The Love of Beauty.

Manawatu Herald, 18 October 1904, Page 3

The Love of Beauty.

. “ Pictures of pretty women,” says Norman Hepgood, “ are the piost popular attraction extant to-day. A portrait of a woman by a great painter sells for twice the sum paid for a portrait of a man by the same artist. Advertisements, no matter What substance they recommend, decorate themselves with feminine beauty, and hundreds of girls make good living posing for photographers. * The women themselves, in this country, care more for beauty in women than in men; or at least they . "study it more and talk more about it. This interest is faithfully reflected by the newspapers, especially the yellow tones, which describe every murderess as beautiful. Women of society are now more widely known in feature than ever before in history, because their photographs are so constantly reproduced, Xb is a kind of fame, and they cannot resist it, even those who are inclined to think it vulgar, but that matters little, if it spreads charm around the world. Dande- ’ lions are vulgar, according to the ’ ordinary judgment, and even poets do.not celebrate them; and daisies, to the farmer, are a peculiarly vicious weed. Moral standards are often equally conventional and erroneous. The present tendency to exhibit a pretty woman’s face everywhere -with peem, story, essay, advertisement, society news, stage gossip, or with no excuse at all

may not prove so much that our taste is vulgar as that We are frankly indulging ourselves in the love of beauty which we can appreciate, and this indulgence may lead us to the appreciation of other kinds.”