Tuesday, 11 December 1883
Morning: nothing! Afternoon: sketched a little girl's head — five years old, in profile, laughing. My intention is to make five or six heads all laughing. It begins with a baby of eight months, then the little girl of this afternoon. Then Armandine (the dancer — already done), full face in hat and an otter-fur cape with a bunch of violets on her shoulder. Then I shall add a dandy — Bojidar in evening dress sucking his cane — then an innocent young woman, and finally an old man or old woman. All mounted together in one frame. "Laughter is proper to man."1 Very different kinds of laughter might produce something diverting. And I shall do it like Armandine, very quickly — it would be for a small exhibition... This evening at dinner, the Bailleul woman and the Zarondskys; the young woman is quite pleasant, and I become animated and deliver speeches on the arts. Before dinner: the Marshal's wife2 and Claire.Matin: Rien ! Après-midi, ébauché une tête de gamine de cinq ans, de profil et qui rit. J'ai l'intention de faire cinq ou six têtes toutes riant. Ça commence par un bébé de huit mois, puis la fillette de cet après-midi. Puis Armandine (la danseuse, déjà faite) de face en chapeau et pèlerine de loutre avec un bouquet de violettes sur l'épaule. Puis je mettrai un gommeux, Bojidar en habit et suçant sa canne, puis une jeune fille innocente et enfin un vieux ou une vieille.
Notes
Rire est le propre de l'homme: Rabelais, Gargantua (1534), Prologue — "because laughter is proper to man." ↩
The Marshal's wife: Mme Canrobert, wife of Marshal François-Certain Canrobert. ↩