Page:McClure's Magazine volume 10.djvu/9



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VEN, in great art the originality which suggests a new way of seeing the world is rare. It is the possession of this one quality, above all others, which makes Maurice Boutet de Monvel stand out, with a few of his contemporaries, from the army of artists, more or less slaves of tradition following in the footsteps of their masters. It is this quality which makes the work of De Monvel appreciated wherever he is known. Here is a man who belongs to no school, who does not exploit his tools, who speaks for the people because he picks out things to represent that are not obvious, and yet which, when seen, are of interest alike to the simple and the philosopher, to the most civilized man as to the child.

Another attainment even more rare in