The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume I Part 26

I have just got your letter, and scribble a line in haste (for I am very busy) to say that you are wholly at liberty to do whatever you choose with Nan's picture, and that I am glad for your sake that people like it. I am also much pleased to hear that you have an interesting portrait on the easel, in which you see progress and improvement in the matter of breadth and light and subordination of half tints; nothing is more important in painting; I think that after accuracy and refinement of form, it is the quality you should most strive for. I am myself tolerably well, but not by any means brilliantly. I have got to work at a few small heads, which you will see before long.

In haste, with love to Nan and the children.

LYNTON, _Sat.u.r.day_.

I have just received your note, and hear with sincere regret that you have not been prospering lately in your affairs. I am in great difficulty as to what I can do for you in the matter of the Curatorship. If it were only a question of testifying to your character, zeal, industry, &c. &c., I should have real pleasure in giving you that testimony in the highest and fullest degree. But, my dear Johnny, if I am not very much mistaken, the Curator is expected to be able when required to _advise and direct the pupils_, and I cannot in candour conceal from you that your age and experience do not appear to me yet to qualify you for that part of the duties. If it were not so, why does the candidate send in some of his works for inspection? You must not be angry with me, Johnny; you know I have always spoken the plain truth to you, and am always ready and desirous to help you when it is in my power. I should be only too glad to think of your obtaining some post that should relieve you from all immediate pecuniary care. Give my love to your wife and children, and believe me always, yours most sincerely,

FRED LEIGHTON.

_P.S._--I shall be back on Wednesday or Thursday.

_Sunday._

In case any alteration should have been made in the arrangements of the Schools during my absence, and that _teaching_ is not expected as part of the duties of a curator, I send you a letter to the Council, as I should be sorry you lost any fair chance by my absence.

You heard from me no doubt yesterday.

_Care of_ MRS. WALKER, NEALINMORE, GLEN COLUMBKILLE, CO. DONEGAL.

_15th._

I have got your note, in regard to which I feel some little embarra.s.sment. I am, as you know, always pleased when it is in my power to be of any use to you, and I should therefore wish to help you in this matter concerning which you write. I own, however, to having some hesitation in asking this favour of Mr. Hodgson, because I fear that the granting of it would be a source of a good deal of inconvenience to him, and he might, out of his old friendship, be put in an awkward position; he would be equally loth to say "yes" or "no." The picture hangs in his dining-room, _and cannot possibly be moved_. The copy would be a lengthy affair, for there is an enormous amount of work in the group you speak of, and you would have, therefore, to be established for a long time in a room which is in daily use by the family. I do not at all say that he might not grant the favour you ask, but I own I feel that _I_ cannot, discreetly, ask it of him. I am sure you will not misinterpret my declining, and I shall be very sincerely glad if you yourself succeed in your direct appeal.

I trust you and yours are thriving, and that you have not suffered lately from your leg.

This is a wild, wind-swept corner of Ireland in which I am staying, and abounding in matter for studying, especially rock forms, but the inconstancy of the weather puts sketching almost out of the question.

This is a matter of comparative indifference to me, as I came here purposely for rest, and not for work.

Give my love to Nan and the chicks.--Sincerely yours,

FRED LEIGHTON.

Do you know of any one who would do a life-size _copy_ of a portrait of the Queen in robes for the sum of _100_? I have been asked to inquire. It is, I believe, for Chelsea Hospital.

In former days it might have been worth _your_ while; now it no longer is, it would not pay you; but you perhaps know of some less prosperous artist who would undertake it, and who would do it _well_--for of course that is expected.

2 HOLLAND PARK ROAD, KENSINGTON, W.

(_Postmark, Mar. 9. 82._)

I am absolutely _ashamed_ to rob you, but you offer me the drawing so kindly that I can't possibly refuse it; I am delighted with it, only you must let me give you a little drawing some day in return. With very best thanks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STUDY OF GROUP FOR CEILING IN MUSIC ROOM Executed for Mr. Marquand, New York, 1886 Leighton House Collection]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIRST SKETCH OF GROUP FOR MR. MARQUAND'S CEILING IN MUSIC ROOM, NEW YORK Leighton House Collection]

The following letter was written when Mr. Hanson Walker was in America. In it Leighton refers to the ceiling he painted for Mr.

Marquand (see List of Ill.u.s.trations):--

2 HOLLAND PARK ROAD, KENSINGTON, W., _12th February 1887_.

DEAR JOHNNIE,--I was very glad to get your letter giving so very satisfactory an account of yourself and your doings. I had already heard of your prosperity in a general way from Nan, who came to see me before starting, but who told me also how lonely you felt. It must have been a great joy to you to see her again, and it will be a still greater when you see the (_fourteen?_) youngsters about you once more; you will, like everybody who crosses the water, bring back a very pleasant recollection of American kindness and hospitality, and, I am glad to think, also a good pocketful of money. I hope it will bring you luck here. I am glad that Mr. Marquand has made you welcome to his house, which I understand is very beautiful. I know his Vand.y.k.e well; it belonged to an acquaintance of mine, Lord Methuen, who has a number of beautiful things at Corsham.

It is one of the finest I know, and stands quite in the front rank of Vand.y.k.es. The Turner also I know, a rare favourite of mine. But of the Rembrandt I know nothing. I am glad, too, you thought my "ceiling" looked well. I hope he has introduced _a little gold in the rafters_ to _bind_ the paintings to the ceiling itself. Give my love to Nan, and believe me, with all good wishes, sincerely yours,

FRED LEIGHTON.

Please remember me to the Marquands and to your friends the Osbornes.

FOOTNOTES:

[56] Owing to the kindness of Mr. Greville's niece and executor, Alice, Countess of Strafford, I am able to quote extracts from his letters to Leighton in this "Life." Unfortunately the letters from Leighton to Mr.

Greville cannot be found, though, as we know, many were written. During his first visit to Algiers in 1857, Leighton wrote to his mother: "The fact is that as besides corresponding with you I write often to Mrs.

Sartoris, and still oftener to Henry Greville, and having continually much the same to tell all of you, I often cannot remember to whom I have written what."

[57] It was when visiting his family at Bath that he first saw Hanson Walker, the "Johnny" of the letters and of the pictures. Leighton was much taken with the picturesque beauty of the boy's head, and made various studies from it. A pencil study he made from his head (see List of Ill.u.s.trations) he used as a study for his picture "Lieder ohne Worte." Having discovered that his sitter had a natural taste for drawing, Leighton advised "Johnny's" father to let him become an artist. This led to the boy being sent to learn drawing at the School of Art in Bath. When Leighton returned to London after it had been decided that "Johnny" was to study drawing, the young student received one day to his surprise a large case. On opening it he found to his delight a cast from the antique, a drawing-board, paper, charcoal, chalks, in fact, all the utensils wanted by a beginner wishing to work seriously at Art. Never to the end of his life did Leighton's interest in his pupil flag. Never was he too busy to do a kindness to him or his. Perhaps the early and somewhat romantic marriage which "Johnny"

made with a lady for whom Leighton felt from the earliest days of the wedded life a very sincere regard, and the charming children who soon made a pretty cl.u.s.ter round their parents, and were always a delight to Leighton, cemented the friendly interest. The head of "Nan" (Mrs.

Hanson Walker--see List of Ill.u.s.trations), painted as a wedding present to "Johnny," is one among the happiest of Leighton's portraits. It is broad in treatment, and fair and very pure in colour, and as a likeness was considered perfect.

[58] Yearly Exhibition at Manchester.

[59] This correspondence refers to the "Cimabue's Madonna" at Buckingham Palace. Small holes in the canvas having appeared, the authorities were anxious that Leighton should inspect the picture, and take steps to prevent further mischief.

[60] Mrs. Sartoris.

[61] In the Yearly Exhibition at Manchester, where Leighton sent the "Romeo," "Pan," and the "Venus."

[62] Mr. Edward Sartoris.

[63] Mr. Edward Sartoris.

[64] Papers relating to the great Manchester Exhibition held in 1857.

[65] "A Syracusan Bride."

[66] The portrait of Mrs. Hanson Walker, which Leighton painted as a wedding present for his young friend.

CHAPTER VI