PARADISE RETAINED

Spotlight

People often speak about the beauty of a child's view, but few artists manage to capture that unjaundiced vision and sustain it far into a hood. That is one reason the very French tographs of Jacques-Henri Lartigue, who was born in Courbe voie in 1894, are so memorable. His photographC which he began taking at the age of seven and continued until he died in 1986, are the record of a man who never lost his-innocence, They are a great example of what can happen when the eye is free of pretense, when heart replaces trying too hard, when excitement does not fail. His people breathe, whether they are the done-u ladies in bobs who strolled the Bois de Boulogne or the new bourgeoisie having a ball with their new flyines and souped-up cars. In Lartigue's pictures, you can the century breezing by, with ho hint of its horrors,

If was the Riviera, where he spent much time, that brought out Lartigue's ability to be both social critic and humane observer. As they notice foibles, Ljrtigue'sphotos reveal his generosity, his acceptance of humanity, and his ease with himself.Lartigue s Riviera,published by Flammarion in conjunction with an exhibition at L'Hotel de Sully in Paris until September 14, reminds us of the child wh^Hjo loved w{jpt he saw that he tried to make it last.

INGRID SISCHY