American Artists in Pans

THE AMERICAN COLONY OF
ARTISTS IN PARIS.—III. BY
E. A. TAYLOR.

Paris will always be the universal nursery
for artists, as well as the larger workshop of
gathered thought. Few artists of any personal
distinction have not passed through its maze.
And in spite of their many after-condemnations of
its past methods and present-day evolutions, most
if not all must surely realise that the germ of their
own thought and individuality was not crushed out
or mortally ridiculed, though to-day past standards
do not float so gently in its breeze with unsullied
dignity. Its spirit of toleration and freedom makes
it the home for the mountebank in art, who baits
his traps carefully with theories and science to
catch the newcomers and unwary. He will have you
think that in his rules lies the secret of being able
to “ splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of
comets’ hair.” The serpent’s wisdom will always
engender satisfaction by assuming much and
giving little, and the wisdom of the dove will ask
that which is best in yourself. Napoleon failed,
but only against the mass of concrete opposition;

his influence still makes kings and emperors. In art
one must be a king unto oneself. The powers to
be conquered are the lazy ones of the mind that
insist on placing old and other nations’ traditions
on their own throne. Herein perhaps lies
America’s weakness. Rapid accumulation only
ends in a boudoir of bric-a-brac, or at its best an
inferior museum. The museum is the place for
the past. Some art of to-day I trust will find its
way there in the future, but if the present indis-
cretions are kept up it will be a poor exhibit of
individuality for those still unborn to see and talk
over. Unless one is willing to die for one’s own
means of expression in art, it were better to give it
up. Don’t blame the man in the street; never
give him second-hand goods as the production ot
your own brain because he is familiar with them ;
his children will find you out. He generally asks
to be guided aright. If he has bad taste that you
pander to and curse him for, don’t blame him—
remember it was those who assumed the name of
artists that created it. If you will hold the mirror
up to nature, do so by all means, but let the
mirror at least be one of your own making.

Among American artists in Paris who have been

■“misty morning”
280

FROM THE PAINTING BY ALEXANDER HARRISON.