contemporaries, Zola,
Rochefort, Desboutin, Proust, Mallarme, Clemenceau, Guys, Faure,
Baudelaire, Moore, and others, an admirable series by a visionary who
possessed, in a period of unrest and artificiality, the quality of rude
sincerity, and the love of truth of a Primitive.

[Illustration: MANET

THE HOTHOUSE]

IV

EDGAR DEGAS: HIS WORK, HIS INFLUENCE

I have said how vain it is to class artistic temperaments under a title
imposed upon them generally by circumstances and dates, rather than by
their own free will. The study of Degas will furnish additional proof
for it. Classed with the Impressionists, this master participates in
their ideas in the sphere of composition, rather than in that of colour.
He belongs to them through his modernity and comprehension of character.
Only when we come to his quite recent landscapes (1896), can we link him
to Monet and Renoir as colourist, and he has been more their friend than
their colleague.

Degas is known by the select few, and almost ignored by the public. This
is due to several reasons. Degas has never wished to exhibit at the
Salons, except, I believe, once or twice at the beginning of his
career. He has only shown his works at those special exhibitions
arranged by the Impressionists in hired apartments (rue le Peletier, rue
Laffitte, Boulevard des Capucines), and at some art-dealers. The art of
Degas has never had occasion to shock the public by the exuberance of
its colour, because he restricted himself to grey and quiet harmonies.
Degas is a modest character, fond of silence and solitude, with a horror
of the crowd and of controversies, and almost disinclined to show his
works. He is a man of intelligence and ready wit, whose sallies are
dreaded; he is almost a misanthrope. His pictures have been gradually
sold to foreign countries and dispersed in rich galleries without having
been seen by the public. His character is, in short, absolutely opposed
to that of Manet, who, though he suffered from criticism, thought it his
duty to bid it defiance. Degas's influence has, however, been
considerable, though secretly so, and the young painters have been
slowly inspired by his example.

[Illustration: DEGAS

THE BEGGAR WOMAN]

Degas is beyond all a draughtsman of the first order. His spirit is
quite classical. He commenced by making admirable copies of the Italian
Primitives, notably of Fra Angelico, and the whole first series of his
works speaks of that i