ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1959, 10 September 1891, Page 41

ART AND ARTISTS.

Some excitement has been caused in Ger- ' many by a volume called " Who is RemI brandt ? " by Herr Max Lautner, who contends that a great part of the paintings attributed to Rembrandt are the work of one 'of his scholars, Ferdinand 801. With a new photographic magnifying process, invented by himself, he discovered, he says, on a great number of works bearing the name of Rembrandt, the clear traces of the name of Ferdinand 801, scratched in the original fresh paint, and un'ler the varnish. The Paris Salons Visited. The Paris correspondent of the Ne n York Tribune writes thus of the opening exhibition :—: — When we reflect that France is splendidly represented at the Munich and Moscow exhibitions, and that there will soon be another salon at the Champs de Mars, we marvel at the excellence of the one that opened to-day at the Palais de l'lndustrie, in the Champs Elysees. The wonder seems all the greater when we reflect how death has cut down eminent artists since influenza visited France ir. 1889. I think the present Salon shows not only as good, but a better average than that of any former years, and there are paintings which are true masterpieces. Critics are all agreed in thus classifying Renouf 's painting of the " Brooklyn Suspension Bridge in Sunset"; "The Youth of Samson," by Bonnat ; " Evening," by Harpignies; Bonnat's full-length portrait of a lady in a white satin dress; Kowalsky's "Spring"; Rochegrosse's "Close of Belshazzar's Feast " ; Breton's " Pardon at Kergoat," Jacques " Farm Horses in the Yard of a Rrral Homestead," and Crochepierre's 11 Old Woman Knitting," in which the minutiae of the old Dutch painters and their close observation are equalled STATUE OF THE PEINCESS OF WALES. In the court of the Salon is a charming statue by the late M. Chapa of the Princess of Wales. The likeness of face, figure, and i attitude of the statue to her are striking. She is seated in an armchair, resting on four small British lions. Her feet are crossed on a cushion. She is in a balldress of heavy silk, the texture of which appears in the marble. It is plain, and falls in ample folds. But at the edge and on .an underskirt there are small flounces with box plaits. I never saw the drapery of a fashionable dress so well managed in sculpture. Ohapa would not have any of those jewelled or other contrivances which the Princess resorts to to hide neck scars. Her neck is quite un- | covered, but the skin is represented as ' though unscarred. However, he has not done away with three defects. The neck of the Princess does not seem to be made for her body, nor her head for her neck, and one of her hips is too prominent. Chapa was too great an artist to shoar utter disregard for truth, and so imitated in his statue the blemishes of outline of the subject. The Princess looks her age, but wondrously pretty \ for her years. A diadem gives the head a royal air. The veil falling from it over the back of the throne-like chair is graceful. Chapa went to Denmark to take drawings of the Princess and her sister, the Czarina, during two consecutive summer?. He also went to Sandringham. He never did anything more charming than this work, which is intended for a Danish museum. A copy is to be sent to St. Petersburg to ornament a gallery in the Winter Palace. THE *' FALL OF BABYLON." The feature of the Salon is the " Fall of Babylon," an enormous picture of young Rochegrosse, the 27- year-old son of the late Theodore de Banville. The king, his lords and his women, nude for -the most part or in scanty draperies, though crowned with roses and bedizened with rich jewels, are lying in deep slumber on couches, tables, and on the floor, amidst the remnants of the feast and unheedf ul of the advent of the Persian army, which is seen in the distance entering the gates and taking possession of the gorgeous palace. The picture is in every sense grandiose, and though as highly [coloured as the peacock's plumage it is quite as harmonious. It bears evidence not only of unusual breadth of conception, but also of the great research into ancient lore, which has enabled the artist to depict in a strikingly lealistic manner one of the greatest episodes of the history of the world. FEMALE AKTISTS BEPRESENTED IN THE SALON. The following statistics of female artists at this year's Salon may not be without interest. There have been admitted 165 women painters, 190 sculptresses, 77 pastellistes and draughtswomen, and 52 in the section of engraving and lithography— making a total of 484. Thus far the sections of architecture and medal engraving "are the only ones in which women are not represented. Recompenses have .up to this year been awarded to 194 women for painting, to 109 for sculpture, and to 30 for engraving. The total number of French women artists is estimated at 1800.

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