“However, because of the complexity of art, or rather of the human souls who take art for a language, all classification runs the risk of being futile. So Rembrandt is often a sublime poet and Raphael often a vigorous realist. “Let us force ourselves to understand the masters—let us love them—let us go to them for inspiration; but let us refrain from labelling them like drugs in a chemist’s shop.” [Illustration: THE BATHER By Rodin ] CHAPTER VI THE BEAUTY OF WOMEN That fine old house known as “l’Hôtel de Biron,” which stands in a quiet street on the left bank of the Seine in Paris, and which was but lately the Convent of the Sacred Heart, has, since the suppression of the sisterhoods, been occupied by several tenants, among whom is Rodin. The Master, as we have seen, has other ateliers at Meudon and at the Dépôt des Marbres in Paris, but he has a special liking for this one. Built in the eighteenth century, the town house of a powerful family, it is certainly as beautiful a dwelling as any artist could desire. The great rooms are lofty, panelled in white, with beautiful mouldings in white and gold. The one in which Rodin works is a rotunda opening by high French windows into a delightful garden. For several years now this garden has been neglected. But it is still possible to trace, among the riotous weeds, the ancient lines of box which bordered the alleys, to follow, beneath fantastic vines, the shape of green trellised arbors; and there each spring the flowers reappear, pushing through the grasses in the borders. Nothing induces a more delicious melancholy than this spectacle of the gradual effacement of human toil at the hands of invading nature. At l’Hôtel de Biron Rodin passes nearly all his time in drawing. In this quiet retreat he loves to isolate himself and to consign to paper, in numberless pencil sketches, the graceful attitudes which his models take before him. One evening I was looking over a series of these studies with him, and was admiring the harmonious lines by which he had reproduced all the rhythm of the human body upon paper. [Illustration: TORSO OF A WOMAN By Rodin ] [Illustration: TORSO OF A WOMAN By Rodin ] The outlines, dashed in with a single stroke, evoked the fire or the _abandon_ of the movements, and his thumb had interpreted by a very slight shade the charm of the modelling. As he studied the drawings he seemed to see again in mind the models who were their originals. He constantly exclaimed: “Ah! this one’s shoulders, what a delight! A curve of perfect beauty! My drawing is too heavy! I tried indeed, but—! See, here is a second attempt from the same woman. This is more like her. And yet! “And just look at this one’s throat, the adorable elegance of this swelling line, it has an almost intangible grace!” “Master,” I asked, “is it easy to find good models?” “Yes.” “Then beauty is not very rare in France?”