Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 222, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1917 — KNOW VICISSITUDES OF LIFE [ARTICLE]

KNOW VICISSITUDES OF LIFE

French Art Modale Make the Beet of Existence, Which Is Not Always a Merry One. . “At twilight from out quaint doors and old courtyards troop the models, suddenly enlivening street corners. “Beneath their smile, their light manner, their gay silhouette He, nevertheless, a grim knowledge of what life contains. They know the long hours when with aching back and muscles they must stand in a given pose, offering their immobility to students or to trained masters. It is not an easily acquired profession. To pose successfully, one must have imagination as well' as dlsclpl 1 ned body; one must be able to become the tangible expression of an esthetic idea. They know that the artist who uses them bids them farewell and goes his way. They know the seasons when work is scarce. They realize the cost of bread, the cost of finery. Their standards are modest enough. One certainly cannot become very rich or reckless by posing; but, then, one does not associate wealth with artists or, for that matter, with any form of serving them. These kind-hearted children of Montparnasse adjust their demands to the artist’s pocketbook. They know that, whenever he is able, he will share with them whatever good comes to him. He will give them small gifts—a coveted ribbon, a new hat, a pair of sUppers—he will invite them to dinner or offer a round of ajJlritlfs at the little case on the corner, often he will treat them to a day in the country. No price is too high or too low for the feUowshlp involved "Instinct has banded them together, has brought them from dull and loveless homes, from the lowest ranks of the wage-earner, from country village where art is considered ungodly, from parents who in their day were also models, to meet and mingle in this special world on the left bank of the Seine.” —Maurice Rutledge in the Century.