SUPPLÉMENT A L’AMOUR DE L’ART SUMMARY OF AMOUR DE L’ART (Mars MAXIME DETHOMAS. The art of the late Maxime Dethomas, whose death aroused wide spread regret throughout French artistic cercles, where the personality of the artist was as much loved as his work was admired, may be said to have sought its inspiration from two very different sources. On the one hand Dethomas was the conscientious recorder of the lives of Parisians belonging to the lower middle closes. On the other he was an interpreter of the most illusive visions of a Musset, a Couperin or a Henri de Regnier. Both these tendencies are apparent in his work as illustrator and stage designer. In the same way the artist’s life gravitated towards such opposite suroundings as the humdrum modernity of the quartier des Ternes in Paris, the melancholy splendors of Versailles, which he has portrayed so marvelously in Regnier’s La Cité des Eaux, and the vibrant romanticism of Venice. One finds echoes of this » double life » both in the choice of volumes which Dethomas illustrated and in his designs for stage settings and costumes which he devised for the Theatre des Arts. On the one hand we have the exquisite, ethereal » Dominos » of Couperin, on ‘the other the somber realism of Dostoievsky’s » The Brothers Karamazov « . It was Monsieur Jacques Rouché director of the Theatre des Arts who, when he took over the Opera, continued to utilize Maxime Dethomas artistic gifts for a number of productions that attracted much attention. From a technical point of view the illustrations of Detho-mas are particularly noteworthy for the striking use of black and wite in opposing masses which convey a dramatic element to the scene portrayed. An atmosphere of morbidity envelopes many of them, one imagines that if the figures were to corne to life they would step out of the page with the heavy, hollow tread of the Commander in the last act of Mozart’s » Don Juan « . But it is in the future that Dethomas may expect to receive the full measure of appreciation. As Jacques Rouché put it : » His merits are greater than his fame. Tomorrow his fame will equal his deserts « . Alas ! when that day cornes those who knew and loved Dethomas will have joined him in the Great Beyond. • THE ARCHITECTURE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE. A group of post war architecte » discovered » reinforced concrete and noisily propounded new architectural theories. They ignored the achievements of theii- predecessors who had seen at a much earlier date the possibilities of the new material and realised its constructive essence. Pioneers such as A. G. Perret, (with whose work we dealt in a previous article), and François Le Coeur had public opinion against them, and great courage was needed in 1907 to submit plans of a reinforced concrete building for a new building to house the Paris telephone and telegraph head-quarter. François Le Coeur had that courage and the plans were adopted thanks to the comprehension of Edouard Estaunié. In this work and in all which followed François Le Coeur put constructive principles foremost. Beams, pillars and slabs no longer were obliged to bide shamefacedly, and it was proved beauty of proportions and classical principles of composition were not in opposition to logical construction. Thus thanks to the initiative and intelligence of the repre-sentative of a state organization, a brilliant architect was able to prove to the world that material cannot kill personality but always remains flexible in the hands of a creator. François Le Coeur demonstrated the profound error of those who maintain that utilitarian buildings and reinforced concrete gave birth to the » factory style « . » Factory style » is a result of the impotence of the architect and the incomprehen-sion of the public. 1929 BERTHOLD MAHN. The production of Berthold Mahn, painter, etcher and litho-graphes, shows the influence of Cézanne but, whereas certain artists such as Charles Guérin and Othon Friez were princi-pally impressed by the palette adopted by the Master of Aix in opposition to that employed by the impressionists, and others exagerated his theories regarding the importance of subordinating detail to simple volume, Mahn was impressed by his sense of form while at the same time making use of colors more resembling those of nature. The canvases of Mahn may seem at first glance a little simple but closes examination will reveal the skill with which they are composed. Notice for instance in his view of the Pont Neuf how the tree on the left is balanced by the two bouses of brick and stone and how the two walls in the » Carrefour d’Osquins » are deliberately emphasized so as to limit the motif of the canvas. It is evident that Mahn like Corot knows where to place his easel to obtain the most harmonious ensemble. The same remark applies to bis choice of colors. He avoids any obvious effects obtained by the brutal opposition of conflicting tones. lndeed he is if anything too conservative and one desires at times that his temperament might become a little more unruly. But it is difficult to criticise Mahn’s landscapes of Burgundy and around Lyons, or his views of Paris where he records so exactly the atmosphere of the city with its moist pavements that gleam like velvet, the lofty grey clifls of its bouses and its misty skies flecked with clouds. lt is the Paris of the Left Bank, or more especially the Paris of the Latin Quarter, that Mahn particularly loves and it is there that he is the most at home. No wonder there-fore that he should be the ideal illustrator of the novels of Duhamel the scene of which are laid in the little streets around the Pantheon or Saint-Sulpice, beside the quays or along the Boulevard Saint-Michel. But Mahn knows the countryside as well as he does the city. The anatomy of a tree is as familias to him as that of a human being. Nor does he neglect the art of the portrait. When one looks at his lithographs of Divoire, Jean-Richard Bloch and Copeau or his sketch of Unamuno it seems surpri-sing that ne) publisher has commissioned him to do a series of contemporary artists and writers which would prove a welcome relief from the banal and pretentious photographs which decorate the windows of our bookstores. ARNOLD. The studio of the sculptor Arnold is situated in an alley that runs off the Boulevard Saint-Jacques. Although the artist’s square blond beard, wavy hair streaked here and there with silves and frank grey eyes remind one of the Russian aristocrats whom Tolstoy has described, he is of Alsatian parentage, and was born in Paris. In spite of the opposition of his family Arnold took up sculpture as a profession and attended courses at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1896-1898. Later however he was obliged to earn his living and became a stone cutter. Many a buil-ding in Paris bears the mark of his alisel. In 1909 as the result of a competition he was appointed teacher of drawing at the Ecole Germain Pilon which became the School of Applied Arts. He was elected member of the Salon de la Nationale in 1911 and ten years lotes became member of the board of governors. He resigned in 1923 with a group of other insurgents against academic traditions and founded the Salon des Tuileries. Arnold has had several of his works purchased by the State and has exhibited at the international expositions of San Francisco, Barcelone, Brussels and Yokohama. He has also executed several war monuments. It was not till 1911 that the sculptor found time to work himself in his rare leisure moments. At first he was chie FIND interested in synthesing the piincipal characteristics of w ART, DOC
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