Then may be mentioned Besnard’s celebrated “Poneys harcellés par les mouches.” No one who has seen the two young horses in their stalls forgets this live and graceful picture, with its animation and _verve_, its interesting anatomical study and the treatment of colour and tone. The animals are admirably drawn and the blue and crimson and violet of the scheme are Besnard’s own. This bold and eccentric production added much to the reputation of the painter and was one of the most remarked pictures at the Chicago Exposition. It is now owned by the Count Rajinski (Russia) and is a veritable _chef d’œuvre_. Besnard has also another equine group called “Le Marché des chevaux en Algérie,” now in the possession of the Baron Franchetti. A list of the most celebrated of Besnard’s pictures is more or less complete as follows: The frescoes in the Sorbonne. [Illustration: LA FEMME QUI SE CHAUFFE] “La Vie renaissante et la Mort.” Fresco in the Hôtel de Ville, “l’Apothéose de la Lumière.” Fresco in the Ecole de Pharmacie. Frescoes in the Hospital for Poor Children at Berck. Portrait of Réjane. Portrait of the Princess Mathilde. Portrait of his family. Portrait of his wife. The last four are in his own possession. “Couché du soleil sur le bord d’Algérie.” Luxembourg. “La Mort.” Luxembourg. “Femme qui se chauffe.” Luxembourg. “Entre deux rayons.” Luxembourg. “La Féerie Intime.” Russia. “L’Ile heureuse”--in the possession of Mr. Henschel. At the present date Monsieur Martignac, Paris, possesses several splendid canvases of Besnard’s, notably “l’Espagnole,” “Le Regard,” “l’Automne” and “La Femme de Biarritz.” In America the purchasers of Besnard have been few. One of the most interesting of his paintings is at Baltimore, in Mr. George Vanderbilt’s collection. Paris, appreciative of her distinguished son, has confided to him the most important of the decorations now under the city’s consideration--the ceiling of the Théâtre Français and the cupola of the Petit Palais. Let the amateur of art, whose list is already long, add these mural decorations which are now in process of construction, and it will be seen that the art of interior painting is not extinct in France, and that these tasks have been happily consigned to the man best fitted at present to perform them. Besnard is at present engaged upon the ceiling of the Théâtre Français. Its dimensions are vast, covering a surface of 273 metres. His subject, already composed in miniature, is as follows: The god Apollo, in his chariot, draws his horses back on their haunches whilst he salutes the great masters of drama--Corneille, Racine, Molière, Victor Hugo, all of whom are seated at the top of a flight of temple steps. Behind the god are a group of the Hours, and in front, the Muses. On the last step of the temple is a charming group and distinctive of Besnard. The female figure of Time reposes against [Illustration: DEATH]