wings4 ,people
 have insisted on seeing heaven  knows  
what symbol in this1 and have           
consequently sought the wildest  and    
remotest explanations of it4 ,if any one
 asked the master for an  explanation1  
he laughed1 and made a mysterious       
gesture of refusal4 ,it  gave him vast  
entertainment to see his admirers       
tormenting themselves  with profound    
attempts at interpreting it4 ,they just 
had no eyes2  they could not see4 ,the  
butterfly is nothing but the first      
letter of  ,whistler's name--a big ,w4  
,a ,gothic1 ornamental ,w with the two  
side  lines bellied out and a bar in the
 middle reminds one strikingly of a     
soaring butterfly with its cylindrical  
body between its outstretched  wings4   

,the definite association of ideas from 
similarity of form made  ,whistler1 as  
he painted the ,w of his signature1     
think of a butterfly1  and he           
henceforward formed this picture that   
was fuller in expression1  disregarding 
the original letter1 which seemed to him
 balder and more  meaningless4 ,the     
butterfly came to the front more and    
more as the ,w  went further and further
 back1 and it is possible that at last  
,whistler  himself forgot the point from
 which he started4    ,whistler was1    
when he liked1 in the front rank as a   
designer of  forms4 ,from the severe1   
painfully upright school of ,gleyre he  
went  forth a master of drawing1 as of  
the outline of corporeality of three    
dimensions seen stereoscopically4 ,one  
glance at his wonderfully plastic       
portraits1 especially of his first      
period1 teaches this irrefutably2  but1 
on the whole1 as his individuality made 
itself felt1 he neglected  form and     
became more engrossed in colour4 ,in the

 second half of his  life the outlines  
of subjects hardly any longer interested
 him at  all2 he only dwelt on their    
appearances in colour1 on the harmony   
or discord of their tones4 ,that means  
that his optical centres were  much more
 sensitive to the differences of        
undulations than to those  of the       
intensity of light4 ,from this there    
necessarily resulted a  contradiction   
between him and the average individuals 
which was not  to be got over1 since it 
originated in differences in the        
constitution  of the brain4 ,he who has 
not ,whistler's special                 
hyper-sensitiveness  to colour is simply
 unable to see things as the latter saw 
them4 ,he  can just as little imagine   
the impressions that ,whistler feels    
through  his sense of sight as perhaps  
those which are supplied to a hound by  
his nose4 ,when the blissfully but      
painfully supersensitive appreciator  of
 colour and the dull seer of outline1   
i4e41 the perceiver of  light1 sought to

 explain themselves to each other1      
inexplicable  misunderstandings were    
bound to arise1 which make his          
celebrated  law-suit with ,ruskin an    
excruciatingly comic jest4 ,ruskin      
appreciated  only draughtsmanship1 his  
mind never went beyond contour4 ,for him
  a picture was a writing that should   
express thoughts and feelings  in the   
most concrete form4 ,he demanded that it
 should be a definite  communication1   
reducible to plain words1 as of a       
narrative1 a record  of travel1 or a    
treatise on natural science4 ,a picture 
that differed  from an exact            
representation1 just as music differs   
from articulate  speech--a picture that 
attempted to convey only a general1 not 
a  concrete stimulation of the          
sight-centre sensitive to colour1 and   
the  pleasurable feeling accompanying   
and emphasising it1 not only was to  him
 necessarily incomprehensible1 but1 as  
he was a dogmatist of strong  feelings1 
seemed to him an impertinence--nay1 a   

profligacy and personal  insult4        
,ruskin's criticism of a 8,nocturne in  
,black and ,gold0 was a new  version of 
the fable of the stork and the fox who  
invited each other  in turn to dinner1  
improved to the point of libel4 ,it was 
childish of  ,whistler to bring an      
action against the angry-minded         
art-inquisitor who  required1 as the    
first duty of a painter1 the accuracy of
 a geologist1  botanist1 or engineer4   
,he should not have expected justice    
from judges  who saw and felt1 not like 
himself1 but like ,ruskin4 ,judge       
,huddleston  was of good faith when1 in 
the immortal trial--which ,whistler     
himself  has preserved for posterity in 
his charming book1 8,the ,gentle ,art   
of ,making ,enemies0--he exchanged with 
the artist remarks like these3  8,which 
part of the picture1 then1 really       
represents the bridge8 ,do  you mean to 
say that this is the proper             
representation of a bridge80  7,the     
question referred to 8,battersea ,bridge

 by ,moonlight407 8,i had no  intention 
of giving an exact copy of the bridge40 
8,do these daubs of  colour on it       
represent human beings80 8,they         
represent what you please40  8,is that  
thing under there a boat80 8,it is a    
consolation to me that you  recognise   
it4 ,my whole object was only to produce
 a definite harmony  of colours40 ,he   
could hear this harmony of colours3     
,ruskin and ,judge  ,huddleston could   
not4 ,it was utterly futile to try to   
make them feel it4    ,his peculiarity  
of giving his pictures fine and         
pretentious names1  such as 8,black and 
,gold10 8,blue and ,silver10 8,ivory and
 ,gold10 8,purple  and ,gold0 is also   
generally misunderstood4 ,people read   
8,silver and  ,blue10 and saw           
indistinctly intricate brush-strokes of 
blue with  elevations in dead white1    
representing1 by way of indication1 the 
high  seas by night and in a mist4      
,people hurried to the picture labelled 
8,ivory and ,gold10 expecting to gaze at

 something like an ancient              
chryselephantine marvel1 or a           
,florentine masterpiece of splendour    
belonging to the days of the ,medici1   
and what did they find8 ,the  lightly   
executed sketch of a woman in a yellow  
and white harmony1 in  which one looked 
in vain for the costly materials        
promised by the  title4 ,not            
,philistines alone have shaken their    
heads over this1 and  evil-disposed     
critics have talked of hoaxing1 foppery1
 and ,american  bluff4 ,they have       
wronged the artist bitterly4 ,he was    
absolutely honest2  his optical         
hyper-sensitiveness felt the colour with
 so heightened an  appreciation of tone 
that he really saw gold1 silver1 and    
purple1 where  a less susceptible sense 
could only see dull yellow1 deadened    
white1  undecided reddish-brown4 ,in all
 probability1 it was long before he     
realised that others failed to observe1 
in the appearance of the actual  things 
and his pictures of them1 the rare      

metals and precious stones1  the pearls 
and ivory1 which gleamed from them to   
him4 ,the common  phrase1 which is a    
precipitate of the universal thought and
 feeling1  speaks of sun-gold and       
moon-silver4 ,sun and moon consequently 
make  such a strong optical impression  
on even the average man that he thinks  
of gold and silver with the accompanying
 higher notes of ideas of  splendour and
 magnificence4 ,in ,whistler's          
consciousness1 however1 these  ideas    
began to be felt with gentle            
excitations1 as whitish foam on dark    
waves in the night1 or a woman's pale   
complexion in cream-coloured  raiment   
yielded them4 ,these delicate charms    
affected his sensitiveness  just as the 
force of the sun or moon affects others4
 ,in maniacal  excitation1 of which the 
acutest form is madness1 the brain of   
the  sick person becomes so             
supersensitive that it reacts on the    
ordinary  impressions of the senses just
 as on intolerably violent irritations4 

,moreover1 certain poisons1 of which    
hashish is the best known1 derange  the 
central nervous system into a condition 
of supersensitiveness1  in which the    
person poisoned feels himself inundated 
with floods of  light1 and sees a       
blinding brightness everywhere4 ,the    
sensitiveness to  which only illness or 
poison raises the average brain1 was    
from nature  the peculiarity of         
,whistler's sight-centres4 ,he was      
conscious that  in certain respects he  
had more than others1 and he felt as    
superior  to them as the ,indian hunter 
does to a pale face of the towns on a   
game-beast's track1 which the latter    
does not notice at all1 whilst  it gives
 the former a thousand clear            
indications4 ,as an artist he  was      
amiably modest1 as a man amusingly      
arrogant4 ,he did not flatter  himself  
on his work1 but on his finer           
organisation1 i4e41 that he was  kneaded
 out of better dough than the majority4 
,his supersensitiveness is expressed not

 only in his revel of colour2  it is    
also curiously and graphically revealed 
in the impressions  which he feels of   
the appearance of women1 and which he   
conveys in  his best portraits of women 
with an intensity no longer restrained  
within physiological bounds1 but        
positively touching on the morbid4  ,the
 intensity with which he feels young1   
high-bred1 nervous women has  quite an  
uncanny effect on me4 ,i think of his   
8,lady ,meux10 and other  capricious    
femininities1 which were exhibited1 in  
the last fifteen  years1 in the ,paris  
salons and in ,london4 ,he plants his   
model before  us in some wonderful      
position4 ,one stands with its back     
towards us1  but turns its head1 as if  
in a sudden caprice1 to us4 ,another    
shows  us its full face1 and looks      
fascinatingly at us with pinched mouth  
and impenetrable eyes that think        
troublous thoughts4 ,these perverted1   
whimsical beauties wear remarkable and  
personal toilettes which1 except  the   

face and often the hands1 reveal not a  
finger's breadth of skin1  yet1 in spite
 of the interposition of silk and lace1 
cry out for the  fig leaf4 ,they are    
bundles of sick nerves that1 from the   
crowns of  their heads to the tips of   
their fingers1 seem to thrill with      
,sadic  excitement4 ,it is as though    
they wanted to entice men to wild       
attempts1  and at the same time held    
their claws ready to tear1 with a loud  
cry  of pleasure1 the flesh of the      
daring ones4 ,everything madly ,mnadic1 
or inexorably ,sphinx-like1 that ,ibsen 
was incapable of incarnating            
convincingly in his ,hedda ,gabler      
speaks distinctly from ,whistler's      
female portraits4    ,they have become  
typical--typical for copying painters   
who exaggerate  his neurotic women into 
the pornographic2 typical for hysterical
 women1  to whom they suggest poses and 
psychological states4 ,flicien ,rops    
perhaps owes him nothing1 although often
 enough his female demons seem          

,whistler-portraits divested of         
clothing2 he has1 from analogous organic
  hypotheses1 independently attained to 
analogous conceptions of woman2  but    
,zorn's1 ,boldini's1 ,alexander's women 
point to ,whistler's demoniacs4  ,the   
woman of a given epoch likes to form    
herself on the ideal which  the art and 
poetry of the time give of the          
8interesting0 woman4 ,thus  ,whistler1  
by means of his female portraits1 became
 an educator of  the sthetically        
superfine woman of the present day2 but 
,whistler1  as an educator of woman1 is 
to me incomparably less sympathetic than
  ,whistler1 the delicate appreciator   
and symphonist of colour4               
,,viii                                  
,,gustave ,,moreau      ,the house in   
which ,gustave ,moreau spent the        
seventy-seven years of his  life        
7#ahbf-ih7 has been turned into a museum
 which contains nearly all  his life's  
work1 according to the catalogue #aacb  
items1 from the copies  and sketches of 

his youth1 through the great finished   
paintings1 down  to the promising       
sketches1 unfulfilled promises1 of his  
old age4 ,this  collection falls little 
short of being complete4 ,perhaps1 with 
the  sole exception of the incomparably 
less interesting ,wierz1 there is no    
contemporary artist less often met with 
in public and private galleries  than   
,gustave ,moreau4 ,he never sold his    
pictures1 for he was lucky  enough not  
to be obliged to do so2 and1 in the time
 of his maturity1  he did not exhibit1  
for he shunned contact with men who were
 strange  and unfamiliar to him4 ,he who
 wishes to get to know him must1 then1  
not  shirk a pilgrimage to his house1   
which he inherited from his parents1    
inhabited by himself1 and left as an    
unencumbered legacy to his native  town4
 ,and the journey will be found worth   
the trouble1 for ,gustave  ,moreau is a 
curious phenomenon1 affecting to        
melancholy and depressing1  at least for
 men enamoured with life and action1 but

 nevertheless full  of mysterious1      
strangely pathetic allurement1 even for 
those who prefer  to breathe in air and 
sunshine under a bright sky4    ,gustave
 ,moreau stands apart from the mighty   
procession of ,french  art in the       
nineteenth century1 which was headed by 
the classic  cohort1 continued by the   
powerful band of the knights and squires
 of  romanticism1 and then unrolled     
itself before our eyes1 in the legion of
  the bourgeois ,national ,guard of     
,philistine academic routine-art1 in the
  blouse-wearing troop of ,realists1    
and1 lastly1 in the vacillating and     
oscillating sun-flower groups of        
,symbolism4 ,he is not to be classed in 
this line of development4 ,he went his  
way alone1 deaf to the strains  of the  
world of which he heard only those with 
which he himself was  in harmony from   
the beginning4 ,he had some few kindred 
spirits among  contemporary painters1   
but he did not know them1 and they did  
not  know him either1 and they exercised

 no influence on each other1 but  grew  
up independently of one another from the
 same conditions of like  temperaments  
and peculiar moods that in the middle   
decades of the  nineteenth century      
dominated narrow1 exclusive circles1    
without being  characteristic of this or
 any other time4 ,for these temperaments
  are purely subjective1 and accord with
 the external only so far  as           
civilisation1 when it has reached a     
certain grade of intensity  and         
artificiality1 always produces men with 
widely preponderating  development of   
fancy1 who are continually looking into 
their inner  selves1 and cannot withdraw
 their eyes from the fascinating        
spectacle  of the wonderful events being
 enacted therein4    ,moreau was just   
such a visionary4 ,remote from life1    
remote from  actuality1 he ever remained
 engrossed in his dream1 and his noble  
art  served him to retain his apparently
 multifarious1 but1 in reality1  little 
changing dream-pictures4 ,his museum is1

 then1 a world by itself1  with which   
the objective outer world has no more in
 common than have  dreams and ravings   
with pictures of the actual which serve 
them as  a stimulus1 and furnish them   
with the elements of their subjective   
combinations4    ,since the earliest    
stages of development of the spiritual  
life there  have existed1 side by side  
with men of observation and action1     
thinkers  and dreamers who turn away    
from actualities1 and build up around   
them a  world of ideas which their      
excessively developed power of          
imagination  could fashion1 and endow   
with romantic life according to their   
own  inclination and necessities4 ,thus 
arose all symbols1 mythologies1  fables1
 and superstitions that were enshrined  
in folk-lore1 traditions1  and1 more    
especially1 in all arts4 ,civilisation  
brings with it1 by  this means1 besides 
its recognition of nature1 a world of   
shadows  invented by men freely--even if
 according to fixed psychological       

laws--like a ghostly double1 the astral 
body of the real world2 and  our        
prescriptive education1 which comprises 
in itself more sthetic  than positively 
scientific ingredients1 renders us all  
double citizens  of the real and the    
imaginary world4 ,the majority of us    
chiefly live  in the former1 and visit  
the latter only in rare moments1 which  
to  some mean only recreation1 but to   
others consecration and exaltation4  ,a 
small minority1 however1 renounce their 
citizenship of the actual  world and    
withdraw wholly to the world of         
imagination1 which has been  conjured up
 by the artistic fancy of mankind in    
thousands of years of  creative         
activity4    ,moreau was a citizen of   
the shadow-world1 wherein he spent1 an  
eternal  ,phacian ,sunday1 and he never 
grew weary of lingering over its        
beauties4 ,we learn by his              
representations to know it thoroughly in
 all  its parts4 ,its landscapes are    
curiously jagged rocks which seem to  be

 formed of corals2 chalk plains with    
moon-glimmering reflections2  mountain  
steeps in cumulous clouds2 lakes and    
seas of oil1 opalescent  or charged with
 indigo4 ,the animals that people this  
hypnotising  paradise are unicorns with 
silvery coats1 amazing dragons that are 
too curly to inspire fear1 milk-white   
flying-horses1 seven-headed  hydras     
standing bolt upright on the tips of    
their tails1 ,stymphalian  birds with   
women's faces1 sphinxes1 chimras1 and   
phnixes4 ,even the  flamingos1 which    
come nearest to the terrestrial fauna1  
are here with  the tips of their wings  
dipped1 as it were1 in blood1           
immeasurably  more oddly pathetic than  
we know them4 ,the flora exhibits       
7besides  monumental marvels of ,peru1  
which remind one of the rose windows in 
,gothic cathedrals7 a 8mystic blossom10 
a somewhat calla-like creation  that    
sprouts forth from a luminous rock in   
the blue1 mirroring mere1  and on its   
slender summit1 between great high      

leaves1 bears the ,blessed  ,virgin     
surrounded by a dazzling halo4 ,the     
spiritual beings that move  amidst these
 marvellous animals and plants1 are     
gods1 heroes1 and  poets3 ,tyrtus1      
,orpheus1 ,hesiod1 ,sappho1 ,jason1     
,helena1 ,odysseus1  ,penelope1         
,pasiphae1 ,hercules1 ,dejanira1 dipus1 
,jupiter1 ,apollo1 the  ,muses1 ,semele1
 ,leda1 ,europa1 ,prometheus1 the       
,oceanides1 ,moses1 ,buddha1  ,jesus    
,christ1 the ,good ,samaritan2 the acts 
or1 more correctly1 the  states in which
 these gods1 demigods1 and genii are    
represented are  taken from all         
mythologies and theogonies4 ,every      
mysticism that has  at any time or place
 arisen1 like a silver haze1 from the   
chaotic  brain of man1 has found        
admittance into ,moreau's soul and flows
 up  and down in it in changing         
pictures4 ,as to orthodoxy of any sort  
or  kind1 he is quite unconcerned4 ,his 
mind1 when stirred1 clings with the     
same delicacy to the saint of every     

origin1 and he kneels1 like the         
large-hearted heathen of antiquity1 at  
the threshold of the most varied  realms
 of divinity4 ,the ,pallas ,athene in   
the hall of the king's palace  at       
,ithaca1 who enjoys the massacre of the 
suitors1 is formed after the  same type 
as the ,blessed ,virgin of the 8mystic  
blossom02 hovering in  long1 trailing1  
white garments1 radiant with a halo1    
ecstatic in look  and mien and the      
clasping of her hands4 ,the statues of  
the ,chaldan  gods in the triumph of    
,alexander the ,great imitate hieratic  
repose1  and the ,eastern posture of the
 ,buddha-,amina statues4 ,prometheus on 
the  ,caucasian peak1 palpitating       
beneath the vulture's beak1 is allied by
 a  family likeness to ,christ scourged 
at the pillar4 ,jason on the poop of    
the ,argo1 and the fair man among the   
8,three ,magi from the ,east10 are  cast
 in the same mould4 ,moses1 looking down
 from the frontier hill on  the blue    
plains of ,canaan1 and the great ,pan1  

gazing at the spectacle  of the         
procession of the spheres1 seem         
brothers4 ,jupiter1 with ,semele  on his
 bosom melting away with its heat1 has  
the unapproachable  sublimity of the    
canonical1 the orthodox ,god the        
,father4 ,for ,moreau  there are no dead
 religions2 with a humble shyness and   
feelings of awe1  he approaches all that
 has ever been reverenced by man4       
,moreau's transcendental imaginations   
necessarily reveal themselves to  the   
senses in other colours1 as in other    
forms than those familiar  to us by     
experience4 ,an eerie light fills his   
pictures with the  shimmering radiance  
of mother-of-pearl4 ,the rarest1 and1   
therefore1 as  jewels1 the most         
treasured exceptional forms of the      
planetary world  are the material of    
which everything in these pictures      
consists2  the buildings are of gold and
 precious stones2 there is a twinkle  of
 rubies1 sapphires1 and emeralds        
everywhere4 ,moreau's amazing art       

produces from his palette of oil-colours
 effects that lie far outside  its      
technique2 they are huge ,limoges plates
 with rivers of transparent  enamel2    
paintings on glass with sun-illumined1  
jewel-like fragments  of colour2        
,byzantine mosaics of bits of lapis     
lazuli1 jasper1 and  cornelian4 ,with   
this palette certain ,quattrocentists   
such as ,mantegna1  certain ,flemish    
artists as ,van ,eyck and ,roger van der
 ,weyden1 as  also ,holbein1 have in    
their pictures produced a small number  
of  beauty-spots4 ,no one prior to      
,moreau has painted big pictures        
entirely  with it4    ,the first        
impression received from the ,moreau    
,museum is that of  having entered an   
enchanted castle1 which has about it    
something of  the treasure cave of the  
mountain sprites1 something of the      
palace of  the ,elf-queen1 as we know   
them from the 8,thousand and ,one       
,nights10  and ,german folk-stories4    
,and if we have tarried longer1 and our 

eyes  have grown accustomed to the      
ripple of pearls and precious stones1 of
  enamel and gold1 we are astonished at 
the strange1 weird stiffness and        
stillness of all these splendid         
creatures1 and really feel we are       
surrounded by ghosts and spectres that  
have assumed only in pretence  the guise
 of men4    ,moreau formed his views on 
,baudelaire's rules4 ,in the rooms of   
his  museum we fancy we are looking at a
 series of book-illustrations for  the  
,fleurs-du-mal4        8,je hais le     
mouvement qui dplace les lignes1        
,et jamais je ne pleure et jamais je ne 
ris40    8,i hate the movement which    
displaces the lines1 and never do ,i    
weep  and never laugh0 would1 as an     
inscription above the entrance1 most    
fittingly convey in words the main      
feature of ,moreau's art4 ,for nearly   
all his pictures1 but most of all for   
the 8,triumph of ,alexander the         
,great10 8,penelope's ,suitors10 and the
 8,daughters of ,thespius10 the  verses 

of the ,paris ,dream would suit as a    
deliberate description4        8,j'avais
 banni de ces spectacles      ,le vgtal 
irregulier        4  4  4  4  4         
,babel d'escaliers et d'arcades1        
,c'tait un palais infini1      ,plein de
 bassins et de cascades      ,tombant   
dans l'or mat ou bruni4        4  4  4  
4  4      ,c'taient des pierres inouies 
4  4  4  4  4      ,et sur ces mouvantes
 merveilles      ,planait4444      ,un  
silence d'ternit40    ,this silence     
d'ternit is the characteristic of       
,moreau's art4 ,here  nothing moves2 all
 is as stiff as ,lot's wife after she   
was turned into  a pillar of salt1 as   
the men in the fairy-tale after the     
wizard has1 by  a wave of his magic     
wand1 made the warm life stagnate in    
their veins4  ,moreau succeeds in       
reversing ,pygmalion's miracle4 ,his    
brush takes the  life out of every human
 body he paints1 and turns it into a    
statue4  ,in none of his figures do we  
feel that he painted from a model4 ,they

  all give the impression of being      
copies from statuary1 and we are1 for   
instance1 not surprised that his        
manifestly unfinished 8,moses ,looking  
at the ,promised ,land0 has a long      
bearded head as white as marble on  an  
almost flesh-coloured body4 ,we assume  
that ,moreau has here simply  reproduced
 the natural colour of his stone        
prototype4 ,among all his  thousand     
works1 one alone has really struck me as
 having something like  a stir of       
passion traceable1 viz41 his            
8,messalina40 ,the abominable  empress1 
slave of her animal passions1 is        
ascending the dirty couch  at a den in  
the ,suburra4 ,the young vulgarian whom 
she has beckoned to  her clasps her     
waist with both arms2 the attendant     
torch-bearer of the  crowned slut turns 
her head away from the repulsive sight4 
,one can  very well understand the      
movement of this slave who is ashamed of
 her  mistress1 but has only to obey and
 hold her tongue4 ,the eagerness1  too1 

with which the youth kneeling before the
 couch creeps up to  the body that is   
offered him1 is true and warm4 ,here is 
real life1  even if in one of its lowest
 manifestations4 ,but ,messalina        
herself1  though the protagonist of this
 tragedy of ,csarean madness1 is again  
entirely ,moreau4 ,with her stony repose
 in a situation with which it  is so    
inconsistent1 with her ,assyrian        
fish-bladder-eyed profile1 she          
resembles an idol in a ,babylonian      
temple1 and one wonders how the  passion
 of the favoured one can endure the icy 
coldness gleaming from  this idol4      
,his temperament indicated to him1 from 
his earliest awakening to  artistic     
impulse1 the course of his education1   
just as it did1 later1  the choice of   
his material4 ,as a youth in ,italy he  
copied ,pompeian  mural paintings with  
fervour1 and later revelled at the sight
 of the  ,quattrocentists4 ,here he     
recognised at first sight kindred souls2
 here1  as it were1 his blood spoke4 ,he

 tries1 by imitating them piously1 to   
keep them for reminiscences later on4   
,his mystic bent to the old1 the        
obsolete1 the risen as from a grave1 is 
a trait connecting him with  the        
,pr-,raphaelites1 who were almost his   
contemporaries4 ,with them  he has in   
common1 too1 the uncommonly exact and   
accurate technique4  ,he is a cold but  
unerring draughtsman4 ,all his accessory
 work1 his  architecture1 ornaments1    
implements1 and clothing1 are marvels of
  archological learning or1 when this   
fails1 of invention and patiently1      
painfully achieved execution4 ,his      
conscientiousness went so far that  he  
painted perhaps twenty or more far      
advanced sketches of each detail  of his
 large compositions ere he proceeded to 
the main work1 and this1  nevertheless1 
he often left unfinished1 because he    
felt he had not done  enough to satisfy 
his conscience4    ,those empty1 or     
merely vaguely filled-in spots instead  
of faces in  big pictures1 in which all 

besides--the patterns of the garment    
stuffs  and carpets1 the decorations on 
the splendid vases1 the finery1         
weapons1 capitals of the pillars--are   
precisely rendered as complete          
productions1 give suddenly to the       
sympathetic an idea of the pains of     
this struggling spirit4 ,moreau shunned 
life1 which was too stormy1  noisy1 and 
bustling for his morbid need of repose  
and quiet1 but it did  not cease to     
attract him as a mysterious riddle4 ,he 
would gladly have  understood it1       
comprehended it1 and held it fast1 but  
he had to admit  to himself that he was 
powerless to reach it4 ,a homunculus    
artificially  generated in the retort1  
he can live only in his glass vessel1   
and must  die if he ventures out of it2 
but through his prison walls he gazes at
  the great1 broad1 free nature1 replete
 with tempestuous life1 and in  the cold
 of his glassy den he shudders with     
longing for this world1 so  near and yet
 beyond his reach4 ,his longing is1     

however1 never to be  appeased2 he will 
never feel the joys of the warm breath  
of life4                                
,,ix                                    
,,eug,,ne ,,carri,,re      ,how much    
better off are painters and art-lovers  
nowadays than in  earlier times6        
,formerly1 if you wanted to enjoy a     
picture you had to  own it2 if you      
wished to know a picture you were       
obliged to make a  journey to it4 ,if   
you liked an artist sufficiently to wish
 to surround  yourself with his chief   
creations1 or the whole of them1 you had
 to  have unlimited wealth and set up a 
gallery of your own4 ,copies are  a mere
 aid to remembrance1 and not a good one 
either4 ,executed by a  dauber1 they are
 worse than nothing2 by a gifted artist1
 they give the  copyist's1 not the      
original creator's1 personality4 ,the   
older methods  of multiplication also   
either furnish clumsy attempts at       
transmitting  them1 or they are         
peculiar1 independent1 artistic         

creations of another  order than        
painting1 which have their special      
beauty1 but are unable to  seize the    
most inward and subtle of the charms the
 painting possessed4    ,since the      
latest developments of photography and  
the copying processes  dependent on it1 
the case has been altered4 ,if you would
 convince  yourself of the almost       
marvellous perfection with which        
oil-paintings  are transferred to paper 
nowadays1 so that every stroke of the   
brush1  however fine1 every movement of 
the painter's hand1 every paste1  every 
unevenness in the colour plane1 every   
effect of the canvas1  ground-coating1  
and varnish1 is reproduced in a         
life-like way1 and you  have actually   
before your eyes the whole personal work
 of the artist1  then look at the       
handsome folio entitled3 ,l'uvre de ,e4 
,carrire1  ,texte de ,gustave ,geffroy1 
that has been published in ,paris by ,h4
  ,piazza et ,cie41 and contains the    
copy of #aej paintings and sketches  by 

,carrire1 #ge of which have been printed
 on ,bristol paper1 and  #ge            
incorporated in the text4 ,they lack    
colour1 ,i admit4 ,only when            
photography renders this too1 will the  
last word of genuineness in  copying be 
pronounced4 ,meanwhile1 we must be      
contented that we find  again in the    
photograph the tonality of the colours  
and the effects  of light and shade in  
the original relatively graded in       
respect  of each other4 ,with ,carrire1 
however1 the absence of colour is       
really of little importance1 for he     
painted chiefly from a grey and  brown  
palette1 which can be very accurately   
reproduced by means of  photography4    
,a hundred and fifty ,carrires6 ,who    
could pride himself on possessing  such 
a treasure8 ,one would have to be an    
,american multi-millionaire  to enjoy   
such an sthetic satisfaction as that4   
,now it is within  the reach of every   
well-to-do individual4 ,the #aej        
reproductions  comprise about the whole 

of the great artist's life-work up to   
now4  ,they disclose to every beholder1 
who is of good faith and possesses a    
sensibility for the beauties of         
painting1 the key to the law of art     
which ,carrire laid down for himself4   
,they render it possible to follow  the 
course of his development1 which1 at the
 beginning1 is hesitating1  then becomes
 decided and weighty1 and carries the   
artist from the  school to mastership1  
from tradition to uncompromising        
individuality4    ,eugne ,carrire was   
born on #agth ,january #ahdi1 in the    
village of  ,gournay 7,seine-et-,marne74
 ,his father was a ,fleming from the    
north of  ,france2 his mother an        
,alsatian4 ,his appearance corresponds  
to this  probably pure ,germanic origin4
 ,he is a big1 broad man with strong    
bones and portly stoutness2             
white-skinned1 blue-eyed1 and           
fair-haired2  slow of speech1 thoughtful
 and reserved in his movements2 dreamy  
when  listening1 unintrusive when       

silent1 raising his voice little when   
saying modest1 sensible words about     
things which he understands4 ,he  was   
still a child when his parents settled  
in the mother's home4 ,he  grew up in   
,strassburg1 and was intended for an    
artisan4 ,when he was  eighteen he went 
to ,st ,quentin1 and had an opportunity 
of seeing the ,la  ,tours in the museum 
there4 ,his talent was kindled by this  
unsurpassed1  perhaps unequalled master4
 ,the beautiful crayon faces of ,la     
,tour  taught him to feel the velvety   
splendour of youthful human skin1 and   
meditate on the mystery of the artistic 
creation of plastic effects  through    
merely intensifying or subduing the play
 of light4 ,he began to  draw and paint 
eagerly1 and aroused sufficient belief  
in his vocation  to be sent to ,paris to
 the ,academy of ,art4 ,what it offered 
him was  practically nothing4 ,drawing  
copies of plaster models chilled him2   
even the professional life-model in the 
prescribed studied attitudes  seemed to 

him futile and absurd4 ,what meaning for
 him had this comedy  of gladiatorial   
positions1 ostentatious muscular        
development1 clownish  distortions      
expressive of no natural feeling or     
rational purpose1 in  which no human    
being would1 if left to himself1        
indulge1 and which1  often enough1 the  
body can assume and retain only by the  
artificial  help of rests and props8    
,what he longed for was life1 warm life1
 such  as pulsates in men of strong     
feelings1 and is expressed by them in a 
straightforward1 convincing way by looks
 and gestures4    ,the depression       
produced in him in the pupil-rooms in   
the cole des  ,beaux ,arts made him     
doubt himself4 ,luckily for him1 amidst 
his general  ill-luck1 this spiritual   
crisis of his coincided with the great  
crisis of his country4 ,the war broke   
out1 and ,carrire hastened as a         
volunteer to the front4 ,he did his duty
 bravely in several battles  and        
engagements1 was taken prisoner at      

,sedan1 and1 as such1 reached  ,dresden4
 ,the months of his imprisonment proved 
decidedly fruitful to  him1 for he spent
 his days in the picture gallery1 and   
was shown by  the ,rubens pictures      
there1 the ways which1 up to that time1 
he had not  clearly seen4    ,after the 
war was over1 he resumed his orthodox   
studies at the  ,academy1 and became a  
pupil of ,cabanel4 ,it exhibits a good  
testimony  of the power of resistance in
 his nature that this most inaccurate   
portrait-painter of the ,empire could   
not influence him1 although  he had for 
five years his misleading example before
 his eyes4 ,in  #ahgf ,carrire competed 
for the prix de ,rome4 ,he did not get  
it4  ,that might have been predicted to 
him2 the prize is the reward of  the    
meritorious industry of the pupil1 which
 flatters the teacher's  amour propre4  
,carrire had then1 however1 emancipated 
himself from  tutelage as an artist4 ,he
 felt nowise humiliated or cast down by 
the  failure of his purpose4 ,with brave

 heart he drew from the occurrence  the 
only true moral1 viz41 that not the     
approval of teachers1 i4e41  of those   
who have succeeded1 but the satisfaction
 of his artistic  conscience must       
henceforward be the goal of his efforts4
 ,he renounced  official recognition1   
and that was wise1 for it preserved him 
from the  pain of disillusion4 ,from    
#ahgg he exhibited annually in the      
,salon1  but it was not before #ahhd    
that the prize judges awarded him an    
8honourable mention10 which can hardly1 
however1 be called a reward4  ,a year   
afterwards1 he received the medal of the
 third class1 which  is 8the last       
kindness10 but at the same time the     
,baschkirtsew prize  of #ejj francs1    
which is awarded1 not by the            
prize-committee1 but by  the ,society of
 ,artists by universal suffrage4 ,in    
#ahhg the ,jury rose  to the medal of   
the second class1 and1 at the ,universal
 ,exhibition  of #ahhi1 to an           
insignificant silver medal4 ,with this  

the series of  distinctions vouchsafed  
to him by the masters of his guild      
closes4  ,his later honours--the ribbon 
and rosette of the ,legion of ,honour1  
the room reserved for his works at the  
,universal ,exhibition of #aijj1  the   
purchase of his 8,maternal ,love0 for   
the ,luxembourg ,museum1 the  commission
 to paint twelve bays in the ,banqueting
 ,hall of the ,paris  ,hotel de         
,ville--were forced for him from the    
public authorities by  independent      
opinion4 ,they were the scanty revenue  
of fame1 which the  lonely man found    
when he ceased to seek it4 ,it is       
characteristic of  ,carrire that of all 
the nonsense of medals and decorations  
there is  not a word to be found in the 
monumental work dedicated to him4 ,they 
were formerly regarded in ,france as the
 great events in the life of  an artist4
 ,carrire's proud independence does not 
admit that they  have any meaning at    
all1 or deserve the most casual mention4
 ,the book  enumerates all his works1   

even rough drawings1 unfinished         
sketches1  attempts at lithography4     
,these are the deeds and events of his  
life4  ,there is no room in the book for
 official certificates of industry  and 
his elevation in the ,tchin4#c          
,moreover1 ,carrire was one of  the     
co-founders of the ,salon of the ,champ 
de ,mars in #ahij1 which on  principle  
repudiated the system of rewarding      
meritorious youths by  testing and      
directing superior officers1 and        
rebelled against turning  artists into  
an hierarchy by means of conventional   
marks of rank4    ,carrire has formed a 
manner of his own1 which he discovered  
by  himself1 and asserted it            
victoriously despite of all kinds of    
opposition4 ,every layman sees at the   
first glance that his pictures  are full
 of grey vapour4 ,a sometimes           
transparent1 at other times thick  mist 
envelops his figures1 and makes their   
different parts stand out  with unequal 
distinctness4 8,a whim10 exclaims       

superficiality2 8a  dodge to astonish10 
grumbles the blas man-of-the-world1 who 
thinks  himself cunning4 ,it is neither 
the one nor the other4 ,the origin of   
the curious exhalation hovering about   
his figures is to be sought in  his own 
need for representing the ther in which 
all planetary life is  displayed4 ,his  
sense of truth took umbrage at the      
painting in vogue1  even that of the    
masters1 which sets beings and objects  
in space1  without giving any suggestion
 that it is not empty1 but filled with  
a gas possessing optical and kinetic    
qualities4 ,it is all very well  trying1
 by established toning of the local     
colours1 and blurring of  the contour   
lines1 to make the fact perceptible that
 the figures are  surrounded by air2 but
 these customary means of expression    
failed to  satisfy ,carrire1 and he is  
not the only one they left dissatisfied4
  ,a whole generation of painters1 about
 #ahgj1 had the annoying feeling  that  
air did not get its rights in art1 and  

made obstinate efforts to  find a       
formula for announcing the presence of  
air with an emphasis  that could not be 
neglected4 ,sisley1 ,monet1 ,pissarro1  
thought to solve  the problem by        
refraction and iridescent radiation     
which would render  apparent in the     
painting the visible motion of the air1 
its vibration  under definite relations 
of illumination and heat4 ,the object is
 only  very imperfectly attained4 ,the  
attempt is justified1 and deserves      
respect4 ,carrire sets about the matter 
differently1 in a more direct  and nave 
way4 ,the decomposition of white light  
into its spectrum1  as the dotters and  
stipplers practise it1 proves1 ,i admit1
 that the  rays of light move in a      
material medium1 as they would otherwise
 have  no reason for resolving          
themselves into their component parts2  
but1  in order to infer air from the    
prismatic colours1 a man must be a      
physicist1 and it requires a labour of  
thought that has nothing in  common with

 an immediate impression of the senses1 
such as must1 first  and foremost1      
proceed from an optical work of art4    
,carrire1 then1  found even the         
impressionist rule too learned4 ,he     
preferred simply to  exaggerate1 and1 as
 it were1 to make palpable1 the         
properties of air1  which is neither    
absolutely colourless nor absolutely    
transparent4 ,thus  arose the thin grey 
air in which his figures are bathed1    
ranging from  the most delicate mist to 
the thickest smoke1 but always          
transparent4    ,directly he found his  
method or manner1 it became alive in his
 hands4  ,in that his peculiarity       
consists1 and in that he shows himself a
 great  artist by the grace of ,god4    
,smoke is to him a medium of expression 
of amazing range4 ,he employs it almost 
as the engraver on copper of  mezzotint 
does the 8burr40 ,it is a layer of veils
 which he diminishes  or increases as   
the effect proposed demands4 ,here he   
withdraws the  covering4 ,there he      

suffers it partly or entirely to remain1
 and by  such means obtains1 by the most
 natural and1 apparently1 the least     
troublesome way1 a recession of the     
non-essential1 an amazing relief  of the
 essential1 a clearness in the          
expression of his thought1 such  as not 
one of his contemporary painters        
possesses4 ,at the first  glance at a   
picture of ,carrire1 one is very        
forcibly directed to  what was important
 to the painter4 ,one positively cannot 
wander into  what is unimportant1 or be 
diverted from the main thing4 ,it sounds
  paradoxical1 but is literally true3   
,carrire understood how to make  vapour 
the medium of the highest clearness1 to 
make mystery the gate of  an unreserved 
revelation4 ,that1 ,i admit1 his        
imitators cannot discern  in him4 ,it is
 easy to daub smoke in a picture1 but   
that is not all4  ,vapour must not be an
 excuse for bungling draughtsmanship2 it
 must not  mercifully cover defects in  
form4 ,in order not to favour any fraud1

 it  makes a masterly accuracy in       
modelling a primary condition4 ,to      
permit  oneself such noble economies and
 condensations one must be as accurate  
a draughtsman as ,carrire4 ,the veiling 
of the greater part is only1  then1     
admissible1 when the lesser left        
unveiled is perfect4    ,the subject of 
,carrire's portrayal is always life of  
deep  feeling--self-forgetting maternal 
love1 childhood's gracious innocence1   
pathetic tenderness of father1 brothers1
 or sisters4 ,he has never  worked from 
the peddling model who can be hired at  
five francs an hour1  and who poses only
 with the body1 not the soul4 ,his model
 is his own  family1 with the whole     
range of idiosyncrasies which their     
existence by  night and day comprises4  
,what the tender husband and father     
observed  with delighted eyes at all    
hours1 that the painter has uniquely    
fixed  on canvas3 the mother resting in 
bed with her baby at her breast2 that   
sweet1 shapeless little lump of human   

flesh which is a wee boy that  the elder
 sister fondles2 the children eating or 
being fed at table2  the washing and    
dressing of the little one1 which the   
mother and elder  sister carry out as a 
pleasant game with a doll2 the mother's 
anxiety  as she cradles the             
fever-stricken child in her arms1 and   
tries to quiet  it2 dressing the eldest 
girl for her confirmation--a prelude to 
that  affecting moment when the mother1 
with trembling hands and streaming      
tears1 will place the bridal wreath on  
her head2 the pride of the  parents when
 marshalling all their five children in 
a row2 the gloomy  seriousness of the   
tiny school-girl puzzling at the        
work-table over her  first task4        
,carrire1 when painting his family life1
 painted the life  of mankind4 ,his     
large1 epic style of feeling preserved  
him from falling  into genre4 ,he       
remained monumental even when painting  
details4  ,he is as little sentimental  
as ,goethe in 8,hermann und ,dorothea02 

nevertheless1 tears rise when we gaze on
 his pictures4 ,the incident            
disappears1 and we stand before the     
,eternal1 which it comprises2 before    
,love1 which keeps the world together4  
,the same feature is distinguishable    
also in his portraits2 they ennoble  the
 model by spiritualising it4 ,he gives  
only just enough of the  anatomy to     
reveal the soul4 ,and when he sets      
himself greater and more  highly        
differentiated tasks 78,the ,gallery of 
the ,belleville ,theatre10  the 8,holy  
,women at the ,foot of the ,cross071 he 
accomplishes them by  bringing forth the
 feelings and thoughts which have       
brought together  the persons concerned1
 and determine their bearings and       
movements4    ,what individual works    
scattered in exhibitions and museums    
have not  proved to every one is made   
indisputably clear by the #aej          
reproductions  in the ,piazza book1     
viz41 that ,carrire is one of the       
noblest1  chastest1 most deeply-feeling 

artists of to-day1 who has created for  
himself a peculiar technique1           
particularly dangerous for imitators1   
but  natural to himself1 and1 therefore1
 in his hand1 justified4                
,,some ,,of ,,carri,,re',s ,,pictures   
8,the ,belleville ,theatre40--,the      
light1 mystic vapour which fills and    
exhales through ,carrire's pictures1    
like delicate bluish-white clouds  of   
incense1 does not1 as a rule1 exert a   
disturbing influence4 ,in  this picture1
 quite one of his most important ones1  
his brush seems  to have betrayed him4  
,he has grown more material than is     
usual with  him4 ,the 8,belleville      
,theatre0 is so densely enveloped in    
smoke that  hardly anything can be      
distinguished amidst the clouds4 ,yet   
what  splendid discoveries are to be    
made if you make a violent effort to    
penetrate the darkness1 into which a    
venture may only be made with  a diver's
 helmet and an air-pipe6 ,we see--or1   
rather1 we surmise--the  third and a    

part of the fourth gallery of the       
,people's ,theatre4 ,the  suburban      
audience that fills these rows1 gives   
itself unrestrainedly  up to the magic  
of the spectacle4 ,it lives not its own 
life1 but that  of the heroes in the    
piece4 ,to this audience ,hecuba is     
everything4 ,the  wide-opened eyes lost 
in reverie1 the cheeks sunk sorrowfully 
in their  hands1 the shoulders          
contracted by fear1 the bodies almost   
helplessly  leaning on one another1     
betray the intensity with which these   
poor  people have fled out of themselves
 into illusion4 ,what is truth1 what  is
 deception1 if a poetical word1 and     
that1 too1 most likely the word  of a   
wretched melodrama1 can snatch away     
small trades-people and                 
artisans--probably sore oppressed by the
 needs of existence and more  than full 
of their own troubles--so far from all  
their griefs that  they forget their    
misery and think they are vividly       
experiencing a  new lot8 ,that would be 

the ,buddha philosophy of this amazing  
picture  if we could but distinguish all
 it contains4 ,carrire has painted the  
profound doctrine of ,maia and ,nirvana4
 ,it is a pity he has covered it  with  
so thick a veil that it remains         
impenetrable even to the eyes of  the   
initiated4    8,christ on the ,cross0   
will give to those capable of feeling   
the  impression of a great1 artistic    
experience4 ,the mystical tragedy1  from
 which a world-religion draws its       
emotion1 is presented with the          
simplicity and suppressed pain with     
which a father reports to his son  the  
tragic death of the mother4 ,all        
subsidiary work that might prove        
distracting is avoided4 ,no thieves1 no 
,captain ,longinus1 no ,roman           
legionaries1 no fanatical spectators2   
not one of the aids in men or  things   
with which the classics of painting are 
wont to complicate  the event of        
,calvary1 with the object of making it  
more impressive4  ,nothing save the     

life-sized figure of the ,saviour1 who  
has ended ,his  sufferings1 and ,mary1  
who leans against the ,cross so as not  
to break  down altogether4 ,on the face 
of the corpse the peace of consummation 
has sunk2 unutterable grief wastes that 
of the ,mother4 ,the form floats  in a  
soft1 unearthly light2 on the latter    
expressive shadows strive4  ,the repose 
of the dead ,christ1 which would appear 
painless and almost  cheerful were it   
not that a slight trait of suffering was
 fixed around  the mouth1 dawns like a  
consolation over the dark despair which 
fills  the soul of the living mother4   
,if she suffers humanly1 as a mother1   
so that she would fain die of woe1 still
 redemption and exaltation  also arise  
for her from the act of salvation4 ,if  
one has ever heard  ,palestrina's       
8,stabat ,mater10 it re-echoes in his   
soul at the sight  of ,carrire's        
picture4 ,it has issued from the same   
deep emotion  as the tear-soaked terzine
 of ,jacopone da ,todi and ,palestrina's

  sobbing hymn4 ,carrire abandons       
himself to his feelings with the same   
earnestness as the ,franciscan friar and
 the choirmaster of ,st ,peter's4  ,it  
is hard for me to admit that he shares  
their pious belief4 ,i assume  that the 
,mother's grief has1 in the main1       
inspired him4 ,this strong  feeling has1
 doubtless1 made him susceptible of the 
sacredness of the  symbolism in the     
death on the ,cross2 through the human  
he will have  raised himself to an      
inkling of the superhuman4 ,let us not  
forget  that ,carrire is the painter of 
that 8,motherhood10 the gem of the      
,luxembourg ,museum1 which depicts a    
young mother with a child on her lap    
and another beside her1 revelling in the
 sight of her little ones--her          
treasures--with adorable tenderness in  
look and mien1 in the pose of  her body 
and the movement of her arms4 ,carrire  
has a wonderfully  deep feeling for     
maternal love1 in joy as in sorrow4     
,unconsciously  and involuntarily1 he   

has conceived his subject not with the  
spirit  of a believing ,christian1 but  
with the broken heart of ,mary4 ,he     
might  confidently have called his      
8,christ on the ,cross10 too1           
8,maternity10  like his masterpiece in  
the ,luxembourg2 the one is a           
companion-picture  of the other2 the    
tragedy of maternal love1 according to  
its idyl4#d    ,there were cases in     
which the employment of ,carrire's plan 
of the  delicate grey veil of enveloping
 mist was not successful4 ,i have1  for 
instance1 been obliged to make          
reservations in respect of his          
8,theatre in ,belleville40 ,in the      
8,christ on the ,cross0 it is           
organically  developed from the subject4
 ,the veil of mist shrouds the incident 
in  the weird twilight which is the     
prescribed atmosphere of miracle and    
the mysteries of faith4 ,beyond the     
figures in the foreground of the        
,crucified and the ,blessed ,virgin we  
divine1 in the semi-dark distance1  a   

great city1 at the back of which1 on the
 horizon1 a twinkling white  light1 like
 the still uncertain brightness of a    
young dawning day1  arises4 ,our powers 
of imagination may fill with life the   
whole of this  profound space wherein   
dawn is at odds with night--with the    
life of a  whole townsfolk enjoying     
their revenge or weeping for woe1       
oppressed  with foreboding or hopefully 
confident4    ,here is symbolism in that
 high sense in which every true work of 
art is symbolic4 ,the picture is at the 
same time intellectual and              
transcendental2 the rationalistic       
beholder1 who neither seeks nor  wishes 
to find a mystery1 has before him the   
humanly affecting drama  of the mother  
who bewails her son who has died        
unmistakably in a  noble task4 ,he sees 
sights he can understand--the peace of  
death and a  mother's deepest           
pain--presented with unsurpassable      
truth4 ,he enjoys  the charm of perfect 
form1 marvellous warmth of colour1      

produced with  the simple means of      
gouache toning and a very faint         
heightening by  touches of red1 and an  
extremely interesting distribution of   
soft  light glimmering from the dark    
background4 ,the mystically minded      
beholder sees all this1 and he sees1    
besides1 the divine element in the      
,crucifixion and the sorrow-stricken    
,mother1 the terribly threatening       
subversion of the natural order in the  
darkness brooding over the city  and    
fields1 and the promise in the light    
arising in the distance4  ,what the     
rationalist sees in the work of art is  
sufficient to arouse  his feeling and   
admiration4 ,the mystic's wonder and    
feeling will be  powerfully strengthened
 by religious emotion4    8,portrait of 
my ,wife40--,he who is guilty of the    
error of confounding  gaudiness with    
coloration might find a guide in this   
work4 ,a few bright  tones in the       
spiritualised1 almost transparent face2 
a fur collar of a  warm1 rich brown2 a  

gay1 red flower in the girdle1 comprise 
all that  ,carrire employs as colour    
media1 in order to conjure up a harmony 
of  lulling melody and1 at the same     
time1 of all but hypnotising intensity4 
,that is precisely the whole mystery2 it
 is not a question of the noise1  but of
 the harmony4 ,three colour values1     
chosen with exquisite taste1  placed on 
the right spot in the floating white and
 pearl-grey cloud  which constitutes    
,carrire's manner1 and the impression of
 the colour  mystery is produced with   
greater success and depth than by a     
palette  on which all the seven colours 
of the rainbow are keeping a witch's    
festival4    8,the ,kiss before ,going  
to ,sleep40--,a painting of marvellous  
range of  feeling4 ,a mother with her   
daughters1 from the grown-up one to the 
suckling infant at her breast4 ,the big 
girl bends over her mother's  shoulder1 
as the latter is sitting1 and takes her 
good-night kiss  from the lips of the   
head turned to her4 ,the baby has fallen

 asleep  whilst feeding at the maternal 
bosom4 ,the third1 half-grown-up1 has   
likewise been overcome by sleep1 as she 
leans helplessly1 with her  whole       
weight1 on her mother4 ,the last twines 
her fondling fingers in  her mother's   
hand outstretched to her4 ,the mother is
 the central point  of the picture4     
,from her gushes the force that         
penetrates1 encompasses1  attracts1 and 
holds together the rest of the figures4 
,love it is which  collects these beings
 and unites them in a marvellous circle4
 ,thus they  become a symbol of the     
force that has built up the universe    
itself1 and  keeps it in its eternal    
order4 ,and this self-same love1 which  
knits  these hands in each other1 bends 
these bodies to each other1 brings      
these lips together1 which is visibly   
the motive and attractive force1  in all
 these simple but incomparably eloquent 
lines of movement1 has  also guided the 
magic brush capable of expressing so    
great a theme4  ,he who at the sight of 

this lofty work does not feel all the   
hardness  in him melting in joy stands  
outside humanity4 ,moreover1 there is   
not  a trace of declamation1 or purpose1
 or tremolo in its execution2 no        
prettily pietistic rhetoric4 ,not a     
single adjective1 but only neuter       
substantives1 as in ,roman inscriptions4
 ,that is precisely the receipt1  which 
holds good in all times and in all      
places1 for monumental works3  eternal  
feelings expressed in eternal forms4    
8,the ,engaged ,couple10 like           
8,maternity10 like his portraits of a   
married couple1 a young maiden1 etc41   
etc41 are unapproachable works4  ,his   
grasp of the essential in phenomena1 his
 economy of form1 are  of supreme       
craftsmanship4 ,it is in this direction1
 ,i think1 that  the future development 
of painting lies4 ,it will soon be over 
with  mere transcription of nature1     
however clever2 certainly1 on the not   
very distant day when colour photography
 will be handed over from  the          

experimental laboratory of the          
physicist1 to professional use4  ,then  
the individual standpoints of           
observation will alone hold good4       
,people will want views1 not as the     
mechanically reproducing1 dead          
object-glass1 but as the inspired eye of
 the artist sees them4 ,pictures  will  
have to be a selection1 an              
interpretation1 an emotional excavation 
of the optic phenomenon2 every picture  
an anthology of vision2 and  the        
personality of the artist revealing     
himself in it1 will be the  fascination 
of his work1 its value and its beauty4  
,let no one say3  8,these are           
trivialities4 ,it has always been so    
since plastic art  existed40 ,the       
plastic artist was hitherto always in   
the first place  a depictor4 ,his soul  
revealed itself only discreetly in his  
works4  ,carrire goes far beyond what he
 sees3 he paints souls2 he paints       
feelings4 ,in his representation the    
inexpressible becomes an incident4  ,a  

fugitive movement1 a pose1 a line of    
head1 neck1 shoulders1 or hand  in which
 unconsciousness is manifested1 when    
self-control is relaxed  for a moment2  
these treacherous means of expressing   
mood1 which the  will is not always able
 to influence--these are the elements   
with which  he works4 ,he discloses the 
impulses1 up to their most delicate     
moods1  which are the causes of         
movements and deportment4 ,to such a    
spiritual  art must painting be         
developed4 ,and this is why ,i call     
,carrire's  pictures the art of the     
future4                                 
,x                               ,,puvis
 ,,de ,,chavannes      ,puvis de        
,chavannes is dead1 and his influence is
 dying2 his ,school is  desolate1 and ,i
 see now hardly any stragglers worrying 
themselves to  paint with his palette of
 pale moonlight4 ,so it is no longer    
necessary  to attack him4 ,it is enough 
to explain his spiritual transformation 
and  his successes4    ,when he attained

 the maturity of his powers1 that       
,naturalism was the  trump-card in      
painting1 of which ,bastian ,lepage's   
abominable 8,reaper10  whose brutalised 
grimace grins at the visitor to the     
,luxembourg ,museum1  was admired as the
 highest achievement4 ,the young critic 
had eyes only  for this art4 ,the       
multitude dared not question the fulsome
 praise  squandered on the works of the 
naturalists2 but their inner voice was  
not mute4 ,they had qualms of conscience
 about their culpable cowardice1  and   
were quite well aware that naturalism1  
which was lauded to them  as ,progress  
and the ,future1 was in reality the     
negation of all art4  ,then ,puvis de   
,chavannes stepped forward with his big 
wall-paintings1  which put symbolism1   
sacred legend1 and history on the stage1
 on a  literary background1 and reunited
 them to tradition1 which had been      
disowned or scoffed at by naturalism1   
out of barbaric ignorance or  vulgar    
arrogance4 ,the multitude1 whose inward 

feelings partisan  criticism outraged1  
turned forthwith to the painter who     
seemed to them  a deliverer and an      
avenger4 ,he was a living protest       
against the art  of the vulgar1 the     
hideous1 and the commonplace2 against   
the art of  the mechanically dull       
copying of a soulless reality4 ,he took 
pains to  serve beauty4 ,he showed      
unmistakably the object of his          
spiritualising  his figures and actions4
 ,before his pictures one could once    
more  dream4 ,after prose1 after vulgar1
 slangy prose1 it was verse4 ,people    
did not even ask if the verses were     
good2 people were satisfied with        
mediocre verses1 provided they were     
verses4 ,to ,puvis de ,chavannes his    
fundamental1 academic instincts had     
given the direction2 but whilst  he     
followed his bent1 he became1 without   
intending it1 and without  previously   
knowing it1 the file-leader of the      
right-about turn1 which  began in 8the  
'eighties0 and has now long ended4      

,in a period of idealism he would have  
been one of the many4 ,people  would not
 have noticed him or would have found in
 him much to take  exception to3 the    
banality of his symbols1 the            
impersonality1  smoothness1 and polish  
of his draughtsmanship1 the intentional 
incoherence of his compositions4 ,during
 the predominance of naturalism1  his   
academic banality itself seemed a       
courageous act1 and seekers  after the  
ideal even accounted his most obvious   
faults and weaknesses  as excellencies  
in him4    ,he got his faded1 spectral  
colours by imitating the fresco painters
  of the ,quattrocentro4 ,his ideal of  
picturesque beauty united in            
inseparable association the stateliness 
of the old monumental  wall-paintings   
with their fadedness2 and when he wished
 to paint in  their style and produce   
their sthetic effects1 he at once gave  
his  pictures the faint coloration which
 had never been intended by the         
,quattrocentists1 but which their works 

have suffered through the  devastating  
force of five centuries4 ,the           
obliterated1 remote1 ghostly  qualities 
of this faded type of painting came to  
meet a morbid mood  of the time4 ,this  
mystic coloration harmonised with the   
prevalent  mysticism4 ,the decadents    
were thankful to him for his            
moon-stricken  colouring2 those athirst 
for beauty for his conversion to        
classical  tradition2 and so he became a
 great man through the sins of the      
naturalists and their critical heralds4 
,puvis was the first academical and     
recognised master in ,france who  began 
to paint the morbid4 ,his whim is       
chalk-wash4 ,he covers1 on  principle1  
his pictures with a white1              
semi-transparent broth that             
extinguishes all the colours4 ,his eye  
detests colour4 ,his glance has  a sort 
of chloridising effect2 it takes the    
colour out of everything  it ranges     
over4 ,with him1 however1 morbidity is  
natural and not  an affectation4 ,he has

 that horror of all that is loud1 full1 
and  impressive1 which marks the nervous
 man1 whom every rough touch  pains4 ,it
 is well with him only when nature      
whispers1 when her looks  are veiled in 
a fine mist1 when all life in her is    
motionless4 ,in his  soul reigns a      
melancholy absence of sound1 and he     
likes to carry this  into the outer     
world also4 ,moreover1 the multiplicity 
of living forms  confuses and repels    
him2 it is too full of motion and       
gaudiness4 ,he  simplifies1 therefore1  
all lines which thus lose their         
distinctive  individuality4 ,he retains 
only what is typical of the phenomenon2 
he  infuses his style into all that his 
brush and pencil touch1 and this  cold  
stylisation is then called by people his
 8idealism40    ,has ,puvis laid himself
 open to the reproach that all his      
figures are  awkwardly typical because  
he cannot draw8 ,we might almost think  
so4  ,it is only as a reply to such a   
reproach that we can understand his     

exhibiting in #ahif several hundred     
drawings1 preliminary studies  for all  
his chief works4 ,after a minute        
inspection of these smaller  and greater
 sheets of sketches scarcely indicated  
or industriously  executed1 of figures  
scarcely outlined or carefully shaded in
  lead-pencil1 ,indian ink1 red and     
other coloured chalks1 we are bound  to 
feel every respect for his industry and 
conscientiousness4 ,for  the originality
 of his talent1 too8 ,that to me is     
questionable4 ,if  ,i gaze on the       
studies of ,leonardo and ,albrecht      
,drer1 ,i am1 in a  very short time1    
over-mastered by an inexpressible       
emotion4 ,a holy  of holies is revealed3
 the most secret feelings of an artist's
 soul  which would fain become conscious
 of itself whilst seeking to give  shape
 to the emotion that is urging it4 ,you 
can see the struggle with  the          
resistance of the material1 the         
mustering of all his forces1 in  the    
majority of cases the artist's victory1 

ofttimes his despairing  confession of  
impotence4 ,a feature of the            
phenomenon--a fugitive yet  expressive  
movement has made its impression on the 
artist4 ,he hastens  to fix his         
conception4 ,at first in a few hasty    
strokes1 which are then  strengthened1  
deepened1 emphasised1 and developed4    
,five times1 ten  times1 till the artist
 desists disheartened1 or till the      
vision is  overcome and fixed by a spell
 in its whole force and verity1 in its  
distinctive character that is never to  
be repeated4 ,in ,puvis ,i observed     
with astonishment the contrary process4 
,the first sketch has always  the       
greatest individuality1 every later     
state of the figure shows  it less      
differentiated1 and more reduced to an  
average type lacking  expression4 ,he   
never ascends1 he goes down4 ,the       
artist's emotion in  face of the        
phenomenon--the impulse to produce in   
the rapture of an  intuition is never   
traceable in him4 ,none of the sheets is

 the arena  of that awful fight waged by
 talent against the hostile demon of the
  material1 which reminds me of the     
night-long struggle of ,jacob with the  
spectre at the ford ,jabbok4 ,the       
starting-point of the work is correct1  
ice-cold mtier4 ,it progresses to       
simplifications that are just so  many  
evasions of difficulties1 and it finally
 arrives at insignificant  puppets4     
8,that was intentional10 cry the        
painter's eulogists4 ,so much  the worse
 if it was intentional4 ,but was it     
really intentional8 ,that is  the       
question4 ,often enough1 as an          
afterthought1 a person imagines he is   
exercising volition1 whilst1 as a matter
 of fact1 he is constrained4  ,for him  
who has learnt to see in all works      
documents bearing on their  creator's   
psychology1 the drawings of ,puvis are  
proof positive that  this highly famous 
man never glanced at the world with an  
artist's eye1  but that he was          
originally a cold1 academical           

technician1 who1 later  on1 by pure     
reason and without attaining the        
slightest fervour1 has  subtilised a    
peculiarity3 the imitation of faded     
frescoes in colour1  archaic            
indifferentiation in drawing1 abstract  
literary symbolism in  his subjects4    
,in fact1 what is unreal and dream-like 
about his vision is not only            
determinative in regard to his          
archaically simple1 almost poor drawing 
and his pallid colour1 but also the     
choice of his subject4 ,he likes  best  
to portray allegories1 in which the     
figures are reduced to the  rle of      
symbols4 ,when he cannot be allegorical1
 in his famous  wall-paintings at the   
,pantheon1 for instance1 which tell the 
legend  of ,st ,gnevive1 he satisfies   
his craving for spectre painting by     
spiritualising the given historical     
figures into fleshless1 bloodless       
denizens of the ballad of the land of   
,thule4 ,in individual and very  rare   
instances1 he finds a material          

organically suitable for his            
moon-struck style of painting4 ,in such 
cases1 of course1 he strives  after     
extraordinary effects2 for instance1    
with his 8,poor ,fisherman0  in the     
,luxembourg ,museum4 ,this dreadfully   
poor1 emaciated man--more  a shadow than
 a human being--who1 sorrowfully but    
resigned1 stands  in his old patched    
boat1 drops his wretched net into the   
sluggish1  greyish-yellow water1 and is 
surrounded and1 as it were1 fixed by the
  dead lines of a flat melancholy       
landscape1 breathes a disconsolateness  
and abandonment that1 at the sight of   
him1 8humanity's whole sorrow0  seizes  
the beholder4    ,once again1 in his    
last period1 ,puvis lighted on one of   
those rare  subjects which not only     
bear1 but demand his peculiar methods of
  execution1 and out of this lucky      
encounter came forth a masterpiece1     
viz41 the fresco which concludes his    
,gnevive cycle4    ,st ,gnevive has     
stepped out of her cell on to the       

balcony of her  convent and lets her    
glance roam over ,paris4 ,at her feet   
lies the  slumbering city2 in the       
foreground surge the red-tiled roofs1   
between  which soar a few tree-tops in  
the luxuriant verdure of midsummer2 in  
the distance stretch the soft hill lines
 of a cheerful landscape1 the  green of 
whose meadows is interrupted1 here and  
there1 by the white  mass of a convent  
or abbey4 ,slender lilies and gladioli  
bloom in  noble vessels on the balcony4 
,in the bare cell1 the door of which is 
wide open behind the saint1 the smoking 
flame of a lamp of antique  pattern     
smoulders4 ,at the summit1 in a deep    
blue sky1 hangs the full  moon1 which   
softly illumines city and landscape1 and
 casts an eerie  gleam on the curled    
leafage of the tree-tops4 ,immersed and 
bathed  in its soft radiance1 the saint 
stands there1 unearthly with her  thin1 
ascetic countenance and her white nun's 
habit1 which from her  headcloth to the 
trailing hem of her garment flows down  

in unbroken1  perpendicular lines1 and  
seems to lift up her soul in a quiet1   
ecstatic  prayer for the slumbering     
town1 whose peaceful prosperity is a    
work  of her solicitous love4 ,here     
,puvis's peculiar method triumphs in    
every feature4 ,here his temperament    
needed only to give itself its  natural 
scope to attain the highest artistic    
result4 ,what elsewhere  is intolerable 
affectation becomes here the honest     
revelation of a  mood4 ,the subdued     
harmony of violet and blue in different 
gradations  of intensity that blend     
softly into one another is legitimate in
 the  picture of a summer night1 which  
takes its sole spectral light from  the 
moon and an oil-lamp4 ,the paleness of  
the flesh is understandable  in the     
aging nun who mortifies herself by      
prayer1 vigils1 and fasting4  ,the      
simplicity of the drawing1 which is     
reduced to a few straight and  slightly 
though expressively curved lines1 finds 
its defence in the  dusk of the         

semi-transparent night which suppresses 
all individualities  of forms2 and      
leaves only for us general1 essential   
features1 and  these rather surmised    
than clearly seen4 ,thus here a special 
subject  finds its special and fully    
adequate means of expression1 and the   
work  becomes a model of what is termed 
style in the highest sense4    ,a       
rejuvenation seemed to come over ,puvis 
when he seized once more  on the        
,gnevive theme which had occupied him   
from the days of his  youth4 ,this theme
 was to him what the theme of ,faust was
 to ,goethe3  while the octogenarian was
 engrossed in it1 something of the flame
  that glowed in the young man of twenty
 fired him1 and the last cry of  ,una   
pnitentium#e is still an after-thrill of
 ,gretchen's passion4  ,puvis1 too1     
appears to have thought or felt 8,ihr   
naht euch wieder1  schwankende          
,gestalten60 when he set about painting 
this concluding  picture of the ,gnevive
 cycle2 and for the last strophe of his 

ballad1  which dies away so sadly1 he   
found again some of the power and       
unction  which secures to its           
predecessors their glorious place in the
 century's  ,art4    ,if the brazen     
foreheads of the babblers who have the  
chief say in the  art criticism of the  
time were at all capable of a decent    
blush1 they  would turn red with shame  
at his series of frescoes in the        
,pantheon4  ,people had the audacity to 
claim ,puvis for some 8modernity0 or    
other1  in which certain moods of our   
time were said to be incorporated4  ,the
 only time when one can wholly surrender
 oneself to him1 he is  absolutely of no
 time4 ,what1 in that instance1         
fascinates in him is  nothing relating  
to the present1 and still less to the   
future1 but the  past and the remote    
past1 the atavistic4 ,his life's great  
work is a  legend of a saint1 which he  
has treated after the manner of a legend
  with the feelings of a primitive who1 
in the manner natural to him--the       

manner of about the fourteenth          
century--tells a story that is to him  a
 living verity1 in which he believes1 as
 those souls believe it for  whose      
edification he presents it1 and which   
moves and touches him as  it does the   
beholders who will fold their hands     
devoutly before his  work4 ,puvis cannot
 reckon on such a reception from his    
contemporaries1  for whom he designs his
 creation4 ,to us the legend is strange2
 it is  a bit of learned literature     
which we look at critically1 and in     
which  we cannot be expected to plunge  
believingly4 ,if ,puvis1 nevertheless1  
overcomes our opposition1 and can       
suggest to us for moments the           
child-like faith and all the emotions of
 dead and gone times that are  connected
 with that faith1 he has achieved       
something more difficult  than the      
primitives1 for whom the spirit of their
 time was no opponent1  but a           
confederate4    ,blessed are the        
ignorant4 ,their lack of suspicion      

secures them1  whenever they glance at  
the world1 the enthusiasm of discovery  
and invention1 and every phenomenon     
delights them as something              
unprecedented4 ,during the lifetime of  
,puvis de ,chavannes his peculiar  style
 was particularly extolled by his       
eulogists4 ,they exhibited him  as a    
,god-sent foundling2 as a ,moses of     
painting1 without ancestors1  himself an
 ancestor2 as a great solitary wandering
 apart from the  multitude through the  
history of contemporary art4 ,such      
phrases can be  uttered only by one who 
rejoices in the most refreshing         
ignorance of  the historical continuity 
of things4 ,puvis is of a family4 ,the  
expert  can name his forefathers and    
relations2 he finds their lineaments    
repeated--often coarsened and           
disfigured--in him4    ,puvis1 this     
great1 original genius of his admirers1 
is an impoverished  descendant of       
,cornelius4 ,he represents the worst    
aberration in art  that this century has

 seen1 viz41 thought-painting4 ,nowadays
 it is  no longer necessary to prove    
that abstraction is the negation and    
abrogation of plastic art4 ,this maxim1 
fortunately1 has become an  sthetic     
commonplace4 ,painting has to do only   
with sensuous phenomena2  abstraction   
distils from the sensuous one quality1  
which1 since it is  common to many      
phenomena1 is reminiscent of many       
phenomena1 yet is  itself not           
phenomenon4 ,he who feels the impulse to
 paint not views but  thoughts1 proves  
that in his innermost soul he is not a  
painter1 but a  rhetorician1 and that he
 has deceived himself marvellously as to
 the  method of expression natural and  
organic to him4 ,cornelius's painting   
presented thoughts1 religious1          
philosophical1 and historical dogmas1 in
  a picture-language considerably less  
clearly than might have been done  in   
well-ordered words4 ,it pleased all     
those whose soul was seven times  sealed
 against understanding what really      

constitutes painting4 ,as long  as the  
,cornelius tendency was dominant in     
,germany1 that country was  depressingly
 behind in the art life of the period4  
,as soon as ,cornelius  and his school  
were overthrown1 a sound development of 
,german painting  began4 ,and now1 at   
the close of the nineteenth century in  
,france1  in the ,france which has      
produced1 in landscape1 ,corot1         
,rousseau1  ,diaz1 ,harpignies3 in      
figure-painting1 ,millet1 ,courbet1     
,bonnat1 ,roll3  from which has come the
 return to nature and the renaissance of
 art1  the allegorical thought-painting 
of a ,puvis has been praised as the     
greatest advance1 as the latest step in 
development6 ,the snake biting  its own 
tail still remains the truest symbol of 
human activity that the  self-knowledge 
of the race has as yet discovered4      
,and how far1 in his special direction1 
,puvis lags behind his obsolete         
predecessors6 ,a ,cornelius1 ,kaulbach1 
and ,stilke1 displayed1 after  all1 in  

the invention of their symbols1 a rich  
power of imagination  which might have  
been worthy of better things4 ,their    
two-legged  abstractions were so        
honestly drawn that they deceived with  
regard to  their phantom-like nature1   
and could give themselves out to be real
  creatures of flesh and blood4 ,puvis's
 invention1 on the other hand1  is so   
poor that it whines pitifully for alms4 
,the representations  which kindle his  
imagination seem derived solely from an 
illustrated  handbook of mythology for  
girls' schools4 ,for an example of this1
 one  has only to look at the           
wall-paintings for the ,boston ,library1
 which  are among the most important    
work that ,puvis has done1 at least so  
far as their range and claims are       
concerned4 ,the first represents  the   
inspiring ,muses 8greeting with         
acclamations light carrying the         
,genius40 ,from a schematic landscape   
with sickly pale meadows1 a sea of      
ultramarine blue1 and spanned by a sky  

the colour of autumn foliage1  nine     
female figures are flying to meet a     
delightfully insignificant  naked youth 
striding on clouds of wadding4 ,this    
youth holds in each  hand a powerfully  
brilliant electrical lamp1 evidently the
 ,teslasch  alternating current light1  
as wires are nowhere visible4 ,the least
  fault of this picture is that the     
,muses are not aspiring in voluntary1   
independent flight1 but hang motionless 
in the air in a passive  attitude1 like 
,giotto's angels and saints1 who have   
not yet learnt  to fly4 ,its mortal sin 
is that it wishes to represent in       
painting a  vulgar1 rhetorical          
arrangement composed of a number of     
abstractions4    ,beside this allegory1 
,puvis opens five windows on his world  
of dreams4  ,naked shepherds observe1 in
 a southern night1 the course of the    
stars1  and are themselves observed by a
 young woman who is creeping out of a   
lowly leafy hut4 ,a man in a sort of    
,roman dress looks thoughtfully at  some

 bee-hives1 whilst peasants in the      
distance are busy working in the        
fields4 ,a greybeard is sitting by the  
sea1 from which a steep cliff  emerges4 
,on its summit a man is chained almost  
in the attitude of the  ,crucified4 ,the
 shadow of an approaching vulture falls 
on him4 ,maidens  emerging from the sea 
hover round him with disconsolate       
gestures4 ,we  must necessarily         
recognise ,prometheus and the ,oceanides
 in the scene4  ,another old man1 who is
 blind1 receives laurel branches from   
two young  beauties4 ,a haughty dame    
stretches her arm with magic gestures   
over a  mysterious abyss that has       
engulfed mighty marble buildings1       
pillars1  and woodwork4 ,behind the     
woman stands a youth with a torch and   
book  in his hand4 ,i have described in 
brief what one actually sees4 ,puvis    
means the star-gazers for ,chaldan      
shepherds2 the ,roman for ,vergil2  the 
greybeard in front of the               
,prometheus-rocks for schylus2 the blind

  man for ,homer receiving the laurels  
from the hands of the ,iliad and        
,odyssey personified2 the enchantress   
for history conjuring up the past4  ,we 
are to read still more into it4 ,the    
,chaldans signify astronomy2  ,vergil   
bucolic poetry1 schylus dramatic1 ,homer
 epic2 the conjurer up  of the dead and 
ruined1 ,clio4 ,thus we have before us  
five polished  planes of the prism of   
man's spiritual activity1 five domains  
of the  ,muses--a fitting decoration for
 a library4 ,these abstractions are     
painted in an abstract style4 ,the human
 beings are schematic drawings  as if   
taken from statues for illustrating an  
academic canon4 ,they live  psychically 
only through their artificial           
gestures--not through their             
mask--visages without mien of glance4   
,the landscapes are geometrical         
combinations of rocks which a ,cyclopean
 stone-mason has hewn in ancient  style2
 of mountains whose ridge stretches in  
architectural lines2 of  evenly-coloured

 masses of deep-blue sea1 pale-green    
sky1 and sap-green  grass country4 ,the 
land is called ,utopia1 and is inhabited
 by ,outis3  in ,english1 ,nowhere and  
,nobody4 ,the indigo1 emerald1 and      
turquoise  tone is pleasant to the eye1 
especially as ,puvis has here1 contrary 
to his murderous habit1 not massacred   
the living colours4 ,but nothing  except
 the harmony of colours appeals to me in
 these pictures4 ,it is  not painting3  
it is writing4 ,it does not presuppose  
in me any feeling  for art1 but only a  
decent1 classical education4 ,it taps on
 my school  satchel4 ,before these five 
,puvis de ,chavannes pictures1 ,i think 
of a  highly-educated ,japanese1 learned
 in all the wisdom of his country1  with
 the most delicate feelings for line and
 harmony of colours2 an  appreciator of 
,hokusai and the other great masters of 
,japan3 he will  receive no impression  
at all from ,puvis's works2 he will look
 upon the  figures as phantoms1 the     
scenes as so much childishness2 he will 

not  have an inkling what these forms1  
remotely resembling human beings1  are  
doing1 or what they mean4 ,for he is not
 acquainted with the ,greek  and ,latin 
classics1 and without this hypothesis   
the works of ,puvis are  dead symbols1  
incomprehensible to any one unprovided  
with the special  key1 and without the  
natural constraining power of plain     
human truth  and beauty4 ,the provoking 
over-estimation of his work by          
corybantic  critics justified every     
severity against ,puvis de ,chavannes in
 his  lifetime4 ,now his appreciation no
 longer requires polemical pricks1  and 
we can say that his ,gnevive cycle      
secures him a permanent place  in the   
history of art2 that his great          
allegorical frescoes are cold1  dead1   
sprawling1 pretentious subtleties2 and  
that neither his drawing  nor his colour
 sanctify him as a master and model4    
,his importance  consists in this1 i4e41
 that in his time the longing for beauty
 took  him as a cloak for a passionate  

confession4 ,the ,puvis cult was1 in the
  main1 a reaction against ,realism4 ,by
 the exaggeration with which he  was    
honoured may be measured the greatness  
of the disgust which his  contemporaries
 felt for naturalistic art4             
,,xi                            ,,bright
 ,,and ,,dark ,,painting                
,,charles ,,cottet      ,a generation   
ago opposition arose against gloomy     
painting4 ,down with  the twilight      
cellar painting6 ,down with the studio  
sauce6 ,hurrah  for the open air6 ,long 
live free light6 ,with this war-song a  
brave1  hot-blooded band stormed art    
academies and studios of masters1 and1  
shouting for joy1 planted their silver  
and violet banner on the posts  they had
 taken4 ,for two whole decades the art  
exhibitions presented a  cheerful1      
festive aspect4 ,it was always ,sunday4 
,the glow of a southern  noon rested    
over whole walls4 ,from the hundreds and
 thousands of  canvases1 big and little1
 streamed the gleaming sunlight in its  

full  glory4 ,men1 beasts1 things1      
landscapes--all swam in luminous        
splendour  which1 at most1 patches of   
violet shadow subdued timidly4 ,nature  
seemed  to know no other conditions of  
light than those of ,capri in ,july4    
,about the turn of the century this     
suddenly began to change4 ,in some      
pictures the light went out4 ,certain   
painters again discovered the  darkness 
of evening1 of leaden-clouded winter's  
day1 of thickets1 of  rooms4 ,on some   
palettes the eternal white and violet   
was replaced by  the old brown1 black1  
and olive-green of our fathers4 ,the    
phenomenon  became1 year by year1 more  
marked4 ,to-day the change is           
accomplished4  ,free light is thrown    
away after the old moons4 ,painting has 
grown sick  of noonday4 ,there is an    
atmosphere of twilight in all the       
pictures4 ,the  young painters--the     
victors of the day--use as much asphalt1
 mummy1 and  umber1 as did the old ones 
thirty years ago4 ,whole ranges of walls

 in  the ,paris salons lie as in deep   
shadow1 and we may go through several   
rooms before finding a creature         
represented as 8breathing in rosy       
light40    ,what satires these salons   
are on the consequential1 high-stepping1
  deep-thinking drivel of professorial  
and other chatterers1 who1 to hide      
their dearth of thoughts1 turn out new  
words1 discover in our days a           
particular 8charm0 in painting as in    
other arts1 and prove by a  b  the      
necessary1 logically offered expression 
of new spiritual needs of  the present  
generation4    ,now what has become of  
the 8charm0 that calculatingly demanded 
8free  light0 and nothing else8 ,and how
 is it1 then1 with the spiritual  needs 
of the present generation1 to which free
 light and nothing  else corresponded8  
,and how does it stand with the new way1
 in which  favoured artists have taught 
us to contemplate and to feel nature8   
,was the 8charm0 four or five years ago 
inclined to brilliancy1 and  is it      

changed during the night to an          
insatiable longing for gloom8  ,did     
white and violet correspond five years  
ago to the spiritual needs  of the      
present generation1 and does this       
generation now need black1  brown1 or   
olive-green tones8 ,have we just as     
quickly again unlearnt to  contemplate  
and feel nature in sun-gold and violet1 
as favoured artists  have taught us to  
do8    ,living art goes her way         
according to her own laws and impulses1 
and  leaves in the lurch the babbling   
empty heads1 with their pretentious     
threshing of phrases1 who tramp after   
her1 expounding and talking  wisely     
interpretations and clever chatter4 ,not
 by a particular  8incentive0 of the    
period1 not from its alleged spiritual  
needs and  currents of thought1 are the 
changes of art creation to be explained1
  but solely by the psychology of the   
artists1 by their very human1 very      
weakly prosaic needs1 by the material   
and moral conditions under which  they  

are nowadays condemned to work4    ,the 
salons1 the art exhibitions1 are in our 
time the annual marts  of success for   
painters4 ,in these they have to seek   
fame and its  train-bearer--payment in  
cash4 ,in these they must strive amongst
 a  thousand or two thousand competitors
 to astonish at any price4 ,by  special 
beauty or special nobility8 ,this means 
will be chosen by the  very fewest4     
,firstly1 not one in a thousand has it  
in his power4 ,in  the second place1    
even an artist not in the front rank has
 enough  ,philistine contempt to be     
convinced that nobility and beauty are  
the  last things for which the crowd has
 a taste4 ,his hunger for success--a    
fitting form of his instinct for        
self-preservation--gives the artist     
sense and understanding of the          
psychology of the multitude1 whose      
elementary law is that it is obtuse to  
that which is common and reacts  on what
 is uncommon4 ,the artist who works with
 an eye to exhibiting  where his work   

will be one of two thousand1 has only   
one endeavour1  viz41 to be as different
 as possible from these1 and by this    
means  possibly to make a striking      
impression amongst them4 ,the contrary  
is  the greatest difference possible4   
,that is the polar line1 the angle of   
#ahj degrees4 ,logic1 which             
unconsciously proceeds geometrically1   
brings  the artist to this4 ,he also    
looks sharply at what the others are    
doing2  puts himself to trouble to find 
out what they have in common1 and in    
what respect they resemble each other2  
and when he has discovered this1  or    
thinks he has done so1 he proceeds to do
 the exact reverse4    ,if he has       
properly recognised the predominating   
element and has hit the  exact opposite1
 the victory is gained with a weight    
that overthrows all  before it4         
,professional associates1 critics1 and  
public stand in front  of something new4
 ,the novelty-hating majority feels the 
disturbance in  their lazy mental habits

 as an insult and discomfort1 and sets  
up a  yell4 ,the minority of unsatisfied
 gainsayers1 morbid bread-hunters1  vain
 coxcombs1 and enthusiasts longing for  
the glorious ,unknown and               
,unprecedented1 passionately take side  
for the novelty4 ,this serves as  an    
excuse for a conflict of those eternal  
conservative and radical  tendencies1   
whose battle may be seen throughout the 
whole history of  human development2 and
 the artist who unchains these tempests 
sees  himself honoured as one of the    
embodiments of contemporary thought1 as 
a power in civilisation4 ,only quite    
exceptionally is a cool analyst  found  
to say with smiling tranquillity amidst 
the bluster of the war  of minds3 8,dear
 children1 don't excite yourselves like 
that2 the word  #8new' is no verdict4   
,to be different does not necessarily   
mean to be  better4 ,an old tendency may
 contain beauty in itself2 a new one    
may1  of course1 do so too1 but not     
necessarily4 ,he who grows excited on   

behalf of the old1 simply because it is 
old1 is commonplace4 ,he who  grows     
excited for the sake of something new1  
merely because it is  new1 is           
commonplace with a negative prefix4     
,only wait a little while4  ,in a short 
space of time the new will have become  
old1 and you will  recognise that there 
was no grounds for raising a noise about
 it4 ,the  man of the new thing1 whom   
you hail as the bringer of a new        
salvation1  is no better than the       
ancients2 but he is right1 for he wishes
 to be  noticed1 to inherit from the    
ancients1 and that is wholly justified  
from his selfish standpoint40    ,the   
would-be aristocrats of                 
intelligence--the 8intellectuals0--would
  find a speech like this intolerably   
homely4 ,it is not in the least  8deep40
 ,it is not at all applicable to the    
mystic inclinations of  vaporous brains4
 ,it discovers no single unsurmised and 
astounding  relation between phenomena  
that have nothing in common with each   

other2  but ,i believe it is literally  
true4    ,the 8,impressionists0 of the  
,caillebotte room in the ,luxembourg    
painted  brightly when the salon was    
correspondingly dark4 ,the one light    
picture among the dark paintings acted  
like a window that opens in  the gloomy 
wall to the sunny air4 ,when the other  
painters saw that  the multitude flew   
towards this bright point1 like moths   
after the  flame of a taper1 they       
hastened to paint also in bright        
colours4 8,free  light0 was discovered4 
,it corresponded to no mood of the      
period4 ,free  light is joyous and      
satisfied4 ,the spirit of the age was1  
during  its predominance in painting1   
pessimistic and sick with longing as  it
 had hardly ever been in the past4 ,nor 
was it a new way of seeing  and feeling 
nature4 ,turner1 ,corot1 ,claude        
,lorrain1 ,ostade1 ,salvator  ,rosa     
himself had seen and felt nature quite  
as brightly as ,manet and  ,monet had   
done4 ,the truth is that the            

8,impressionists0 were turbulent  young 
people who got angry at vegetating in   
obscurity whilst ,gudin  and ,schnetz1  
,signol and ,mller1 ,pils1 ,cabanel1    
,dubufe1 and ,robert  ,fleury had all   
the honours and successes2 and that     
impelled by envious  loathing of these  
celebrities of that day1 they found1 as 
it were1 in  a negative chemo-tropical  
way1 the exact reverse of their dark    
style4    ,five years ago the same      
incident was played off exactly in the  
opposite  direction4 ,everybody was     
painting in a bright style4 ,the        
,schnetz and  ,cabanel1 ,delaunay and   
,cogniet of the day were called ,puvis  
de ,chavannes  and ,roll1 ,besnard and  
,cazin4 ,then1 again1 some young people 
got angry  about their being unknown and
 unheeded1 and they entered1 consciously
  and of set purpose1 into opposition   
against the celebrities of the day4     
,charles ,cottet exhibited a black      
picture which1 in the middle of a       
blinding white exhibition wall1 struck  

just as glaringly as did1 thirty  years 
ago1 the bright picture in the middle of
 the black wall4 ,cottet  had hit the   
bull's eye4 ,he instantly created a     
school1 and to-day  the salons look once
 more as they did thirty years ago1 to  
be once  more flooded with free light1  
probably1 some twenty or thirty years   
hence4 ,it is an orbit without beginning
 or end1 an eternal beginning  over     
again1 and only posing fools seek1 in   
this monotonous1 periodical  return of  
the same effects under the influence of 
the same causes1 to  ferret out         
connections with definite phenomena of  
the times4    ,charles ,cottet is       
developing into the undisputed leader of
 the young  race of painters4 ,he       
deserves the recognition accorded to    
him1 yet it  is a serious matter that he
 provokes to imitation2 for what in him 
is uncouth1 though justifiable1         
independence1 will become with the      
imitators a manner that may rapidly pass
 into intolerable aberration4  ,cottet  

loves dark harmonies of colour4 ,he     
paints night1 closed rooms  illumined by
 artificial light1 candle and fire      
effects2 unlike  ,rembrandt1 whose      
glooms are delicate and transparent1    
whose men and  things are particularly  
self-luminous in sunless space2 and     
unlike his  pupil1 ,schalcken1 who      
treats flames and their reflections     
roughly after  the manner of a          
blacksmith1 without mystery or harmony4 
,cottet paints  it apparently more from 
joy in darkness than joy in light1 for  
with him  darkness is generally the     
principal thing1 and the sources of     
light are  there chiefly to call        
attention to the sinister stir and      
movement in  the unillumined dusk4 ,his 
imitators do not see the intense life of
 his  shadows4 ,they only see his black1
 brown1 and dark-green palette1 and     
dimly brush away at it again as in the  
worst days before the dawn of  8free    
light40    ,painting goes out into the  
night1 and will remain there a while4   

,then  once more a cheerful and free    
artist will come1 and discover light for
  an astonished and enraptured world1   
and he will be deified or damned  as a  
revolutionist just as ,monet was        
thirty-five years ago when he did  the  
same1 and as ,cottet was five years ago 
when he did the reverse4  ,and thus it  
will ever be so long as in the human    
apparatus of thought  a change of       
impression will relax conscious feeling1
 and art creation  will have to serve1  
not only the utterance of strong        
impulses of  emotion and the relaxation 
of the nervous system1 but also the     
ambition  or vanity of the artist1 which
 means1 ,i suppose1 to the end of time4 
,cottet's execution is somewhat brutal4 
,he works in the style of ,ribot1  who  
was himself a curious mixture of        
reminiscences of ,franz ,hals1  ,ribera1
 and ,velasquez1 with an admixture of   
personal self-will4 ,he  lays great1    
dark1 almost dirty spots on the canvas1 
and treats human  skin with boorish     

coarseness--,i might almost say1 with   
the curry-comb4  ,but what truth and    
energy in all the movements6 ,how       
economically and  yet how exhaustively  
he can reveal the thoughts and feelings 
of his  subject4 ,there is little in the
 whole of modern painting so pathetic as
  his three-panelled picture1 8,sea     
,folk10 that now adorns the ,luxembourg 
,museum4 ,in the middle1 the parting    
meal of the ,jack ,tars before          
starting1 round the village table       
fifteen people1 strapping young men     
with their womenfolk--mothers1 wives1   
and sweethearts4 ,through the  open     
window dark-green night looks in2 from  
the petroleum lamp there  gleams a sharp
 streak of yellow light2 the men sit    
close to each other  in silence2        
forebodings and the sadness of          
leave-taking exalt them  and raise the  
souls of these horny-handed toilers to  
the regions of  poetic thought and      
dreams4 ,on the right1 the boat that is 
conveying the  sailors to their ship2   

some are rowing or steering1 the rest   
are in a  reverie4 ,all go carelessly to
 meet their fate1 which perhaps will    
mean  merely prosaic seaman's work on a 
voyage without any adventures1 but      
perhaps even heroic tragedies of        
struggle and destruction4 ,on the left1 
the women remaining behind1 who watch   
from the shore the departing men1  their
 lovers1 their bread-winners1 with      
sorrowful love and prayer in  their     
looks1 their mien1 their hands1 and     
their attitudes4    ,possibly this      
profound picture moves me so much only  
because it  illustrates completely what 
,i meant when ,i described the social   
mission  of art in the future in these  
words3 8,in a work of art which is to   
attract the people1 the people must find
 themselves again1 but just  as formerly
 the priest and king did3 magnified and 
ennobled4 ,the work  of art must show   
them their own likeness1 though a       
beautified one4  ,it must raise the     
people in their own eyes1 teach them to 

respect  themselves4444 ,works which can
 show the dignity and beauty of the     
occupations of the multitude1 which are 
a sanctification of labour1  an         
apotheosis of the tragedies and idyls1  
of all the sweet and bitter  stirrings  
of emotion in the common life--these    
works1 ,i believe1  constitute the type 
of the art work of the future40         
,cottet's triptych is one of these      
works4 ,it renders my abstract          
deductions concrete4 ,he is a great     
painter who can extract with so  sure a 
hand from the stone of everyday life all
 the gold of beauty it  contains4       
,cottet gets his suggestions for the    
most part from ,brittany4 ,almost  all  
his works1 in any case his most famous  
ones1 tell of ,breton  nature and the   
life of the ,breton people4 ,his        
8,midsummer ,fire0 is  very affecting4  
,the holiday fire is kindled beneath the
 clear sky of  a midsummer night2 around
 it assemble the ,bretons1 ever faithful
 to  their traditions4 ,the smoke       

ascends vertically2 the flames glow on  
the  countenances gazing on them4 ,old  
women and children they are1 for the    
most part1 who celebrate the solstice   
according to ancient custom2  there are 
hardly one or two men among the devout  
multitude4 ,the sterner  sex1 the       
middle-aged1 laugh at the superstition2 
but the grandmothers  foster the custom 
of their ancestors1 and entwine it into 
the earliest  childhood of their        
grandchildren as a dear remembrance that
 grows up  with all the joys and sorrows
 of their infant years4 ,thus what is   
old  is retained and is handed down from
 generation to generation4 ,cottet  has 
expressively illustrated this rule of   
folk-lore1 not because he  intended it1 
but because he was true4 ,far and wide1 
as far as the eye  can reach1 other     
fires are burning1 and mirroring        
themselves in the  sea1 and you can     
guess that1 even around the furthest1   
which are hardly  visible in the night1 
the villagers are making a circle1 just 

as round  the flame in the foreground4  
,one single note hovers over the whole  
of this landscape2 one single feeling   
dominates the soul of all this          
population4 ,each one of these old women
 whose glances are submerged in  the    
holy flame feels herself at this instant
 a unit of the whole race  inhabiting   
the hereditary granite soil1 and part   
and parcel of her  forefathers who have 
long rested beneath the sod4 ,thus a    
real work  of art1 without straying into
 literature1 points far beyond its own  
boundaries4    ,the 8,national ,fte at  
,camaret0 is celebrated so earnestly by 
the  ,breton peasants that1 in spite of 
the bright paper lamps on the tree1  it 
has the effect of a church solemnity4   
,in 8,the ,old ,breton ,nag10  ,cottet  
has translated from bronze into less    
severe painting one of the              
never-to-be-forgotten coal-mine horses  
of ,constantin ,meunier4 8,mourning  by 
the ,sea0 is one of his masterpieces4   
,grandmother1 mother1 and  daughter are 

sitting together on a stone bench on the
 shore4 ,they are  all three wearing    
widow's weeds4 ,they are speechless and 
motionless1  abandoned to their         
thoughts1 which abide with their dead4  
,the sea1  which has swallowed their    
husbands1 and to which they turn their  
backs1  lurks behind them in insidious  
calm behind two storms that depopulate  
the coast1 and leave behind the granite 
cliffs only old and young  widows and   
children1 who1 in turn1 also will be    
trained for the sea--the  merciless sea1
 on which the poor devoted fishermen and
 sailors seek  their living and find    
their death4 ,the existence of a        
population1 its  truceless fight with   
hostile nature1 is comprised in the     
black figures  of these three modern    
,niobes4 ,to-day1 too1 as in its        
beginnings1 true  art is myth-making4   
,to this series of pictures from ,breton
 peasant life belongs also  an 8,early  
,mass in ,winter10 which at present     
hangs in the 8,little  ,palace10 at     

,paris4 ,in the early dawn1 beneath     
heavy clouds1 a few  ,breton peasant    
women1 of whom we get a back view1 are  
proceeding  across the flat1 damp heath 
to an insignificant village church4     
,they  wear the round mantle with a     
hood1 which is usual in that country4   
,on first glancing at these short1      
broad1 black figures without human      
form1 which look like wobbling1         
tightly-filled coal-sacks1 ,i could not 
help laughing aloud4 ,but ,i observed in
 the mien of other observers            
composedness1 piety1 and admiration4    
,these evidently saw in the picture     
only the walk to church1 not the clumsy 
sacks1 always a proof how  powerfully   
,cottet can conjure up a mood4    ,once 
or twice ,cottet has in some measure    
proved faithless to his usual  dark     
style of painting1 and allowed himself  
to revel in colour4 ,thus  in his       
portrayal of a family of ,breton        
fisherfolk1 when the corpse of  a baby  
is laid on its bier4 ,the dead child    

lies in its little open  coffin1 around 
which four tapers are burning4 ,on both 
sides of the  bier the seven or eight   
relatives stand grouped3 the parents1   
aunts1  little brothers and sisters     
express1 each in his or her way1 their  
grief1 which1 in the case of the still  
unconscious children only1  sinks to the
 level of mere curiosity4 ,from the     
coffin proceed two  vividly red ribbons 
which stream across the bier down to the
 ground4  ,flowers of a similar furious 
red are strewn over the bier4 ,these    
shrill  values do not produce exactly a 
fine and harmonious effect in the       
dark-toned general atmosphere with the  
opposite warm yellow spots of  the      
taper-flames4 ,moreover1 the composition
 here is also not a happy  one4 ,it is  
an error to make the pale little corpse 
of the child the  centre of a large     
picture4 ,death does not attract the    
eyes1 but repels  them4 ,it does not    
endure the rivalry of life unless it can
 compel  attention perhaps by means of  

special melodramatic circumstances or   
symbolical value4 ,the glance turns     
naturally to the living1 feeling1       
acting human beings1 and thus the centre
 of the picture1 which should  be the   
keystone of the arch that holds the     
composition together1 seems  to be a    
gap4 ,christ's dead body may be made the
 centre of a picture4  ,this dead       
,saviour will always be1 in the         
beholder's imagination1 the  most       
living1 the only living thing in the    
picture4 ,so1 too1 the dead  ,lazarus   
and ,jairus's little daughter are       
suitable for the main figures  in a     
composition1 because these dead persons 
are virtually living1 and  what makes   
them interesting is not death1 but      
returning life4 ,but the  innumerable   
8,lessons in ,anatomy10 which were a    
favourite subject with  the ,dutch      
painters 7,aart ,pietersen1 ,m4 van     
,mirevelt1 ,rembrandt1 ,adrian  ,backer1
 ,van ,neck1 ,cornelis ,troost1 etc47   
show how unsuitable a corpse1  to which 

no suggestions beyond its visible       
condition are united1 is for  arresting 
the attention4 ,even a master such as   
,rembrandt is unable1 in  what is1 ,i   
suppose1 the most famous of all         
8,lessons in ,anatomy10 to  direct      
attention to the dead body4 ,in spite of
 the large space occupied  by the       
corpse1 we do not see it1 but only ,dr  
,tulp and his audience4  ,cottet's      
picture is the most convincing proof of 
the impossibility1  in a composition    
containing living persons also1 of      
laying the chief  stress on a dead one4 
,the psychic element1 i4e41 the         
mourners' pain1  ,cottet has1 however1  
expressed with gripping force and truth4
 ,it is his  strength and glory that the
 inward1 emotional life preponderates   
with  him so far beyond all externals4  
,at the first glance his 8,breton       
,festival0 is even more repellent than  
the 8,dead ,baby40 ,the line of hills on
 the horizon1 the stern heath1 the      
church1 the breakfast laid on the white 

tablecloth in the foreground1  are      
certainly masterly achievements2 but the
 ,breton women grouped in  the open air 
round this still life wound us with     
their silk bodices  of the crudest blue1
 green1 and violet6 ,it is said that    
,breton women  actually dress in such   
shrill colours4 ,this may be so2 but    
that does  not really justify the crude 
reproduction of such brutalities4 ,it is
  asserted that time will subdue the    
overloud tones of these violent  colours
 and effect a reconciliation of them4   
,on this subject our  children or       
grandchildren will have an opinion4     
,what we see now is1  anyhow1           
unpleasant4 ,has ,cottet wished to show 
that he is able to deal  with something 
besides asphalt and umber8 ,if so1 let  
him be told that  his dark harmonies of 
brown1 grey1 and black are more         
agreeable than  all these shrill        
penny-trumpet tones4    ,cottet stands  
at the zenith of his life and artistic  
capacity4 ,it  would be rash to predict 

his further development4 ,whether he    
keeps  to the dark style of painting1 to
 which he owes his reputation1 or  lets 
himself be led away by the strong1      
bright1 full colours2 whether  he       
remains faithful to ,brittany1 which    
seems with the young race of  artists to
 take the place of the classic ,italy of
 their predecessors1  or seeks another  
soil and another landscape to serve as  
frames for his  men and women of deep   
emotions--in any case1 ,cottet has      
already secured  himself a place in the 
,history of ,art2 deservedly1 too1 but  
chiefly  because the change in the      
valuation of tones is bound up with his 
name4  ,it was day2 it became night4    
,manet and ,monet had denoted dawn2     
,cottet  introduced evening twilight4   
,,xii                                   
,,physiognomies ,,in ,,painting         
,john ,w4 ,alexander1 an ,american1     
possesses an enviable skill and         
certainty4 ,he is master of the means of
 expression belonging to his  art1 and  

has a trustworthy feeling for the       
harmony of those light1  subdued colours
 called in ,fiance 8,liberty0 shades1   
after the name of  an ,american         
tradesman in the ,avenue de l',opra who 
first brought into  vogue clothing1     
furniture1 and wall stuffs in such      
peculiarly anmic  and almost chlorotic  
colours4 ,with his dexterous            
draughtsmanship and  charming harmony of
 cool1 diluted blue1 soft green1 faint  
pale yellow  and delicate rose1 he might
 possibly have pleased connoisseurs1 but
  could hardly have attained world-wide 
fame4 ,he1 therefore1 hit upon  painting
 women's portraits in amazing positions4
 ,he was the inventor  of acrobatics in 
portraiture4 ,his women lie about1 in   
orgiastic  contortions1 on the ground or
 on sofas1 with their legs up and heads 
hanging over the edge1 or with forms    
twisted twice round1 like a screw1  or  
curled round like a sleeping dog1       
astonishing the inoffensive  spectator1 
and suggesting to him of corrupt        

imagination certain  lustful ideas4 ,the
 means were effectual4 ,alexander became
 a first-class  firm1 and the crtins of 
criticism did not fail to praise his    
special  knowledge of1 and feeling for1 
the 8modern women of high-strung  nerves
 and ,satanic caprices40 ,now ,alexander
 seems to find that he has  acquired    
sufficient fame1 and is abandoning his  
follies4 ,among his  later pictures     
there very rarely occurs one of which   
the model betrays  his earlier leaning  
to gymnastics4 ,the ladies he now paints
 are quite  decent in their attitudes1  
and only1 perhaps1 a serpentine movement
 in  their long1 flowing garments       
reminds us still of the old gutta-percha
  or snakelike contortions of his       
bodies4 ,alexander has slipped through  
the fingers of his modernistic critics4 
,whilst they still keep on  raving about
 his 8modern women with high-strung     
nerves and ,satanic  caprices10 he is   
painting prosperously1 peacefully1 and  
intelligently1  and can now be          

recommended to the most respectable     
bourgeois families  to immortalise their
 matrons4    ,aman-,jean is a melancholy
 painter1 whose palette has been tuned  
in  a minor key4 ,he is the guitarist of
 the falling leaf1 twilight1            
tapestry-hung ancestral halls1 sombre   
,gobelins4 ,his pictures result  from   
the mood in which a man catches himself 
humming the ,king of  ,thule4 ,i do not 
say that this tone of colour does not   
possess its  charm4 ,he who does not    
live his life like a thoughtless1       
devouring1  and digesting animal has1 ,i
 suppose1 on every blessed day of his   
existence1 an hour in which he finds his
 own soul in the subdued  and faded     
palette of ,aman-,jean4 ,it is1 however1
 morbid to see the  phenomena of the    
universe merely as old ,gobelins in the 
hue of twilight  hours4 ,and morbid1    
too1 is the way in which ,aman-,jean    
transforms his  impressions of poems    
into a painter's view4 ,i know1 for     
instance1 a  8,beatrice0 of his which   

affords the maximum of involuntary      
comicality4  ,before an                 
artificial-looking orange-tree1 which   
she overtowers in  height1 ,dante's     
beloved1 with the upper part of her body
 thrown back1  and her stomach pushed   
forward1 performs a sort of danse du    
ventre4  ,to her girdle she has a golden
 laurel garland hanging1 which1 as a    
note of illumination in the dull        
night-hues1 has an excellent effect  as 
valeur 7as the ,french say71 but as an  
object or requisite is very  comic4     
,aman-,jean himself1 with that          
misappreciation of subordination in  his
 pictures1 which is so common among     
artists1 lays far greater value  on such
 ridiculous whims than on his portraits4
 ,and yet it is only in  these that he  
shows with what sureness and intensity  
he is able to  seize and lay bare the   
most inaccessible and most mysteriously 
elusive  thing that reality has to      
exhibit1 viz41 living man4 ,his 8,jules 
,caze0  and his 8,dampt the ,sculptor0  

belong to the most delicate portrayals  
of  men1 just as his 8,paul ,verlaine0  
and 8,madame ,henri ,martin0 must also  
remain unforgettable by every one who   
has beheld them4    ,his portraits1 to  
be sure1 are not by any means of the    
same value4  ,there is1 for instance1 a 
portrait by him of a 8,cossack ,colonel0
 that  must fully mislead in regard to  
him4 ,materiality is entirely lacking   
in the full-length figure he has painted
 of the ,russian officer2 it is  clapped
 flat on the canvas like a pancake4 ,a  
laurel bush climbs from  the bottom to  
the top of the picture--one cannot say  
in the background1  as the picture has  
no depth1 but1 apparently1 behind the   
man4 ,the  shrub seems painted on the   
wall to the height of the head4 ,it     
suddenly  grows plastic before our eyes1
 and shoots its leaves in front of the  
colonel's nose and forehead4 ,by this   
symbolism which scoffs at all the  laws 
of perspective1 the painter evidently   
wants to suggest relations  between the 

warrior and fame4 ,one can only shrug   
one's shoulders at  such puerility4     
,he is more and more breaking himself of
 the habit of regarding living  models1 
and allows himself to be hypnotised by  
the ,pr-,raphaelite magic  lantern4 ,we 
might wish for an ,orpheus to take this 
noble artist by the  hand and lead him  
back to the light from the shades in    
which he has  lost himself4 ,perhaps the
 adventure would be more successful than
 in  the case of ,eurydice4    ,albert  
,besnard4--,contemporary painting knows 
no more harsh contrasts  than ,puvis de 
,chavannes and ,albert ,besnard4 ,the   
former saw nothing in  the world except 
spectres2 the latter sees only          
fireworks4 ,puvis's eyes  perceived no  
living colour2 ,besnard's eye is in a   
state as if it had  received a violent  
blow from a fist1 in consequence of     
which it saw the  proverbial ten        
thousand candles4 ,there is nothing     
objectionable about  his delight in     
colour2 on the contrary1 any one who is 

not suffering  from ,daltonism would be 
delighted to be invited to his debauch  
of  colours4 ,if only ,besnard only     
satisfied his taste in a somewhat nobler
  way6 ,it pleases him to introduce his 
dazzling rockets into women's  faces1   
and there no man of healthy taste will  
care to follow him4  ,besnard has       
marvellously beautiful yellow1 orange1  
green1 blue1 and  red on his palette4   
,he can attune them1 too1 to a          
beautifully sounding  harmony2 but why  
must he put yellow on the cheeks1 green 
on the hair1  and blue and orange on the
 shoulders in his portraits8 ,why must  
he  so portray his model as if it were  
streaked with luminous paint or  bathed 
in a stream of light that has flowed    
through a coloured glass  window8 ,his  
mastery of drawing and modelling        
certainly makes his  colouring-run-mad  
somewhat more endurable1 but it does not
 justify his  not searching for the     
tumult of colour which he loves in      
actual life  7where1 after all1 he might

 with some effort find them71 but       
chasing  them into actual life without  
any regard or thought4    ,in the salons
 of late years1 ,albert ,besnard pursues
 a curious  policy4 ,near one or more   
aggressively stupid works1 he exhibits a
  portrait or painting which is         
amazingly rational4 ,in this there is   
method1 unmistakably4 ,it is a sort of  
self-defence4 ,besnard seems1  from his 
canvasses1 to address the visitors to   
the 8,salon0 in these  words3 8,you see 
that ,i am in private life quite a sane 
individual  and correct painter1 who is 
as much the master of his art as anybody
  in the world4 ,the other rubbish is   
for the fools of modernism4 ,for  those 
,i am bound at times to play the ,jack  
,pudding1 but you need not1  however1   
worry yourself about that40 ,once1 for  
instance1 this painted  plea was the    
life-sized portrait of ,denys ,cochin1  
the nationalist  deputy for ,paris--an  
excellent work1 laborious1 powerfully   
drawn1 and  irreproachable in colour1   

which reminds one of ,herkomer's best   
style4  ,his clownery1 on the other     
hand1 was a huge picture which ,besnard 
calls  8,the ,isle of the ,blessed40 ,a 
bushy shore in the foreground1 then a   
wide  expanse of water which looks      
partly like sand1 partly like wine-soup1
  and only in the remotest degree like  
natural water4 ,finally1 in the         
background1 a flat shore with the       
outlines of a white town that stick1  as
 if cut out of paper1 on the blue       
horizon4 ,across the level sea where  it
 is reddest1 glides a skiff in which    
stands1 in the attitude of the  ,saviour
 calming the tempest1 an enigmatical    
figure in red1 flowing  garments1 and   
with the countenance of an ,indian      
chief1 surrounded by  a grass-green and 
wine-dreg-coloured woman and a          
monkey-like rower  of sulphur-yellow    
hue4 ,on the bank young maidens tarry   
for the new  arrivals1 their light      
raiment1 blown bell-shaped by the       
breeze1  reproducing a motif of         

,botticelli4 ,between the trees groups  
of  bright-coloured figures are camped1 
and on the steps of a hill sit  or      
lounge flute-playing fauns1 one of whom 
has the typical head of a  retired      
,french colonel4 ,the women in the skiff
 are distinguished by  distorted1       
acrobatic attitudes1 which no model     
could sustain for ten  minutes without  
supports and props4 ,on principle1 no   
two figures are  placed side by side    
without being clad in the most opposite 
colours in  the spectrum4 ,this         
arrangement of colours suggests the     
thought that  none of the figures must  
move away from the side of the others1  
and  none could step into another group1
 as otherwise the harmonies intended  by
 ,besnard would be destroyed4 ,that     
seems boldly and freely fanciful1  but  
is soberly and painfully subtilised4 ,it
 is a mechanical game with  contrasts of
 colours1 devoid of purpose and even of 
the charm of any  sense of colour4      
,albert ,besnard has1 in his later days1

 evidently  discovered ,bcklin1 or even 
has only heard him extolled and wants   
now  to make his own ,bcklin4 ,the      
fauns--up to their heads--the maidens on
  the shore1 the blue sea1 the white    
town in the distance1 are descended  in 
the direct line from the pictures of the
 ,ble master4 ,but ,besnard  has        
imitated the details as any one may copy
 a writing which he cannot  read4 8,the 
link of the spirit is all that it       
lacks40    ,jean ,boldini is one of the 
most remarkable painters of female      
portraits in our time4 ,in these he     
makes himself most solicitous to  unite 
together the screw lines of ,alexander's
 demoniacs twisting in  hysterical      
convulsions1 and ,zorn's bold1 sunbeam  
dances4 ,the faculty  of tumult hardly  
any one among contemporaries possesses  
like this  uncommonly skilful ,italian4 
,his pictures seem to fly up as from a  
bursting bomb4 ,every fibre in his women
 palpitates and throbs4 ,one of  his    
women sits half naked1 just as if she   

had torn1 in a rage1 the  clothes off   
her body1 on a lion's skin1 and he has  
made the head and  skin of this common  
floor-rug bristle with such an          
expression of cruel  savageness1 that   
you jump back in terror from the        
expected spring of  the bloodthirsty    
monster4 ,another woman wears on her arm
 and shoulders  a feather boa with      
wonderful convolutions1 which seems to  
rustle  from her in excitement like an  
eagle4 ,a third lady stands in a door   
frame--she seems to be about to spring  
forward with the leap of a tiger4  ,she 
wears one of those very modern1 low-cut 
evening dresses1 which are  fastened    
over the shoulders only by a tiny chain2
 her bust looks as if  it were laid bare
 because her dress was torn from her    
body in a brutal  struggle with a satyr4
 ,there is an atmosphere about this     
woman of all  hysterical convulsions1   
,st ,vitus's dance1 or defence with     
teeth and  claws against lawless        
attempts4 ,there is a story about       

sorcerers and  witches who through a    
touch give another shape to men4 ,this  
changing of  skin is not practised only 
in fairy tales4 ,certain portrait       
painters  also have it in their power4  
,old ,cabanel transformed the rich1 fat 
wives of wholesale merchants and owners 
of house property1 whom he  painted for 
#cj1jjj francs1 into goddesses of the   
old ,greek mythology4  ,boldini by a    
spell transforms the ladies who trust   
themselves to  him into mnads1 mad      
women1 evil witches that ride of a night
 on  broomsticks to their ,sabbath4 ,i  
do not believe that people pay him      
#cj1jjj francs for that2 but if a lady  
even disburses a centime to be          
represented by ,boldini as a ,bacchante 
or a ,vampire1 she must be as much  a   
victim to neurosity as ,boldini makes   
her out to be4    ,william              
,bouguereau4--,the contempt of          
,bouguereau is the beginning of  wisdom 
in art4 ,that everybody knows who has   
occupied himself with  contemporary     

painting otherwise than as a            
picture-dealer4 ,among the  long-haired 
ones who dwell on the mountain land of  
,montmartre1 no  name conveys a worse   
insult4 ,he who wants to make an        
impression on  the ,botticelli ladies   
when visiting the 8,salon10 must make a 
grimace  of sudden1 severe nausea when  
he comes across a painting by this      
8manufacturer of perfumery labels40 ,on 
the other hand1 ,bouguereau  has managed
 to collect in his head in a coronet of 
all sorts all the  honours that blossom 
for an artist in ,france4 ,he is        
,commander of the  ,legion of ,honour   
and ,member of the ,institute2 he gained
 the ,prix de  ,rome1 and has pocketed  
all the medals that the ,salons and     
,universal  ,exhibitions had to bestow4 
,his works fetch the highest prices in  
the  market1 and if no ,parisian artist 
finds purchasers1 the big pork  butcher 
of ,chicago1 that painters' ,providence1
 to whom in their  prayers they turn    
their countenances1 always has gold for 

,bouguereau4  ,the deplorable           
,philistine1 who would also very much   
like to have a  little share in the     
sthetic enjoyments of this world1 tears 
his hair  and groans3 8,where is truth80
 ,the ,chat ,noir treats ,bouguereau as 
a buffoon1 but the ,academy erects      
altars to him4 ,criticism scoffs1  but  
,america pays4 ,and1 however readily the
 ,philistine yields to the  appearance  
of daring modernity1 if he listens to   
the voice of his own  heart1 he notices 
to his embarrassment that ,bouguereau1  
as a matter  of fact1 pleases him4 ,he  
gazes with secret delight at his 8,cupid
 and  ,psyche10 his 8,pearl10 and       
8,innocence10 his 8,oblation to ,cupid10
 his  8,wasps' ,nest10 his 8,cupid      
mouill10 his 8,holy ,women at the       
,tomb40 ,it  is always the same3 a sweet
 maiden1 or even several1 a well-built  
youth  of rosy body and slender limbs1  
laughing little mouths with pearly      
teeth1 blooming cheeks1 snowy bosoms and
 rosy fingers--all lovely1 all  a       

delight to the eye4 ,the ,philistine    
wriggles under the decree of  fashion1  
which forces him to find these charming 
things horrible1 and  his troubled look 
frames the question that his mouth dares
 not utter3  8,why8 ,why80    ,i think  
we are doing a good work when we answer 
him calmly and in  a friendly manner1   
without exaggeration or cheap witticisms
 which  neither explain nor prove       
anything1 not even necessarily the      
sincerity  of the witling4 ,bouguereau  
pleases the insufficiently trained eye1 
because he paints prettily2 but in art  
prettiness is the direct  opposite of   
the beautiful1 for it is untruth1 since 
a conscience  originally delicate or    
happily trained only feels truth to be  
beautiful4    ,prettiness is necessarily
 untruth1 for it is that which is       
conceived  without trouble1 which       
excites no opposition1 which compels no 
strain  on the attention and no         
adaptation on the part of the spectator 
to the  peculiarity of the artist4 ,its 

effect is merely the effect of what     
meets the spectator's pre-existent      
thoughts or feelings completely4  ,this 
pre-existing element is not1 however1   
the result of collective  observation   
and strong feeling1 but the dissipated  
precipitate of the  most fugitive1      
indifferent perception1 which is totally
 unfitted to  obtrude into the world of 
phenomena4    ,the artist whose goal is 
prettiness1 does not glance at reality1 
but at  the soul of the crowd which he  
wishes to please4 ,he does not portray  
what he sees1 and what makes an         
impression on him1 but what suits the   
feeble1 inexact concepts which the      
average man forms of things4 ,he is  a  
courtier of the crowd2 he flatters their
 shallowness and incapacity4  ,he wants 
them to say1 with a self-satisfied      
smile3 8,this man is a great  artist1   
for he has the same way of looking at   
things as ourselves40  ,prettiness is1  
in lyric poetry1 rhyming 8love0 with    
8dove10 8heart0  and 8part02 in drama1  

it is rewarding the good characters with
  advantageous marriages and lucrative  
posts1 and making the wicked fall  into 
the pit they have dug for others4 ,for  
this is just what the public  expects2  
such is the world-picture which the     
world has arranged for  itself1 and it  
is grateful to the poet that he does not
 force it to  rectify its comfortable   
way of thinking4    ,in the plastic arts
 prettiness is the average or typical4  
,bouguereau  paints a pattern1 not a    
person4 ,he has a canon to which he     
holds2 and  if he would only go so far  
as to look at real human beings1 and had
  to admit that nature does not act     
according to his canon1 he would        
certainly say3 8,so much the worse for  
nature40    ,superficiality always      
confuses prettiness with the ideal4 ,one
 cannot  fail to see that prettiness    
lacks exactness4 ,this inexactness is1  
however1 praised as an improvement on   
reality3 the master of prettiness       
understands nature better than she      

understands herself4 ,he guesses what   
she would1 but cannot always1 do1 and   
comes with his superior creative  power 
to help the poor incapable4 ,the truth  
is that prettiness is the  exact reverse
 of the ideal2 for the ideal is the     
presentiment of future  developments3   
prettiness the pompous repetition of    
what is commonplace4  ,the idealist is  
impelled by a restless longing after    
novelty to  represent2 he seeks in      
invisible germs which the average soul  
does  not perceive to detect the later  
glory of blossom4 ,the painter of       
prettiness shows scant satisfaction in  
attainment1 and his creation is  nothing
 but a sleepy reminiscence of           
impressions he is accustomed to4    ,the
 chief harm done by prettiness in art is
 that it confirms the  multitude in     
their dulness instead of arousing them  
from it4 ,what  the 8man in the street0 
feels in presence of a work of          
,bouguereau's  is self-complacent       
pleasure at the artist agreeing with    

him4 ,he  will expect the same feeling  
also from real works of art1 and be     
disappointed if he fails to find it4    
,pretty paintings deaden the mind  of   
the average man for powerful works1     
which teach men to see1 educate  eyes1  
operate for cataract1 and heal          
colour-blindness1 are keys to the       
hidden sense of lines of movement1      
interpret the symbolism of form1  and   
point the way to unknown beauty4 ,the   
bloodthirsty backwoodsman  of           
,montmartre is1 therefore1 right to     
think little or nothing of  ,bouguereau1
 and to scalp him2 and the ,philistine  
who expects to elevate  and enrich his  
mind by art must make the sacrifice of  
renouncing the  cheap pleasure which the
 engaging banality of prettiness        
procures him4    ,if ,bouguereau has    
anything personal to say1 he can say it 
no worse than  many another4 ,his       
8,portrait of ,himself0 in the velvet   
painting-jacket  is sincere1 and at any 
rate strives to be honest4 ,it is true  

that here1  too1 he has not been quite  
able to overcome his habit of           
embellishing1  and his cheeks are       
distressingly rosy4 ,one could not      
expect from  him the almost terrifying  
inexorableness with which a ,david has  
confessed the dreadful grimace of his   
face paralysed on one side1 and  a      
,rembrandt1 in his old age1 the         
puffiness of his features and the       
wateriness of his eyes4 ,these men had  
such a pride in truthfulness  that1 in  
their anxiety not to be partial1 they   
felt almost hostile to  themselves1 and 
tried1 and judged themselves            
accordingly4 ,bouguereau  does not      
understand why he should treat himself  
more ill-temperedly  than his ,cupids   
and nymphs1 and smiles good-humouredly  
at himself4    ,frank ,brangwyn4--,this 
young ,englishman1 born in ,belgium1 is 
a painter  of the great class from which
 the kings of art spring4 ,in his       
delight  in colour1 he reminds us of    
,delacroix in his ,sturm und ,drang     

period2  in the dauntlessness with which
 he wields the brush1 of ,franz ,hals   
himself1 the boldest fighter with this  
weapon that ever lived up to  now4 ,his 
two first works exhibited in the ,paris 
,salon1 8,a ,sailor's  ,funeral0 and    
8,all ,hands ,aloft10 instantly called  
attention to him4 ,his  8,buccaneers0   
was a veritable revelation4 ,in a boat1 
floating on the  blue-black tide of the 
,carribean ,sea1 row some life-sized    
fellows clad  in variegated material1   
their heads bound with bright red       
cloths4 ,in  the glowing1 tropical sun  
that swelters down on them1 everything  
is  a blinding1 bright flame3 the foam1 
wet oars1 the ship's planks1 the        
clothing and headgear of the people4    
,the brown cut-throats get in  this     
noonday glory an almost superhuman      
relief1 and in their savage             
countenances a calm consciousness of    
their formidableness is revealed1  which
 even in the picture has the effect of a
 challenge to mortal  combat4 ,a year   

later he exhibited 8,goatherds10        
likewise life-sized1  and likewise      
plunged in the noonday glow of a        
southern sky1 and1 in  addition1 a      
reposefully coloured and marvellously   
deep night-piece1  8,the ,three ,holy   
,kings offering the ,infant ,jesus      
,gold1 ,incense1 and  ,myrrh40 ,his     
ability was further enhanced by a       
8,market on the ,shore0 and  a          
8,miraculous ,draught of ,fishes40      
,the 8,market on the ,shore0 is held in 
a ,barbary harbour4 ,little             
bright-coloured carpets are spread on   
the yellow loamy sand1 where  negroes in
 brown and green-lined haiks and        
burnooses lie squatting4  ,they are     
surrounded by poorer people in fantastic
 rags1 with red  tarboosh on long1      
clean-shaven ,hamitic skulls4 ,beyond1  
three ships  extend their prows over the
 flat beach1 and in the background1 on  
the  further side of a strip of water1  
we get a glance1 through a gateway  with
 three pointed arches1 at the dim throng

 of a mysterious ,mohammedan  town4     
,the 8,miraculous ,draught of ,fishes0  
takes place in the evening4 ,the        
fishing-boat rocks softly on the almost 
oil-smooth1 dark blue mirror  of the    
,lake of ,genesareth1 on the shallow    
valleys and crests of whose  waves the  
setting sun's nearly horizontal beams   
strew leaves and  strips of thin gold4  
,four fishermen are busy hauling in with
 powerful  movements the net heavy with 
their catch4 ,behind their vessel1 a    
green1 flat-bottomed boat with sails1   
steered by a disciple1 carries  the     
,saviour1 veiled in the gloaming1 across
 the water4    ,religious subjects have 
an especial attraction for ,brangwyn4   
,in his  great picture1 8,the           
,scoffers10 he shows a man with the     
bearded curly  head of an enthusiast1   
fastened to a pillory4 ,the scene1 as is
 usual  with ,brangwyn1 is an ,eastern  
town4 ,a crowd1 which is amusing by its 
negro and ,moorish types and their      
charming garments and rags1 presses  on 

the prisoner1 who is wearing the strange
 garb of a ,western artisan1  and       
reviles him with the words from their   
mouths opened in sneering  laughter2    
with the glances of their stupid1       
malicious eyes2 with the  gesture of    
their forked and pointed fingers4 ,pity 
is mingled with  curiosity only in the  
case of a handsome1 brown1 young maiden 
in  the foreground1 who1 with a noble   
water-pot on her head1 evidently        
returning home from the spring1 remains 
standing in order to gaze at  the scene4
 ,you may understand the story as you   
please4 ,perhaps it is  a foreign       
socialist or anarchist1 who tried to    
preach his doctrines  there1 and to whom
 the authorities are giving short       
shrift1 and  whose only reward now is   
the mockery of the stupid crowd to whom 
he  intended to bring a message of      
salvation4 ,perhaps the incident has a  
deeper and more solemn sense1 and is the
 subjective1 half-touched-up1           
half-modernised representation of the   

mocking of ,christ when ,he was  bound  
to the pillar in order to undergo       
flagellation4 ,whether the drama  is    
conceived from a sociological or        
theological standpoint1 it is of        
supreme power4 ,the great pain of the   
altruist who sacrifices himself  for    
mankind1 and sees his sacrifice         
despised2 the great sin of the  populace
 that is thoughtlessly guilty of the    
most horrible ingratitude1  are         
strikingly expressed4 ,and in what form 
is this rich spiritual and  moral       
purport clothed8 ,such repose and       
nobility in varied colour2 such         
witchery in the flat triad of dark      
yellow1 reddish purple1 and deep  blue2 
such amazing sureness in modelling by   
means of mere patches of  colour without
 outlines1 it has not been my lot to    
meet with twice in  contemporary        
painting4    ,neither must ,i leave his 
8,st ,simon ,stylites0 unnoticed4 ,the  
saint is  sitting1 with his back resting
 against a pole1 on the platform of his 

lofty pillar4 ,on the other edge of the 
platform1 ascending by a ladder1        
appears a priest in mass vestments1     
accompanied by a deacon1 in order  to   
administer ,holy ,communion to the      
,stylite1 who is apparently dying4  ,the
 story1 however1 is a matter of         
indifference4 ,it is the wonderful      
harmony of colours that makes this      
picture so expressive4 ,it is late in   
the day2 twilight is approaching2 the   
last ray of sunlight is finely          
sprinkled through the air around the    
figures above the roofs of the  ,syrian 
town1 from which arises a transparent   
cloud1 so thin that it is  rather a     
breath1 an exhalation1 than a vapour1   
and is more surmised  than seen4 ,a     
flight of swallows glides past the      
saint1 and the birds1  with their       
arrow-swift and pleasing motions1       
observed in the precise  ,japanese way1 
greatly help to produce an impression of
 height and  airiness1 which ,brangwyn  
attains chiefly by his art of           

distributing  light1 and his eerie      
perspective4    ,brangwyn fixes in his  
pictures all the magic of noon and      
midnight4 ,he  shows his figures either 
flushed by the quivering heat of the    
full  burning sun1 or covered with a    
veil of half-transparent darkness4 ,both
  illuminations have the peculiarity of 
suppressing all subsidiary work  and    
letting only what is essential remain4  
,the face or body of a man  steeped in  
sun rays becomes almost transparent4    
,behind the skin and the  connecting    
tissues which we perceive only as a     
covering1 the muscles  and bones come   
forth4 ,the intense brightness prepares 
a body almost  as the dissecting knife  
of anatomy4 ,darkness has a similar     
effect2 it  blots out the connections   
and transitions1 and only accentuates   
the  strong lines of construction4 ,only
 diffused light gives an equal value  to
 all the parts of a surface2 it shows   
all and explains nothing4  ,direct      
light1 on the other hand1 just like     

darkness1 graduates  phenomena1 makes us
 recognise at the first glance what is  
external  ornamentation and what are the
 supports and timber4    ,brangwyn is an
 impressionist in the best sense of the 
word1 a perfect  representative of what 
,impressionism contains that is         
justifiable4 ,he  does not stop over    
trivialities and accessories4 ,he sees  
only the  essential in phenomena1 but   
this he sees with infallible certainty  
and  intensity4 ,a feature which marks  
exhaustively the direction1 purpose1    
and force of a movement2 a spot of      
colour that challenges and fixes the    
eye1 as a sudden stroke of a bell does  
the ear--these are the optical  elements
 which he grasps1 and with delightful   
simplicity1 weight1 and  carelessness1  
and1 as it were1 in student fashion1    
throws on the canvas  8straight from the
 wrist40 ,the spectator finds once more 
in the picture  exactly the component   
parts of the phenomenon which in the    
actual thing  would alone excite and fix

 his attention1 and1 corresponding to   
his  psychological habit1 he supplements
 the indications of the painting by     
pictures from his own memory1 till it   
becomes a perfect copy of the  real     
thing1 which then includes also all the 
subsidiary matters either  merely hinted
 at1 or quite passed over by the        
painter4    ,brangwyn is one of those   
rare gifted virtuosi who does not need  
to  draw4 ,the line does not subsist for
 him1 just as it does not subsist in    
nature4 ,he models with light and       
colour4 ,he puts spots irregularly near 
one another1 little and big1 long and   
short1 angular and round1 bright  and   
dark1 white and coloured2 and from these
 spots1 from this mosaic of             
correctly-felt effects of light1 he     
builds up the phenomenon in space  with 
incomparably genuine and intense        
corporeality4 ,our judgment adds  the   
lines which the painter has never drawn1
 as it does when looking at  the actual 
thing4 ,we have here the optical        

elements themselves1 which  are         
perceived by the retina of the eye as   
mere gradations of light1 but  are      
apprehended and interpreted by the      
higher centres as coloured and  plastic 
phenomena4 ,such a way of painting      
demands infallible certainty  of sight  
and trustworthy obedience of the hand1  
else it leads to  bankruptcy in art4    
,paul ,czanne4--,he was one of the      
protagonists and pioneers of            
,naturalism4 ,he was with ,claude       
,monet1 ,caillebotte1 and the other     
,impressionists an interesting          
subverter2 with ,zola he was for a      
moment  a victor1 and is now vanquished1
 although1 probably1 he will not  admit 
it4 ,a barefooted ,masaniello1 whom a   
successful revolution of  the rabble    
carries to the top and lodges in the    
king's palace1 but  who has very soon to
 exchange his purple mantle for his     
hereditary  rags4 ,fortunately1 the lot 
of overthrown art-revolutionaries is not
 so  horrible as ,masaniello's2 they do 

not end under the executioner's hand4   
,czanne has one thing in his favour     
which prepossesses us for him1  i4e41   
his uprightness4 ,it is his nature that 
ugliness has for him an  attraction4 ,he
 sees only what is abnormal1 unpleasant1
 and repulsive  in actual life4 ,if he  
paints a house1 it must be warped1 and  
threaten  to tumble down soon4 ,if he   
portrays a human being1 the latter has  
a distorted face1 apparently paralysed  
on one side1 and a deeply  depressed or 
stupid expression4 ,every model that    
submits himself to  him is put in some  
sort of convict's dress4 ,here is a     
female portrait4  ,a withered1 dried-up 
face1 mud-bedaubed clothes that look as 
if they  had been trailed through the   
gutter4 ,doubtless a 8professional0 who 
at a raid was accommodated in 8,black   
,maria10 and1 after a night in  the     
cells of the police station1 discharged8
 ,nothing of the sort4 ,she  is a       
respectable lady of the upper           
middle-class4 ,this man with the        

trouble-distorted countenance and the   
greasy felt hat and overcoat  is perhaps
 a starveling from ,bohemia1 a          
broken-down creature1 ruined  artist or 
writer8 ,most certainly not4 ,he is a   
well-to-do person of  independent means4
 ,it is curious to me how any one can   
allow himself  of his own accord to be  
painted by ,czanne1 unless it were done 
in a  contrite1 penitential mood as a   
penance4 ,to be sure1 one cannot be     
angry with him1 for he does not treat   
himself any better than his other       
victims4 ,he has painted portraits of   
himself which would be grossly          
libellous if another had painted them4  
,in truth he is not vain1 for he  sees  
himself as he represents himself in     
these pictures4 ,and his morose  eye    
disfigures not only faces1 heads1 and   
raiment1 but also the rest4  ,heine     
assures us that 8,a woman's body is a   
poem40 ,he would not dare to  sustain   
this statement if he were to see        
,czanne's 8,three ,naked ,women  before 

the ,bath40 ,such nudities are really   
immoral1 and shriek1 not for  a discreet
 fig-leaf1 but for a nine-fold covering 
of cloth and fur4    ,blaise            
,desgoffes4--,this painter1 who died in 
#aijb1 was an incomparable  copier of   
still life2 for indeed there exists a   
still and secret life  in the           
productions of the artist's hand1 as an 
eye lovingly steeped  in form and beauty
 of colour sees them4 ,desgoffes was    
great in little  pictures1 which        
rendered splendid things of gold and    
enamel1 of rock  crystal1 jasper and    
chalcedony1 trinkets and precious       
stones1 lace  and embroidery on velvet  
and silk1 carved and polished ebony in  
insurpassable perfection4 ,there is a   
school which very contemptuously  calls 
these pictures bodegones4 ,that is the  
disdainful ,spanish  expression both for
 a cookshop and for daubed              
representations of vulgar  eatables such
 as sausages1 smoked herrings1 and      
cheese made from whey4  ,copying the    

productions of human hands should be    
unworthy of an artist4  ,only what is   
living1 nay1 only human life1 should be 
justifiable4 ,but  that is too narrow a 
conception4 ,certainly the highest      
mission of all  human art is the        
portrayal of men and women2 and what is 
not itself  human becomes artistic in   
proportion as it gains relation to      
humanity  by means of secret            
anthropomorphic animation and           
spiritualisation4 ,but  he who demands  
harshly and dogmatically that the human 
figure should be  treated to the        
exclusion of everything else1 relegates 
a ,hondekoeter1  a ,landseer1 a ,rosa   
,bonheur to the second class1 and denies
 a ,desgoffes  the title of artist1     
which is sheer nonsense4 ,i do not know 
if there is  a precedence in art1 or any
 other precedence than that of the      
ability  to express and transmit the    
life of emotion4 ,anyhow1 a man stands  
very high who understood how to         
translate into painting the optical     

peculiarities of choice woods1 metals1  
stones1 and textures better than  any   
painter before him4    ,lon ,frdric     
amazes like an anachronism2 in him lives
 the soul of a  primitive4 ,thus the    
,van ,eycks1 ,roger van der ,weydens1   
and ,hans ,memlings  regarded the world 
and man4 ,that is1 however1 not a sort  
of affected1  antique skill1 as in the  
,english ,pr-,raphaelites1 and their    
,continental  imitators1 but genuine1   
unconscious atavism1 the purity of which
 is  evident from the fact that ,frdric 
paints no masquerades1 but only  nude1  
human limbs1 or contemporary types of   
the people in the miserable  working    
garb of our days4 ,if they appear like  
figures out of medival  ballads or      
folk-stories1 it is because ,frdric     
feels them so4 ,he is an  out and out   
,fleming3 mystical like his countrymen  
,ruysbroek1 ,suyskens1  etc42 and1      
besides1 delighting in form1 like the   
builders of the  ,belgian cathedrals and
 guildhalls2 in love with life1 like the

 feasters  and dancers of the ,flemish  
kermesses2 honest and conscientious in  
his  work1 like an old guild-master of  
the time of the ,spanish ,netherlands2  
brooding and earnest1 like a ,beguine or
 a ,lollard4    ,frdric does not        
actually copy1 but he is curiously vivid
 in his  recollection of what he has    
seen4 ,the old ,low-,german and ,flemish
  masters1 whose outlook on the world he
 shares1 hover before him4 ,from  the   
,low-,german artists he has his nave1   
brick-red flesh tone and the  painfully 
conscientious kind of workmanship1 which
 neglects no wrinkle  in the skin or    
curl in the hair2 from ,memling1 his    
loving accuracy in  treating all        
accessory work--flowers1 ground1        
clothes1 and utensils4  ,sprinkling the 
whole canvas with equally finished      
details1 chiefly  luxuriant plants1 is  
common to ,frdric and all the           
,pr-,raphaelites4  ,the pictures of this
 school1 even if they take their        
subjects chiefly  from the fourth       

dimension1 are optically of two         
dimensions4 ,they are  only surfaces4   
,they do not understand perspective1    
and1 therefore1  cannot shade off a     
middle distance or background4          
,everything lies in  one and the same   
plane and is treated with the same      
clearness and  precision4 ,in the       
accuracy with which they render every   
little stone1  every texture1 and plant1
 the ,pr-,raphaelites have no equals4   
,if1  in addition to this1 they could   
paint human beings also1 they would     
deserve unstinted praise1 at any rate1  
as draughtsmen1 if not as  colourists4  
,frdric feels the sacredness of his art 
profoundly1 as do few other  painters of
 the present day4 ,he seems to himself a
 priest4 ,it is an  external1 but a     
characteristic one3 he paints hardly    
anything but  triptychs1 which he       
regards1 to a certain extent1 as        
altar-pieces of  a philosophical        
religion2 and what he portrays is always
 a sort of  pathetic symbol1 from which 

there comes a sound like verses from the
  ,bible or ,vedic hymns4 ,his symbols  
are not always clear1 but it is not  his
 fault that painting is not a fit       
expression of brief syntheses of  long  
trains of thought1 or ethical and       
philosophical abstractions4  ,at most it
 is his fault that he does not feel     
this4 ,his triptych1  the 8,golden      
,age10 is1 for instance1 a view such as 
,ovid might have  described if he had   
lived in a ,belgian district among      
,flemish people4  ,frdric relates the   
history of one day of his happy race3   
how human  creatures of all gradations  
of age sleep peacefully in the gleaming 
night1 clinging to one another2 how they
 are awakened by rosy dawn and  refresh 
themselves in a crystal brook2 how1     
beneath a noonday sun1  they play and   
dance and shout for joy1 pluck blossoms 
and fruits1 and  sit before dainty      
dishes4 ,it is a profusion of           
magnificently modelled  nude women who  
are all very red of skin2 a laughing    

exuberance of life  such as an old-time 
worshipper of the obscene god of        
fruitfulness might  have dreamt of      
amidst the reek of sacrifice4 ,it is    
also a funnily  cannibalistic debauch of
 delicious children's flesh and         
blooming1  well-nourished bodies4 ,in   
other pictures ,frdric has occasionally 
tortured us by quite as perfectly       
painted1 but1 on account of their       
inexorable truth1 fearfully painful     
representations of radiant nudities     
torn by thorns1 and whole heaps of      
children's corpses4 ,here1 however1  he 
is all joy and peace1 and his picture is
 a delight to the eye4    ,in another of
 ,frdric's triptychs1 8,the ,ages of the
 ,workman10 we  can measure the whole   
emptiness of such concepts as 8,realism0
 and  8,idealism40 ,compare ,frdric with
 the ,bastien ,lepage of the            
,luxembourg4  ,bastien ,lepage passes   
for the most perfect didactic type of   
realistic  painting4 ,his brutalised1   
ape-like1 feeble-minded1 staring ,reaper

 is  supposed to be genuine1 unrouged   
nature4 ,possibly the painter has1 on   
some occasion1 seen a disgusting idiot  
of this sort4 ,i do not know1  but ,i   
will believe it1 for ,i should like to  
assume that he had not  discovered in   
his own imagination so perversely       
distorted an image of  the human form4  
,but as such repulsively bestial young  
women are1 in  any case1 rare exceptions
 among the white races1 ,bastien ,lepage
 has  unmistakably taken the trouble to 
choose out of thousands the most        
hideous model he could hunt up1 out of a
 base1 corrupt delight in  ugliness1    
with the malicious intention of defaming
 nature4 ,frdric  tells a story in his  
triptych1 8,the ,ages of the ,workman40 
,who can deny  that he1 too1 has held   
with absolute accuracy to reality8 ,on  
the right1  early childhood3 workmen's  
wives1 young and fair mothers are       
suckling  their babies1 sweet1 fat      
little creatures with firm little limbs 
and  skins like rose leaves2 little     

maidens1 who can hardly stand on their  
feet1 take in tow and act the mother to 
still smaller brothers and  sisters2 old
 grandmothers1 who can no longer take   
part in the labours  of the household1  
keep an eye on the children crawling and
 swarming  about4 ,in the middle1 youth3
 neglected yet happy scapegraces are    
playing cards in the street1 sitting or 
squatting on the curb-stone2            
undisciplined lads are venturing the    
experiment of their first  cigarette2   
grown-up youths go out with young girls 
of their class on  their arm2 what they 
whisper in the ears of their blushing   
sweethearts  would scarcely delight     
severe guardians of morals2 but1 at that
 period  of life1 in that human         
environment1 their feelings are so      
natural and  healthy that1 in spite of  
all crabbed affectation1 they are felt  
to be  pleasant and touching4 ,finally1 
on the left1 men in their prime are  at 
work3 they are erecting toilsomely1 with
 heavy pieces1 a scaffold1  and a little

 youngster looks at them2 what he has   
before his eyes is  his own future lot1 
but in his careless1 boyish curiosity he
 notices  only the amusing side of the  
growth of a skilful and intricate work  
of man1 not the hard seriousness of the 
ill-paid1 dangerous1 and  severe        
exertion4 ,thus the life of the poor    
artisan lies exposed to  our gaze4      
,frdric does not conceal from us either 
its hardships or  the scantiness of its 
material condition4 ,he shows us how    
poorly the  people are clad1 how ugly   
their streets and houses are1 how narrow
 is  the circle that includes their     
petty joys and sorrows1 and how serious1
  now and then1 is their pastime4 ,but  
he makes us see also the sunshine       
resting golden over their years of      
childhood and youth1 and feel the       
satisfactions with which their families 
also animate and delight their          
monotonous existence4 ,he brings these  
poor1 humble people humanly  near us1   
and gives us a great lesson in          

brotherhood4 ,every feature  in his     
picture is true2 but from this truth a  
noble and consoling  thought proceeds1  
revealing to us its full extent of      
beauty and moral  motives4 ,frdric is a 
,realist quite as much as ,bastien      
,lepage1 so  far as he deals with the   
painfully exact reproduction of sights  
he  has actually observed4 ,but in      
,frdric's presentment the commonplace   
appears ennobled1 and that a superficial
 stheticism dubs ,idealism4  ,the fact  
of the matter is that the words ,realism
 and ,idealism mean  simply nothing4    
,there is no art1 there is no artistic  
tendency1 which  could be so designated4
 ,there are only artists' temperaments1 
which are  themselves bilious1 and1 for 
that reason1 dwell with malicious joy on
  the unpleasant sides of reality1 and  
others which delight in all that  is    
bright1 and have a presentiment of a    
deeper redeeming meaning even  behind   
the unpleasing external4 ,the ,realism  
of a ,bastien ,lepage is  calumny2 that 

of a ,frdric1 a speech for the defence4 
,jean ,paul ,laurens has reached all the
 heights of artistic success4 ,he  is a 
professor1 an ,academician1 and he      
receives the most honourable            
commissions from the ,state and great   
cities4 ,he has been graciously         
permitted to satisfy his ambition as a  
monumental painter with enormous  wall- 
and ceiling-paintings1 like those of the
 ,capitol of ,toulouse4  ,he was often  
more happy1 often less happy1 always    
powerful1 always  pathetic1 now and     
then1 ,i will admit1 declamatory4 ,but  
he has also once  forsaken his visions  
of history and turned a glance at the   
present2 and  what he saw there1 he     
fixed in a great painting which he calls
 8,mining  ,folk10 which stands above   
all his far-famed frescoes4    ,it is   
evening4 ,between a high1 steep-sloping 
heap of coal and slack  and a low line  
of distant hills closing the horizon1 a 
big town is  painted in a wide trough of
 country4 ,over the crowded roofs of    

this  town numerous chimneys rise up4   
,no church towers or palace gables1 only
  chimneys which belch aggressively1 one
 might say1 white vapour or dense  black
 smoke in the face of the twilight sky4 
,from the middle distance  a procession 
of weary1 toil-worn men1 whose legs drag
 and heads hang  down1 is moving forward
 along a causeway4 ,from the depths on  
both sides  of the causeway ascend      
clouds of sulphurous yellow and blue    
smoke4    ,any one engrossed in the     
details may see how the workmen         
wandering  homewards are clad in the    
garb of the modern proletariat1 and how 
a  manufacturing town of the present day
 with typical factory buildings  lies   
stretched before us4 ,but the first     
rapid1 comprehensive glance  conveys    
quite a different impression4 ,the town 
looks like a ,sodom  and ,gomorrha in   
rebellion against ,god1 and is on the   
point of being  chastised by fire from  
heaven4 ,the procession of men appears  
to be a  band of the damned which a     

hidden1 mysterious abyss of hell1 behind
  the bend in the road1 has vomited4    
,near the causeway1 uncanny depths  seem
 to yawn1 from which tongues of         
hell-flames leap up4 ,it is a  prophet's
 vision1 and the atmosphere of a saga4  
,you fancy you have  an illustration of 
the ,inferno before you1 but also a note
 from the  formula according to which   
the painters and sculptors of the       
,middle  ,ages were wont to depict the  
,last ,judgment4    ,and the most       
remarkable thing is that this epic      
extension and  enhancement of so banal  
an incident as the exodus of a shift of 
pitmen  knocking off their work is by no
 means intended4 ,the painter nowhere   
consciously works with a view to        
melodrama4 ,he keeps1 in all details1   
strictly to facts4 ,it is only his      
perception that has made a canto of     
,dante out of a true copy of an everyday
 incident4 ,at the sight of the  flaming
 forges1 smoking chimneys1 and exhausted
 slaves working for  hire1 there came to

 him an inkling of the mighty forces of 
nature and  society which are at work in
 the man- and horse-powers of a modern  
wholesale business1 which fixed the     
choice and arrangement of elements  in  
his picture1 imprinted on it the        
demoniac feature1 and rendered it a     
profound symbol of the history of a part
 of humanity4    ,jef ,leempoels is one 
of the most interesting of contemporary 
,flemings  in whom the exquisite        
artistic qualities of their medival     
forefathers  and masters live again4    
,leempoels has the sturdy1 homely       
truthfulness  of these ancestors1 their 
profound feeling1 and speculative mind1 
which easily goes astray into the       
fantastic4 ,he has their masterly       
draughtsmanship1 and he only lacks their
 delight in colour and their  gift of   
free1 clear composition to rise entirely
 to their greatness4    ,he does not    
rely on his capability or right to      
distinguish between the  essential and  
the non-essential4 ,he does not dominate

 his subject with  sovereignly          
subjective perception1 but makes himself
 the humble slave  of the phenomena and 
all their most capricious and lowest    
details4 ,he  does not span the world   
with the eye of a creative artist1 but  
glances  at it as though he were a      
photographic apparatus for taking       
authentic  negatives4 ,to this          
intellectual dependence is joined an    
insufficient  development of the sense  
of what is picturesque4 ,leempoels is   
dry in  his accuracy and sober in his   
colouring4 ,he does not seem to think   
it is his vocation to harmonise tones   
and to please the eye by a              
well-arranged palette4 ,and in spite of 
all this ,i can never forget his  chief 
pictures4 ,he revealed his nature in    
nave little features4 ,for  instance1 on
 the wall of the room where the father  
and mother1 old  and worn out by life1  
are sitting together1 hang faded        
photographs  representing them1 as a    
young married couple1 in a strikingly   

comic  dress according to the latest    
fashion of five-and-twenty years ago1   
yet young and full of joyous hope4 ,this
 discreet contrast1 which must  be      
sought for to be noticed1 contains the  
whole melancholy poetry of  their life  
from blooming youth to withered age4    
,and the pictures of his  sisters4 ,the 
good girls are not particularly favoured
 by nature2 they  are true daughters of 
the homely ,flemish race1 in whom beauty
 is rare4  ,when ,leempoels painted     
them1 there was a struggle in him       
between the  conscientiousness of a     
sworn witness to reality and brotherly  
love2 but  the former gained the        
victory1 and the latter was allowed to  
reveal  itself only in the delicate1    
almost caressing1 perfection of their   
hands1 necks1 hair1 and clothes4    ,his
 picture 8,friendship0--an old and      
somewhat younger man are sitting  boldly
 before us1 hand in hand1 with their    
honest1 ugly faces turned  full towards 
us4 ,they are figures from the people1  

the one wearing  a green1 the other a   
dark red knitted waistcoat4 ,they are   
evidently  neither rich nor educated1   
and no particularly developed           
intellectual  life speaks from their    
clear1 reposeful eyes1 or their heavy1  
vulgar  features4 ,and yet they are     
noble creatures4 ,it is their feeling   
which ennobles them4 ,only lofty souls  
are capable of such loyalty  and        
attachment as these two workmen1 who so 
affectionately clasp  each other's hands
 and lean shoulder to shoulder--let come
 what come  may6--and he who comprehends
 character without declamation says to  
himself involuntarily before this       
picture3 8,it is well for him who in    
his path through life meets with such   
friendship40 ,here ,leempoels has       
performed the highest mission of the    
artist--he has recognised and  indicated
 convincingly what is grand and         
beautiful in the insignificant  and     
commonplace4 ,that is healthy idealism1 
for which it is my pride to  fight--a   

consoling and uplifting moral purport in
 an exact and true form4    ,i am less  
agreed in respect of another picture4   
,leempoels calls it  8,fate and         
,humanity10 and in this he has gone     
beyond his natural vocal  register4     
,from the lower rim of the picture there
 grows a marvellous  flora of hands     
stretched forth on high1 either folded  
in supplication  or clenched in         
threatening fists1 embracing many       
symbols of faith  of various kinds1 such
 as crosses1 communion chalices1        
fetishes and  offerings2 over them      
appears1 in violet light and filling    
two-thirds  of the picture1 a huge1     
bearded face that1 indifferent and      
unmoved1  gazes forward without noticing
 the hands of supplication and blasphemy
  raised towards it4 ,it is plain enough
 what ,leempoels wants to express2  but 
it is not apparent what the effect will 
be of this violet face as  inexorable   
destiny4 ,its feeble1 vacant gaze and   
stiff nimbus infuse  no particular      

horror1 and nothing else which might be 
imposing is  discernible in it4 ,on the 
other hand1 ,leempoels imparts to the   
hands  the full measure of his amazing  
capacity4 ,these hundreds of hands1     
which are painted with a patience that  
is almost painful1 have all  their      
individual physiognomy4 ,they are all   
individual hands of men  and women1     
young and old1 industrious and idle1    
,caucasian1 ,nubian1  and ,indian4 ,the 
hands of all races1 callings1 ages and  
temperaments  are so perfect in their   
characterisation that error is          
impossible4 ,if  among the hands were to
 be found those of a friend1 ,i should  
certainly  recognise them at the first  
glance4 ,as a study of human hands1 the 
piece is a museum-picture which has not 
its peer in all the collections  with   
which ,i am acquainted4 ,as a work of   
art it saddens through want of  taste4  
,leempoels would sin against himself if 
he strayed into unlimited  symbolism4   
,his talent points him in the direction 

of the clearly  circumscribed4 ,he need 
not trouble himself about being         
implicated  with ,philistinism through  
his devotion to actuality4 ,his         
sincerity of  feeling1 too1 in the      
treatment of ,philistine subjects1 will 
always  raise him above ,philistinism4  
,henri ,martin has always aimed at lofty
 ends1 but the paths he has  followed to
 gain them were crooked and wrong4 ,he  
was1 when he began1  and still is1 in   
moments of relapse1 a dabbing stumper1  
i4e41 he  laid on a thick dab of colour 
the size of a hazel-nut and extended  it
 somewhat4 ,with this method1 his famous
 8,vibrations0 was1 indeed1  successful1
 especially at a certain distance2 but  
he broke up all  form1 and this allowed 
him to draw quite superficially4 ,if any
 one  reproached him with not rendering 
a single outline with exactness and     
certainty1 he could use the excuse3     
8,one cannot at the same time flood  a  
picture with flickering light and model 
precisely40 ,stumping was  with ,martin 

as with his imitators the cloak to cover
 up artistically  dishonest forms4 ,his 
idealism--the main feature in his       
physiognomy as  an artist--was revealed1
 in his first period chiefly1 by his    
feeble  figures being dressed in the    
garb peculiar to no time or country1 the
  garb in which the ,primitives were    
wont to make their angels appear1  and  
by their moving in an artificial stage1 
which one can call neither  earth1 nor  
air1 nor heaven2 for1 as a rule1 it was 
painted a single  iridescent1 mixed     
colour1 mostly a sort of pale lilac1    
into which some  darker1 smooth tree    
trunks1 placed regularly like a lattice1
 were  introduced4    ,typical of his   
first period are his symbolical pictures
 8,towards the  ,abyss10 and 8,every    
,one has his own ,chimra40 ,we are      
almost ashamed to  linger over          
describing this confused rubbish4       
8,towards the ,abyss40--,a hussy unclad 
after the fashion in vogue at  a ,paris 
artists' pot-house--her cunning nudity  

is emphasised by  ball-shoes1 long black
 gloves1 and by a black veil1 thrown    
back at the  right place1 but           
transparent throughout--is hurrying down
 the gentle  slope of a hill4 ,bats'    
wings wide outspread sprout from her    
shoulders4  ,a crowd of people1 in which
 men and women of all ages and ranks are
  mixed up1 rush after her with the     
attitudes and gestures of epidemic      
madness4 ,some run1 others drag         
themselves along on their knees1 others1
  again1 on all fours1 after her1 and   
scuffle for flowers which she  strews in
 her wake4 ,every meaning can be        
imported into this picture1  but nothing
 can be gleaned from it1 or1 at most1   
that the frenzied  attitudes of the     
slaves and victims of this creature1    
wallowing in the  dust1 kissing and     
licking the hussy's footsteps1 betray an
 unconscious  masochistic trait in      
,henri ,martin's soul4    8,every ,one  
has his own ,chimra0 is even more futile
 than this perverse  illustration of the

 pious admonition3 8,keep from sin1 for 
the lust of  the flesh leads to         
destruction40 ,a number of daubed1      
shadowy figures  crawl painfully along  
in a clay-coloured mass2 each is bent   
under a  burden which represents in     
bodily form his ruling passion4 ,thus   
the  sensualist carries a naked         
strumpet2 the miser a sack full of gold2
 the  ambitious man laurels and the     
spoils of war1 etc4--a lamentable       
attempt  to represent a literary        
commonplace in an artist's vision1 in a 
living  and concrete form4    ,luckily1 
,henri ,martin showed development4      
,after his first period of  crudely     
affected stippling and streaking1 of    
bold neglect of drawing1  amidst the    
shapeless daubing of coloured confetti1 
serpentines1 and  pomposities1 with a   
would-be profound yet absolutely vacant 
symbolism1  he returned to nature and   
life1 treated warmly human subjects from
  an ideal standpoint1 and toned down   
the crudeness of his execution  without1

 ,i admit1 giving it up altogether4     
,commissioned by a rich banker1 he      
painted for the ,marseilles ,savings    
,bank a monumental triptych which he    
called 8,labour40 ,he assigns  views of 
,marseilles--certainly treated with     
great freedom--to the three             
backgrounds4 ,the manifest meaning of   
the three panels is morning1  noon1 and 
evening4 ,in the first panel1 the       
children are on their way  to school1   
reading their books2 the women are going
 to market1 the  labourers to their     
place of work4 ,in the second1 dockers1 
under the  glowing sun of ,provence1 are
 unloading a ship's cargo1 which        
consists  of baskets full of golden     
oranges4 ,in the third1 the waterside is
  almost deserted2 an old couple1 with a
 child carrying a doll in its arm       
walking in front of them1 stroll in the 
cool of the day2 some artisan  families 
are also enjoying some fresh air after  
leaving off work1 and        ,jam       
majores cadunt altis a montibus umbrae4 

,but the times of day are1 as ,i have   
said1 only the plain meaning of the     
picture4 ,beside or behind it1 it has   
also a deeper1 veiled meaning4  ,it     
would illustrate also an actual state of
 things in the future4  ,valiantly take 
full advantage of school in the morning 
of life1 learn  and prepare yourself by 
that means for working and daring later 
on4  ,labour in your prime until your   
ribs crack3 you can do so1 and it is    
lucrative4 ,in return1 in the evening of
 life you will be at ease1 and1  as a   
comfortable man of means1 enjoy         
refreshing leisure4    ,we must be      
allowed to laugh at this optimistic     
aspect of industrial  life4 ,if ,henri  
,martin has known a docker--of          
,marseilles or any other  place--who was
 able to end his life as a man of       
independent means1 ,i  should like to   
ask him for that man's photograph4      
,nevertheless1 a  painter need not be a 
political economist1 and the picture is1
 you  know1 intended for a ,savings     

,bank1 and the people who will see it   
there may actually find themselves on   
the way to the independency that  makes 
blessed1 though hardly after noonday    
unloading of orange boats4  ,we might be
 able to pass lightly over the poverty  
of thought in the  work1 if its artistic
 qualities were satisfactory4 ,but      
there's the rub4  ,it was indeed a      
questionable thought to put in          
juxtaposition three  pictures separated 
only by slender pillars1 which had to   
exhibit three  absolutely different     
lights2 for either the lights of        
morning1 noon1  and evening were        
properly kept apart1 and we had a       
discord in three  notes1 or the tones   
were pitched in one key in order not to 
shriek at  each other1 in which case    
they were untrue4 ,such is indeed the   
case4  ,there is a somewhat more silvery
 breath about 8,morning10 a somewhat    
redder one about 8,noon10 a paler violet
 about 8,evening02 but the lights  and  
shadows are about equally powerful1     

whatever be the position of the  sun4   
,the forest of masts in the middle panel
 is of such exaggerated  density that   
the eye is confused in the maze of      
shrouds and yards4 ,and  the entire     
picture is executed in the crudest      
stippling1 with dabs of  colour thickly 
plastered on1 so that it looks almost   
scaly4 ,if ,henri  ,martin could give up
 his vagaries and lack of good taste1 he
 would  be a monumental artist of lofty 
vocation2 for1 though the fairies  have 
refused him sundry things1 they have    
given him one precious gift  when he was
 in his cradle1 viz41 that of light4    
,there is sun in his  pictures1 and they
 brighten up the space they occupy4     
,his best work up to now is a huge      
wall-painting for the ,capitol of       
,toulouse4    ,a landscape of big1      
restful lines with a background of      
dark-shadowed  mountain forests1 against
 which all ,i have to object is that    
they  wall in the whole horizon4 ,from  
this range of darkening blue heights    

the country sinks in undulating tiers of
 hills to the plain of the  foreground4 
,here the idyll of the seasons and men's
 lives is developed  in three pictures4 
,first1 amidst the laughing spring1 a   
strapping  maiden1 intoxicated with     
love1 on the breast of the young lad who
  is embracing her4 ,next1 a number of  
stalwart country folk in the  summer    
work of haymaking1 on whom1 beyond the  
cut grass1 their wives  and children at 
play are gazing4 ,lastly1 under         
melancholy autumn  trees1 a lonely old  
woman preoccupied with recollections4   
,the people  are homely1 of course1     
without crude realism1 poetic without   
the  shepherd-insipidity of ,gessner4   
,the parallelism between the aging  of  
the men and women and the progress of   
the year is unforced2 the  symbolism    
clear and free from morbid1 perverse    
mysticism4 ,turf1 trees1  and bushes are
 decorative in form1 delicate1 and at   
the same time  sufficient in colour1 and
 the whole is flooded by a wonderfully  

joyous  sunshine1 which is more         
reminiscent of the glories of ,may in   
,provence  than even ,montenard's       
symphonies of light4 ,henri ,martin has1
 ,i admit1  here1 too1 indulged in      
stippling1 but he has given his people  
and trees  strong1 free outlines1 and   
scarred only the outer skin very lightly
  with pock-marks4 ,he has not abandoned
 that ill habit1 but he seems to        
practise it with remorse4 ,perhaps he   
thinks gradual transition is due  to his
 conversion to better insight4 ,in any  
case1 this picture was  conceived and   
executed in a happy moment4    ,henri   
,martin's career teaches a moral4 ,let  
him who would honour an  artist         
continually bear in mind an             
appropriately modified reading of       
,solon's warning to ,crsus3 8,do not    
pronounce on any artist before his      
death40    ,jean ,raffaelli4--,like     
,henri ,martin1 ,sisley1 and the other  
stipplers who  painted with little dots1
 ,jean ,franois ,raffaelli at first     

painted with  thin1 slightly serpentine 
strokes4 ,and we have had to get        
accustomed  to this manner4 ,raffaelli  
has been able to succeed1 because he    
long  favoured subjects for which his   
ripple lines were the suitable  style4  
,he painted poor people in poor         
landscapes1 emaciated bodies  in        
slatternly clothes under trees as dry as
 brooms4 ,like a raindrop  on a         
window-pane1 and like a tear on a       
furrowed cheek1 the slender  traces of  
colour flowed down these pitiable       
figures1 arousing twilight  imaginations
 of weeping1 plaintive trickling1 and   
dissolving4 ,later  on he caught        
cheerful1 coloured views of ,paris      
streets--,the ,invalides1  ,notre ,dame1
 and the ,place ,st ,michel4 ,in these  
his streaky way of  painting was        
somewhat inadequate2 but his amazing    
feeling for a crowd  in the hurried1    
nervous movement which is peculiar to   
the ,parisian  lower orders1 saved him4 
,i know no painter who feels as         

,raffaelli the  bustle of the world's   
metropolis4 ,i think that any one who   
suffers from  dread of the market-place1
 must get a feeling of fear at seeing   
his  pictures4    ,in a third period of 
his production1 ,raffaelli gave a rare  
example of  complete change in his      
maturity4 ,he who had grown famous as a 
painter  of the poor and miserable1 of  
vices and sicknesses1 turned1 at the    
zenith of his success1 from the aspects 
that he had hitherto cherished1  and    
opened his heart to the joys of         
existence4 ,in his mind a process       
occurred1 such as the ninth symphony    
describes in eternal strains4 ,in  his  
despair a voice suddenly cries out3     
8,brothers1 let us sing other  strains10
 and roars out exultingly3 8,joy1 fair  
brightness of the gods40  ,formerly1 he 
knew only abandoned tramps1 tattered    
beggars and thieves1  broken-down       
hospital brothers4 ,his plant-world     
consisted of the leprous  turf in front 
of the ,paris forts1 decayed flowers1   

the half-withered1  suburban street     
trees1 broomlike and leafless as in     
autumn4 ,and he  painted this misery in 
miserable colours and in his own        
peculiar1  streaky manner1 especially   
appropriate to the subject4 ,now he     
caresses  with a broad1 full brush      
bloomingly beautiful maidens in white   
raiment1  sunny1 ornamental gardens with
 rich parterres1 fresh nosegays or      
living flowers4 ,he has also changed his
 style with his subject4 ,it is  all    
renovated--palette1 execution1 and      
story4 ,i have a feeling of a  secret   
happiness having blossomed in this      
artist's soul1 and ,i rejoice  in the   
cheerful unconcern with which1 by his   
altered work1 he makes all  men privy to
 his ,vita ,nuova4    ,odilon ,redon is 
a completed artist4 ,his development is 
ended4 ,it came  from ,gustave ,moreau1 
and it never deviated from him4 ,he is a
 delightful  harmonist of colours1 who  
handles the sharp and flat notes with   
equal  mastery1 and if he condescends to

 paint flowers1 fruits1 unpretentious   
still life1 and landscapes every one can
 understand1 he displays  naturalness1  
taste1 and winning homeliness4 ,but when
 he strives for  higher expression he   
gets beyond his master's range of       
vision1 and  becomes purely             
hallucinatory4 ,fabulous creatures1 at  
once ,pegasus and  ,centaur1 stagger    
about amongst rare flowers1 which gape  
like bleeding  wounds or grin like      
vampires' mouths4 ,monsters without     
recognisable  organic shape1 bastard    
combinations of parts of dragons1       
beetles1  birds and ,ashes hover or swim
 in an uncertain medium1 which may be   
water1 air1 or ether4 ,dreadful human   
heads1 bound in clusters1 grow  bushlike
 out of the ground4 ,all this is in     
colour pleasing2 in form1  enigmatical4 
,gustave ,moreau is always intelligible2
 we know the myths  he clothes in forms 
of extrahuman and superhuman splendour4 
,no one can  make head or tail of       
,odilon ,redon4 ,he himself does not    

think at all in  his unearthly          
representations1 and they awaken no     
definite thoughts  either1 but affect us
 like wild faces in a fever4    ,pierre 
,auguste ,renoir is also counted among  
the ,impressionists and  ,naturalists4  
,when we see that the same designation  
is applied to him  as1 for example1 to  
,czanne1 we can1 as it were1 clutch with
 our  hand the misuse of the words1 and 
convince ourselves how senseless        
classification in art is4 ,renoir is    
certainly no painter of prettiness4  ,he
 does not paint nature white and rosy1  
or stick beauty-patches on  her face4   
,he does not go out of his way even for 
pronounced ugliness4  ,you have only to 
look at his two ,megras on the garden   
bench to be  convinced of this2 but     
beside these witches he has so much     
refreshing1  individualised beauty1 that
 one fails to understand how he could   
have  been classed with ,czanne and1    
what is more1 the routine ,naturalists4 
,his naked young woman with the         

mother-of-pearl flesh2 his lady in a    
cashmere dressing-gown on the tapestry  
sofa2 his girl in blue with the  red    
cap1 and the little sister in white2 his
 two ladies with the roses1  are simply 
charming4 ,and love speaks no less from 
his chrysanthemums  and his sunny       
meadows than from his men and women4 ,he
 who has the same  feeling as ,renoir   
for roses and children1 is not only a   
great painter1  but also a good and     
noble man4    ,alfred ,roll is one of   
the most amiable figures in the art     
world of  to-day4 ,no one has such      
feeling as he for the exquisitely       
delicate  silvery vapour of a ,may      
morning atmosphere1 quivering with      
sunlight and  saturated with dew4 ,no   
one knows how to model out with such    
creative  genius as he a human body from
 the daylight that flows around it in   
gushing torrents4 ,in his free-light    
painting one breathes free from all     
oppression4 ,besides qualities which1 in
 all ages1 make a great artist1  he has 

the little trace of corruption which    
makes him a legitimate son  of our age4 
,one of his masterpieces--the naked     
young woman who clings  caressingly to  
the bull--awakes ,pasiphaistic ideas of 
old classic  aberration4 ,to procure    
pardon for this picture1 he had to do no
 less  than paint the splendidly healthy
 peasant girl with the brimming         
milk-pail and the cow--certainly a      
worthy penance4    ,roll is1 to be sure1
 not always the charming1 luminous      
painter of the  milk-maid and the girl  
with the bull4 ,he very often strikes   
other  notes4 ,thus1 for instance1 in   
his picture inspired by socialism1 which
  he calls 8,the ,martyr's ,road10 he   
shows an old tramp who1 with his back   
leaning against a tree1 has collapsed by
 the wayside1 has let his  wallet fall  
beside him1 and appears to be about to  
give up the ghost4  ,the misery of his  
worn countenance already overshadowed by
 death1 of  his emaciated figure and    
tattered clothes are convincing4 ,on the

 other  hand1 it is open to question    
whether it was good taste to paint the  
dying man in front view1 with bold      
foreshortening of the outstretched      
legs1 and with boot-soles of a terrific 
size1 that rear up before  us1 in the   
extreme foreground1 like two pr-historic
 menhirs4 ,roll  intended to pay his    
homage to ,maxim ,gorki also4 ,was it   
from sincere  feeling1 or to show that  
he is dans le mouvement1 and is keeping 
step  with the most advanced of his     
time8    ,he has insisted on trying his 
hand at monumental decoration also4 ,the
  fruit of his effort is a gigantic     
picture which he entitles 8,life's      
,joys40 ,he has evidently thought of    
,watteau1 probably of the latter's      
8,embarcation to ,cythera40 ,it is the  
same blissful landscape with roses1     
trees1 and water that seems1 in the haze
 of the distance1 to continue           
interminably until it reaches ,paradise4
 ,it is the same air which the  rain of 
blossom renders coloured and almost     

opaque4 ,it is the same  spring sky     
which we might hail with shouts of joy4 
,the men and women1  however1 who give  
life to this ,eden1 are different to    
,watteau's4 ,in  ,roll1 everything is   
marvellously austere and hard4 ,his     
women in the  foreground are naked1 and 
partly lie in ,michael ,angelesque      
attitudes on  the grass1 partly sit     
there overpoweringly monumental4 ,loving
 couples1  walking and dancing1 behave  
as if they were possessed by wild1      
brutal  lust4 ,something like a tragic  
current is traceable amidst this idyll4 
,we exclaim in alarm3 8,here1 this very 
day1 there will yet be murder or        
manslaughter80 ,and with the object of  
destroying still more the ideal  note of
 ,may1 ,roll puts1 in the midst of this 
fairy-tale splendour1  three realistic  
musicians1 whose clothes were bought at 
la ,belle  ,jardinire1 who will         
certainly1 after every dance1 go round  
with a  plate and collect from their    
audience4 ,where will the nude ladies   

take  money from to throw to them8 ,how 
much more charmingly and wittily does   
,watteau begin his theme6 ,only a marble
 statue of a woman renounces the        
advantages of elegant toilettes4 ,winged
 ,cupids flit about the young  couples1 
and translate1 as it were1 into lyrical1
 rhymed verses the  naturalistic prose  
of the gallantry exhibited4 ,the men do 
not rage in  brutal eagerness1 but pay  
delicate and discreet court to their    
ladies4  ,and above all things1         
,watteau's infallible taste warns him   
against  telling his stories at         
excessive length4 ,as brevity is the    
soul of wit1  so moderate compass is a  
great advantage in an ,anacreontic      
scene4 ,this  should be elegant and     
pleasant2 but the monstrous excludes    
elegance  and pleasantness4 ,roll's     
,titans and ,cyclopses are not suitable 
for  masquerading as ,arcadian          
shepherds4    ,lucien ,simon1 a painter 
who has been an imitator of ,cottet1    
puts  himself forward now1 by an        

impetuous movement1 into rank with him4 
8,the  ,evening ,gossip0 unites the     
family round the table lamp1 which      
lights  up a number of richly animated  
faces with curious lights that play and 
flicker4 8,nuns ,collecting0--one old   
and one young nun try by gentle  yet    
tenacious and irrefusable pressure to   
overcome the resistance  of a well-to-do
 and apparently somewhat niggardly      
country lady1 and  to determine her to  
open her well-guarded purse4 ,in a      
8,ball-room  in ,brittany0 peasant      
couples1 in the dress of the ,celtic    
province1  under smoking lamps emitting 
a yellow light1 spin round1 with heavy  
stampings1 to a bagpipe tune which      
drives the blood into the simple        
dancers' browned cheeks1 and kindles    
sparks in their eyes4 ,all this  is     
stumped in broadly and luxuriously      
without petty dwelling on the  less     
essential1 yet with a sure feeling for  
what is characteristic in  appearance   
and movement1 and in a harmony of dark  

colours1 which is as  far remote from   
the bright tone of the style of painting
 in vogue the  day before yesterday as a
 ,guido ,reni is from a ,franz ,hals1   
but affirms  its own justification as   
self-consciously as the particular note 
struck  by a ,hennar and ,gustave       
,moreau among the moderns1 of a         
,velasquez and  ,rembrandt among the    
greatest ancients4    ,up to now1 his   
most important creation is his 8,mass in
 ,brittany10 a  work of an exquisite    
nature4 ,the young and old peasants and 
seamen  who hear ,high ,mass standing in
 the bare village church1 are truly and 
lovingly individualised head by head4   
,proudly renouncing pleasing  externals1
 ,l4 ,simon has made up his mind to     
produce his effects only  by the noblest
 means1 viz41 by characterising with    
accuracy these  manifold types1 and by  
the depth and fulness of the spiritual  
life of  these pious folk here gathered 
together4 ,offence has been taken at the
  broadness of his execution1 which     

already bordered on superficiality1  and
 on the coarseness of his colour1 which 
put one now and then in  mind of the    
bill-poster's newer art4 ,he has        
laboured conscientiously  on himself1   
and diminished the defects of his       
qualities without  weakening the latter4
 ,he still continues to paint with large
 strokes  in fresco style1 but he pays  
attention to the solid building of his  
figures4 ,he is still pronounced and    
unaffected in his colouring1 but  he    
avoids letting power degenerate into    
coarseness1 and expressiveness  into    
shrillness4 ,thus ,lucien ,simon rises  
slowly and steadily1 though  unerringly1
 to the lofty peaks of pre-eminence4    
,jean ,veber is quite a peculiar        
phenomenon which has not yet been       
deservedly appreciated4 ,on one         
characteristic ground3 because he never 
understood how to be solemn2 because he 
seems not to take himself or  his art   
seriously4 ,he began as a caricature    
draughtsman for ,boulevard  papers1 and 

only when his vocation for this peculiar
 province was well  established1 did he 
exhibit oil-paintings4 ,but he was      
already labelled1  and people continue  
to regard him merely as a comic         
draughtsman4 ,the  public refuses to    
allow a double renown to a single       
talent4 ,its  admiration1 you know1     
costs nothing1 but it is1 nevertheless1 
scanty  with it1 as if it were bringing 
a sacrifice obtainable only with        
difficulty4 ,that is a royal trait in   
the sovereign mob4 ,it is niggardly     
with its distinctions in order to       
enhance their value4 ,the splendid      
,daumier also had to suffer from this   
coyness on the part of the public4  ,for
 a long time nothing was thought of his 
easel pictures1 and it  was really the  
,universal ,exhibition of #aijj that    
first revealed to  posterity the fact   
that ,daumier of the 8,charivari0 was   
one of the most  important ,french      
painters of the nineteenth century4 ,the
 caricaturist  of our days is1 as it    

were1 the journalist among plastic      
artists1 and  we know that it is very   
hard for journalists to succeed with    
poetical  creations1 however brilliant4 
,the older humorists among the painters 
fared better4 ,the ,dutch painters could
 make rough fun of the life of  the     
populace without injuring their         
reputation as artists by so doing4      
,hogarth attained high recognition1     
although his clumsy1 ,philistine1       
moralising painting ranks below the     
works of many caricaturists of  to-day4 
,cruikshank1 however1 whom ,i rank1     
without hesitation1 above  ,hogarth1    
occupies1 in popular estimation1 a lower
 rank1 because he put  his pencil at the
 service of the ,press4    ,jean ,veber 
is the descendant in the direct line of 
the younger ,david  ,teniers1 the       
,adriaen ,brouwers1 and the             
,hllen-,breughels4 ,from them he        
derives his full style of painting1 his 
deep1 rich colours1 his great  sureness 
and luxuriance of execution1 his clear  

composition and florid  imagination4 ,he
 differs1 however1 from them in the     
quality of his  fancy which delights in 
symbols replete with philosophical      
references2  frequently in ,saadic      
spectacles of cruelty and lust1 and very
 often  in lubricities of the ,flicien  
,rops kind4 ,this is the effect of the  
hundred and fifty to three hundred years
 which separate him from his  more      
innocent spiritual ancestors4    ,of the
 pictures he has exhibited1 some are    
unforgettable1 when one  has seen them4 
,the 8,triumphal ,procession0 of a      
gigantic crowned  goose through the     
streets of a mighty city1 amid the loud 
applause  of a populace raving mad with 
loyalty4 ,the 8,struggle for ,gold0 of  
a number of awful cripples tearing each 
other to pieces in their  mad struggles 
for a few gold pieces that have fallen  
in the street2  the 8,sight of ,terror0 
of a man reeling home at night1         
apparently  after a long drinking-bout1 
in whose eyes the houses and monuments  

take weird1 living physiognomies1 are   
most impressive utterances of  the      
misanthropic pessimism1 the satiric     
bitterness1 and the humour  of ,veber1  
also1 to be sure1 of his predilection   
for the weird1 the  ghostly1 and the    
horrible4    ,these qualities are       
repeated in almost all his works up to  
now4 ,the  greatest and most            
pretentious1 8,the ,machine10 offends   
through the  daring symbolism by which  
he illustrates the murderous power of   
woman over the sensual man4 ,on the     
other hand1 8,sunday ,morning0 is a  bit
 of life observed with exquisite humour3
 a barber's shop in the  village1 with a
 soaped victim under the nimble but not 
too considerate  hands of the           
beard-shaver's wife1 whilst some other  
customers1 of  unspeakable comicality in
 looks1 bearing1 and dress1 smoking1    
dreaming1  staring1 or chattering1 wait 
their turn on the bench by the wall4    
8,the ,hermit and the ,female ,faun0 is 
a scarcely orthodox1 but keenly  witty  

modernisation of the old theme1 the     
temptation of a saint1 which  these     
square-toes of painters for the past    
five hundred years have  cherished with 
predilection1 since it permits them to  
present quite  heathen sights with a    
hypocritically contrite air4 8,the      
,three ,good  ,friends0 are of          
refreshing cheeriness4 ,the ugliness of 
these contented  louts is touching4 ,the
 painter1 by way of exception1 exhibits 
them  without malice1 rather            
sympathetically1 with a plea for        
extenuating  circumstances4 ,but        
generally1 his wit belongs1 in the main1
 to the  species of evil-speaking4 ,we  
laugh over the malice with which a      
sharp-tongued observer characterises our
 fellow-creatures1 but we  feel quite   
well that it is not the better man in us
 that laughs4  ,jean ,veber loves to    
mock at mankind in goblin fashion4 ,he  
sees men  perpendicularly pushed        
together like a telescope1 horizontally 
drawn  out as short1 square gnomes with 

pumpkin faces1 who1 pleased with        
themselves and unconscious of their     
grotesque ugliness1 strut about  as if  
they were so many ,apollos and ,dianas4 
,thus ,jaurs appears with  mouth agape  
and flourishing gestures on the rostrum 
of the ,chamber1  at the foot of which  
breaks a flood of blustering deputies in
 stormy  session4 ,so in a parody of    
,rubens' 8,kermes0--itself of the nature
 of a  parody--villagers resembling     
sacks amuse themselves with feasting and
  drinking and amorous tendernesses     
which are calculated to disgust us  with
 love itself4 ,a grandly rigged-out1    
inexpressibly laughing lady  in a       
low-cut dress between two greybeards    
paying their dreadful court  at an      
exquisitely appointed supper-table2 a   
physician at the foot of  the bed gazing
 with devotion at the tongue1 put out   
quite a yard1 of a  rich1 fat           
lady-patient2 a short1 stout woman in a 
fashionable tailor's  salon1 whom the   
slenderest of the show-room girls is    

trying1 with  8cake-walk0 movements1 to 
fit with a dress like an umbrella-cover1
 are  amusing in their stupidity and    
ugliness4 ,on the other hand1 ,i cannot 
follow ,jean ,veber further when1 in    
8,family ,joys10 he tries to make the   
newborn child ridiculous--a shapeless   
bit of sprawling flesh1 red as  a crab1 
which the midwife has brought from the  
bed of the exhausted  mother at the back
 of the room1 and is exhibiting in      
triumph to the  gaping family4 ,he      
should keep his sacrilegious hand off   
the sanctity of  this event4    ,the    
happy combination of a faultless        
dexterity with an arrogant1  creative   
humour1 in which ,i would only like to  
see a trifle less  admixture of gall1   
renders ,jean ,veber's an artistic      
physiognomy that is  far more           
interesting than many an idol to whom   
altars are raised4    ,emile ,wry1 a    
young and fortunate man of talent1 began
 his career with  a great success4 ,his 
view of an ,amsterdam canal made a      

sensation1 and  gained the great prize  
at the 8,salon40 ,perhaps a little      
stupefied by  this triumph1 he kept for 
a while to the style of his prize       
picture1 so  that there was reason to   
fear he would early stiffen into a      
manner4 ,he  painted1 for instance1 an  
attractive triptych1 which presents     
,venice  to us in her three             
characteristic decorations3 the narrow  
,calle1 the  slender ,rio1 and the      
splendid ,canal4 ,but what we cannot    
anyhow  fancy absent from a view of     
,venice--the southern sky1 the gleaming 
sun1 and the warm tints of her old      
stones and tiles3 these are here        
altogether lacking4 ,it is all grey1    
northern grey4 ,it is the same tone  as 
in the prize picture of ,amsterdam4 ,as 
,faust found ,helen in every  woman1 so 
,wry then found apparently ,dutch       
water-towns in every town1  and         
,amsterdam herself in ,venice4 ,people  
think they are flattering the  city on  
the ,amstel1 when they call it the      

,venice of the ,north4 ,wry  reversed   
the compliment3 to him ,venice was the  
,amsterdam of the ,south4  ,how true it 
is that we see not with the eyes but    
with the soul6    ,the ,south1 combined 
with his youthful impulses to           
development1 was  to save him from the  
danger of mannerism4 ,though he had seen
 ,venice  with his ,amsterdam eyes1 and 
found in the azure and gold of the city 
of lagunes the leaden waters and mist of
 the north1 further south1  in the      
light1 he bathed his eyes clean from the
 muddiness of higher  latitudes4 ,in    
8,sicily0 a girl's brown head1 with red 
cloth in the  midst of a cluster of dark
 green-leaved branches with ripe        
oranges1  flashes and glows the whole   
noon of the magic island1 which this    
vigorous woman--a golden fruit among    
golden fruits--is to personify4  ,but   
even after his return home he still     
remained drunk with the light  of       
,italy4 ,in a new picture1 8,the ,little
 ,ones10 we are once more in a  harbour 

on the ,north ,sea1 at a place where    
,wry's talent takes its  root4          
,flaxen-haired youngsters are playing   
round a boat2 one of these1  a little   
chap in wide1 flapping trousers1 is     
droll enough to eat4  ,water1 sky1 and  
river-bank are wedded in silver sheen1  
and over the  whole reposes a happy     
sense of comfort1 in which the artist's 
cheerful  heart is disclosed4 ,he has   
happily got over his first crisis4 ,now 
his  artistic career lies smooth and    
sunny before him4    ,anders            
,zorn4--,this ,swede is a virtuoso of   
amazing skill4 ,he delights in          
marvellous effects of light1 in         
surprises1 in fixing fugitive views4    
,his pictures are snap-shots pitched on 
the canvas with an almost  mechanically 
smart brush4 ,he is a concert painter   
possessing talent4  ,he is one of the   
great corruptors of young artists       
nowadays4 ,it is so  fascinating1 by a  
few wild1 staggering1 nimble strokes of 
the brush1  to conjure up a human figure

 or a scene4 ,but this method leads to  
the  worst superficiality1 and attracts 
most the lazy fellows who wish to  save 
themselves the trouble of learning      
properly the principles of  drawing and 
painting4 ,zorn did not make the thing  
easy for himself4 ,he  honestly and     
industriously acquired a thorough       
mastery of technique  before turning to 
execute his dazzling little pieces4 ,he 
may allow  himself to storm and rage    
over the canvas1 for accuracy has become
  automatic in him4 ,in spite of this   
haste1 every line is on the right  spot1
 and though people often regret that he 
only hints instead of  stopping and     
deepening1 nevertheless it is           
continually said3 8,the man  knows how  
to build up a figure or a group40 ,his  
imitators1 however1  have caught only   
his daubing1 and with them              
superficiality is but a  bold excuse for
 ignorance of drawing4    ,ignacio      
,zuloaga4--,spain can at the present    
time boast of a number of  painters who 

might call out to their greatest        
predecessors among their  countrymen the
 proud anch'io4 ,what characterises them
 is a peculiar1  almost mad energy in   
drawing1 which appears in all details1  
in the  living and the dead1 not only in
 the mien and attitudes of men1 but in  
the sharp profile of every leaf and     
blade of grass1 in the bold relief  of  
every stone1 in the aggressive          
self-consciousness of every being as  of
 every thing4 ,this energy is not to be 
learnt4 ,one has it or one has  it not4 
,there are foreign painters in plenty1  
whom ,spain has bewitched1  and who     
their whole life long recount nothing   
but bull-fights and  processions1       
shepherds and gipsies1 cigarreras and   
manolas2 but no  one who knows the      
genuine ,spaniards will confuse these   
with the foreign  imitators4 ,there is1 
for instance1 the excellent ,jules      
,worms4 ,he has  been exhibiting        
,spanish scenes uninterruptedly for     
forty years4 ,they  are always nicely   

painted1 prettily conceived1 and        
pleasantly executed4  ,as contributions 
to knowledge of the nation they are not 
without  value4 ,they have gained him   
all official honours1 and he passes for 
an  undisputed master of his particular 
province4 ,and yet how un-,spanish is   
this life-long ,spanishness of ,worms   
and all his rivals and imitators6  ,it  
is as smooth1 licked1 tricked up1       
entertaining1 and banal as the  railway 
novel of an inquisitive but superficial 
globe-trotter4 ,it is a  conventional   
comic-opera ,spanishness1 a theatre     
decoration for scenery1  with groups of 
costumes for living figures4 ,it lacks  
the power1 the  stern virility which    
distinguishes the ,spanish painters1    
even those  of the second rank1 and     
gives them a family likeness to their   
great  ancestors1 ,valdes1 ,velasquez1  
and ,ribera4    ,the most typical of    
these modern ,spaniards is ,ignacio     
,zuloaga1 and the  most typical1        
perhaps1 of his pictures are the three  

sketches from  ,spanish folk-life1 which
 were exhibited a few years ago in the  
8,salon40  ,an ,andalusian1 young1 thin1
 and delicate1 with a little crumpled   
face of apish ugliness1 with a supple   
body that seems to whirl1  stands in    
front of a poor mirror1 and powders her 
face with coarse  rice-powder1 as though
 she were sticking on a comic           
,pierrot-mask1  whilst her sparkling    
eyes testify that she wants to make     
herself  thoroughly beautiful for the   
bull-fight4 ,then we see her in loud1   
bright ribbons1 with the inimitably     
draped mantilla over her head and       
shoulders1 passing quickly through the  
street1 greeted by two old  connoisseurs
 with highly-spiced endearment4 ,on the 
third occasion  she or her sister goes  
with a diabolically piquant young gipsy 
girl1  whose insolent laugh discovers   
gleaming wolf's teeth and turns up the  
sharply-curved nose1 rapidly over the   
ground1 probably to keep a  ,sabbath1   
from the expression of both grimaces4   

,this is warm life such  as not often   
glows on painted canvas4 ,zuloaga has   
felt his ,andalusian  wild creatures to 
his finger-tips1 and renders them with  
all their  garbo and salero--the ,german
 ,schneid and ,mumm1 and the ,french    
montant and mousseux are weak           
translations of this expression4 ,the   
pictures seem to be painted1 not with   
mineral colours and oil1 but with       
sulphuric acid and lunar-caustic4 ,these
 ladies are young witches1 of  whom you 
would imagine that by touch they must   
give an electric shock  like a          
torpedo-fish1 that1 if they open their  
mouths1 red mice will  jump out1 and    
that it must be more natural for them to
 ride through  the air on a broomstick  
than to make use of their legs in the   
usual  way4 ,in the piquant ugliness of 
their faces1 made up with a thick  layer
 of rice-powder1 in the gorgeous ,sunday
 array1 in their attitudes  and         
movements1 in the gipsy-girl's bestially
 insolent grinning and  winking1 in the 

lustful glances and laughter of the men1
 there is a  fulness of hot life1 an    
insolent sensuality such as is only met 
with in  ,brangwyn's youthful works4    
,one often heard the name of ,goya      
pronounced  before these pictures4 ,it  
is indeed the same temperament1 but     
another  outlook on life1 another art4  
,zuloaga has much of the cutting        
virtuosity of his great countryman2 but 
he is no embittered critic of  the      
world1 rather a laughing ,sunday's child
 who enjoys life with all  his senses4  
,and1 above all1 his pictures are       
patterns of a domestic art which1       
through its unreserved sincerity1 is at 
the same time an universal art4  ,for it
 reaches so deeply that it penetrates   
beyond the special type to  humanity in 
general4                                
,,xiii                                  
,,auguste ,,rodin      ,rodin's place in
 present-day art is a peculiar one4     
,auguste ,rodin has  been raised to the 
dignity of a test for decadent ways of  

feeling4 ,we  admittedly call 8tests0 or
 proof-objects the objects 7for the most
  part1 the shell-armour of diatoms or  
the scales of butterflies' wings7  on   
which the magnifying power and exactness
 of analysis of microscopes  is tested4 
,by ,rodin the fanatics and snobs of    
insane tendencies test  the genuineness 
and power of symbolico-mystic sentiment4
 ,what do you  think of ,rodin8 ,do you 
admire him8 ,good3 then you need further
 only  adore ,besnard and rave about    
,flicien ,rops1 and you can claim to be 
numbered with the newest1 without       
respect to the colour of your hair or   
opportunist baldness4 ,you do not admire
 ,rodin8 ,then sneak whimpering  from   
our league4 ,you are no decadent4 ,no   
beauty with her hair combed  in the     
,botticelli style will love you2        
,mallarm will not write poems1  nor will
 ,nietzsche philosophise for you4       
,nobody will invite you even  to a      
,black ,mass4 ,go to the ,philistines2  
you belong to the narrow-minded         

community1 which is a herd of ruminants4
    ,it would be intelligible if the    
provocations of the shriekers1 who1     
after the manner of howling dervishes1  
dance and rave round ,rodin1 were  to   
induce men to take a violent part       
against this very man4 ,justice1        
however1 demands that people should     
suppress their natural tendency  to make
 him responsible for the ear-piercing   
din of his drummers and  trumpeters4    
,after all1 he cannot help a horde of   
swindlers and silly  people making a    
vulgar disturbance about him and his    
works4 ,if we  are to judge him1 we must
 try to forget that critical offenders1 
by  invoking his name1 continually      
outrage the sense of sthetic decorum    
and artistic conscience4 ,rodin is1 in  
fact1 not the originator of  this       
shameless proceeding1 but the victim of 
the sthetic ,catiline  conspirators who 
have got possession of him1 and are     
pushing him on  before them1 so that it 
looks from a distance as if he was their

  leader4 ,rodin is not the least       
cabotin4 ,he is of a modest1 homely     
nature1 but no strong character2 and he 
has not been able to stand  against the 
suggestions of those whose interest it  
is to eulogise  him1 who have for so    
long chattered his poor head full of    
their most  brain-firing1 sthetic       
doctrines1 and most profound            
interpretations  of his alleged         
purposes1 until he has lost his own     
personality1 and  makes the most        
desperate efforts to become like the    
picture which his  critical ,corybantes 
present of him to the open-mouthed      
gapers4    ,what has raised ,rodin to an
 article of faith among the degenerates 
is three peculiarities4 ,first1 the     
choice of his materials1 which  appeal  
to the mysticism and sensual psychopathy
 of his body-guard of  degenerates2     
secondly1 his technique1 which deviates 
from tradition  in childish1            
would-be-original whims2 and thirdly1   
his mistaking the  natural limitations  

of his art1 which he wants to make say  
things for  which sculpture possesses no
 means of expression4 ,these traits are 
proved by a short review of his         
principal works4    ,the production     
which first brought him the custom of   
the decadents is  a composition which   
was devised for the gate of ,dante's    
,inferno4 ,he  had worked at it for     
decades4 ,after a few fragments1 which  
were to be  seen in #ahhi in the        
,universal ,exhibition at ,paris1 he    
showed the whole  in a plaster model at 
his private exhibition of #aijj4 ,it is 
inspired  unmistakably by ,ghiberti's   
door of the ,baptistery at ,florence1   
but  stands in intentional contrast to  
it4 ,the great ,quattrocentist depicts  
life in ,paradise2 ,rodin's intention is
 to show existence in ,hell4 ,the       
framing and articulation of the work1   
and nearly all its details1 were        
rendered with organic necessity from    
this starting-point4 ,the door  is cut  
up into panels1 which are not divided by

 stiff1 geometrical  lines1 but1 just as
 in the case of ,ghiberti1 are at the   
same time  immediately separated1 and   
again indirectly connected into a higher
  unity1 by a feature of the picture    
itself1 e4g41 a cliff1 a man's  figure1 
a piece of building4 ,in every panel an 
act from the ,inferno  is played4 ,the  
parts1 in the majority of cases         
indicated only in a  sketchy way1 betray
 strong1 indeed mainly perversely       
directed1 erotic  imagination1 and the  
gift of exhibiting human bodies in the  
movements  of passion4 ,of course1      
,rodin1 too1 has not dropped down from  
heaven1  but is the descendant of easily
 demonstrable spiritual forefathers4    
,this sculpture of violent action1 a    
particular development of ,french  art1 
and in no way connected with the        
,laocoon1 as one might easily make  the 
mistake of assuming1 has its first      
master in ,rude1 whose power is         
revealed most grandly in the            
8,marseillaise0 on the ,triumphal ,arch 

at  ,paris4 ,rude's successor and       
continuer is the incomparable ,carpeaux1
  who1 as is most clear from his group  
8,the ,dance0 at the ,grand ,opera1  in 
place of the wild heroes of his model   
and master1 substituted wild            
,bacchantes2 who celebrated1 instead of 
self-oblivious joy in sacrifice  in the 
service of rugged duty1 self-oblivious  
intoxication in a debauch  of           
sensuality1 but represented a life of   
excitement no less sublimely  and no    
less ravishingly than the former4 ,rodin
 is closely connected  with ,rude and   
,carpeaux4 ,with him passion descends a 
step lower still  to the uncivilised and
 dissolute4 ,heroic with ,rude1         
voluptuous with  ,carpeaux1 it is       
,satanic with ,rodin4 ,the 8,gate of    
,hell0 exhibits rows  of naked women in 
all the situations and occupations of   
the witches'  ,sabbath1 when it is most 
devilish4 ,fits of hysteria shake and   
twist  these bodies1 every motion of    
which betrays shocking aberration and   

eager ,sadism4 ,the patients of the     
,salpetrire or the ,atlas of ,pictures  
edited in this clinique 7,iconographie  
de la ,salpetrire7 evidently  served him
 for models4 ,and from him1 be it       
incidentally observed1  ,alexander      
appears to have drawn his inspirations  
with the aggravating  circumstance that 
he clothes ,rodin's naked women in rich1
 modern  toilettes1 and by this artful  
means makes them even more obscene4 ,the
  feminine genius of tragedy in ,rude is
 inspired by ,tyrtan war-songs4         
,carpeaux's two female dancers have     
drunk sparkling wine2 ,rodin's  demoniac
 women have swallowed pills of          
,spanish-fly4 ,thus it is clear  that   
,rodin must be dear to all wanton       
schoolboys1 impotent debauchees1  and   
incipient spinal sufferers4    ,if the  
8,gate of ,hell0 is an illustration of  
hystero-epilepsy and  feminine ,sadism1 
so1 too1 is a marble group which he     
exhibited in #ahih  of ,masochism4 ,a   
naked woman with horribly glacial1      

unmoved features  sits leaning against a
 wall of rock4 ,a man1 apparently       
growing out  of the earth1 kneels before
 the merciless image1 embraces its knees
  with despairingly imploring gesture1  
and presses his head against its  body4 
,this is supposed to show man in an     
ecstasy of desire1 subjugated  by the   
sexual power of woman4 ,i can only say  
that a copy of this  group would        
excellently suit as a frontispiece for  
an edition of the  collected works of   
,sacher-,masoch4 ,other smaller groups  
of ,rodin1  which he exhibited in the   
,champs de ,mars ,salon1 hint at other  
forms of  morbid sensuality on which ,i 
am reluctant to dwell4 ,they all        
disclose  a sub-soil of corrupted       
sensuality in the artist's soul4 ,that  
secures  him influence on natures in    
harmony with his own4 ,the degenerates  
who  revel with ,baudelaire in love of  
corpses1 and with ,flicien ,rops in     
highly-spiced lewdness1 find the same   
excitation in ,rodin1 and they          

intoxicate themselves with his ecstatic 
lasciviousness just as with the         
unnatural or madly exaggerated eroticism
 of their other fleshly poets  and      
painters4    ,so much for ,rodin's      
choice of themes4 ,now for his          
technique4 ,one of his  singularities is
 that he loves to astonish people by a  
crude1 external  contrast between a     
block of unworked marble and the most   
exquisitely  finished and sweetly       
polished sculpture of bodies4 ,he takes 
a great  cube out of all proportion1    
which he leaves as the labourer hewed it
 as  it came out of the quarry2 and he  
works a little corner of it into a  head
 and body polished with the utmost      
nicety4 ,in this way1 the figure  grows 
out of1 or into1 the natural stone4     
,looked at from three sides1 a  lump of 
rock or stone is presented to the eye1  
only on the fourth side  the work of art
 is revealed1 blooming1 as it were1 in  
the wilderness4  ,we may describe this  
manner as the sculptural form of        

mysticism4 ,the  association of ideas   
which ,rodin wishes to awaken by this   
device should  make the idea dawn on the
 consciousness that here1 before our    
eyes1 a  miracle of creation is being   
accomplished2 that we surprise the very 
incarnation of the stone2 that we are   
witnesses of the birth of organic  form 
from the stiff1 lifeless original       
matter1 and may observe how the  figure1
 still half imprisoned in chaos1        
struggles painfully forth to  a form    
instinct with life4 ,there are subjects 
for the representation  of which        
,rodin's style would have been a happy  
invention3 perhaps the  creation of     
,adam from a clod of earth1 or the story
 of ,deucalion and  ,pyrrha1 or a       
,promethean motive4 ,but its uniform    
employment for all  possible            
subjects--on banal busts or groups which
 have no reference to  creation or      
genesis--causes the manner to be        
recognised for what it  is1 a snatching 
at effect by means of eccentricity4 ,of 

course1 this  striking and easily       
imitatable freak has founded a school4  
,no ,american  or ,scandinavian who     
wants to frighten the ,philistines with 
8modernism0  neglects to exhibit a piece
 of1 for the most part1 wretched        
sculpture  as tiny as possible on a     
clump of unworked rock as ,cyclopean as 
possible4 ,it cannot be said that the   
joke is cheap4 ,the unhewn block of     
marble often represents a pretty stiff  
value in hard cash1 in any case  a      
higher one than the corner that has been
 chiselled4 ,one can only say  that any 
idiot can succeed in using a ton weight 
of stone as a support  to a figure the  
size of a man's hand4    ,yet1 in       
conclusion1 it is a comparatively       
harmless folly which a  practitioner can
 remedy with a few strokes of the saw4  
,it is sufficient  to cut the sculpture 
off1 and give the rough block to a needy
 sculptor4  ,far worse1 because it is   
incurable1 is the sthetic principle to  
which ,rodin pays homage in the         

technique of his more important works   
especially4 ,he is1 to wit1 an          
,impressionist4 ,a line of motion in an 
individuality or group interests him4   
,he seizes it1 shapes it with           
convincing truth1 with an emphasis      
exaggerated--certainly purposely--to    
the point of caricature1 and neglects   
everything that does not serve  to      
illustrate this line of motion4         
,sculpture1 however1 is an art  which   
does not allow any ,impressionism4 ,it  
demands1 according to its  nature1 a    
perfectly accurate formation of the     
whole figure1 and simple  honesty in    
reproducing the phenomenon4 ,this can be
 proved by a theory  of perception4     
,sculpture fills space and is of three  
dimensions2 it  addresses itself1 in the
 first place1 certainly to the eye1 but 
also  to the sense of touch4 ,it calls  
for stereoscopic vision1 and is1 at     
least in theory1 capable of further     
proof by a second sense4 ,now just  this
 theoretic possibility of further proof1

 by means of the sense of  touch1 has   
the prohibitive effect1 that fancy feels
 no inclination  to supplement the image
 provided by the sense of sight4 ,in    
works of  painting we add in our mind   
much which is not optically given in the
  picture4 ,in plastic works we have not
 this psychical habit1 because  a       
testing with the hands is opposed to the
 free1 inventive power of  the          
imagination1 and makes us at once       
recognise what has been given  in space1
 and what has been added by our         
imagination4 ,on this ground1  there is 
no place in sculpture for intentions or 
hints4 ,that is enough  for a rough     
plan1 but not for the finished work4    
,rodin1 however1 stops  at a stage of   
completion1 which may1 at best1 pass for
 a promise1 but  never1 in any case1 for
 an achievement4 ,he deliberately breaks
 up the  frame of artistic form4 ,he    
would fain work with the habits of the  
painter's eye and the painter's hand1   
and he applies this treatment to  the   

statute1 standing free and exposed to   
examination from all sides4    ,the     
confused lines which represent the      
draughtsman's first sketch  7bauche7    
have their special charm and meaning on 
the surface to be  painted4 ,if1        
however1 you translate them into three  
dimensions1 if  every careless movement 
of the artist's hand1 either still      
feeling  its way or hurrying on1 is     
finally fixed in clay or bronze1        
something  inadmissible results1 which  
has no right to proclaim itself a work  
of  art4    ,such a seeking after the   
right expression1 such a stammering in  
metal  is ,rodin's monument at ,calais1 
which represents the burgesses of       
,calais  with the rope round their      
necks1 standing before ,edward ,,iii41  
who had  successfully besieged that     
city1 and asking for mercy4 ,the crushed
  spirit which ,rodin tried to express  
is actually visible in the group2  but  
the figures which express this emotion  
are formless from head  to foot4 ,the   

limbs are rugged boughs2 the bodies     
violate the laws  of anatomy2 the whole 
group is on the stage of technical      
perfection  reached by the idols hewn   
from wood by the ,south ,sea ,islanders1
 and  is far inferior to many a         
pre-historic picture on mammoth's teeth 
and  stag's horn1 which may be seen1 for
 instance1 in the ,museum of ,st        
,germain4 ,rodin's domestic trumpeters  
promptly proclaimed this for a  work of 
lofty genius4 ,the ,corporation of the  
town of ,calais1 who had  ordered it1   
dared not reject it4 ,the decadents'    
reign of terror--it was  in the year    
#ahie--was then in all its fury4 ,the   
whole ,paris ,press was  in the power of
 the dictators of the ,chat ,noir1 and  
the poor ,calais  burgesses1 clever men 
of business1 but very uncertain in      
questions of  art1 feared to be jeered  
at as wise men of ,gotham1 if they      
rebelled  against the sthetic edicts of 
the tyrants of ,paris criticism4 ,but   
they blush for shame and anger whenever 

they pass by the memorial1 and  now1    
when the reign of terror of decadent    
criticism is over1 it will  probably not
 be long before the ,calais people pluck
 up courage enough  to have ,rodin's    
bronze abomination carted off from the  
public square1  and withdrawn1 in a     
store-room in the ,town ,hall1 from the 
scornful eyes  of strangers4    ,a      
counterpart of the ,calais group is the 
design for the ,victor ,hugo  ,memorial1
 which was for the first time exhibited 
in #ahig1 and again  five years later1  
when it was somewhat further advanced4  
,this design  also showed nothing but   
intentions4 ,the poet is sitting naked  
by the  seashore4 ,the last shallow wave
 washes gently up to his feet4 ,two     
female tutelary figures--perhaps        
,history and ,legend1 or ,poetry and    
,philosophy--are flying to him          
horizontally at the level of his head   
and  whispering secrets in his ear4 ,as 
a mere intention1 the composition  might
 be allowed to pass2 but nothing of     

execution1 practically1 was  yet to be  
seen4 ,victor ,hugo's body was not      
modelled2 the flying female  figures    
could not be distinguished1 either from 
a distance or on close  inspection1 from
 cloud packs1 or the fantastic animal   
figures of  ,gothic gargoyles4          
,nevertheless1 ,rodin disarmed          
intelligent criticism  by declaring that
 the work was a mere sketch4 ,of course1
 he could no  longer be fairly          
reproached with its shapelessness1 and  
people had to  content themselves with  
waiting for its completion1 which has   
not come  to pass up to now4    ,rodin  
has overstepped1 in his ,balzac         
,memorial1 which he first exhibited  in 
#ahih1 the very extensive limits within 
which his silly aberrations  might have 
been borne4 ,master ,shallow1 who       
tolerates much1 could not  tolerate this
 work1 and broke down under its crushing
 exaction4 ,when  the public saw this   
provocative monstrosity1 it broke out   
into that  uncontrollable laughter1     

whereby the outraged intelligence of    
mankind  revenges itself with primitive 
force for restraints that it has long   
suffered in silence4 ,in the face of    
this result1 the ,committee of the      
,french ,union of ,authors1 which had   
commissioned the ,balzac ,memorial1     
resolved unanimously to decline it4 ,in 
vain the ,condottieri1 who had  usurped 
supremacy in art criticism by the most  
unscrupulous methods  of conspiracy1    
violence1 and oppression1 made desperate
 efforts to  maintain themselves4 ,they 
were powerless against the armed rising 
of  sensible people who had at last come
 to themselves4 ,their tyranny  was     
vanquished1 and they were swept away4   
,they might still talk all  sorts of    
twaddle about the stupidity of the      
masses1 and1 in impotent  rage1 hiss at 
the victors the well-known shibboleths1 
8,philistine10  8provincial10 etc41 but 
this final1 faint-hearted nagging sank  
unheard  in the unanimous cry of scorn  
from public opinion4    ,rodin has      

represented ,balzac as1 jumping out of  
bed in the morning1  he wraps himself   
unclad in his monk-like dressing-gown1  
without even  putting his arms in the   
sleeves1 irresistibly impelled to hurry 
to  his writing-table in order to fix   
the thoughts of which his creative      
brain is full to bursting4 ,agreed3     
that1 again1 is the intention which     
,rodin might1 perhaps1 have secretly put
 into the figure4 ,what the eye  really 
sees is a sort of tree-trunk1 hewn in   
the roughest manner by a  woodman with  
an axe1 which is surmounted by a        
hideously swollen tadpole  head on a    
goitred neck4 ,malicious ,parisian wit  
has exhausted all the  droll comparisons
 that this monstrosity can suggest to   
flouting humour4  ,people have called   
,rodin's work a meal-sack1 a carved     
potato1 a snowman  made by a cheeky     
schoolboy1 an unpacked statue1 a        
stalactite1 etc4 ,the  work is all that1
 for it is nothing at all2 but it is    
pre-eminently  the conclusive refutation

 of ,rodin's sthetics4 ,for it is the   
highest  expression1 and1 on that       
account1 the unintentional parody1 of   
his  impressionist technique and of his 
third mistake1 viz41 ignorance of  the  
limitations of his art4    ,rodin worked
 at this wretched piece of work for ten 
whole years4 ,first  he read all        
,balzac's works2 then he made a journey 
to ,touraine and  spent months there1 so
 as to absorb the human environment from
 which  ,balzac took so many of his     
models1 and to become permeated with the
  feelings and impressions with which   
,balzac may have satiated himself  when 
composing--all this to make a human     
figure which was to be the  likeness of 
a man whom many people now living have  
known in the flesh4  ,after these       
preliminary studies1 ,rodin finally     
proceeded to form his  ,balzac4 ,his    
head was to be 8a synthesis of his      
works10 his physiognomy  was to be      
summed up 8in an eye that looks on the  
,comdie humaine  and in an upper lip    

that is curled in contempt for          
humanity40 ,so said  ,rodin himself in  
several interviews which were published 
at the time  when his statue was        
exhibited4 ,he was then merely repeating
 what the  twaddlers of ,montmartre had 
chattered to him4 ,it would be easy to  
make  jests about this inflammation of  
the brain1 but it is not worth even     
cheap raillery4 ,it is quite enough to  
establish1 soberly and drily1  that     
,rodin1 like a child or an idiot1 aimed 
at something impossible4  ,sculpture    
cannot furnish any 8synthesis of        
,balzac's works40 ,nature  herself      
cannot1 in the sense that ,balzac       
himself1 when he was alive1  did not    
synthetise his works1 in his externals1 
in his physiognomy4  ,he had perhaps the
 head of a man of mark1 but there was   
assuredly  nothing in his face to show  
that he had written the 8,physiology of 
,marriage10 and not written 8,la        
,chartreuse de ,parme0 7,stendhal74     
,rodin  imagined that a portrait-statue 

could quite alone1 merely by its own    
means1 supply the place of a biography  
and a psychological and literary        
characterisation of the person          
represented4 ,this patent lunacy was    
necessarily bound to end1 as it has     
ended1 in a mad caricature4    8,the    
,thinker10 a colossal statue which was  
exhibited in #aijd1 is almost  as bad an
 aberration as ,balzac4 ,it is a        
gigantic enlargement of a  little sketch
 that one saw many years ago over       
,rodin's 8,gate of ,dante's  ,hell10 in 
the confused and scarcely indicated     
unborn foetus lines of  which confident 
devotion might imagine all possible     
promises of future  splendour4    ,the  
promises are realised in 8,the          
,thinker40 ,he who still wishes to      
shudder with foreboding in the presence 
of the finished work will be at  liberty
 to do so4 ,it will be the same sort of 
man who grew enthusiastic  over the     
8,balzac10 before which every criticism 
of intelligent--not  8intellectual0--men

 dissolved into unextinguishable        
laughter4 8,the  ,thinker0 is brother of
 the 8,balzac10 only it is not so comic1
 for  it is not dressed in a meal-sack1 
but is naked1 and the bared human  body1
 when misshapen1 excites in a spectator 
of unvitiated taste1 not  cheerfulness1 
but discomfort1 which may even rise to  
loathing4    8,the ,thinker0 is not only
 naked1 but also flayed4 ,its anatomy is
  executed with obtrusive importance1   
without the covering epidermis  with its
 vital warmth4 ,the enormous            
exaggeration of the muscles1 the        
impossible assertion of strength which  
is expressed by the extreme  contraction
 of all the muscles1 therefore also of  
the counteracting  muscles1 are         
well-known features of sculpture in its 
worst period of  decline4 ,there is     
still1 however1 a distinction between   
,rodin and  the rococo sculptors1 who   
confused fleshy tumours over the whole  
surface of the bodies of their statues  
with the power of portraying            

artistically4 ,at any rate1 the latter  
had a correct knowledge of  myology1 or 
the subject of the muscles1 whereas     
,rodin's anatomy  is shockingly         
inaccurate4 ,i really do not think much 
of ,lorenzo  ,matthielly's groups at the
 ,vienna ,hofburg-gates2 but in the face
 of  ,rodin's monstrosity ,i apologise  
in my heart for all the objections ,i   
have ever made against them4 ,at any    
rate1 with ,matthielly every muscle     
occupies its proper place4 ,rodin1      
however1 invents muscles which do  not  
exist1 and never did exist4 ,two mighty 
ridges1 ending below in  sausage-tips1  
run down the 8,thinker's0 back1 which   
are perhaps intended  for the two       
longissimi dorsi2 in this case1 however1
 they are howling  blunders as regards  
their attachment1 their whole course1   
and their  form4 ,the muscles of the    
forehead and temples are treated quite  
as  arbitrarily as those of the back4   
,where nature only recognises thin      
cutaneous muscles and ligatures1 there  

,rodin puts bumps which remind  one of  
blood tumours after blows from a club1  
and impart to the face  the appearance  
of evil ,verschlagenheit2 not1 as ,fritz
 ,reuter says1 in  the sense of         
craftiness1 but in that of receiving a  
sound cudgeling4  ,as a record 8,the    
,thinker0 stands on the same level as   
the anatomical  plates in ,japanese     
manuals of the healing art of the time  
of the  ,shoguns4    ,this1 however1 is 
not yet the worst2 the intellectual     
element fares  even worse than the      
bodily one with this oaf who calls      
himself so  pretentiously 8,the         
,thinker40 ,the flayed man sits         
crouching1 with a  distinctly crooked   
hump1 on a sharp-edged block of stone4  
,his toes  claw convulsively into the   
ground4 ,he holds a clenched fist before
 his  mouth1 and seems to bite it       
fiercely4 ,his bestial countenance1 with
 its  bloated1 contracted forehead1     
gazes as threateningly dark as midnight4
  ,he who has to interpret the figure   

without the help of a title will1  from 
a back view1 conclude it is some one    
writhing in agony on the  rack2 and from
 a front view1 a criminal meditating    
over some foul  deed4 ,its mien and     
bearing would suggest a designation such
 as 8,the  ,fallen ,titan10 8,lucifer's 
,rebellion10 or 8,cain before he        
murdered his  ,brother40 ,the last thing
 which one would think of would be to   
look for  a mind working behind this    
bulgy forehead1 or to imagine that      
thought  was supreme in this body seized
 by a spasm of rigidity in all its      
muscles4 ,the name given by ,rodin to   
this wretched performance sounds  like a
 scoff or a calumny1 and it might be    
thought the misled artist1  robbed by   
his fanatics of all self-criticism1 had 
intended to make a  malicious parody of 
,michael ,angelo's ,pensieroso4         
,rodin himself1 by his portrait busts1  
makes it possible to gauge  the whole   
insincerity of his pose as a profound   
thinker1 and his  genius-playing        

arrogance2 for instance1 by that of     
,octave ,mirbeau1 and1  still more      
easily1 by a female bust which was      
exhibited at the same  time as 8,the    
,thinker0 monstrosity4 ,with the        
exception of the folly1  which is1      
moreover1 not too obtrusive1 that a     
piece of the rough block  was allowed to
 remain on both shoulders1 there was not
 the faintest  feature in the bust that 
could differentiate it from a severely  
classical1 coldly correct work4 ,here he
 had to satisfy a lady client1  and he  
was irreproachably smooth1 executed all 
the details lovingly1  and produced a   
soft1 delicate flesh1 to which the      
elegant ,injalbert  might sign his name4
 ,if one were desirous of making an     
objection to  this pleasant bust1 it    
would1 at worst1 be that it is too      
sweet4  ,he becomes the destroyer of all
 form1 the bungling sham-,titan1 the    
inscrutable philosopher1 dramatist1 and 
lyric poet1 whose eye rolls in  a fine  
frenzy1 and who1 in the throes of his   

fever to create1 confines  himself to   
hurried indications--he becomes all this
 only when he works  for his bodyguard  
of sympathetic sensitivism4    ,how     
future generations will laugh over all  
this buffoonery of 8nerve  art06 ,only1 
indeed1 when it comes to know the       
comments of contemporary                
8intellectuals0 in addition to the      
artists' silly bungling4 ,for the       
former will show them in a way to excite
 sympathy and amusement what            
devastation the deafening babble of a   
band of gossips1 dreadfully  ignorant of
 art and innocent of any feeling for    
beauty1 could produce  in the taste and 
thought of a large majority1 which      
honestly yearns  after sthetic          
education1 but1 on account of a lack of 
trustworthy  traditions and adequate    
instruction in art1 has not sufficient  
self-confidence to set up the           
promptings1 however obscure1 of their   
own  feeling against the impudent       
dictates of presumptuous arbiters of    

taste4    ,mysticism and sexual         
psychopathy in the choice of themes2    
,impressionism  and incidental          
eccentricities in technique2            
overstepping the  limitations of his    
art1 have made ,rodin the great man of  
the fellows  who for some two decades   
have set the fashion in art and         
literature4 ,by  these three            
peculiarities1 to which he owes his     
spurious celebrity1 he  will be ruined  
as an artist1 whatever the success he   
owes to puffing  may be4 ,and that is   
lamentable1 for ,rodin is a genuinely   
gifted  sculptor1 who created beauty    
when he did not yet think himself bound 
to work out of gratitude to the 8young0 
journals4 ,unfortunately1 it  is        
extremely improbable that he will now   
find his way back to that  simplicity   
and naturalness in which salvation is   
alone attainable4  ,there is no return  
from ,montmartre1 not1 at any rate1 for 
an old man  who has climbed this height 
and accepted with passionate earnestness

  all what he saw and heard there in    
advanced years4 ,young people who are   
still capable of change1 in many cases  
awake from the idle dream of            
,montmartre stheticism4 ,nature does not
 vouchsafe to the old to begin a  new   
life4                                   
,,xiv                                   
,,resurrection                          
,,bartholom      ,i do not want to speak
 of ,tolstoi's novel1 but of a work of  
art--great1  at any rate1 materially1 as
 a statue--which every pilgrim to ,paris
 will1  ,i suppose1 wish to see1 viz41  
the monument which ,bartholom dedicated 
8,to the ,dead10 and which is to be seen
 in the cemetery of ,pre ,lachaise4     
,it is interesting in so many aspects   
that one might devote to it a  monograph
 as thick as a book1 which would send   
out suckers over the  whole domain of   
sthetics and the history of art4 ,never 
do ,i feel so  painfully the inadequacy 
of a short essay as when ,i proceed to  
handle  a subject so rich in            

connections4 ,it is impossible to       
exhaust it in  this form1 and it is     
painful to leave it as a fragment4 ,one 
appears  limited1 whereas one is only   
restricted4 ,we must satisfy ourselves  
with  indications which will easily be  
looked upon as superficial1 though  they
 are merely terse4 ,what is thought out 
as a proof takes the form of  mere      
assertion1 and in cases where we should 
like to convince1 we must  think        
ourselves successful1 when we have      
incited the reader to kindly            
co-operation--which1 however1 goes for  
the most part its own way4    ,this     
pious ejaculation will make it easier   
for me to accommodate myself  to the    
conditions which have been imposed on   
the short essay4    ,works of sculpture 
in public places1 which are neither     
monuments nor  ornamental buildings1    
viz41 such as are not intended to call  
to mind  special events or particular   
individuals1 are something novel in the 
development of high art4 ,antiquity knew

 only monumental creations which  had   
their origin in patriotic sentiments4   
,we have to bear in mind that  religion 
in ancient communities constituted a    
part of patriotism1  for there were no  
gods for mankind in general1 but only   
gods for a  particular people or a      
particular state4 ,when ,socrates had to
 drain the  cup of hemlock1 it was not  
because he had sinned against ,olympus1 
but  because he had given offence to    
,athens in the person of her tutelary   
divinities4 ,the ,battle of the ,giants 
and the ,frieze of the ,parthenon1  the 
,pallas ,athene of the ,acropolis and   
the ,olympian ,zeus1 were felt1 by      
those who gazed on them and for whom    
they had been wrought1 as images  from  
the past and present of their race4     
,even the 8,laocoon0 and the  8,farnese 
,bull0 were so regarded3 a distinction  
between the legends of  their race and  
accredited history1 nay1 between        
theology and politics1  did not exist in
 the consciousness of the multitude at  

large1 or even  in that of the select   
few4 ,the god made of ivory and gold was
 the  public worship of a living being  
who was invested with high rank in  the 
commonwealth1 and the ,olympian victor  
to whom a statue was erected  entered   
into mythology as a comrade of          
,hercules1 ,theseus1 and ,perseus4      
,religious art was the only public art  
known in the ,middle ,ages4 ,if         
material political interests swayed the 
minds of communities in ,pagan  times1  
when the nations became ,christian the  
supersensual1 i4e41 the  salvation of   
the soul1 became the great concern of   
the individual as of  the community4    
,patriotism disappeared from the domain 
of emotion2 what  took its place--the   
pride of town1 or class1 or guild--was  
merely delight  in material possession1 
or1 if you like1 a sort of vulgar       
dignity  without any ideal background4  
,faith was their only sentiment1 piety  
the artist's sole impulse from which    
genuine creations could spring4  ,it    

followed1 therefore1 that religious     
art--the only monumental art  then in   
existence--attached itself to sacred    
places1 and subordinated  itself to them
 as really mere accessory decoration4   
,without resting on  architecture1      
sculpture stood on its own feet only in 
the ,stations of  the ,cross on         
,calvaries1 but1 even in this case1 it  
had no object of  its own1 but served a 
definite purpose of worship4 ,the       
beginnings of a  public art which grew  
out of an abstract thought of the       
community--one  not of a religious but  
of a temporal1 of civic nature--are     
scanty and  dim4 ,as forerunners of such
 an art we can claim the ,roland        
,pillars of  the ,free ,towns--the      
symbol of their civil and criminal      
jurisdiction--with  their indistinct1   
historical background of dim memories of
 ,charlemagne  as the legal source of   
municipal liberties1 and perhaps also   
the  ,byzantine ,lion of ,brunswick4    
,the ,renaissance was the first to      

create a monumental art that was  to    
serve no practical1 religious1 or       
dynastic purpose1 but one  purely       
sthetic1 from which people looked for no
 strengthening of  ecclesiastical views1
 no increase of authority and1 through  
that1  of power in a prince or          
government1 but looked1 in fact1 only   
for  delight in beauty4 ,renaissance    
art1 ,i admit1 rich and free as its     
development was1 also remained          
thoroughly under the influence of       
medival traditions1 and knew no other   
range of themes than those  derived from
 the ,bible and ,classic mythology4     
,even worldlings among the  artists1 who
 had outgrown religious ideas1 drew at  
least their stories  from the ,new and1 
even more commonly1 from the ,old       
,testament1 or from  pagan mythology1   
which was familiar only to the educated1
 and to the  multitude at large was     
meaningless1 and devoid of life4 ,a     
scholastic  pedantry hung about such    
works as ,benvenuto ,cellini's          

8,perseus10 for  instance1 which        
prevented the masses from appreciating  
them fully4 ,it  was not1 however1 done 
from haughty disdain1 for monumental    
art--the art  of the streets and        
squares--appeals indeed to the masses4  
,the modelling1  on the one hand1 of    
what is purely human1 which appeals to  
feelings in  every human heart1 and is1 
therefore1 understood by every man2 on  
the  other hand1 of a subject1          
well-defined in time and place1 which   
must  be familiar1 at any rate1 to      
contemporaries and residents3 this      
degree  sculpture attained only         
gradually and late4 ,the ,goose-man of  
,nuremberg  and the ,brussels ,mannikin 
are instances of local ,realism2        
,tadda's  8,justice0 at ,florence and   
,michael ,angelo's 8,piet0--these in    
spite of  their religious relations are 
examples of universal human ,idealism4  
,it is characteristic of the timidity of
 sculpture1 even in its proud  epoch of 
the ,renaissance1 that it dared not cast

 itself adrift from  presenting what was
 of immediate utility4 ,it thought it   
needed an  excuse for stepping out into 
the market-place before all the people4 
,it  found it fairly in supplying towns 
with water4 ,it created fountains4      
,these are the first and1 for a long    
time1 the only monumental works  which  
were suggested neither by religion nor  
by loyalty to some  dynasty2 which aim  
neither at immortalising the memory of a
 particular  event1 nor at refreshing   
the schoolboy knowledge of the more     
liberally  educated1 but embody1 without
 any pre-possession1 a purely artistic  
conception of form fulfilled and        
animated with subjective emotion4  ,the 
stages of development of the monumental 
fountains1 which pretend  to be mere    
sports of untrammelled fancy on the     
artist's past1 extend  to the present   
day1 in the latest phase1 in which the  
fountain is not  really intended to     
distribute water1 like ,sluter's 8,fount
 of ,moses0  at ,dijon1 or ,jean        

,goujon's 8,fontaine des ,innocents0 in 
,paris1 but uses  the water only as a   
decorative element1 as ,donner's        
fountain in the  market-place of        
,vienna1 or ,reinhold ,begas's ,neptune 
fountain in the  ,berlin ,schlossplatz4 
,we must come down to the last century  
to find at last a monumental  art of    
universal feelings or thoughts1 still1  
for the most part1  modestly cringing   
under the protection of architecture1 as
 groups  on pediments of palaces1       
theatres1 and exhibition-buildings1 and 
taking possession of the public square  
in full independence only in  the last  
decades4 ,historical works1 even of an  
universal1 impersonal  sort1 such as the
 numerous war-memorials in ,germany and 
,france1 the  risorgimento-monuments of 
,italy1 the patriotic battle-memories in
  ,switzerland--do not come under       
consideration here1 but only abstract   
works such as ,bartholdi's 8,freedom    
enlightening the ,world10 at ,new       
,york1 or ,dalou's 8,republic as the    

,protector of ,labour and ,culture10 in 
the ,place de la ,nation1 at ,paris4    
,even these works still continue to show
 a birthmark1 which betrays  their      
origin from the sculpture of purpose1   
for ,bartholdi's gigantic  statue is a  
lighthouse1 and ,dalou's 8,triumph of   
the ,republic0 belongs  to the fountain 
series4    ,on the other hand1          
,bartholom's 8,memorial to the ,dead0 is
 as free  from every idea of commonplace
 utility as any mouldings for the rooms 
of a house4 ,it originated in the       
artist's emotion1 and had1 at its       
birth1 no other purpose than that of    
relieving its creator by the            
gratification of an impulse4 ,what was  
to become of the work after it  was     
finished is a question ,bartholom       
probably never asked himself  at all4   
,perhaps he resigned himself to the     
thought that it would  pass a           
pensioner's existence in some museum or 
other4 ,in any case1  carelessness as to
 what use would be made of it left him  

entire freedom  as to the form it should
 take4 ,and now he had the unexpected   
happiness  of the work being purchased  
by the city of ,paris1 and placed in    
,pre  ,lachaise4 ,this has been the     
first instance1 as far as ,i know1 of a 
purely subjective1 monumental work      
capturing a public position without     
this being justified by a practical     
service to the community1 without       
embellishing a building1 without        
satisfying any religious need or        
patriotic feeling1 without immortalising
 any historical reminiscence1  without  
glorifying any event or individual1 but 
basing its claim to  the grateful       
attention of the people at large only on
 the grounds that  it attempts to embody
 in beauty an elemental emotion alive in
 the  masses1 that is to say1 a real1   
common interest of moral order4 ,the    
work may become the starting-point of a 
new monumental art1 which will  set     
itself the hitherto unknown task of     
presenting1 with the authority  of great

 sculpture1 moods and views of the      
world1 viz41 the spiritual  conditions  
common to a people1 of interpreting them
 to that people1 and  of fixing them for
 history4    ,with all its novelty1     
,bartholom's work is1 notwithstanding1  
not  without organic connection with the
 historical development of  art4 ,there 
is no virgin-birth in art4 ,every work  
has a pedigree4  ,bartholom's art is    
allied to the ,campo ,santo art of the  
,middle  ,ages1 from which it borrows   
thoughts of consolation and promise4 ,it
  nevertheless exhibits a daring        
progress when it has emancipated itself 
from the architecture of gateways1 outer
 walls1 chapels1 etc41 and  forced its  
way in independent form1 complete in    
itself4    ,the street of tombs opens at
 the main entrance of ,pre ,lachaise1   
and  leads to a gently rising hill1 the 
declivity of which ,bartholom's         
masterpiece occupies4 ,it displays the  
irregular1 decorated side of a          
two-storied stone building of ancient   

,egyptian architecture of the  simplest 
lines4 ,a high door opens in the middle 
of the upper story1  into the shadowy   
depth of which a naked man has entered4 
,him follows  hesitatingly1 with her    
outstretched right hand grasping his    
shoulder  and seeking support1 a young  
woman1 the lines of whose profile1 from 
her mouth distorted with fear down to   
the soles of her feet that detach       
themselves reluctantly from the ground1 
express a horror in presence of  the    
unknown4    ,towards this ,gate of      
,death move1 on the right and left1     
groups1 each of  seven persons1 whom the
 artist has striven honestly1 yet       
without real  success1 to fashion in    
various shapes4 ,at the first hurried   
glance1  the two processions appear to  
be variously moved2 but on looking more 
closely into them1 we recognise an      
uniformity which proves a striking      
poverty of imagination4 ,on the left1   
hard by the ,gate of ,fate1 a young     
woman is sitting on a stone-bench       

without support1 with her countenance   
concealed by her hands4 ,she cannot make
 up her mind to rise from where  she is 
resting1 in order to take the last step4
 ,a second woman is  visible in a       
similar irresolute attitude1 in weak    
relief on the wall4  ,cowering behind   
the two1 kneeling quite low1 so that the
 thighs lie in  parallel lines over the 
legs1 a naked man seems to be whispering
 words  of encouragement into the ear of
 the seated woman4 ,then follows a woman
  sunk on her knees as if crushed1 who  
hides her face like the first  with a   
somewhat different movement1 and behind 
her a man standing1 but  bending down to
 her1 and addressing words of           
consolation4 ,last of all1  another     
woman sitting down1 whose dishevelled   
hair is streaming over  her countenance1
 and1 behind her1 a man standing        
upright1 likewise as  a consoler4 ,thus 
is repeated on this side the theme of   
the despairing  woman and the calm1     
comforting man4 ,on the right side the  

invention  is somewhat richer4 ,close to
 the door stands an old man--decidedly  
the  most expressive figure in the whole
 composition--clinging tightly to the   
door-posts2 and with his head and the   
upper portion of his body bent  forward1
 he tries to get a terrified glance at  
the awful mystery1 ere  he pulls himself
 together for entering4 ,to his group   
belongs a woman  stretched on the ground
 with her face pressed in her hands     
before her2  another folding her hands  
in prayer1 and a half-grown girl        
shrugging  her lean shoulders in terror4
 ,there follows a second group of three 
figures--a woman with dishevelled hair1 
bowed low to the ground2 a  crouching   
man supporting her and preventing the   
feeble figure from  sinking down        
completely2 and a young woman who kneels
 on one leg1 turns  her back to ,death's
 portal1 and glances back on life as    
though she  still hoped for deliverance4
    ,the lower story shows1 through the 
front-wall1 which is removed to its     

full extent1 the interior of the vault  
into which the upper ,gate of  ,death   
seems to lead down4 ,on a mattress-like 
couch rest1 side by side1  the naked    
bodies of a man and his young spouse2   
across their bodies is  laid their      
little one year old child2 in the       
background is visible in  low relief on 
the wall a winged angel with            
outstretched arms1 who looks  down      
lovingly on the three quiet sleepers4   
,with a navit which does  not rise above
 the puerile method of the              
quattrocentisti1 of making  their       
figures express themselves by means of  
legends issuing from their  mouths1     
,bartholom writes on this wall beneath  
the angel the sense of  his allegory3   
8,they that dwell in the land of the    
shadow of death1 upon  them hath the    
light shined40    ,above all1 the artist
 deserves the respect that is due to    
long and  earnest effort4 ,we have here 
before us a work of ten years' labour1  
executed with composure1 inspiration1   

and conscientiousness4 ,he who  can do  
that1 of him one may say1 without the   
slightest suggestion  of irony3 8,with  
his talent1 however applied1 the man is 
certainly a  character40 ,many details  
of the monument1 nevertheless1 prove    
that  ,bartholom is not only a          
character1 but also a man of talent4    
,the  husband and wife turn their quiet 
faces to each other in the rest that  is
 in the grave1 and lay their hands one  
upon the other2 and this  movement is so
 tender and sincere that it makes a deep
 impression4  ,it really expresses in   
sculpture the love that endures beyond  
the  grave4 ,it is the solitary true    
emotion in the whole work2 for he  whose
 eyes grow moist at the sight of the    
dead child with the sweet  little baby  
limbs1 will say to himself that his     
emotion is not of an  sthetic nature1 is
 not evoked by the means of art1 but is 
the purely  physical reaction of a human
 heart from a cruelly painful           
impression1  in which no artistic       

element or inspiration is mingled4 ,the 
woman who  enters ,death's portal a prey
 to horror exhibits graceful lines1 and 
the old greybeard who timidly peers into
 it is cleverly conceived and           
accurately represented4    ,beside these
 excellent details1 many middling and   
absolute weak  ones disturb us4 ,the    
dead husband in the grave has an ,aztec 
face  of repulsive ugliness1 which is   
not called for by any artistic          
considerations4 ,the attitudes of many  
figures1 especially those  squatting or 
cowering1 are in bad taste4 ,a primary  
personage--the man  who has stepped into
 the ,gate of ,death--stalks bending    
forward with  head bowed down and the   
muscles of his back contracted1 like one
  who is hauling with all his might4 ,it
 is a matter of surprise that  the      
tow-rope with which the vessel is       
dragged is not to be seen4 ,i  cannot   
prove it1 but ,i am convinced that      
,bartholom has formed this  man1 not    
after a model1 but from what he         

recollected of a hauler by  ,constantin 
,meunier4 ,i have already called        
attention to the monotony  of the group 
motifs4 ,the whole conception of the    
composition1 at  any rate of the upper  
story1 is an echo of ,canova's monument 
to ,maria  ,christina at ,vienna1 with  
the further development that ,bartholom 
shows the subterrestrial and            
supernatural continuation of the theme  
which ,canova carries only as far as the
 entrance to the realm of  shades1      
leaving what follows to the pious belief
 of the spectator4 ,the  weightiest     
objection which must be made to the work
 as a whole is its  offensive lack of   
repose4 ,all the individual details are1
 with few  happy exceptions1 realistic1 
whilst the effect of the whole          
composition  moves in extreme unreality4
 ,how has ,bartholom's most original    
artistic  instinct not preserved him    
from trying to present a wholly ideal   
dogma  with the most vulgar1 petty      
realism8 ,simple medival sculptors might

  work thus4 ,in our contemporaries we  
do not believe in simplicity1 and       
therefore the discord between idea and  
form has a jarring effect4    ,the most 
ideal dogma that ,bartholom preaches is1
 however1 that of  the immortality of   
the soul and the resurrection of the    
body2 for  his monument can mean only   
that1 if it means anything at all4 ,it  
is  conceived as a consolation to the   
sorrow-laden who form the last escort   
to a dear one that is dead1 or are      
making a pilgrimage to the grave  of one
 they loved4 ,and what consolation has  
he to offer them8 ,see1 he  says1 in the
 figures on the upper story1 the sorrow 
with which men  approach the gates of   
shadow-land4 ,why this                  
faint-heartedness8 ,why this  timorous  
shrinking from the terrors of death8    
,death has no terrors4  ,it is entering 
into peace and the fulfilment of a high 
promise4 ,and  he shows1 in the lower   
story1 the gentle1 blessed rest the dead
 enjoy  who there slumber until their   

resurrection1 watched by their guardian 
angel1 who awakes them at the appointed 
hour1 and convey their immortal  souls  
to their divine destination4    ,that is
 the cosmic view held by an artist on   
the threshold of the  twentieth century4
 ,holbein and his predecessors in       
painting the  ,dance of ,death were men 
who believed in ,christianity1 but the  
only  consolation that they offered     
mortals was this3 ,don't bewail your    
mortal lot1 you share it with ,pope and 
,emperor4 ,the path from the            
,rationalism of this exhortation to the 
mysticism of ,bartholom's dogma  is     
called by the decadents ,progress4      
,the decadents are consistent when they 
call ,bartholom a modern1  one of the   
most modern1 and hail his work as the   
art of the future4  ,it is logically on 
a line with the 8progress0 and          
8modernism0 of a  ,huysmans1            
,maeterlinck1 ,bourget1 and other ,new  
,catholics4 ,but what is  to be said    
about the city of ,paris having this    

unctuous work erected  in ,pre          
,lachaise8 ,had the ,moscow ,duma done  
it1 everybody would have  found it      
natural4 ,but the ,paris ,municipal     
,council6 ,this society of  boasting    
freethinkers which has banished the     
,cross from the schools and             
churchyards1 hounded the ,sisters of    
,mercy from the hospitals1 has the      
dogma of the ,resurrection preached     
officially6    ,that is the highly      
interesting ethical side of this work4  
,it reveals  monumentally the confusion 
in the donkey-heads of the self-styled  
freethinkers4 ,that they should decree  
the honour of a public site to  a       
composition of a dogmatically religious 
character is proof of crass  ignorance  
of their own standpoint1 or else of     
their hypocrisy4 ,i prefer  to assume it
 to be their ignorance4                 
,,xv                                    
,,jean ,,carri,s      ,the little       
palace1 the charming edifice which was  
already attractive  as the abode of the 

,dutuit collection1 has received a new  
value  and consecration4 ,a room has    
been opened in it1 in which a great     
artist reveals himself1 whose           
acquaintance1 though not indeed quite   
exhaustively1 but nevertheless very     
profoundly and familiarly1 can be  made 
only here in the wide world4 ,this      
artist is ,jean ,carris1 who died  in   
#ahid1 at the early age of thirty-nine1 
after a marvellously planned  life4 ,to 
this pattern life1 as expressive as any 
whose story ,vasari  has told1 belonged 
a patron who kept what is vulgar away   
from him1  who saved him from care and  
anxiety1 who made his mind easy as to   
his  influence on contemporaries and    
posterity1 and1 to a certain extent1    
symbolically personified his fame for   
him4 ,this useful part was played  by a 
certain ,herr ,hoentschel1 who acquired 
most of ,carris's works4 ,he  has now   
presented them to the ,city of ,paris1  
and1 by so doing1 rendered  the opening 
of the ,carris ,museum possible4 ,in    

return his name has  been engraved in   
letters of gold on the marble slab which
 declares the  purpose to which the room
 has been assigned1 beside that of his  
trusted  artist--no mean satisfaction to
 a high-aiming ambition4    ,carris was 
the son of a poor artisan of ,lyons4 ,he
 seemed destined1  as he thought1 to    
follow his father's avocation2 but the  
fairies had  conferred gifts on the     
proletarian's child in his cradle3 sense
 of  beauty and power of design4 ,he was
 for a short time apprenticed to an     
artisan2 then he taught himself to be an
 artist4 ,he pursued no beaten  tracks1 
and could follow no guides4 ,he was left
 to his own sense of  locality for      
finding out a path1 and he made wide    
dtours1 but1  nevertheless1 raised      
himself safely to the highest peaks4    
,phenomena  delighted him as form and   
colour4 ,his pleasurable sensations     
sufficed  to impel him to utterance in  
sculpture and painting2 he satisfied    
his delight in form by modelling in     

clay1 his delight in colour by          
enamelling4    ,for nearly two decades  
he sought1 strove1 and created in solemn
  loneliness4 ,only the patron whom he  
luckily found at the right time  glanced
 over his shoulders when at work with   
bated breath4 ,his  reverential         
admiration expressed itself in a        
convincing manner by the  helpful       
gesture of the open hand4 ,some intimate
 comrades were allowed  to witness the  
lofty drama of an exquisite development4
 ,his studio1  however1 was far removed 
from the noise of the market4 ,the heat 
of  praise and the icy breath of blame  
brought no disturbance into the  even   
climate in which his talent was         
powerfully developing4 ,quiet and       
collected1 he worked on until he saw his
 inner vision realised before  him4     
,then he said3 8,it is good02 and       
allowed a great ,sabbath to follow  the 
hard days of creation4 ,absolutely      
unknown to wider circles1 in #ahib  he  
stepped before the public for the first 

time in the ,champs de ,mars  with a    
rich exhibition4 ,an hour after the     
doors of the 8,salon0 were  open1 he was
 famous4 ,in the history of modern art1 
never before had  such an impressive    
revelation been observed4 ,there was no 
hesitation1  no vacillation4 ,artists1  
critics1 connoisseurs made pilgrimage1  
as if  guided by the shepherds' star in 
the bodeful procession of the three     
kings of the ,east to ,carris' glass    
cases and pedestals1 bent their  knees1 
and brought incense and myrrh4 ,his     
countrymen shouted for joy3  8,france   
has one great painter more40 ,thoughtful
 persons looked at one  another and said
 softly3 8,the world is by one beauty   
richer40    ,all asked3 8,who is the    
man80 for they insisted1 in their       
amazement1  that nobody knew him4 ,and  
then they found out that ,jean ,carris  
was a  finished artist1 a man of        
thirty-seven1 who lived in the          
provinces1 and  had1 up to that time1   
sought nothing but the satisfaction of  

himself4  ,he had not wasted the tiniest
 little spark of his ,promethean        
strength  in the vulgar melodrama of    
fighting for success4 ,his tragedies    
were the  great struggle with the       
resistance of material1 and doubt of    
himself1  and they had been played in   
secret in his soul4 ,and now was pressed
  upon him that for which candidates    
strive convulsively1 and how often      
fruitlessly6 ,the ,champs de ,mars      
,society elected him with acclamation   
to full membership1 and dispensed him   
from the probationary period  is        
associate4 ,the ,state asked for        
specimens to serve as models for  its   
museums1 and tied the red ribbon to the 
buttonhole of his blouse4  ,what was    
purchasable was bought up by the ladies 
of ,arc de ,triomphe  quarter during the
 first days of the 8,salon40 ,a rich    
,american lady1  ,mrs ,winnareta        
,singer1 commissioned him to carry out  
the model of his  fantastic 8door40 ,the
 artists fted him by a banquet in his   

honour--a  homage which at that time was
 not lavished as was the case           
afterwards4  ,mdlle4 ,luise ,breslau    
painted his portrait1 which is now      
exhibited in  his room in the midst of  
his works1 and showed his admirers a    
still  youngish man of noble beauty1    
with a ,lucius ,verus head1 the ,csarean
  nobility of which was not in the least
 injured by a careless slouched  hat4 ,i
 do not know whether ,mdlle4 ,breslau   
has flattered her model or  has been    
honest1 for ,i never saw ,carris        
himself2 but in the picture  he appears1
 as one would like to fancy him1 every  
inch a gentleman1  on whom his careless 
working-dress has the effect of a       
disguise which  does not for a second   
deceive as to the rank of the wearer4 ,a
 delicate1  slender figure2 wonderfully 
active1 inspired hands2 deep1 searching 
eyes that seem to sight and fix a       
dream-picture hovering away2 soft1      
narrow cheeks1 on which uneasy shadows  
play1 under the short beard2 a          

thoughtful1 white forehead over which an
 abundance of light brown curls  falls4 
,how many women may have indulged in    
dreams before this likeness1  for it    
fascinates even men6    ,the homage     
received had no intoxicating effect on  
him2 the activity  of the ,press        
concerning him did not infect him with  
the smallest  beginnings of conceit4 ,he
 withdrew from the curiosity of the     
world by  quietly returning to his      
provincial nest1 where1 day and night1  
he  stoked his flaming furnace1 and     
mixed his acids and metallic salts2     
suffered under frequent disappointments1
 and enjoyed rare delights in  the      
success of a firing or a coloured       
enamel4 ,in the ensuing year one  looked
 in vain for him in the 8,salon10 and   
not quite two years after  his          
unparalleled triumph that came like a   
bomb1 men learnt that he had  died4     
,his life had ended artistically4       
,carris disappeared ere his locks grew  
scanty or grey4 ,beautifully and        

noiselessly1 like another ,euphorion1   
he soared away from the admiration of   
his contemporaries in the full  lustre  
of his fame2 and his works1 through his 
early death1 experienced  the enhanced  
value of the ,sibylline books4 ,we may  
call him happy1 for  in this room we    
feel that he had given his best when he 
died4 ,with a  longer life he might have
 gone astray1 for there is no lack of   
short  openings to false paths4 ,very   
likely he would have repeated himself   
many times1 and that would have         
detracted from the dainty charm of      
rarity which1 besides their noble       
beauty1 is peculiar to his works4    ,he
 unites in himself two different and    
equally perfect artists3 the  sculptor  
and the art-potter4 ,each tilled a tiny 
field2 but with what  intensity6 ,and   
what harvests they conjured out of it6  
,as sculptor1  curiously enough1 the    
whole human figure in its ,olympian     
nudity failed  to interest him4 ,he has 
not on a single occasion sought to      

represent  the body's ,paradisaic       
beauty4 ,he confines himself1 apparently
 on  principle1 to head and hands2 but  
these are surpassed by nothing1 and     
equalled only by little1 that all the   
centuries since the ,renaissance  have  
produced4 ,i pass respectfully1 yet     
without deeper feeling1 by his  busts of
 ,velasquez and ,franz ,hals4 ,they are 
merely exercises of his  hand1 perhaps  
only pastimes4 ,they seem theatrical by 
reason of the  accentuation of the      
costume4 ,in their countenances the     
absence of the  model is too evident4   
,but beside them the busts of ,gustave  
,courbet1 of  ,jules ,breton1 especially
 of ,carris himself1 operate with       
unequalled  authority4 ,they live before
 us2 they think1 and they reveal        
themselves4  ,in looking at them we     
involuntarily call to mind the old      
stories of  the earthen statues which a 
magician filled with the breath of life 
in  order that they might serve him4    
,the same impression1 only intensified  

and deepened1 is felt before  the busts 
of the 8,young ,girl with the ,drooping 
,head10 the 8,dutch  ,wife10 and the    
8,dutch ,maiden40 ,this young ,dutch    
girl is particularly  adorable4 ,i do   
not consider ,i am exaggerating when ,i 
say she ranks as  a sister1 though in a 
different technique1 with the 8,mona    
,lisa40 ,the  maiden's innocent eyes1   
which have no presentiment of the       
passionate  secrets of ,gioconda2 the   
graceful1 reposeful countenance1 that   
seems  wondering blissfully over her own
 blooming youth and the loveliness  of  
the world1 charm us like the miracle of 
a spring day4 ,similar joy  streams from
 his sleeping and waking little         
children4 ,the softness of  this baby   
flesh1 the delicate texture of this     
plump1 warm1 satin skin1  are           
unattainable4 ,carris discovered a new  
technique for the life of  the outer    
skin1 the results of which1 in his      
hands1 are amazing4 ,he  gives a        
delicate1 perpendicular creasing to the 

membrane of the lips1  and marks it off 
from the skin of the face in a discreet 
but firm line1  so that it imparts the  
illusion of seeing swelling lip-red     
framed in  mother-of-pearl4 ,the mouths 
of his women are weirdly seductive4 ,it 
would really not surprise me if         
semi-fools and lunatics were to pounce  
upon these ravishing lips with eager    
kisses4    ,even when ,carris is not    
idealising1 but is reproducing portraits
 true  to nature1 he imparts to them an 
inwardness which seems unfathomable1    
like that of a deep soul4 ,for this let 
any one only look at the 8,bust  of an  
,unknown ,lady0 and 8,mother            
,callamand0--the former a cold1 proud   
patrician1 perhaps the ,clara ,vere de  
,vere1 in whom ,tennyson admires  8that 
repose which stamps the caste of ,vere  
de ,vere02 the latter a  splendid old   
nun1 probably an abbess1 a sturdy1      
peasant woman who is  conscious of her  
high rank in the convent1 and in whose  
broad face  goodness and severity1      

healthy power and enthusiastic          
spirituality1  are mingled4 ,this gift  
of filling the subject with inward life 
is  the strongest element in ,carris'   
genius4 ,in a series of works which     
were exhibited in the ,champs de ,mars  
,salon1 and are1 unfortunately1  not to 
be found in the room of the ,little     
,palace1 this cropped up                
overpoweringly4 ,there were fabulous    
animals1 monsters1 which a  luxuriant   
imagination had invented--toads1 frogs1 
lizards of gigantic  size1 in positions 
humanly conceived1 the female reposing  
on the breast  of the male1 whose eyes  
are closing in rapture1 and delicately  
embraced  by his paws4 ,one might think 
they would have a grotesque effect2 by  
no means4 ,their anthropomorphism       
brought them in danger of derision2  but
 the genius of ,carris was here directly
 revealed4 ,the quasi-human1  emotional 
life manifested in their attitudes made 
them pathetic4 ,the  toads' legs were   
not seen2 their mouths and goggle eyes  

were not seen4  ,people saw only the    
unmistakable trait of love1 and were    
moved by this  exhibition of the        
primitive feeling--the same in man and  
beast--which  holds the world together4 
,perhaps it is in accordance with this  
gift of spiritualisation that  ,carris  
never worked with marble1 rarely with   
bronze1 but1 as a rule1  and preferably1
 with potter's clay4 ,stone and metal1  
however painfully  correctly they       
render1 with every stroke of the thumb  
and impression of  the finger1 the clay 
model1 seem to him too hard for the     
inexpressible  tenderness which he wants
 to express4 ,only one material         
satisfies  him--the one which possesses 
the softness of flesh and of            
nerve-plasm4  ,he can knead only clay so
 that it retains his lightest           
vibrations4  ,there is something about  
his busts of burnt clay that reminds me 
of  phonographic cylinders4 ,there is   
soul-melody inscribed in them in        
invisible lines1 and1 set in our mood1  

they again begin to give forth  sounds1 
and to repeat the mood of him who       
composed them4    ,the ability with     
trembling fingers to coax emotions into 
soft clay  and to render them plastic   
seems to be something divine4 ,it did   
not  satisfy ,carris4 ,anybody else     
would have found the limits of his      
genius  enviably wide2 to him they      
appeared narrow1 and he tried to pass   
beyond  them4 ,he wanted to create      
monumental pieces of sculpture1 and he  
constructed his 8,martyrdom of ,st      
,fidelis0 and his astounding 8,gate40   
,the 8,martyrdom0 is a group1 composed  
of the kneeling martyr in monastic      
habit and the executioner behind him1   
raising his armed fist to deal  the     
murderous blow4 ,in the details the     
artist is here1 too1 distinctly         
,carris1 i4e41 the executioner is of    
superb cruelty--a fine specimen  of the 
family of brutalised legionaries or     
torturers who1 in medival  relievi of   
the ,way of the ,cross1 scourge ,christ 

at the pillar and  nail ,him to the     
,cross4 ,taken as a whole1 the master's 
art is a failure2  the group has no     
line4 ,the drama cannot be seen from any
 side1 that  is1 the gesture of the     
executioner1 with its menace of death1  
and the  countenance of the martyr who  
is awaiting his last trial1 cannot be   
comprehended at once in a single glance4
    ,if this group is weak1 the 8,gate0 
is a complete failure4 ,he imagined  a  
gateway with a depressed keel-arch top1 
divided by an intervening  pillar into  
two gates4 ,the pillars are covered with
 grotesque masks  and mythical animals  
from top to bottom4 ,the arch of the    
gate is  formed by a dragon1 in the     
gaping jaws of which stands a noble     
lady4  ,the separate masks and monsters 
scintillate with spirit1 fancy1 and     
humour4 ,in richness and variety of     
invention1 and in depth of humour1  ,i  
unhesitatingly place these heads far    
above ,germain ,pilon's ,pont ,neuf     
masks4 ,the contrast1 too1 between the  

fearless maiden standing in the         
animal's jaws1 full of quiet            
self-confidence1 and the hideous beast1 
is  of pregnant symbolism4 ,the work is1
 nevertheless1 an aberration1 as a      
whole4 ,the masks and monsters have no  
organic connection with the gate1       
either constructively1 or in accordance 
with the meaning4 ,they are  simply     
stuck on4 ,and the gateway itself is an 
insoluble riddle4 ,where  should it lead
 to8 ,to a lunatic asylum1 a museum of  
caricatures1 or a  carnival ballroom8   
,or should it mean 8the abstract door10 
the door  pure and simple1 without the  
purpose of an entrance into a building8 
,the poor1 great artist consecrated     
years of his life to this prodigy1  and 
never saw that he had wasted them4      
,the decorator amused himself in        
devising unheard-of enamels4 ,he        
modelled vessels of smooth1 supple      
plant-forms--calabashes1 melons1        
cucumbers1 mamillaria-cactuses1 bulging 
or fallen in1 smoothly  swelling1 or    

warty and shrivelled1 whimsically dinted
 like a thin  copper-plate1 wantonly    
hammered1 or lumpy and swollen4 ,and    
over these  whimsicalities1 which show  
an incredible mastery of the material1  
he poured glazes which look so fat and  
moist that they seem to flow  still1    
viscous and languid4 ,many are purple1  
like half-curdled blood2  others white  
and rich1 like fresh cream2 and others  
like coloured  fruit juices2 but many a 
time we think we see thick matter and   
brains  in frightful discharges2 and on 
some vases the enamel imitates the      
lichens which overrun the bark of trees 
in spots1 grooves1 and bands4  ,and when
 ,carris has done enough with these     
glazes1 which remind us of  opalescent  
life-saps1 he tries diversity in glazes 
of gold1 silver1  coral1 and precious   
stones1 which change his stoneware      
phials into  splendid vessels from a    
treasury of the ,thousand and ,one      
,nights4    ,as a sculptor in clay ,jean
 ,carris stands as high as ,della       

,robbia2 in  details--in forming lips   
and cheeks--far higher than the latter2 
and1 as  a decorator1 no one can be     
compared with him1 not even ,bernhard de
  ,palissy--to mention a name by which  
his rank may be estimated4 ,carris  is  
not a man of to-day1 and fashion lies   
far below the height on which  he works4
 ,the wretched sthetic-babbling coteries
 of the period cannot  get hold of him1 
or make use of him for the senseless but
 furiously  bellowed catchwords peculiar
 to the polemics of the day4 ,he is not 
a  modernist1 not a classic1 not an     
impressionist2 he is not this1 he is    
not that1 but1 he is1 quite simply1     
himself4 ,he works up what he has       
learnt in his own person2 he invents his
 own1 and always gives himself4  ,he    
creates from his own soul1 without      
looking to right or left4 ,in him  there
 is no school1 no tendency1 and no      
straining1 but only feeling1            
personality1 and the service of beauty4 
,yet it is through these great  artistic

 natures1 which belong to no time1 that 
the line of development  in art         
proceeds1 and not through the pitiful   
homunculi1 whom ,faust  caricatures     
artificially engender in                
advertisement-retorts4                  
,,xvi                         ,,works   
,,of ,,art ,,and ,,art ,,criticisms     
,during the last years the relation of  
public opinion to works of art  has been
 repeatedly discussed1 and on each      
occasion with great warmth4    ,the     
discussion1 in the main1 is concerned   
with two questions which are            
independent even if they are connected  
with each other1 viz43 ,has the  public 
a right to judge a work of art1 or must 
it renounce its own  opinion and simply 
bow before the verdict of specialists8  
,have not  all1 or1 at any rate1 many1  
works of art that have subsequently     
gained  undisputed recognition by the   
world1 been strongly opposed and rashly 
rejected on their first appearance in   
public8    ,in #ahii intellectual       

,berlin was excited about a pertinent   
question4  ,professor ,franz ,stuck1 the
 ,munich painter1 had obtained a        
commission  for a wall-painting for the 
,german ,house of ,parliament4 ,when the
 artist  sent in his sketch1 there came 
a shriek of most unpleasant astonishment
  from the judging committee of the     
,reichstag1 and a member1 ,dr ,lieber1  
expressed in public session1 in very    
strong language1 his absolutely  unmixed
 feelings in respect of the work4       
,the ,munich friends of the insulted    
artist1 to their credit1 made common    
cause for him4 ,they published an       
armour-clad protest1 in which they      
characterised the members as 8laymen    
unable to judge10 and reproached  them  
with impertinence because they 8thought 
they understood everything  better than 
learned specialists did40    ,i         
expressed my views then in the ,deutsche
 ,revue of this opposition  between     
specialists and laymen in plastic art1  
and ,i ask permission to  repeat here in

 brief the essential part of my         
arguments4    ,who are the experts8     
,from the general drift of the objection
 on the  part of the ,munich artists it 
was to be concluded that they must be   
the practising artists1 the critics1    
perhaps also the professors of          
art-history4 ,let him who does not      
belong to these three sacrosanct        
categories steal weeping away from the  
confederation of experts4 ,and  even    
among the critics there is probably a   
selection to be made4 ,the  critic who  
praises the artist is to him undoubtedly
 an expert2 the  critic who blames him  
shows himself incontestably as a        
bourgeois1 and  in intelligence stands  
almost as low as a common ,university   
professor  who does not teach           
art-history4    ,all this is foolish    
talk4 ,in matters of art1 if1 indeed1   
any one can1  only an individual--never 
a category--can lay claim to the rank of
  expert4 ,is1 perhaps1 the practising  
artist the expert8 ,he is not so        

necessarily4 ,there are people whose    
vocation in life1 or1 speaking more     
correctly1 whose usual occupation1 is   
painting1 but whose painting is  a      
continuous insult to art4 ,one may be a 
professional painter1 and yet  a pitiful
 dauber1 and commit such impudent sins  
against good taste  that every          
non-expert must recognise this at the   
first glance1 and be  provoked at it4   
,or is the critic the expert8 ,it would 
be a good joke to  assert that4         
,nearly every verdict on a work or an   
artist committed to paper by  a         
professional critic is opposed by       
another verdict1 also by a  professional
 critic which says the exact contrary4  
,which of the two  critics is an expert8
 ,which of the two has a right to demand
 that  people should bow before his     
verdict1 because he habitually makes    
phrases about works of art in public8   
,what proof of capacity do the  papers  
as a rule demand of the beaux esprits to
 whom they entrust  art criticism8 ,he  

who has observed dozens of times how    
ambitious  young newspaper-writers1 on  
their first report of an opening of an  
,exhibition1 or after forming a         
coffee-house acquaintance with an artist
  thirsting for advertisement1 suddenly 
discover in their minds a gift  for art 
criticism1 and have subsequently        
cultivated this with brazen             
self-consciousness2 he will feel highly 
amused when people try to crack  up     
art-critics as experts1 simply because  
they exercise this function4  ,even     
professors of the history of art1 even  
directors of museums1 are  not1 by      
reason of their office1 experts in the  
sense of possessing very  profound      
understanding of art4 ,the academic     
study of art-history lays  the chief    
stress on the facts belonging to the    
history of life and  morals1 which need 
have nothing in common with the         
understanding of  art4 ,one may make in 
archives the most beautiful discoveries 
for the  biography of ,leonardo1 and not

 feel a single one of his pictures4 ,and
  as regards superintendents of museums1
 it is possible to relate the  funniest 
anecdotes about their fallibility1 and  
oppose to them simple  connoisseurs1    
also 8non-experts10 who have formed     
splendid private  collections4    ,the  
truth is there are no experts in        
questions of art1 as there are1         
perhaps1 in questions of technique4     
,expert knowledge presupposes the       
existence of fixed rules1 of a canon4   
,there can be no talk of this in  the   
fine arts4 ,the only element of painting
 that1 at least to a certain  point--to 
the point where the individual          
conception and1 with it1 really         
artistic interest first begins--is under
 objective rules1 is drawing1  both from
 its figure as well as its perspective  
side4 ,this element can  be taught1     
learnt1 and faithfully measured1 for    
nature furnishes the  scales4 ,on the   
other hand1 the colour element in       
painting is subject to  absolutely no   

canon1 but at best to subjective        
feeling1 at worst to a  fashion of the  
period4 ,every artificial colour is a   
convention2 for1 as  ,i have argued more
 particularly in my studies of ,sisley  
and ,pissarro1  none can truly reproduce
 the real colours of natural phenomena1 
and  it is wholly a consequence of      
education and habit1 when the polychrome
  of oil-painting or water-colour more  
easily excites in us the illusion  of   
colouristic truth than the monochrome of
 the two-colour or of  black and white  
art4 ,one decade paints in dark1 another
 in bright  colours4 ,one school likes  
powerful1 another subdued harmonies of  
colour4 ,pr-,raphaelites imitate the    
tone of old frescoes and faded          
,gobelins4 ,puvis de ,chavannes took the
 colour out of his pictures by a        
transparent white-wash1 pale as the     
moon4 ,besnard1 on the contrary1        
discharges fireworks1 without caring in 
the least if the mad tumults of  colour 
that he loved are possible or not in    

nature4 ,carrire envelops  his figures  
in a dense mist4 ,cottet has1 very      
recently1 brought into  fashion the     
black and dark shadings which go right  
back from ,ribot  and ,prudhon to       
,velasquez and ,ribera4 ,who is right8  
,who is wrong8 ,here  everything is     
feeling1 and consequently subjectivity4 
,of drawing1 one  can in all cases say  
7and by photography irrefutably prove71 
it is  correct1 or it is wrong4 ,colour 
does not admit of a similar verdict4    
,all that can be said of it is3 8,i like
 it10 or 8,i don't like it40    ,for    
beauty in art1 in the present condition 
of the perception theory1  the          
physiology and psychology of pleasurable
 feelings1 there is no  other standard  
than subjective feeling4 ,this is       
dependent on the  greater or the less   
sensitiveness of the nervous system1 on 
its  perceptivity of slight qualitative 
and quantitative differences in the     
excitation of the senses1 and1          
therefore1 on an essentially congenital 

constitution of the organism4 ,the gift 
of receiving strong impressions  from   
works of art can be developed by        
practice1 by the frequent and  attentive
 study of works of art of different     
kinds2 but it cannot be  attained       
artificially by any effort or any amount
 of study4    ,what1 then1 mean the     
expressions expert and layman1 when     
applied to  sthetic verdicts8 ,the      
classes of society1 in which            
preponderating  occupation with         
intellectual problems1 continued through
 several  generations1 has refined the  
nervous system and rendered it more     
sensitive1 produce1 as a rule1          
individuals with a feeling for art4     
,these live in large towns1 in the      
centres of art life1 they travel1  and  
visit numerous collections1 and thus    
their feeling for art is  developed into
 a wide understanding of it1 that       
studies works of art  from the          
historical standpoint4 ,these are the   
real experts1 so far  as there can be   

any talk of such in sthetic questions4  
,but these  classes of society1 these   
individuals are only to the very        
smallest  extent painters or            
professional critics1 i4e41 critics     
writing for  the public4 ,to wish to    
exclude them1 on that account1 from the 
expert  class is ludicrous presumption  
of certain persons who1 by their own    
authority1 confer this title on         
themselves4 ,the educated public--the   
intellectual lite--has not the least    
reason for allowing their  opinion on   
works of art to be dictated to them by  
painters who may  well be daubers or    
crack-brained fools1 or by critics who  
may be  ignorant phrase-mongers4    ,so 
much for the first question as to the   
fitness of the so-called  layman for    
criticising works of art4    ,the second
 question1 as to the changes in public  
opinion about certain  works and their  
authors1 is considerably more complex4  
,it is not to be gainsaid that such     
changes have occurred1 but they are     

much rarer than those would like to make
 us believe who1 from instances  of     
pretended later conversions of          
originally rebellious taste on the  part
 of contemporaries1 hope to succeed in  
proving that the ugly is  beautiful and 
the beautiful is ugly4    ,the names    
which were most often cited to prove the
 incompetency of  contemporary judgment 
on works of art of modern tendency are  
most  unfortunately chosen4 ,millet1    
,rousseau1 and ,corot were looked upon  
by  their contemporaries as smearers and
 daubers2 ,manet was laughed to  scorn1 
,bcklin pronounced a fool1 his friends  
advised ,hans ,thoma to  change his     
name1 etc41 etc4 ,in order not to go to 
too great length  ,i will now leave     
,thoma and ,bcklin out of the           
discussion4 ,but the  others6 ,that     
,rousseau and1 especially1 ,corot passed
 for smearers  and daubers among their  
contemporaries is simply not true2 on   
the  contrary1 justice was at once done 
to them for their technique4 ,even      

their most unscrupulous opponents       
admitted that they were draughtsmen  and
 colourists4 ,what they were reproached 
with was only the alleged  intellectual 
insignificance of their work4 ,people   
remained under the  influence of        
classical landscape with ancient        
buildings or ruins1 and  a decoration of
 ideal figures such as ,poussin brought 
into fashion1  and ,claude ,lorrain     
cultivated4 ,a landscape without nymphs 
or shepherds  in ,arcadian dress1       
without temples or figures of ,hermes1  
seemed empty1  insignificant1 ignoble4  
,the majority had as yet no taste for   
the  witchery of mood in wood and field4
 ,why1 ,corot himself was not clear     
about what was new and determinative in 
his own art1 for in some of his         
grandest pictures ,dryads dance1 beneath
 young-leaved trees immersed in  the    
mists of springtide1 the most correct   
sham-classic square dance4  ,it was only
 in his last period that he renounced   
this ancient magic4  ,rousseau had      

broken away from tradition more         
resolutely1 and was on  that account    
less esteemed than ,corot by            
contemporaries whose education  had been
 perverted by precedent4 ,but the worst 
that was said against  the two did not  
go beyond the assertion that they were  
8vulgar40    ,the case of ,manet is1 of 
course1 different4 ,people have roughly 
disowned this painter2 but it is        
absolutely false to talk about a  change
 in popular opinion about him4 ,those   
who 8laughed at0 him  thirty-five years 
ago1 laugh at him in precisely the same 
way now4  ,in my study of the           
,caillebotte room in the ,luxembourg    
,museum ,i have  alluded to the angry   
protest of ,grme and ,gustave ,moreau   
against  admitting the works of ,manet  
and his friends into a ,state           
collection4  ,if the laughers are not so
 numerous1 and if their laughter is not 
so  ringing as in the 8,olympia0 year1  
it is simply because the man is         
absolutely done with4 ,only a few       

stragglers still talk nonsense about    
,manet1 men who have missed the         
connection of 8the last train10 and some
  greybeards in their dotage--the       
barricade warriors of the 8,salon0--who 
fancy they are still breathing the      
gunpowder smoke of #ahfc1 and will  keep
 up to the day of their death1 which    
cannot be far off1 the happy1  exultant 
mood of the beer-evenings at the ,caf de
 ,madrid4 ,none among  the pillars of   
young and living art recognises ,manet  
as his ancestor4  ,people know now that 
he was a discovery of ,zola's4 ,the     
sharp turn in  the development of art in
 the last thirty years of the last      
century  was inaugurated1 not by him1   
but by others4 ,courbet introduced      
realism  which has nowadays shrunk to   
nothing4 ,monet kindled 8,free ,light10 
and  that was a very great service      
which1 unfortunately1 is also no longer 
fully acknowledged1 for the latest race 
of ,parisian painters again  abandons   
joyful brightness and goes back to the  

gloomy1 oppressive  tones of 8the       
'fifties40 ,manet1 however1 found       
nothing and invented  nothing1 and he   
owes the noise that was1 for a period1  
heard about him  only to his relations  
with a devoted friend1 who vindicated   
his own  tendency by that of the        
painter1 and said of him all the good   
which he  thought of himself4    ,the   
change in taste from one generation to  
another is a general law  which ,i      
proved in the ,neue ,freie ,presse of   
#ith ,august #ahif1 and  afterwards     
developed and established in the        
,florence ,rivista ,moderna  7,no4 #c1  
of #ahih1 8,le alternanze del gusto074  
,i strongly believe  in the prevalence  
of this law2 but if particular cases are
 followed  in detail1 it is recognised  
that many an apparent change in the     
appreciation of a work or an artist     
rests on an illusion of the senses4     
,to return to the subject of ,manet4 ,an
 awful din arose at the first           
appearance of 8,olympia40 ,friends and  

foes waged wild battle with each  other4
 ,each panted for the blood of the      
other4 ,twenty years later  the picture 
that had been so hotly contested was    
hung in the ,state  ,museum1 which      
roused fresh1 but considerably weaker1  
opposition4  ,finally1 however1 no one  
any longer protested against its        
presence in  the picture-gallery1 and   
now a sophist might assert3 8,there1 you
 see6  ,the picture which was once      
laughed at is1 thirty years afterwards1 
acknowledged as a classical work of     
art40    ,gently6 ,that is by no means  
proved4 ,the fight has ceased only      
because  it has become objectless4 ,who 
nowadays waxes warm against ,manet8 ,the
  man1 you know1 is dead1 not only as a 
human being1 but also as an  artist4 ,he
 no longer troubles any one4 ,he no     
longer exercises any  bad influence4 ,he
 no longer even poisons popular taste1  
for it is  sufficient to observe the    
visitors to the ,luxembourg1 to see that
 they  pass by the 8,olympia0 with      

laughter1 and shrugging of the          
shoulders1 or  else with astonishment   
and shakes of the head4 ,if a belated   
corybant  raises a shout of 8,hail1     
,manet60 he is merrily allowed to shout4
 ,it is  superfluous to shout him down1 
for nobody listens to him4 ,the truth is
  that the taste for ,manet is not in   
the least changed4 ,people find the     
8,olympia0 every whit as repulsive      
nowadays as it was thirty years ago2    
but they no longer say so with a loud   
voice and with the veins about  their   
temples swollen1 because1 generally1    
people no longer stop before  its mouldy
 ugliness4    ,if you examine very      
carefully1 you will generally find that 
the  various appraisements of particular
 works in a new generation do not       
originate from later generations        
regarding it differently than did       
contemporaries1 but from their generally
 no longer viewing it with  the same    
eyes4 ,let us only bear in mind always  
that the vast majority  of mankind have 

no feeling of their own for artistic    
beauty4 ,they act  as if they had some  
feeling only because they know that a   
feeling  for art is pronounced to be a  
mark of higher culture4 ,we cannot rate 
too highly the part played in art idiocy
 by sham culture1 pose1 and             
self-deception--or1 shall we say1 more  
indulgently1 by auto-suggestion8        
,honest confession of obtuseness to art 
is hardly found in any but  the two     
poles of humanity--on the extreme summit
 and at the lowest  antipode4 ,a man    
must be either a rustic lout or an      
overtopping genius  like ,prince        
,bismarck1 to confess that he can make  
nothing of the fine  arts4 ,the         
culture-,philistine never has this      
courage4 ,he always pretends  that he   
finds luxurious enjoyment in the        
contemplation of art4 ,this             
culture-,philistine always repeats what 
has been said to him2 he admires  where 
the ,baedeker-star prescribes           
admiration4 ,and he is1 in many  cases1 

not even dishonest4 ,he persuades       
himself that he feels what he  regards  
it as his duty as an educated man to    
feel2 and he really comes  to feel it in
 the end1 thanks to this                
self-persuasion4 ,all the effects  of   
art depend on suggestion1 so far as they
 are not concerned with the  most       
absolutely primitive and                
undifferentiated sensual excitations4   
,on  one who has a genuine feeling for  
art the work of art itself conveys  the 
suggestion1 which is followed by        
feelings of pleasure4 ,on the  average  
men1 whose blunt nerves take no         
impression from the work of art  itself1
 the ,baedeker-star--the                
label--exercises this suggestion4 ,if a 
work of art has once got the reputation 
of excellence1 either because  it       
deserves it1 or because it acquired it  
from a dishonest1 busy1 bold1  and      
swaggering clique1 the next generation  
of ,philistines in art does  not test it
 further1 but takes it as something     

accepted4 ,the clique can  then state   
triumphantly that the work they have    
puffed is a success4  ,but has it on    
that account acquired real success8     
,the number of free1 strong men is      
extremely small1 who have the  courage1 
desire1 and ability to examine the      
veracity of traditional  labels2 but    
there is a frightful devastation every  
time that such an  idol-destroyer and   
overthrower of altars breaks into the   
,temple of  ,renown1 which is guarded by
 that dragon1 the ,good ,old ,way4      
,people are  then convinced about the   
quantity of plaster rubbish which has   
been  smuggled into proximity with real 
marble and gold-and-ivory work in the   
semi-darkness of the sanctuary1 and has 
enjoyed for hundreds1 perhaps  for      
thousands of years1 the same veneration 
as the wonder-working  revelations of   
genius4    ,but suppose we conceive in  
our mind's eye the extremely rare case  
in  which a real masterpiece was        
misjudged at first1 and1 later on1 was  

greeted with acclamations4 ,in this case
 the question1 as a rule1 is  not of    
lack of understanding1 but of lack of   
sense of proportion4 ,the  contemporary 
age which blames1 and the succeeding age
 which praises1  are both right1 i4e41  
they do not praise and blame the same   
thing1  and the divergent appraisement  
of the work is simply due to the fact   
that contemporaries like to dwell on the
 faults and overlook the  excellencies1 
whilst latter generations neglect the   
faults and regard  only the             
excellencies4 ,the contemporaries were  
biassed in severity1  their successors  
are biassed in indulgence4 ,ideal       
justice is not  of this world4 ,but     
faults remain faults even in the ages   
that come  after1 and excellencies1 too1
 were excellencies even in the period of
  their origin2 and it is jugglery and  
forgery when people interpret  the      
change in appraisement as if a later    
generation had admired as a  merit that 
which an earlier generation had         

stigmatised as a fault4 ,just  one      
example to illustrate these             
propositions3 ,millet is said to have   
passed for 8a dauber and smearer40 ,now1
 his contemporaries who blamed  him used
 no such harsh expression4 ,they said   
only that ,millet drew  incorrectly and 
painted carelessly1 and those with a    
real feeling for  art notice exactly the
 same thing to-day1 only they say it no 
longer1  unless the question is         
expressly put to them4 ,on the other    
hand1 his  contemporaries1 too1 noticed 
his deep moral earnestness1 his warm    
human feeling1 the touching simplicity  
of his style1 which we prize so  highly 
in ,millet to-day4 ,but they were not   
inclined to forgive him his  defects in 
execution on account of these           
intellectual merits1 whilst we  take his
 weakness in form into the bargain on   
account of the feeling  it contains4    
,these weaknesses1 however1 are there   
to-day precisely as  they were thirty   
years ago1 and he who fails to see them 

is guilty of  presumption if he passes a
 verdict on pictures4    ,taking them   
altogether1 the works and artists that  
were overvalued  by contemporaries are  
far more numerous than those that were  
underestimated at the beginning4 ,and   
even in the extremely few cases  of the 
latter category1 the injustice of       
contemporaries did not1 as a  rule1 take
 the form of violent opposition1 but    
that of indifference4  ,contemporaries  
did not gainsay their beauty2 but it    
escaped their  attention1 because this  
was claimed by other fashions and       
styles4 ,no  work of plastic art that is
 nowadays accepted without dispute was  
rejected1 when it appeared1 with such   
anger as certain products of the        
8,secession0 are at the present day4    
,that is natural4 ,the conditions of art
 production were half a century  ago    
absolutely different to what they are   
now4 ,the artist gave his  personality  
full scope1 and sought to please only a 
few customers of  rank1 without         

troubling himself about the people at   
large4 ,to-day he  wants to excite a    
sensation at any price1 and he looks1   
for this end1  not into himself1 but    
about himself4 ,by creating he is not   
satisfying  his impulse to give form and
 shape1 but his hunger for success4     
,vain amour propre1 swaggering1         
conceited vanity and cunning            
8pushfulness0 are the motives that far  
too often guide the artist's  brush or  
chisel4 ,the coarse vulgarity of the    
means corresponds with the  coarse      
vulgarity of the motives and aims4 ,one 
must make a sensation1  and that is     
attained most easily by a rowdy         
rebellion against taste1  truth1 and    
healthy human intelligence4 ,if he      
annoys his contemporaries1  the ruthless
 advertiser finds his account more      
surely than if he  praised them4 ,only  
he who startles dares hope to be noticed
 in our  present huge exhibitions with  
their three thousand numbers4 ,that is  
why the unscrupulous competitor works   

with the object of startling1  and only 
with that object4 ,his natural allies   
are writers who seek by  aggressive     
criticism to satisfy the same hysterical
 impulse towards  sensation as he1 and  
the snobs who hope to justify their     
claim to be  un-,philistine by          
pretending to discover and appreciate   
hidden beauties1  where the thick-headed
 majority of their fellow-men observe   
and condemn  only unblushing outrages on
 the sense of beauty4    ,the necessity 
for creating a sensation has arisen only
 in our times  of over-production in all
 fields of intellectual creation1 and of
  frightfully murderous competition for 
success4 ,in the earlier days of  art it
 played hardly any part at all4 ,on this
 account it is fallacious  to try to    
deduce from the1 after all1 extremely   
rare romances of  works1 originally     
misjudged but afterwards recognised1 in 
the past1  an argument in favour of     
certain creations of the present day1   
which  a large proportion of educated   

men rejects1 not because they do not    
understand1 them1 but because they      
understand them only too well4    ,let  
men only have the quiet courage not to  
allow themselves to be put  out of      
countenance2 they will carry their point
 even before posterity4                 
,,xvii                                  
,,my ,,own ,,opinion      ,there is     
hardly anything which ,i hate so        
cordially as opportunistic  criticism1  
which1 in respect of phenomena in       
art-production presented  in a noisy and
 pretentious way1 affecting to signify  
modernity and  progress1 does not       
honestly take a side1 but with the      
cunning foresight  of the bat in the    
fable attempts to come to an            
understanding with  both the opposing   
armies1 of the birds and of the mice4   
,criticism  that openly wears the       
uniform of a pronounced movement in art 
can be  put up with4 ,the enemy of the  
movement fights the criticism and the   
movement at the same time4 ,it shares   

all the fates of its banner2 it  is in  
the danger1 and it may be in the        
victory4 ,if the movement for  which it 
carries weapons succumbs1 it gets the   
worst of it too1 and  experiences the   
treatment accorded to the vanquished4   
,it has to lay  down its weapons of     
criticism1 falls into contempt1 and has 
no longer  the possibility of           
devastating art life1 of perplexing     
artists1 and  oppressing those who enjoy
 art4 ,insufferable1 on the other hand1 
are  the clever1 the unprejudiced1 the  
eclectics1 the smooth civil sneerers    
who praise1 yet with faintness1 who     
blame1 yet with a saving clause1  who   
carry in their lips such well-known and 
rather good phrases as3  8,certainly1   
there is some exaggeration here1 but the
 peculiar style  is not to be           
misjudged03 8,it is certainly no        
finished creation1 but  the work1       
nevertheless1 contains some promise03   
8,this is not exactly  a work1 you know1
 which one could recommend for          

imitation1 yet there  is much to be     
learnt from it03 8,it is the new wine in
 ,goethe's ,faust  that is acting so    
absurdly1 but still perhaps it will     
yield a good  vintage40 ,these people   
who talk so sweetly are those who really
 poison  the springs of public taste4   
,thanks to them1 movements which ought  
to  stand without the pale of the law   
enjoy a sort of equal justification1  as
 it were1 of the sthetic1               
historico-artistic copyright4 ,their    
mask  of benevolence1 justice1 and      
toleration gains them the confidence of 
the irresolute1 who1 left to their own  
feeling1 would recognise1 at  once1 in  
certain works1 either a gross           
impropriety of the shameless  sort1 or  
an indubitable manifestation of         
insanity1 yet through the  cheap phrases
 of opportunistic critics1 become       
doubtful of themselves  and say3 8,if   
such sober-minded scholars as this and  
that critic  constantly find something  
to recognise in this stuff1 ,i am       

perhaps  wrong to condemn it at once40  
,moderate feelings are much more        
widespread than extreme feelings4  ,they
 are the normal product of the nervous  
system in civilised  men2 to the great  
majority of half-coloured1 faded grey   
men subdued  colours only are           
sympathetic2 violent and shrill colours 
may amuse  it2 but1 in its innermost    
being1 it feels instinctively drawn only
  to the lukewarm ones4 ,it believes    
them2 and on their information1 on      
their irresponsible recommendation1     
gives to the most openly rascally       
art-firms the credit through which alone
 they can hold out for a while4    ,and 
these critical warpers of justice are   
not assailable4 ,they always  play an   
imposing part1 and are always right4 ,if
 an objectionable  movement lasts--and  
there are aberrations which have held   
their ground  for at least a            
generation--then they triumph modestly1 
for they have  been among its first     
heralds and have 8recognised at once the

 sound  kernel in the first strange     
shell40 ,if the imbecility is as such   
patent  to all1 and disappears amidst   
the derisive laughter of the            
intelligent1  they triumph again1 only  
somewhat more self-consciously1 for they
  have 8not let themselves be dazzled by
 novelty1 and have pointed out  its     
weaknesses1 and worked strenuously at   
its defeat40 ,thus every  adventure in  
art life1 every campaign in criticism1  
be its issue what  it may1 increases    
their esteem2 and the longer they       
continue their  course1 which is so     
mischievous to the community1 the more  
blindly the  multitude yields to their  
leadership1 and the greater devastation 
they  are guilty of through their       
dishonourable exercise of their office  
of  guardians in matters of art4    ,i  
well know how this opportunism in       
criticism arises4 ,it is the result  of 
the co-operation of the basest and most 
despicable intellectual  qualities4 ,i  
find its causes in the dull feeling for 

the beautiful  which renders weak and   
indistinct all reactions from artistic  
influences1 and suffers neither delight 
nor irritation to arise3 in  the        
cowardly fear of man and pitiful        
adulation1 which aims at injuring  no   
one and only thinks of keeping a retreat
 open for itself2 finally  in common    
vanity1 which prefers to please a crowd 
of gaping boobies  rather than the      
select few1 and the flattering1 though  
so cheap1  reputation of being 8very    
intellectual10 to the responsibility of 
crude  performance of duty4 ,the        
favourite word by which the             
opportunistic  critics compound with    
every artistic confidence trick is      
8development40  ,if the clairvoyant     
monitor utters the cry of 8decay and    
degeneracy10  the opportunists reply1   
8buds of a new and splendid bloom40     
,they love  to appeal to the history of 
art4 ,that is right4 ,when the          
,masolinos and  ,masaccios sprang up1   
the last pupils of ,gaddi and ,orcagna  

whimpered1  8,now there is an end of    
painting40 ,but what was at an end was  
,byzantine  art filled by ,cimabue and  
,giotto with some fresh life1 and what  
began  was the ever glorious            
,cinquecento4 ,and much nearer to us3   
when  ,delacroix emancipated himself    
from the colour rules of ,david's       
pupils1  and broke out into a downright 
exultation of red and blue and purple2  
when ,corot1 ,rousseau1 and ,dupr set   
homely nature viewed with lyric  eyes in
 the place of ,poussin's classic        
landscape degenerated into  dial        
painting2 then earnest voices likewise  
accused the innovators of  digging the  
grave of art1 and yet we know nowadays  
that ,delacroix and  ,corot were by no  
means the wild anarchists which the     
,academicians held  them to be1 and that
 an uninterrupted line of development   
extends from  ,david and ,prudhon       
through ,gricault to ,delacroix1 and    
from ,nicholas  ,poussin and ,claude    
,lorrain through ,joseph ,vernet1 and   

even through  ,watteau to ,corot--a line
 which was unnoticed by contemporaries1 
yet  one which we now see clearly4 ,it  
is the dodge of an unscrupulous         
attorney to quote these examples when   
treating of the art of a ,puvis  de     
,chavannes1 an ,aman-,jean1 the         
,pr-,raphaelites1 pointillistes1        
vermicellistes1 and pipists4 ,there are 
sure marks of recognition  by which the 
authorised can be distinguished from the
 unauthorised1  the true from the false1
 development from retrogression1 and    
buds from  gall-nuts4 ,a movement which1
 indeed1 resolutely diverges from the   
taste  dominant at a given time1 though 
striving to approach nature1 need not1  
but may1 have a future2 and he who does 
not suffer from stiffness in  the joints
 will not1 as a matter of course and on 
principle1 refuse  to follow it with    
benevolent curiosity4 ,if1 however1 the 
new movement  departs from nature1 one  
may confidently say 8it leads to        
nothing40 ,if  an independent method    

which strives after personal expression 
reveals  itself in a revolutionary      
effort--however peculiarly1 nay1        
perversely1  it might impress--the      
intelligent man will not condemn1 but   
wait to  see if something living comes  
from the attempt4 ,if the practised eye1
  however1 recognises1 in the           
peculiarity1 either a cunning imitation 
or  a cold-blooded1 intentional oddity1 
then one may confidently pronounce  the 
death sentence1 for it contains in      
itself no germs whatever of             
development4 ,the only two eternal      
sources of art are1 and will be1        
feeling for nature and personality4     
,fidelity to nature and honesty  produce
 living creations4 ,unnaturalness and   
affectation are marks of  decay4 ,he who
 ever holds fast to these simple dicta  
will hardly ever  run the risk of       
mistaking a ,will-o'-the-,wisp for a    
lighthouse1 or what  is morally1 if not 
practically1 a more serious error1 of   
treading under  foot an insignificant   

chrysalis with the living and beautiful 
butterfly  it enshrines4    ,even of the
 manifestations of insanity of          
crack-brained painters1  of the hoaxes  
of tricky strugglers for success1 and   
the whims of  childishly immature and   
childishly careless people living from  
hand  to mouth1 who have sprung up in   
the last two or three decades1 the  good
 man's insinuating word of the 8sound   
kernel10 of the 8tendencies1  capable of
 development1 to a new blossoming of    
art10 has been spoken  by the           
opportunistic of critics4 ,well1 time   
has now given the answer  to these      
verdicts1 at any rate in regard to some 
of the movements for  which those       
prophets so benevolently predicted a    
glorious future4  ,fifteen or twenty    
years ago we saw in the ,paris ,salon1  
beside the  expressionless fabrications 
of the usual daubing artisans--the      
8,mother's  ,joys10 the 8,young ,lady at
 her ,toilet10 the 8,oyster with        
,lemons10 which  constitute the stock in

 trade of all exhibitions of            
pictures--only two  formul appear in    
hundreds of repetitions3 the vulgarly   
realistic1  after the style1 let us     
say--to mention a particular name--of   
,bastien  ,lepage1 that pupil of        
,cabanel who had degenerated into an    
apostle  of ,courbet2 and the           
pseudo-idealistic1 after the model of   
,puvis de  ,chavannes4 ,workmen with    
brutalised countenances and greasy      
blouses1 and  unearthly figures in      
antiquated landscapes of chalky         
paleness1 disputed  the visitor's       
attention4 ,a concreteness which did not
 spare us a single  finger-nail in      
mourning1 struggled for supremacy with a
 careless  vagueness which styled itself
 8,abstraction0 or 8,synthesis0 and     
produced  only questionably schematic   
types4 ,whole walls exhibited unbroken  
rows of pictures which reminded us of   
the spectral ballet of the dead  nuns in
 8,robert the ,devil40 ,then we came to 
rooms where an unmixed  company of      

rag-pickers1 and night-men exercising   
their calling1 of  huzzies on the       
night-prowl1 dung-carting stable-helps1 
and rapscallions  at loggerheads1 were  
quite at home4 ,one of these movements1 
i4e41  painting in faint colours1 has   
hardly a representative left2 the       
other--the art of vulgarity1 meanness1  
and ugliness--only a dwindling  few4    
,here1 then1 we have two movements1 to  
which 8the intellectuals0 have  promised
 a future4 ,one of them is as dead as a 
door-nail and buried1  the other dying4 
,he who did not let himself be cheated1 
or want to  cheat others1 could predict 
this outcome with certainty4 ,debased   
realism was a misunderstanding of the   
impulse towards truth displayed  by the 
,manet ,school4 ,this ,school held      
itself bound in conscience to  record   
minutely even the unessential and the   
ugly accessories4 ,their  limited       
imitators sought only that which was    
ugly and unessential in  the world of   
phenomena4 ,they thereby wandered far   

from the eternal aim  of art--to excite 
an emotion by a work of art2 for the    
mere imitation  of a sight either       
actually indifferent or frankly         
repulsive can  never excite an emotion4 
,it was1 therefore1 easy to recognise   
that  this tendency could not be        
lasting4 ,the pseudo-idealism of ,puvis 
de ,chavannes showed the other          
infallible mark of morbidity1 viz41     
impersonality and dishonesty4 ,he tried1
 by an artificial bleaching of  colours 
and a semi-transparent white-wash1 to   
produce the effect of  old and faded    
frescoes1 in which their age of several 
hundred years is  an element of sthetic 
effect1 by reason of the dim depictment 
of what  is remote1 dead and gone1 and  
unknown2 by reason of the longing they  
awake for what has for ever passed away 
and will never appear again4  ,it was   
imitation2 it was an attempt to deceive4
 ,it was not the honest  revelation of  
personality1 but its disguise in a      
strange1 historical  costume4 ,that had 

no future1 and it could not last4       
,what justified the primitive naturalism
 of the pioneers1 the convinced  fervent
 service of truth1 this survives        
victoriously every change in  fashion1  
and1 in fact1 is developing strongly    
further4 ,true naturalism1  which grows 
enthusiastic for the poetry of          
unpretentious sights1 and  was the      
logical development of ,rousseau's      
return to nature1 and of  ,greuze's     
village stories inspired by that return 
7the 8,village ,bride10  the 8,father's 
,curse10 the 8,son's ,punishment10      
etc471 has held its  ground4 ,on the    
other hand1 loathsome painting1 which is
 naturalism run  mad1 has been finally  
conquered1 and the spectral painting of 
,puvis is  about to follow it into      
oblivion4    ,these much-extolled       
tendencies have1 then1 no future in     
them4 ,they were  not buds which were to
 develop into blossom and fruit4 ,they  
were wild  suckers in which a generation
 of artists fruitlessly squandered its  

best strength1 and which are now        
withered and blown away by the wind4    
,and that1 too1 will be the lot of other
 aberrations which have not  yet quite  
run their riotous course4 ,that may be  
predicted with quiet  confidence1       
without any being taught by the future  
of another4    ,a great philosophical   
doctrine is deducible from these facts4 
,all  development--including that of    
art1 which is a part of nature and a    
part  of human nature1 and obeys the    
common laws of nature--all development  
is constant1 and will be diverted from  
its logical course by no power4  ,its   
great procession always goes through a  
main street1 and sudden  turnings aside 
branch off only into blind alleys4      
,extreme forms have  no stability2 they 
remain individual monstrosities without 
issue4  ,the strenuous life is always   
making efforts back towards the typical 
constitution of the species4 ,in art    
this law may be found deplorable  up to 
a certain point2 for it is inimical to  

strong individualities1  even to honest 
and justifiable ones1 and favourable to 
the indifferent  average1 whilst in art 
the absolutely untypical individualities
 are  full of charm4 ,but1 as things    
are1 it is the iron law of development  
which no living thing can escape4    ,it
 is not easy to oppose successfully the 
opportunistic criticism which  always   
professes to see1 even in the maddest   
and silliest things1 at  any rate1      
8germs of artistic development02 but it 
is1 nevertheless1 a  duty of subjective 
morality to do so4 ,my verdict on many  
notabilities  of fashion stands in sharp
 contrast to that which one generally   
hears and reads about them nowadays4 ,he
 who does not suffer from the  delusion 
of greatness1 or a morbid distemper of  
contradiction1 feels a  position of this
 kind painfully4 ,i have earnestly and  
conscientiously  tried whether my       
adversaries were justified in demanding 
that ,i1 as  an individual1 should      
submit to their huge majority4 ,well1 ,i

 cannot  concede this right to them4 ,in
 dozens of instances1 ,i have too       
closely  observed how the unanimity of  
contemporary opinion about an artist    
arises4 ,it is enough for an artist to  
invent a whim and obstinately  cling to 
it1 without letting himself be put out  
by indifference1  vexation1 or scorn4   
,very soon some ass of a critic will    
come and  explain this whim as an       
inspiration of genius4 ,this he will do 
out of  vanity1 affectation of          
originality1 or an itch for sensation4  
,he will  do it to give the impression  
that he is of more brilliant intellect  
than the common herd1 and that he alone 
can appreciate a beauty which  the      
,philistines stupidly pass by4 ,if the  
humbug of a critic has some  skill in   
coining phrases1 a little perseverance1 
and a fairly sonorous  pulpit1 he will  
infallibly1 in course of time1 collect a
 congregation  around him2 for it is    
easy to gain adherents to a chapel which
 one  designates as a place of worship  

for the intellectual lite1 men of  fine 
feelings1 and those gifted with         
understanding4 ,provided that this  sham
 lasts only a few years1 it must needs  
triumph over all opposition4  ,a young  
generation grows up which takes it for  
granted4 ,no one puts to  the test what 
has come into his possession1 but takes 
it as a matter  of course4 ,it attains  
iron permanence4 ,what was a paradox    
yesterday  has attained the rights of   
dogma to-day by mere lapse of time4     
,busy  pens now vie in outbidding each  
other in the elegance and wittiness  of 
the phrases with which they express the 
prescribed admiration for  the great    
man4 ,if an independent person steps    
forward1 and shows  the worthlessness of
 the puffed up celebrity1 the devotees  
of the  little chapel1 which has grown  
into a great church1 feel an honest     
indignation against the heretic4 8,how  
does this man dare to doubt1 when  we1  
who are certainly better and cleverer   
than he1 piously believe40  ,that is the

 history of every religion3 when it is  
organised it becomes  intolerant and    
endeavours to assert itself by means of 
violence4 ,but1  to the honour of       
mankind1 there are1 nevertheless1 always
 independent  spirits who will not let  
themselves be intimidated1 and on whom  
authority does not impose4 ,they test   
the dogma1 and kick it away if it  is   
not firmly based4 ,the stake has not    
protected religion from these           
independent critics2 still less can the 
,corybants of art-reporting  guard a    
fashionable idol from them4    ,the     
right of criticising the views even of  
the most overwhelming  majority must be 
maintained4 ,a final proof in disputed  
questions  regarding sthetics is1 ,i    
admit1 not to be supplied4 ,all artistic
  influence rests on suggestion4 ,the   
work of art1 itself and1 originally1    
exercises the suggestion on a minority  
endowed with delicate  sensibilities4   
,on the great majority an opinion of    
others1 delivered  with firmness does   

so4 ,the great majority of people admire
 one who  is praised because it is      
suggested to them by his trumpeters that
  it is their duty to admire him4 ,as a 
matter of fact1 they feel the           
admiration1 without being conscious that
 not the work of art has  inspired them 
with it1 but the enthusiastic gossip    
which they have  read and heard about   
it4 ,these people refuse to believe me  
when ,i tell  them that they are        
admiring something which is an          
aberration4 ,the  prior suggestion      
prevents them from tolerating a fresh   
suggestion from  me4 ,no one1 however1  
can contest this so far as he is quite  
certain  only of his own feelings4 ,in  
art1 effect is an infallible criterion1 
even if of only subjective value4 ,if a 
man feels definitely as regards  certain
 pictures that they are valueless and   
unmeaning1 he has a right  to express it
 as strongly and honestly as he feels   
it1 even if millions  declare that they 
discover all kinds of loveliness and    

depth of meaning  in them4 ,one will    
perhaps fail to convince a single       
creature1 and will1  as likely as not1  
long remain a preacher in the           
wilderness4 ,but perhaps  not for ever4 
,the inventors of a fashionable culte1  
whom their  selfishness obliges to stand
 up for their own work1 will not remain 
in  arms for ever and live4 ,those who  
worship after them have not the same    
strong1 effective grounds1 the          
originator's vanity1 for defending that 
culte desperately4 ,the snobs who       
thronged to it because it was the       
singularity and they were the           
exceptions1 necessarily abandon it as   
it becomes commonplace and they find    
themselves in a vulgar majority4  ,then 
the uninfluenced art-conscience again   
faces the work2 it becomes  susceptible 
to the warning of him who was1 up to    
then1 8the one voice  crying in the     
wilderness10 and in a short time all    
lips murmur3 8,that  was indeed a       
swindle40                               

,,footnotes      ,footnote #a3 ,in the  
department of ,doubs4    ,footnote #b3  
,ps4 xc4 #aj in ,luther's version4      
,footnote #c3 ,tchin is ,russian        
official noblesse4    ,footnote #d3     
,i4e41 of joy or suffering4    ,footnote
 #e3 ,faust3 ,,ii4 ,theil2 sub fin4     
,,index      sthetes1 ,school of1 #cb   
,alexander1 ,john ,w41 #bag-h           
,aman-,jean1 #bah-bj    ,angelo1        
,michael1 #bc    ,art1 emancipation of1 
#af-bb    8---- for art's sake10        
criticism of1 #a-e1 #ab-e    ----1      
future of1 #bg-i    ----1 prettiness in1
 #bbg-i    ----1 religious1 #bif-g      
----1 utilitarianism in1 #aa-b          
,artist1 psychology of the1 #e-i        
,artists1 influence of the ,byzantine1  
#ei      ,balzac ,memorial1 #bhe-h      
,barbizon1 ,school of1 #ig-h            
,bartholdi1 #bii    ,bartholom1 #bid-cjg
    ,baudelaire1 #afb    ,besnard1      
,albert1 #bbj-c    ,bcklin1 #cbf        
,boilly1 #ha    ,boldini1 ,jean1 #aed1  
#bbc-e    ,bonheur1 ,rosa1 #ib-c        

,botticelli1 #bbj1 #bge    ,bouchot1    
,henri1 #eg    ,bouguereau1 ,william1   
#bbe-cj    ,bourdichon1 #eh             
,brangwyn1 ,frank1 #bcj-f1 #bgd         
,bruniquel1 #d      ,caillebotte ,room1 
#ic    ,carpeaux1 #bgh    ,carrire1     
,eugne1 #aff-hd    ,carris1 ,jean1      
#cjh-ai    ,castiglione's 8,cortegiano10
 #bd    ,catholics1 ,new1 #cjg          
,cellini1 ,benvenuto1 #bc1 #cc          
,century ,exhibition1 #gj-ha1 #ic-d     
,czanne1 ,paul1 #bcf-i1 #bei            
,charonton1 ,enguerrand1 #fg            
,chassriau1 #hc-d    ,chauchard1 #ia    
,chauvinism1 #aa    ,chavannes1 ,puvis  
de1 #ahe-bjj1 #cdc    ,cimabue1 #fj1    
#aba1 #cci    ,clouet1 #fg-h    ,cone1  
,jacques1 #fg    ,conti1 #ade           
,corneille of ,lyons1 #fg    ,corot1    
#ajj-c1 #aca    ,cottet1 ,charles1      
#bja-af    ,courbet1 #ia-b    ,couture1 
#abb    ,criticism1 opportunism in1     
#ccf-i      ,dante1 #ah    ,daubigny1   
#ajd    ,daumier1 #hh-i1 #bfe    ,degas1
 #aai    ,delacroix1 #hd-f1 #ajd-e      

,delisle1 ,leopold1 #eg    ,della       
,robbia1 #cai    ,donner1 #bii          
,drolling1 #gi    ,dupr1 #cdj    ,drer1 
,albrecht1 #ahh      ,enamels1 ,carris'1
 #cah    ,exhibition1 the ,century1     
#gj-ie      ,fountains1 #bih-i          
,fouquet1 ,jehan1 #fg-h    ,fragonard1  
#gd-e    ,frdric1 ,lon1 #bci-bdd        
,froment1 ,nicolas1 #fd      ,genre     
painting1 #af-g    ,grard1 #gi          
,gricault1 #ih    ,giotto1 #fj1 #aba1   
#cci    ,girard of ,orleans1 #fj        
,gleyre1 #adh    ,gorki1 ,maxim1 #bfa   
,gretchen1 #aic    ,greuze1 #gd-f       
,gross1 ,baron1 #ih      ,hals1 ,franz1 
#bji    ,hebbel1 ,friedrich1 #add       
,hllen-,breughel1 #bfe-f    ,huddleston1
 ,judge1 #aej    ,hundred ,years' ,war1 
,effects of1 #ef      ,icons1 ,russian1 
#ei    ,inferno1 ,dante's1 #bgg         
,john of ,orleans1 #fc-d      ,kipling1 
,rudyard1 #ic      ,lafenestre1 ,george1
 #eg    ,la ,tours1 #afh    ,landscape1 
literary1 #acf-g    ----1 lyrical1      
#acg-i    ----1 optical1 #aci-dj        

,laurens1 ,jean ,paul1 #bdd-f           
,leempoels1 ,jef1 #bdf-ej    ,leonardo1 
#ahh    ,lessing1 a remark of1 #ade     
,lieberman1 ,max1 #abj    ,lorrain1     
,claude1 #cbg      ,maeterlinck1 #aji   
,mallarm1 #bge    ,malouel1 ,jean1 #fg  
,manet1 ,eduard1 #aje1 #ajh1 #aab1 #aba1
 #abc1 #cbg-h    ,mantegna1 #ae         
,martin1 ,henri1 #bej-f    ,meissonier1 
#aje    ,meunier1 ,constantin1 #cc1     
#cd-dj    ,mignot1 ,jean1 #fg           
,millet1 #hi-ia1 #ajc-d1 #ccc    ,monet1
 ,claude1 #aje-h1 #aab1 #aae-i1 #aba1   
#abc    ,montenard1 #bef    ,moreau1    
,gustave1 #ic-d1 #aee-fe    ,mouthe1    
caves of1 #c    ,museum1 the            
,luxembourg1 #aaj-a      ,nietzsche1    
#bge      8,open ,air0 movement1 #ic1   
#ajj1 #ajb      ,palissy1 ,bernard de1  
#cai    ,pavilion de ,marsan1 #ef       
,pre ,lachaise1 8,resurrection0 at1     
#cjj-g    ,perral1 ,jean1 #ff-g         
,pissarro1 ,camille1 #acb-add    ,plane1
 medival1 #di-ea    ,poussin1 #acb      
,pr-,raphaelites1 #cbd    ,prudhon1 #gg 

,raffaelli1 ,jean1 #aad1 #aai1 #bef-h   
,redon1 ,odilon1 #beh    ,renaissance1  
#ae1 #bc-d1 #big-i    ,renoir1 ,pierre  
,auguste1 #abj-a1 #bei    ,renouard1    
#abc    ,reuter1 ,fritz1 #bij           
,ribera1 #bji    ,ribot1 #bji           
,riesener1 #gi    ,rodin1 ,auguste1     
#bge-ic    ,roll1 ,alfred1 #bfj-b       
,rops1 ,flicien1 #aed1 #bff    ,rubens1 
#bfh    ,rude1 #bgh    ,ruskin1 #adi-ej 
,scheffer1 ,ary1 #hf    ,sculpture in   
early ,middle ,ages1 #fe                
8,secession10 #ccd    ,simon1 ,lucien1  
#bfb-d    ,sisley1 ,alfred1 #abc-cj     
,sluter1 #bii    ,solutr1 #d    ,stuck1 
,prof4 ,franz1 #cbj-a    ,sweden1 rock  
pictures in1 #d      ,thiry1 #if-g      
---- ,salon1 #aja    ,thoma1 ,hans1 #cbf
    ,trutat1 #ha-c      ,van ,eyck1 the 
brothers1 #fj-b    ,veber1 ,jean1 #bfd-h
    ,velasquez1 #bji    ,vernet1        
,horace1 #hg    ,vige-,lebrun1 #gd1     
#gf-g      ,watteau1 #gd-e1 #bfa        
,wry1 ,emil1 #bfi    ,whistler1 ,james1 
#add-ed    ,wierz1 #aee    ,wilczek1    

,count1 #fh    ,worms1 ,jules1 #bgb     
,zorn1 ,anders1 #abj1 #aed1 #bgj-a      
,zuloaga1 ,ignacio1 #bgj-d              
,printed at                             
,the ,edinburgh ,press1                 
#i and #aa ,young ,street4