Life, 1893-08-10 · page 10 of 16
Life — August 10, 1893 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 90 **"Modest" Poem Section:** This satirical poem describes a woman who, despite appearing modest and demure at a formal ball, reveals herself to be carefree and improper at the beach—walking in a revealing bathing dress "which barely reached her knees." The satire targets the hypocrisy of female propriety: women who maintain a facade of modesty in public settings but abandon social conventions elsewhere. **"Art Criticism" Section:** A dealer meets a self-proclaimed art critic who admits he knows nothing about painting but boasts of "a wide horizon which is not limited" by knowledge. The critic sarcastically compares the dealer to "an Irish statesman"—likely suggesting both are bluffing or incompetent. This mocks pretentious art criticism and fraudulent expertise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
N hotel corridor we met, Shrieking, she hurried back, ‘@: Her eyes with tears of shame were wet; She wore a dressing-sack. : That night in crowded ball-room glare She strolled decolleté, I saw her, but she didn’t care, She knew she was aw fait, Next morning, in a group of four, On the piazza, rocking, She almost fainted when she saw She showed a bit of stocking ; But later, in her bathing-dress | Which barely reached her knees, She walked the beach in carelessness, Complacent as you please. | L'ENVOL, Fashion may rule a woman's clothes In all fantastic notions, But yet one wouldn't quite suppose Hl ‘Twould dictate her emotions. ] J. Harry Stedman. ART CRITICISM. HERE has not been a really epoch-making art-criticism produced for many epochs. 1 am filled with shame over my remissness in the matter and with an ambition to do better in the future. Recently I visited a collection of famous old paintings brought to the city by wide reputation. I was much abashed when led into the presence of this noted man, but seeing that he resembled other human beings to a recognizable degree, besides being handicapped with red whiskers, I became more at my ease. “ Are you an admirer of paintings?" asked the dealer, . “Tam a critic.” * And perhaps a painter yourself ?”” “No, sir,” I said, for I recalled an observation in the back of a magazine. “I know nothing of painting. I have ited by my being able to see anything.” “Ah, indeed,” said the dealer, “you resemble an Irish statesman.” a wide horizon which is not lim- ‘* WARRANTED FAST COLORS.” comicbooks.com