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MARCHAND 197
shall be glad to hear what any one competently
acquainted with the drawings of the old
masters has to say about No. 39. But when
he gets to work on his canvas I do not suppose
he thinks of anything beyond the complete
realization of a definite and perfectly
elaborated
scheme. There are no happy accidents
or lucky flukes in his painting. It is as stark
and solid as the work of Ingres or Mantegna.
Some people call that sort of thing dry and
intellectual others call it ;
masterly.
If English amateurs take kindly to these
pictures they will do themselves great honour.
They will prove that they can distinguish
between the easy juxtaposition of pretty
patches of colour and the profound and sensi-
tive research of a true colourist ; they will
prove that they can distinguish between
obvious relations and subtle harmonies ; they
will prove that they can recognize that quality
which is common to works of art of all schools
and ages, and that, when they see it, they
like it. And those unlucky people who cannot,
even in the presence of a work of art, forget
for a moment all about politics and philanthropy,
may like to remember that Marchand,
too, has been unlucky. After great hardships
he had just won his way to a position of some
security when war broke out. He has lately
been called up, not, I think, for active, but