BOILEAU, Philip, American portrait painter and illustrator: b. Quebec, Canada, June 1863; d. New York, 18 Jan. 1917. He was educated in London, England, and showed a talent for both painting and music. Later in life he became a finished pianist. At 23 he was sent to Milan, Italy to study art and there married a Russian singer, who died later. In 1897 he returned to the United States, making his home in Baltimore, and became a portrait painter. His work became well known in social circles, but about 1902 he caine to New York, and through his work, which he exhibited in an art gallery, he attracted great attention. The artist had studied the effects which the hearing of music produces in changing the expression of the face. Among his early works he pro duced four of his best known pastels, which bear musical names. In 1904 Mr. Boileau re ceived the first prize ($500) in the New York Herald's Christmas art competition. 'That you, SantyP was the title of the picture which won the prize. Until 1907 Mr. Boileau had searched all his life to find his ideal type of feminine beauty. He finally found his ideal, who was Miss Emily Gilbert, of Philadelphia, then a student in the Sargent Dramatic School, and married her in October 1907. She was his model for the 'Peggy Head,' 'The Boileau Girl) and numerous other portrayals of his ideal type of American beauty.
bwilo pra-6, Nicolas, French poet: b. Paris, 1 Nov. 1636; d. there, 13 March 1711. He applied him self at first to the study of the law and after ward of theology, but devoting himself eventually to the pursuit of literature, he pro duced, within the space of 40 years, a vast number of works, the most important of which is the 'Art poitique) (1664), in close imitation of the (Ars Poetica> of Horace,. establishing an aesthetic code for all forms of poetical com position. His satirical poem, 'Le Lutrin' (1674), and the 'Dialogue des heros de roman,' (1664), a satire on the poetical romances of his day must also be particularly mentioned. His
other writings comprise translations of the classics, miscellaneous effusions on art, music and poetry, and his famous epistles, of which those treating of 'Le respect humain,) 'La con noissance de and 'Plaisirs la cam pagne) are the best. When Boileau began to write, Montaigne, Pascal, Malherbe, Corneille, Moliere, La Fontaine and other eminent authors had already made their appearance; yet the people were slow to appreciate the genius of the new school, to which they pre ferred the previous mediocre and imitative writers. Boileau's great achievement was to cure this perversion of taste. He enunciated the principle that nothing is beautiful save what is true, and strenuously opposed all af fectation and euphemism. Reason and good sense were his guides; but he was lacking in imagination. He was great as a satirist, and as a critic led the way in simplifying French literary taste. He was called the "Lawgiver of Parnassus?) Like his friend Racine, he was historiographer of Louis XIV, and the recipient of an annual pension of 2,000 francs. His ad mission to the French Academy did not take place before 1684, owing to his attacks upon some of the members. In his later years he became a Jansenist and engaged in disputes with the Jesuits. He left the reputation of a genial, high-minded and generous man. The best edition of his works is by Gidel (1870-73). See Deschanel, 'Le romantisme des classiques,) 4th Series (1888) ; Faguet, 'XVII Siecle, Etudes litteraires' (1887) ; Hemon, (Cours de littera ture) (1889-95) ; Lanson, 'Boileau' (1892); Merillot, (1892); Walter, 'Boileaus Wirkung auf seine englischen Zeitgenossen> (1911) ; and Wright, 'History of French Litera ture' (1912).