Somehow  the  very  name  Bouguereau  has  be-
come a  synonym  for  insipid  sweetness.  One
artist  writer  quotes  an  apt  reply  of  one  of  Bou-
guereau's  pupils  to  the  enthusiastic  layman  con-
gratulating him  on  his  rare  opportunity  of  being
taught  by  so  famous  a  man.  ''Yes,  it  is  good  to
be  well  launched  but  I  am  distressingly  tired  of
all  that  wax."  His  drawing  was  as  correct  as  a
Spencerian  copy,  but  who  has  any  pleasure  in
perfect  lines  without  the  personal  element  in  it?
Nothing  in  nature  is  perfect  so  why  insist  on
perfection  in  man's  handiwork?  And  yet  all
Academic  training  tends  toward  theoretical  ex-
actness rather  than  individual  growth.
The  practical  value  of  progressive  develop-
ment is  leaving  the  Academy  trained  theorist  far
in  the  rear,  not  that  all  practical  ideas  are  of  real
value  but  they  signify  an  aliveness  that  promises
better  things.  The  vigorous  young  French  art-
ists were  growing  exceedingly  restive  under  the


AND  THEIR  PAINTERS  205

regulated  honour  system  which  gave  reputation —
what  people  think  of  you — rather  than  character
— what  you  are.  This  struggle  of  the  growing
men  has  toppled  over  the  false  standard  of  such
men  as  Cabanel,  Bouguereau  and  others  who
have  been  as  gods  to  the  people.  Gradually  the
elemental  principles  of  art  that  possessed  the  an-
cients has  been  entering  into  the  modern  artists
and  a  new  race  of  modern  old  masters  is  in  proc-
ess of  growth.
Of  course  Bouguereau  is  not  all  bad  in  his  art.
