y in the Galerie des Etrangers. An
"impressionist" artist-friend of mine--Miss Cassatt, the sister of
Vice-President Cassatt of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company--says that
the reason these distinguished artists do not exhibit any more is that
they are disgusted with the way in which the Salon is conducted by
Edmond Turquet, the present sous-secretaire aux Beaux-Arts, and the
very unfair acts committed in the awarding of medals, admission of
pictures, etc.

M. Jean Jacques Henner's _La Fontaine_ is a true Correggio in delicacy
and clearness of tone. His treatment of the flesh is peculiar, and much
envied by many a Paris artist. In this picture the nymph, leaning over
the fountain, is dressed in a very inexpensive costume--in fact, the
same fashion that Mother Eve introduced into Eden. There in the placid
water the beautiful creature contemplates the reflection of her face,
and seems to breathe, with all her being, those charming lines of
Lafenestre:

Heure silencieuse, ou la nymphe se penche
Sur la source des bois qui lui sert de miroir,
Et reve en regardant mourir sa forme blanche
Dans l'eau pale ou descend le mystere du soir.

Gustave Jacquet's _Le Minuet_ is one of those pictures which fascinate
and draw us back again and again. A rarely-beautiful girl is dancing
the minuet, surrounded by a group of her friends, beautiful blonde
girls and a fair-haired young man. The costumes are perfectly
exquisite, yet there is not too much _chiffonnerie_ in the picture.
There is a remarkable effect of depth in the painting of the figure of
the dancing girl, especially at the feet and at the bottom of her
skirt. Perhaps the only criticism that could fairly be passed upon M.
Jacquet's picture is that there is too much of mere "prettiness" about
his principal figures.

A curious feature in this year's exhibition is that there are three
pictures of the assassination of Marat by Charlotte Corday, two of
which are hung in the same room. There are also three paintings
representing a scene from Victor Hugo's _Histoire d'un Crime_,
"L'enfant avait recu deux balles dans la tete." The child is
represented in Henry Gervex's picture as being lifted up by his
friends, who are examining the poor little wounded, bleeding head. It
is powerful in composition and a very thrilling, realistic picture. The
other two representations of this subject are by Paul Langlois and Paul
Robert.

Gustave Courtois's _Dante and Virgil in Hell: T