BY ROBIDA. PEN DRAWING. FROM “JOURNAL D’UN TRÈS VIEUX GARÇON.”
BY A. WILLETTE. FROM “LES PIERROTS” (VANIER).
BY FORAIN. FROM “LA COMÉDIE PARISIENNE” (CHARPENTIER).
BY P. RENOUARD. CHALK DRAWING. FROM “THE GRAPHIC.”
Among wood-engravers, Baude and Florian hold the foremost place as reproductive artists, while Lepère stands quite apart, a brilliant many-sided man, at once draughtsman, engraver, etcher, and painter, a true craftsman in the best sense. Another man, F. Valloton, is making an endeavour to revive original wood-cutting, and though but few of his cuts are anything like so good as "Entêrrement en Province," he is the leader of a movement which may result in the resurrection, or indeed the creation of an original art of wood-cutting. But this desire of artists to engrave and print their own work is growing in France, as may be seen in such a collection as "Estampe Originale." Pannemacker and his followers have been the most popular, and their influence has been felt, sometimes with distinction, in all cheap French wood-engraving.
After enumerating this long list, it seems as if I had contradicted my own rather pessimistic view of illustration in France. I do not think so. It is true that the artists, though few in number, are in the country, but to-day the opportunities for them to express their art are lacking: as a proof, the only book devoted solely to French illustration which has ever appeared has just been published in America.