Chapter IV: Conclusion

It may be held that some of the Illustrators whose work we have been considering are but slightly connected with Montmartre, and that there is no such thing as a Montmartre school. Such contentions are both right and wrong, according to the manner in which one cares to approach them.

It is incontestable that in the very informality and independence of their various styles these artists are echoing the spirit of that Montmartre in which they all have spent so many joyous hours. With the “Butte,” one associates breeziness, irresponsibility, and a youthful impatience of restraint. From her lofty perch Montmartre can survey at leisure, and if it needs be point the pencil of derision at the world of Paris surging at her feet; but it must not be forgotten that if she be light-hearted she is also ever warm-hearted. Her interest in the follies of life is even surpassed by her deep sympathy with those who are struggling against its miseries.

It is possible that, as time goes on, some other quarter of Paris will take the place of Montmartre, as the nursery of young free-lances, and will inspire future Bohemians to other great deeds in the world of art. Mayhap the honoured quarter will be “Montparnasse,” or the vicinity of the “Luxembourg;” or perhaps it will be the “Butte de Chaumont,”--the other great cliff of Paris, surrounded in this instance with a romantic park, and peopled with a toiling, excitable, working population,--that will attract the next group of illustrators of modern city life. However that may be, Paris supplies a never-failing succession of highly talented artists who, as they leave the schools, different as their methods may be, group themselves around some chosen neighbourhood, some _cabaret_, some master of the art, or some illustrated periodical. Already there is a brilliant group of yet younger illustrators risen in Paris, since the advent of those with whom this volume deals.

The fact that most of the papers in which these illustrations appear are unknown to, or unpalatable to, the British public, renders it certain that, with but few exceptions, the accomplished work of these modern masters of black and white art will never be as widely appreciated in England as it deserves to be.

And this is one more justification of the writer’s long-urged plea that in London we are sadly in need of a National Water Colour and Black and White Gallery, for which the best obtainable examples of such work could be procured by gift or purchase, and thereafter exhibited. Stowed away in drawers and cupboards at the British Museum, at the National Gallery, and probably at South Kensington Museum and elsewhere--visible only in driblets, after regulated application, is untold wealth of beautiful drawings which should rightly be _displayed_ on the walls of such a gallery as is suggested. Beautiful examples of work by living illustrators, both British and foreign, could be obtained for a comparatively nominal sum, and would exemplify a powerful and fascinating development of modern art; which meets the requirements of the day, in its own line, as fully as did the work of those early Italian masters in _their_ time, which the nation’s art buyers collect so assiduously and at so much cost.

But such a gallery would be incomplete were it to pass by without example the strength of Steinlen, the dainty elegance of Wély or Morin, Huard’s types of provincialism, Forain’s delicacy of design, or the humorous observation of Caran d’Ache. To be complete and cosmopolitan it must chronicle within its walls something of that defiance of convention, that exuberance of youthful audacity, seeking ever fresh paths within the unexplored--above all, that single-minded devotion to art for its own sake which belongs to these Illustrators of Montmartre.

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
London & Edinburgh

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

The following French words, misspelled or with accented letters, were corrected, but others may have been missed. Also, when the same misspelling occurred more than once, it was not changed.

Page 5: Ville Lumiére => Ville Lumière
Page 9: Chevalier a la Fèe => Chevalier à la Fée
Page 9: Eugéne Grasset => Eugène Grasset
Page 9: A l’eau => À l’eau
Page 9: les Oisseaux => les Oiseaux
Page 12: le bon Gite. => le bon Gîte.
Page 30: Les Poétes de l’Amour => Les Poètes de l’Amour
Page 32: La Toussaint Heroique => La Toussaint Héroïque
Page 32: L’Etè => L’Été
Page 34: confréres => confrères
Page 35: soidisant => soi-disant
Page 42: A. Lepére => A. Lepère
Page 42: Aieule => Aïeule
Page 43: Musée Grèvin => Musée Grévin
Page 43: Henri Riviére => Henri Rivière
Page 57: decollété => décolleté
Page 64: Le Monde Illustrê => Le Monde Illustré
Page 65: La Traite des Blanches => La Traité des Blanches
Page 66: Gelis-Didot => Gélis-Didot
Page 66: Thêatre => Théâtre
Page 70: du Siécle => du Siècle
Page 75: du Genéral => du Général
Page 78: Ribote de Noel -> Ribote de Noël

Not changed:

Page 10: Les Gaitès Bourgeois
Page 12: Les Gaitès Bourgeoises
Page 18: Charge (perhaps should be “Chargé”)
Pages 17 and 43: Caran-d’-Ache
Page 75: reunions (perhaps should be “réunions”)

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations.

The poor image quality of “Deux Amis” occurs in at least three different copies of the original book, and probably was printed that way.