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| FIG. 72 | J. W. SIMPSON |
Some of those decorators whose work shows a Japanese influence have a most exquisite method. Of these, that remarkable draughtsman, M. Boutet de Monvel, easily takes the first place. Those who have had the good fortune to see his original drawings will not easily forget the delicate beauty of outline nor the wonderfully tender coloring which distinguishes them. Mr. Maxfield Parrish is another masterly decorator who is noted for his free use of Japanese precedent as well as for the resourcefulness of his technique. The drawings of Mr. Henry McCarter, too, executed as they are in pure line, are especially valuable to the student of the pen. In respect both of the design and treatment of decorative subjects, the work of the late Aubrey Beardsley is more individual than that of any other modern draughtsman. That of our own clever and eccentric Bradley, while very clearly confessing its obligations, has yet a distinctive character of its own. The work of the two latter draughts men, however, is not to be recommended to the unsophisticated beginner for imitation, for it is likely to be more harmful than otherwise. Nevertheless, by steering clear of the grotesque conventions with which they treat the human figure, by carefully avoiding the intense blacks in which a great deal of their work abounds, and by generally maintaining a healthy condition of mind, much is to be learned from a study of their peculiar methods.