m at the Palais de l'Industrie--an innovation
of this season for the benefit of those who get tired of looking at the
pictures and wish to "take a rest"--the weary critic may enter and take
a seat (if he can find one unoccupied, which is highly improbable), and
there write out his "notes," as I am doing at this moment.

While standing in front of a charming picture by Dagnan-Bouveret (_Un
Accident_), I felt a soft arm brush gently against mine, and glancing
down recognized the capricious Sara Bernhardt. Yes, Sara was there,
leaning on the arm of Mr. Stevens, the Belgian painter who is credited
with finishing Sara's paintings, and followed by her son Maurice and a
little retinue of admirers, mostly young men--artists and actors--and
stared at with persistency by all who saw her pass. "There goes
Bernhardt!" "Did you see Bernhardt?" were the remarks on all sides. Her
head, which bore itself as if quite unaware that a suit for three
hundred and fifty thousand francs damages was suspended over it like
the sword of Damocles, was covered with a mass of rich auburn-colored
hair. She is as changeable as a chameleon in the matter of her hair: I
never see her twice with the same colored _chevelure_.

The Salon this year contains at least four _good_--one might almost say
_great_--pictures. Of these four, the one to which popular opinion
seems to award the _grande medaille d'honneur_, is Bastien-Lepage's
_Jeanne d'Arc_. This large painting (3-15/100 metres by 3-45/100
metres) represents the Maid at the moment when, seeing the vision of
the Virgin, she is inspired to go forth and save her country. A
peasant-girl, strong and muscular, she leans against a tree, her face
uplifted to heaven and aglow with a noble inspiration. The cottage in
the background, the trees and weeds in the middle distance, the
distribution of light and the subdued tones of this impressive picture,
are all excellent. Some critics object to the artist's perspective, but
I fancy that is a bit of hypercriticism.

Then comes Fernand Cormon's _Flight of Cain_, suggested by Victor
Hugo's lines:

Lorsqu' avec ses enfants couverts de peaux de betes,
Echevele, livide au milieu des tempetes,
Cain se fut enfui de devant Jehovah.

This canvas is one of the largest in the Salon--4 by 7 metres. The
chief figures are grandly painted and the whole picture is very
impressive.

Alphonse Alexis Morot's _Good Samaritan_ is an exceedingly strong
picture. The Samarita