Forain Vexed

"Still Life"--a bottle of wine, a bit of cheese, a dish of fruit--was damaged. Jean Louis Forain, of Paris, had painted it 50 years ago, lived with it, domesticated it. Sardonic, he had refused all prices for it. But gentle Homer Saint-Gaudens of Pittsburgh had won permission to exhibit the picture. Old Forain let it travel to the Carnegie International Exhibition, Manhattan.

On the eve of the show last week a hanger-man plumped the picture in front of Mr. Saint-Gaudens, pointed. Between the cheese and wine was a ragged two-inch hole.

Horrified, Mr. Saint-Gaudens tried to compose a cable. Horrified, he thought of the terrible old man of the Comedie parisienne (250 better sketches, which had made the stupidities of the bourgeoisie forever as contemptible as they are ridiculous). He cabled: "Your picture damaged. May we repair it or may we exhibit not-withstanding damage?"

Hours passed. Brutal Forain caricatures from the pages of Figaro, Le Eire haunted the worried Saint-Gaudens. The irony of Daumier was nothing to that of his disciple, Forain, who became only more venomous with age. (He is now 73.) Came, at last, the reply: "I permit no one to touch my painting. Forain alone can repair that which has been damaged. Return the painting to me at once by first steamer."

Next day, gentle Saint-Gaudens sailed for France. Said he: "Forain is a very devil of a man and his anger is terrible to behold."