Clare Gaylard Glass 

Is what I said to the poor fellow standing guard at the exit at the RA. I did mean it though, no Olympia? it was a small exhibition with a deal of unfinished work but some stand out portraits that would cross any chasm of time and convention.

This one of Proust, you want to pull his beard, he looks so bucked to be a literary lion at the height of his powers, but what a painting, even his self-pleasure is infectious. The artist's first wife, not to be disguised by the hats or hairstyles of the day, glowing and without artifice. Superb and radiant portraits, beautiful rendering of objects and scenes, but all over a little too quickly.