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PORTRAIT. (STEWART.)

Turkish and India stuffs, the fur rugs, the quaintly carved oaken chairs, are all in keeping. Over the entrance is a small balcony, which is reached by a spiral staircase; from it you look over a heavily carved balustrade into the studio below. This little salon is fitted up with Persian draperies, the walls and ceilings being arranged to represent a tent, the effect of which, looking up from the floor below, is charming. Madame Lemaire paints both figures and flowers with a light and free touch.

The father of Mlle. Abbema was the last page of Louis XVIII., and her mother, with whom she now resides, is an English lady. In her slightest sketches there is an artistic spirit and movement, while her paintings combine with these a most attractive frankness.

Mlle. Abbema is always making portraits and sketches of her friends. of whom she has many. Her especial delight is an album of "Mes Amis," from which she kindly copied for us some of the leaves. It is already a large volume, composed of pages on which portraits have evidently been drawn at odd moments and inserted at different times. Under each portrait is the autograph of the original, and some verse or musical phrase. It the ante-room of the office of the "Vie Moderne" was held, in the spring of 1879, an exhibition of Mlle. Abbema's paintings and drawings, which was for the time one of the "sights" of Paris. But Mlle. Abbema's work is well known to the salons also.

Madrazo, since the death of Fortuny, has stood at the head and been the acknowledged leader of modern Spanish art. Were Queen Elizabeth living at the present time, she would -if tradition be true-choose as her portrait-painter M. Madrazo; for historians tell us, as an illustration of her absurdities, that the maiden queen insisted that her painter should copy her features upon canvas without shadows. The brilliant portraits for which he is noted are painted in a studio which admits a vast amount of light. He paints in the open air. or in a hot-house which he has hung with white curtains to exclude reflections and soften the light.

The story of his life under the old glass roof and the lovely faces which have been posed there before the artist, would fill an interesting volume. Wishing to paint a picture with open-air effect and the season being unfavorable, he conceived the idea of using this structure for the purpose, after which his old studio seemed dark and stuffy, and he never returned to it. More curtains were hung, a stove was added, the old, unoccupied salons of the deserted house adjoining were convenient for hanging costumes. The orangetrees and acacia blossoms made charming backgrounds for figures.

We cannot find, perhaps, more direct corroboration of our impression of this artist than the following from the pen of Charles Blanc: "His portraits of ladies are specimens of refined taste, which seem to express the happiness of life, serenity of mind; gay with a fresh, rich coloring, shining upon the

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silken ribbons and satin draperies, without being strengthened by any parts thrown into shadow."

This old house served as background, while the court-yard formed the scene, of the famous "After the Ball," shown at the International Exposition of 1878, now the property of Mr. Stewart, of Paris. He obtained a first-class medal at this International Exposition, and the decoration of the Legion of Honor.

Madrazo was finally driven out of this unique studio by the workmen who began tearing it down over his head.

Adjoining Madrazo's present magnificent studio is one under a dome, which admits a marvelous light. Here we find Mr. Stewart at work upon a striking picture of a fashionable group upon a beach. Upon another easel was a picture representing a large group upon the front steps and piazza of a grand mansion,-in the background a gateway or porte cochère, through which a handsome carriage has entered and stopped before the door for a beautiful lady, who has just taken her seat in the carriage.

Beyond this we find M. Arcos, who is a Chilian by birth, in a charming studio, which it is difficult to describe. It resembles a Spanish interior, with rich draperies over wide divans piled with luxurious cushions; while guitars, mandolins, a piano and harmonium, suggest a love for music. A curious fire-place, arrayed in a manner quaint and original, occupies nearly one side of the room. Sketches in oil are hung upon the walls. These charming studios were

built by the late Comte d'Arcos, father of the artist. They are occupied indifferently by Madrazo, his brother, M. Arcos, or any of the pupils of the master; in these any arrangement of light that may be desired can be obtained.

The Madrazo family is essentially artistic. The father, Federico de Madrazo, was director of the museum at Madrid, and commander of the Legion of Honor. The elder of two sons stands at the head of Spanish-Parisian artists. The younger, Ricardo de Madrazo-destined to be confounded with the elder-now appears, and is quickly making for himself a worthy place within their ranks.

Madrazo, although not yet forty years of age, is the master of quite a circle of successful young artists, who show his strong influence in the works they exhibit.

Jules L. Stewart, a Philadelphian, has had the advantage from early youth of being the pupil of Zamacois and Madrazo. The latter is an intimate friend of the family of Mr. Stewart, whose father has one of the finest collections in Paris, and was the first Parisian who recognized the extraordinary talent of Fortuny. He now possesses the choicest works of this regretted artist.

The influence of the intimate associations of early youth with fine works of art, and of close personal relations with the modern Spanish painters, is shown by the pictures of Mr. Jules Stewart, for his works are as brilliant and full of color as those of a Spaniard or Italian.

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Oh who are these that hasten beneath the starry sky-
As if with joyful tidings that through the world shall fly?—

The faithful shepherds they, who greatly were afeared

When as they watched their flocks by night the heavenly host appeared.

III.

Who are these that follow across the hills of night

A star that westward hurries along the fields of light?

Three wise men from the East who myrrh and treasure bring-
To lay them at the feet of him their Lord and Christ and king.

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DRAWING near a little village in old South Wales which huddles under the walls of a grand castle, once the home of Mortimers and Spencers, but now sacred to bats, witches, and goblins, I climbed a ruined tower and saw from its battlements a village fair, in a green field which seemed almost under my feet, but which was really a good ten minutes' walk away. The castle stood on a high hill; the village was quite out of sight under the precipice; my gaze passed over its concealed roofs and rested on a landscape of exquisite beauty, stretching far away, with winding river, arched stone bridge, hedge-rowed fields, green-embowered country-seats, and sky-climbing mountains, green and garden-like to the top. The fair was pitched upon a broad green lawn by the river-side, and I saw its tents, its flags flying (one of them the American ensign), and its crowds moving about. Coming down from the tower-top I went in quest of it,-descended the hill, strolled down the winding street of the village, and through a green lane with a big gate at the bottom: but I found the gate had a leafy

tree lying across its top, evidently felled for the purpose of barring the passage through the gate. It was further protected by a policeman in a leather helmet, who was very respectful to the stranger, but disposed to be rough and masterful with the village folk who clustered curiously about. He pointed the way by which I might find proper entrance to the field-" Be'ind the Bear, sir"; and retracing my steps through the village I found the Bear, which was an old inn. Entering its court-yard, through an archway in its dingy wall, I came upon a ticket-seller, seated behind a table under a tree. Him I paid tribute to the extent of sixpence and received a yellow ticket (torn from a book, and numbered), which on its face authorized the bearer to pass into the castle grounds and assist at an Eisteddfod; but as the date of the Eisteddfod was some two or three years earlier, I concluded the obsolete ticket was merely an illustration of Welsh economy, and would admit to the fair.

The occasion proved to be what in Wales is called a pleasure-fair-a combination of

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