Randolph Caldecott Part 8

Life in the country with Caldecott was "worth living," and he chafed much at this period if he had to be with his "nose to the grindstone,"

as he expressed it, in Bloomsbury. Whilst in the country his letters to town were full of sketches, but in letters from London he hardly ever pictured life out of doors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "SHOWS HIS TERRA COTTAS."]

In June 1875, he shows the bas-relief of "A Boar Hunt," and some small groups in terra cotta, to his friends.[8]

Before the favourable verdict of the press was p.r.o.nounced on _Old Christmas_, Caldecott was commissioned to ill.u.s.trate a second volume; and, in May 1875, he was already at work making studies and drawings for _Bracebridge Hall_, which did not appear until the end of 1876.

About this time the first number of _Academy Notes_ was published, and in a postscript to a letter to the writer (of too private a nature to be printed) Caldecott pictures its "first appearance in a family circle."

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FIRST YEAR OF ACADEMY NOTES.]

In June 1875, Caldecott had "three drawings in sepia, badly hung, in the 'black and white' exhibition at the Dudley Gallery."

On the 4th of August he was "making designs for pelican picture;" and afterwards studying this subject at the Zoological Gardens. Two pictures of pelicans were eventually painted; the second, in the possession of Mr. W. Phipson Beale, is sketched below.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE PELICANS AND TORTOISE (OIL PAINTING).]

Writing on the 10th August, 1875, respecting some Cretan embroideries just arrived in England, he sends the sketch overleaf.

"In accordance with your letter about the embroideries," he says, "I have placed the address of the importer in the hands of Mr. N., a man well-skilled in detecting that which is good in a crowd of works of art. He is great in pottery, embroidery and decoration; but he has a mind great in forgetting, and a fine talent for losing addresses."

[Ill.u.s.tration: INSPECTING EMBROIDERIES.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

In October, whilst at the seaside, he "made six drawings;" and, later in the year, was "modelling panels for Lord Monteagle's chimney-piece."

In November 1875 he received the first copy of _Old Christmas_ from the publishers, and already favourable notices of the ill.u.s.trations had begun to appear in the newspapers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CHRISTMAS CARD TO K. E. B.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: READING "OPINIONS OF THE PRESS" ON "OLD CHRISTMAS."]

CHAPTER IX.

ROYAL ACADEMY, "BRACEBRIDGE HALL," ETC.

The "opinions of the press" on Washington Irving's _Old Christmas_, which Mr. J. D. Cooper, the wood engraver, is depicted reading to the artist with so much glee, were all that could be desired; and they fully justified the second venture (_Bracebridge Hall_), on which Caldecott was already engaged.

In February he was "painting a frieze for Mr. Pennington's drawing room" at Broome Hall, Holmwood, Suss.e.x; and, later on, was "carving panels for a chimneypiece."

In this year, 1876, Caldecott exhibited his first painting in the Royal Academy, ent.i.tled, "There were Three Ravens sat on a Tree." The humour and vigour of the composition are well indicated in the sketch. It was hung rather out of sight, above (and in somewhat grim proximity with) a picture of "At Death's Door," by Hubert Herkomer. Both artists were then thirty years of age.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THERE WERE THREE RAVENS SAT ON A TREE."

(Oil Painting) Royal Academy, 1876.

Cat. No. 415. 49 32.]

In the same room (Gallery V.) were collected that year, the works of painters whose names are familiar--W. B. Richmond, A. Gow, H. R.

Robertson, E. H. Fahey, W. W. Ouless, Val C. Prinsep, Henry Moore, and others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "PRIVATE VIEW OF MY FIRST R.A. PICTURE," APRIL 1876.]

Besides "The Three Ravens" he exhibited in 1876 the metal bas-relief of a "Horse Fair in Brittany," reproduced opposite. This was a more masterful production than the picture, and attracted great attention in the Royal Academy Exhibition. It was mentioned in the _Times_ of that year, and in the _Sat.u.r.day Review_, June 10th, 1876, we read:--

"Of low relief--taking the Elgin frieze as the standard--one of the purest examples we have seen for many a day is Mr.

Caldecott's bas-relief, 'A Horse Fair in Brittany.' Here a simple and almost rude incident in nature has been brought within the laws and symmetry of art."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A HORSE FAIR IN BRITTANY."

Metal bas-relief exhibited in the Royal Academy, 1876.

Cat. No. 1499. Size 14 5-1/2 in.]

In 1876 Caldecott also produced a relief in metal of "A Boar Hunt,"

which was exhibited in the Grosvenor Gallery in 1878.

To the world at large and in the opinion of many critics, there was, in his Academy work of 1876, promise of an exceptionally successful career. Decorative design and modelling in relief were Caldecott's especial forte, and it is to be regretted that so few of these works remain to us. "The Horse Fair in Brittany," in the possession of the writer, is one of the few completed works of this character. He was not destined to be a prolific painter, although strongly urged at this time by members of the Royal Academy to devote his energies to painting.

Neither his health nor his previous training justified his leaving a branch of art in which he was already becoming famous, that of book ill.u.s.tration.

In 1876 the system of reproducing sketches in pen and ink by photo-engraving became general in England, and in the pages of _Academy Notes_ of that year there appeared, for the first time, sketches by the painters of their exhibited works.

Amongst well-known artists--who powerfully aided in founding a system of ill.u.s.tration which was destined to spread over the world--were Sir John Gilbert, R.A., H. Stacy Marks, R.A., Marcus Stone, A.R.A., and, the comparatively young, Randolph Caldecott. The three first-named are masters in line each in his own style, and their methods were studied and imitated by many other painters in England to whom line drawing was then a sealed book. Several sketches of pictures in the _Academy Notes_, 1876, were drawn by Caldecott, including the portrait of Captain Burton, painted by Sir Frederick Leighton, P. R. A.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPTAIN BURTON, R.A., 1876.]

In June he made a series of ill.u.s.trations, ent.i.tled "Christmas Visitors," for the _Graphic_ newspaper; and about this time the drawings for _Bracebridge Hall_ were finished.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FACSIMILE OF FIRST PAGE OF "BRACEBRIDGE HALL."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE CHIVALRY OF THE HALL PREPARED TO TAKE THE FIELD"]

In _Bracebridge Hall_ we meet the fair Julia again in one of the most graceful ill.u.s.trations Caldecott ever drew. An extract from the text is necessary to show the subtle touch of the ill.u.s.trator.

"I have derived much pleasure," says Washington Irving, "from observing the fair Julia and her lover.... I observed them yesterday in the garden advancing along one of the retired walks. The sun was shining with delicious warmth, making great ma.s.ses of bright verdure and deep blue shade.

The cuckoo, that harbinger of spring, was faintly heard from a distance; the thrush piped from the hawthorn, and the yellow b.u.t.terflies sported, and toyed and coquetted in the air.

"The fair Julia was leaning on her lover's arm, listening to his conversation with her eyes cast down, a soft blush on her cheek and a quiet smile on her lips, while in the hand which hung negligently by her side was a bunch of flowers.

In this way they were sauntering slowly along, and when I considered them, and the scenery in which they were moving, I could not but think it a thousand pities that the season should ever change or that young people should ever grow older, or that blossoms should give way to fruit or that lovers should ever get married." The harmony here between author and ill.u.s.trator needs no comment.