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SCULPTURE

The sculpture at the Champ de Mars cannot be compared with
that at the Champs Elysées; not that its importance is so very
different, but that the ideas inspiring it are so opposed. The
plastic doctrine of the one is the opposite to that of the other.
Here it is no longer pure plastic, the research for beauty of line,
for harmony of proportion. That school is abandoned or nearly
so. Nothing but expressive sculpture; the search for beauty in
movement, in colour, in all that constitutes the personality of a
human being. A Periklean Greek would note with satisfaction the
perfection of execution, but would lament the weakening absence
of the decorative sense which reveals itself in our best sculptors.
Thus, the busts, or expressive heads, form almost the whole attraction
of the Champ de Mars; the decorative compositions, like
the "Monument of the Dead," by M. Bartholomé, are worth more
for the profound sentiment that animates them than for balance
of composition or excellence of technique.

The fragment of the "Monument of the Dead," executed in
stone, has preserved the intensity of sorrow which animates it.
Here, is the triumph of mind over matter, technique, design, form,
colour—over all. It is impossible to look without emotion on this
couple, extended in their tomb in the attitude of two comrades
who died as they had lived, in absolute union of hearts. The
tiny body of their child, thrown between them, links them closer
still. These three beings symbolize all that man can love in this
lower world, all that gives a reason of being to his passage upon
earth. The group is only valuable through the deep feeling that

[ILLUSTRATION]

"THE BURDEN OF LIFE"

FAGEL

SALON DE 1897.

has guided the artist's hand; it is the real Christian art, without
the grace, the beauty—above all, the serenity which gave the
ancients such grandeur in face of death, considered by them as
rest after a journey, as peace after strife. But that conception
has died out of the popular mind, and lives only in certain lofty
souls. This which has inspired M. Bartholomé is the only one
that can be generally understood. It has its charm, its constant
philosophy, and the sculptor's work keeps a significance which will
assure it a considerable place among contemporary statuary.

Another tomb, that of Alexandre Dumas the younger, by M. de
Saint-Marceau, demands attention. In the form that he has given
to his work, he has only followed the indications of the dead writer.
"After my death," he wrote in his will, "I am to be clad in
one of my usual working-costumes, my feet bare." This desire,
piously carried out, forbids us to ask if the artist left to his own
inspiration, would not have given another form to this monument.
He has, at least, put into it all the perfection of execution of
which it was capable, and has treated the marble with rare delicacy.
But, for the general effect, we must wait until it is in place,
when certain exaggerated proportions will be rectified: we allude
to the size of the crown which shelters the forehead of the dramatist.

M. Rodin shows the rough model of his monument of Victor
Hugo. We were among the first to salute the talent of M. Rodin,
at a time when juries and the public were far from accepting
him. To-day his triumph is complete and it would be futile to
praise him. We regret that the monument to Victor Hugo is
not advanced enough to enable its proper appreciation, and serve
as an occasion for speaking of all the expression embodied in such
vibrating sculpture. We know enough of the sculptor's methods
to be sure that all imperfections of detail will be effaced, that
improvement will go on up to the last moment under the guidance
of an artistic conscience that is never satisfied; we know

also with what perfection the details of the whole will he wrought.
In its present state, the monument is a beautiful promise. Let
us hope that next year the promise will he kept, and that we may
admire without needing to give credit to friendship or to admiration.

M. Dalou's "Triumph of Silenus" has retained in the bronze
[ILLUSTRATION]

DALOU _ Pt. of Me. Cresson.

the movement and colour
it already possessed in its
previous form. M. Dalou
continues with rare vigour
the tradition of the French
School of sculpture. He
might be ranged along with
the great artists, with Coysevox
and Coustou, who have
made Versailles the most
beautiful centre of the art of
two centuries. His art owes
nothing to the Gothic nor to
the Florentines; he revives
the antique, seen through the
French tradition, which is
perhaps all that we could
stand. The "Triumph of Silenus" might not unworthily stand
on the grand parterre, in front of the château; it would be in
its place alike for intention and for value. Outside all those exotic
influences, which every twenty years, attract our artistic vision,
it is pleasant to find a talent which takes up the art where
Houdon left it for portraits and the sculptors of Versailles for
decorative effect. M. Dalou may be assured from to day of a
high place in our art. But what is he doing at the Champ de
Mars?

"Wine," bas-relief by M. Baffier, is the continuation of the
motives for decoration he has exhibited for some years past, and

of which he successfully endeavours to renew the originality. It
is certain that he has introduced new themes into ornamental
statuary, themes which open hitherto untrodden paths. The introduction
of rustic personages into sculpture is a return to the
pure traditions of the later middle-ages. But those times are now
so far away in spirit that it is a surprise to re-find them. However
that may be, the element is fecund; difficult of interpretation, but
capable of giving a penetrating savour to a work.

M. Agathon Léonard exhibits rough models representing the
ribbon dance. They are attitudes of dancing girls, rolling and
unrolling themselves in fluttering ribbons. Most are charming.
They remind one of those Tanagra statuettes, so small in size
and so great in art.

We cannot tell what these figures will be like when enlarged;
as they are they are delicious.

"The Burden of Life" is symbolized by M. Fagel in the shape
of an old woman, seated, whose hands rest on two sticks. The
allegory would have been clear enough without the crutches. The
funerary statue of M. Escoula, "Sorrow," is simple in attitude
and adequate in expression. M. Le Duc has done a splendid
bust of M. Georges du Dramard. The "Bakers," by M. Charpentier,
are an adaptation of Assyrian art, of which the "Frieze
of the Archers," in the Louvre, is such an astonishing model. The
attempt is interesting and will give rise to curious modifications
in our decorative monumental art. M. Injalbert is the sculptor
of satyrs and bacchantes. His marble vase shows them in their
drunken fury. The whole possesses that impetuous life which he
has made the particular sign of his talent. We judge him not
only on this exhibit; both for Paris and for Montpellier he has
created powerful decorations which mark him one of the masters
of the art.

On the whole, though scattered, the Exhibition of Sculpture
upholds itself by the exceptional value of certain works, which,

for the most part, however, have their appropriate place in the
rival Salon. It seems to us, however, that it comes near to having
exhausted its originality. For, after all, the themes of expression
are fewer than one would think. And then, each epoch understands
expression after its own manner: how little do the sentiments
interest us that stirred our fathers! Whereas the forms of
a line diversify themselves to infinity, and their beauty, depending
neither on fashion nor on time, endure for ever. The three
thousand statues that stood on the Acropolis differed among themselves
only by their attitude.

[ILLUSTRATION]

BAFFIER _ Wine, (plaster bas relief)