FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126  
127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   >>  
er than the engraving--of "The Monarch of the Glen," a picture which Landseer originally painted for the Refreshment Room of the House of Lords for 300 guineas, but which, much to the artist's chagrin, was rejected by a Fine Arts Committee, of which the Prince Consort was chairman. Here is "The Midsummer Night's Dream." "I was talking to Landseer one day," said Sir Robert, "and I asked him why he had painted the dwarf yellow. "'Oh!' he replied, 'that's mustard-seed, _and he must be strong_!' "You notice the white hare in the picture," continued Sir Robert. "Landseer never made mistakes, but if anybody imagined he did, he was very smart in replying to the charge. A lady pointed out to him that she thought the rabbit was wrong--she had never seen a rabbit's legs placed like that. Landseer was equal to the occasion, for he replied:-- "'That is not a rabbit, madam; _it's a white hare_!'" In a corner is the engraving of the portrait of Landseer himself, with a couple of dogs peeping over his shoulder. It was painted when the artist was sixty-three years of age with the aid of a looking-glass--and the retriever and collie came and looked over their master's shoulder to see what he was doing. What better title could have been found for it than "The Connoisseurs"? Landseer gave this picture to the Prince of Wales. We talked for a long time about Landseer. In Sir Robert's earlier days he was associated with Robert Stephenson, and we remembered a little story of a picture specially painted for Stephenson by Landseer. "Stephenson was a man of a very kindly disposition and exceptionally simple tastes," said Sir Robert, "and some railway people wished to present him with a piece of plate of the value of 500 guineas. He had already received some L2,000 worth of plate, and assured his would-be kindly donors that he would rather have a picture by Landseer. This remark delighted the artist very much, and he said: 'This is the first time I ever heard of a fellow who preferred a picture to silver plate. Well, he shall have a good one.' The result was 'The Twins.'" [Illustration: THE LANDING. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._] I could not help asking Sir Robert to allow me to tell him the sequel to this incident--a little anecdote related to me by the late Mr. Henry Graves, the famous print-seller, of Pall Mall, who probably knew Landseer better than any other man. The picture shows a sheep with twins by its side, and was
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126  
127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   >>  



Top keywords:
Landseer
 

picture

 

Robert

 
painted
 

rabbit

 

artist

 

Stephenson

 

replied

 

shoulder

 

kindly


Prince

 
engraving
 

guineas

 
present
 
wished
 

railway

 

simple

 

tastes

 

people

 

seller


exceptionally

 

earlier

 

talked

 

specially

 

remembered

 
disposition
 

anecdote

 

Illustration

 

incident

 

result


LANDING

 

Elliott

 
sequel
 

silver

 

related

 

donors

 

Graves

 

assured

 

famous

 

remark


fellow
 
preferred
 

delighted

 

received

 

strong

 
mustard
 

yellow

 
notice
 
continued
 

replying