W. M. R. French, art lecturer

              SEASON 1902-1903
W. M. R. FRENCH.
ART  LECTURER
THE PECULIAR and attractive feature of Mr. French's lectures is their abundant illustration by means of large sketches, drawn on paper in the presence of the audience, in color and crayon.    These lectures are found interesting to children as well as grown people. 
Subjects:
i.    The Wit and Wisdom of the Crayon.
2.    An Hour with the Caricaturists.
3.    The Value of a Line.
4.    A Knack of Drawing, Natural or Acquired.
5.    Conventional Art in Pictures and Decoration.
6.     The Innocency of Vision.
Mr. FRENCH is the Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, the most important art institu- tion in the West, and one of the three or four foremost in the United States, taking rank with the Boston Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of New York. The Art Insti¬tute was founded in 1879, directly in pursuance of the efforts of Mr. French, and has never had any other director. It is now supported by the leading art patrons and business men of Chicago, and includes both a museum of art and a school of art, occupying the noble building upon the Lake front, at the foot of Adams street.
The Museum includes extensive collections of paintings, sculpture, antiquities and decorative objects, while the School offers instruction in drawing, painting, sculpture, decorative designing and architecture, and had last year over 2,000 students and 65 instructors.
Mr. French is Curator of the Collections and Principal of the School. He is also a lecturer in the University Extension Courses of the University of Chicago, and for the last twenty years has been a well known popular lecturer. He is of Eastern extraction, born at Exeter, N. H., and was educated at Phillips Academy and Harvard College, graduating in 1864. In 1867 he moved to Chicago, where he has remained ever since, excepting occasional absences at the East or in Europe. He is of a well known family, and brother of Daniel C. French, the sculptor, whose "Minute Man," at Concord, group of "Death and the Sculptor," and Colossal Statue of the Re¬public in the Columbian Exposition are widely known.
As a lecturer Mr. French unites artis¬tic ability with literary taste and quick wit. He has undertaken to make his drawings as brilliant and amusing as the best caricaturists, at the same time that they illustrate his subject. So well has he succeeded, that we will venture to assert that there is no other lecturer in the field capable of putting before an audience, in an evening, as great a number and variety of beautiful and amusing pictures, and an equal amount of lively and instructive comment.
Since the RECALL may be said to be test of the popularity of a lecturer, we mention some of the  places,   large  and  small,   in which  Mr.
French has lectured twice or more; in some of them
many times:
Lecture Sketch.
CHICAGO, NEW YORK, MINNEAPOLIS, MILWAUKEE, ST. LOUIS, PHILADELPHIA, KANSAS CITY, POUGHKEEPSIE,
WlLKESBARRE,
PROVIDENCE, WASHINGTON, D. C, INDIANAPOLIS, CONCORD, MASS., DAVENPORT, SPRINGFIELD, III., JACKSONVILLE, III.,
MONTPELIER, BLOOMINGTON,
JOLIET,
RACINE, KENOSHA, ALTOONA, COLUMBUS, OHIO, NASHVILLE, LOUISVILLE,
CHAUTAUQUA ASSEMBLY, LAKESIDE ASSEMBLY, ROUND LAKE ASSEMBLY, MONTEAGLE ASSEMBLY, WINFIELD ASSEMBLY. CORNELLUNIVERSITY, NT. Y. AND MANY OTHER PLACES.
"The Wit and Wisdom of the Crayon. '
This is the title of one of the most popular lectures which Mr. French has delivered, and it may be taken as a good example of his method. It treats of the analogies between litera¬ture and art with such liveliness of address and such swiftness and profusion of illustration, that every child listens and watches and understands. In it he draws thirty or forty pictures, in¬cluding faces, animals, landscapes, figures, ornamental designs, etc.
THE ART INSTITUTE, Lake Front, opposite Adams Street, Chicago.
Personal and Press Notices.
Eloquent and entertaining as Dr. Henry Van Dyke is as a lecturer, his absence from the plat¬form last night at Boyd's in the Young Men's Christian Association course was not regretted by the large audi¬ence that gathered there, because of the very able way in which Prof. W. M. R. French, filled his engagement. Prof. French chose for his theme "The Wit and Wisdom of the Crayon." He soon had the audience in sympathy with him, and he entertained it splendidly. A large drawing board, upon which were fastened sheets of gray paper, was placed in the center of the platform. With black and colored crayons Prof. French drew upon them in a few well placed lines, animals, figures, land¬scapes and decorative designs. The humor of some of these was irresistible, and a colored sketch of Stanfield's painting of Lake Como was strikingly beautiful. The lecture was not all humor; it contained much wisdom and put before the audience many of the great princi¬ples of art and made plain the analogies between it and literature. Poe's "Raven" was referred to and the poet's explanation of how he constructed it was compared to the artist's method of outlining his picture. The com-position of Stanfield's painting of Lake Como was compared to that of the poem of "The Raven."    Prof.
French delighted his audience, and no better entertain¬ment of the kind was ever given in the city.— The World-Herald, Omaha, March 8, IQO2.
An immense audience greeted Mr. French in his lecture, " Wit and Wisdom of the Crayon " at Assembly Hall last Monday evening. His drawings of crayon pictures would have been of themselves a com¬plete entertainment. Accompanying these, however, was his scholarly lecture which was instructive and in¬teresting in a high degree.— The Edmond Sun, Edmond, Oklahoma, March 14, 1Q02.
It was the most enjoyable, refined and instructive entertainment of the course. There was humor the broadest, philosophy the simplest, and beauty the most exquisite in his analogy between litera¬ture and art—the skill of a master hand in his use of the crayon and evidence of the highest and most genuine culture in everything he said or did. After all, culture is not for the few, as the enthusiasm and appreciation with which this gifted man was greeted by a mixeci audience in a country town demonstrates.— The Mercury, Paris, Mo., Jan. 21., 1902.
Personal and Press Notices.
An audience of 3,000 people greeted the entertainer. From the very beginning of the remarks of the lecturer, it was evident that he was absolute master of his theme, and from his work last night it was plain to see that he has not an equal in handling the crayon in the country. To the more discerning the lecture was a discourse on art, made entertaining and valuable by the mar¬velous skill of the speaker. The evening was most delightfully and profitably spent- -The American,    Nashville,    Tenn., April 28, 1899.
The hall was completely filled, and the immense audience seemed reluctant to have the Profes¬sor bring his entertainment to a close. The art discus¬sion in words was of the highest tone. It was wonderfully instructive. Either the verbal address or the marvelous crayon sketches would have been complete without the other and almost equally interesting; and that can seldom be said of entertainments of this sort. Of wit and wisdom was great abundance. Equally in the sketch of a cat, a wall paper pattern, or the complete perspective of Stanfield's oil painting of Lake Como did Prof. French unite instruction and entertainment of a very high order, punctuated by an order of wit and humor of an equally high quality.— The Daily Sarato-gian, Saratoga, N. V. August 18, I8Q6.
Mr. French's lecture was one of the most delightful and interesting which has been given here. His quick wit, felicity of expression and agreeable and entertaining manner of stating and elaborating his prop¬ositions with perfect clearness and conciseness, and yet without apparent effort, account for his popularity as a lecturer almost as much as the deft work of his fingers with the crayon.- The Sentinel, Keene, N. H. Feb. 22. 1898.
The audience was large and showed many times that it appreciated thoroughly the almost magic work of the entertainer, as he went on and illustrated the different elements in free hand drawing and art. His entertainment was remarkable for the great number and variety of beautiful and funny pictures and an equal amount of lively and instructive comment.—Daily Vindicator, Yoangstow7i, Ohio, Dec. 14, 1897.
The Women's Club had one of the most enjoyable meetings of the season at the North church vestry Wednesday afternoon. Professor French talked in a pleasant conversational way and his bright and witty lecture was most interesting. He illustrated his points by a clever use of crayon and charcoal, drawing various objects on paper that had been prepared for the purpose. It was wonderful to witness the objects grow under his skillful hand, the work being accomplished with dispatch, the professor talking all the while.—Morning Herald, Newburyport, Mass., Feb. 12. 1902.
Mr. French's lecture was the best thing that has yet been given in the course and will, in all probability, prove to have been the best thing in the whole course. That the lecturer, his illustrations and his clever remarks and flashes of wit were appreciated, was shown by the frequent and hearty applause.— The Evening Mail, Maiden, Mass.
The entertainment was very unique and un¬conventional. With a few motions of his deft fingers Mr. French illus¬trated his remarks by the use of colored crayons on paper. The whole lecture which was hum¬orous and of great literary merit, and the artistic ability shown, combined to make the entertain¬ment very enjoyable and profitable.— The Journal, Mt. Pleasant, la., Jan. 21 % 1897.                                                  Lecture  Sketch.
For Women's  Clubs.
The study of art as an element in general culture is well recognized in Women's Clubs. It is customary to devote one or two general meetings during each season to this subject. For such occasions Mr. French's lectures are peculiarly suitable. To fulfill their object it is necessary that such lectures should be not only instructive to the Art Section, but interesting and enter¬taining to the whole club. Mr. French's lectures on "Analogies between Art and Literature" and "The Value of a Line" are recommended for this use. His position as the Director of a great art institution warrants their value as art criticism, while their abundant illustration by sketches and his animated delivery engage the interest of all.