Life, 1899-12-02 · page 20 of 44
Life — December 2, 1899 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic dialogue satirizes both artistic pretension and female duplicity. A man attends an art exhibition with a woman named Sue, who deliberately affects sophisticated knowledge of paintings—discussing "harmonies of color" and works like "The Heart of Midlothian"—while the man reveals his ignorance (confusing a cow with a donkey, not recognizing artistic terms). The joke's twist: Sue has orchestrated the entire encounter to publicly *snub* him in front of Mrs. De Spuy, a gossip with an eyeglass. She pretended romantic interest solely to humiliate him socially, then gloats about the deception when they're briefly alone. The man's bewildered final response suggests he's been thoroughly manipulated. The satire targets both Gilded Age artistic snobbery and the era's anxieties about female social scheming—portraying women as calculating manipulators beneath their refined exteriors.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE - Hr (looking startled): Maule’s [nteriors? What on carth are they? Sue (reading from catalogue): “Taoterior of a Southern Kitchen.” “NOW WR'LL SEE RF DAT SAWED OPP PETERSON MAN KIN PSCAPR DE ISSUE DIS TIME.” The Ways of Women. HE (with a slight bow, and ignoring his outstretched hand): The idea of seeing you here! I never supposed you had any leaning toward Art. He (innocently): Ob, I haven't, but you said last night you were coming Sue (frigidly): Most men are too blasé or too busy to look at pictures, unless they happen to be artists. He: Ob, I don't profess anything in that line, but when you told me you would be— Sne (quickly): There are really some exquisite bits, ‘‘The Heart of Mid- lothian " is simply divine. He: Beg pardon. Whose heart did you say? SnE (distinctirely): Nobody's heart— the Heart of Midlothian. And there is one of Maule’s Interiors, perfectly won- derful. He (relieved): Olt Sne: There's a glorious thing just op- posite. ** Dutch Girl, with Cabbage.” Isn’t that fine? Such fidelity, such breadth! lz; Yes, indeed, she'd make three ordinary women. Sng: I mean breadth of treatment. And do look at this one—D'Auber’s “Tramps Asleep.” What do you think of that for tone? Oh, his harmonics are beyond anything. He (wonderingly): Is he a musician, D'Auber? I never knew that before. Sue (lyftity): I am speaking of his harmonies of color. He: That's so. The donkey in the background is very natural. Sup (with quiet scorn): The donkey in the background happens to be a cow. He: By Jove, so it is (renturing to be jocose), I am the donkey in this case, I'm afraid. Sune (unrelentingly): The conclusion would seem rather obvious. But the gem of the collection is in the next room. A Madonna, by Smearoil—I have been sitting before it for nearly an hour. He: Oh, why didn’t I come sooner? Let us go and sit before it now. SneE (moving on, with her head in the air): We may glance at it a few moments, and then I really must go. HE (despatringly): Oh, don't say so, please! Sue (politely): But that need not in- terfere with your enjoyment of — He: You know very well I only came because— Sue: Ah, here is my Madonna! And now that we are in aquiet corner by our- selves (suddenly smiling into his eyes), you dear, ridiculous boy! HE (rapturously): Ethel! the matter? Sne (gleefully): Mrs De Spuy was right bebind us, listening to every word we said, with her eyeglass. He: Great Cesar—I thought—I didn’t know that to think, Sne: And Mrs. De Spuy was in pre- cisely the same condition. She can only report on the fact that I was snubbing you. She'lltell it to everyone she meets. What fun! He (rather blankly): Ye-es, Isn't it? Madeline 8. Bridges. What was