• INGRES : HIS LIFE AND ART. By L. Frolich-Bume.
(Heinemann. 4s.)—This handsome book, which contains eighty large reproductions of the painter Ingres' work, should do much to remedy the lack of appreciation of this great nineteenth-century French genius, whose work is seldom seen, and insufficiently revered in England. For Ingres was an incomparable artist, whose portraits rank but little below those of Holbein, Rembrandt and Raphael. A pupil of David, and a man of great personal integrity, Ingres from the age of twenty until his death at the age of eighty-seven in 1867 scrupulously devoted his exceptional talents as draughtsman and colourist to the cause of art. He was born with a natural gift for draughtsmanship, and his colour, though restrained and even sober, is full of luminous beauty, as witness the gracious " Mademoiselle Riviere," in the Louvre—one of the loveliest portraits of the last century. Every one of his sitters not only makes an exquisitely designed " subject," but also radiates character from the canvas. Plates XIX., XXIV., and, above all; XLI. (Monsieur Bertin) are admirable reproductions. It is on record that Lord North, the first English sitter Ingres had during his sojourn in Rome, afterwards sent the whole English colony to the great master. Ingres' classical compositions, " The Apotheosis of Napoleon," and his. nudes, " La Source " and " Le Bain Ture,"-are best 11110WW- Though remote-in ihnnediate from current vogues, it was, of course, his work which inspired contemporary art movements as led, particularly, by Picasso. Something of his work and influence is recounted here, though it may be regretted that more of his aphorisms- inexpensively published in French as Pensees d'Ingres-have not been quoted here. There was a story, too, of Ingres' perambulations abroad, attended by his devoted second wife, who raised a black shawl to screen him from any ugly or unpleasant sight they chanced to pass. The wealth and excellence of the reproductions in this fine publication deserve the highest commendation.
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