Potter's life.

Otago Witness, Issue 1672, 8 December 1883, Page 25

Potter's life.

Potter was, according to Descamps, allied to the family of Egraont on bis mother's side. His grandfather Potter had been receive^ of Upper and Lower Swaluire, and his ancestors had always held positions of trust in the city of Enkhuisen, in which place Paul was born in 1G25. His father, Peter Potter, was a painter of very mediocre talent, and soon after the birth of his son decided to move to Amsterdam, where he desired to acquire the privileges of a burgher. His father was the only teacher the son is known to have had, but tho pupil soon surpassed the master, for Descamps writes of him : " He was a genius of whom there is hardly a counterpart. At the early age of 14 he was a skilful artist, and his pictures painted at that time will rank with those of famous masters." When not quite of age Potter left his father's house to care for himself, and went for a while to Delft, where be painted some of his best pictures, and finally, about IG4S, removed to the Hague. Here he made the acquaintance of Nicolas Balkeneude, a celebrated architect of that time, and occupied lodgiugs in the same house. Balkeneude had a lovely daughter, Aduerine, with whom the young artisc, as was to be expected, fell desperately in love, but when he asked permission of the father to speak of his affection to his lady love, that worthy contemptuously replied that he should not give his daughter to an artist who could paint nothing but animals.

The artist, nothing daunted by this lack of appreciation, went on painting his " beasts," and it is to this time "that the " Bull" belongs, which was originally executed as a sign for a butcher's shop, and brought the modest sum ot only 1260 irancs. Potter's pictures soon gained the attention of at j t lovers, tho painter became the fashion, and Balkeneude, hearing that a rival architect had expressed the opinion that " he should feel honoured by having such a son-in-law," repented him of his error of judgment, and graciously consented to the painter's suit and his daughter's wishes. On his marriage Potter moved into a new house, which soon became the rallying-point for artists, literary men, and distingished strangers at the Hague. Prince Maurice was a constant visitor, and Potter was esteemed not only for his pictures, but also for his conversational powers, which were declared to be remarkable. Surrounded by the rich and cultivated, he was enabled to aid materially his father-in-law in his profession, and thus nobly to aVenge the slight put upon him when he was comparatively unknown. He was an indefatigable worker, never going put without his sketchingbook, and his studies were so accurately made that often all that was necessairy to change a study into a picture was to add a background. Dugler, in criticising his pictures, wiites :—: — I " Of all the masters who have striven preeminently after truth- he is, beyond all question one of the greatest that ever lived. In order to succeed in this aim he acquired a correctness of drawing, a kind of modelling which imparts an almost plastic effect to his animaJs, "an extraordinary execution of detail in the most ,solid impasto, and a truth of colouring which harmonises astonishingly with the time of day. In hfe landscapes, which generally consist of a few willows in the foreground, and of a wide view over the nisadows, the most delicate gradatiou of aerial perspective is seen."

These _ pictures, it must be remembered, were painted in a studio which was almost always crowded with visitors, with whom the artist chatted gaily as he worked. "It may be considered strange that a man who, from his pictures, one would judge to be calm, self-contained, reserved, should be able to work surrounded by a lively crowd of amateurs and talkers, lack nothing of his precision, and have his works lose nothing of the tranquility of spirit which breathes from every line ; but if the temperament of a true artist is attentively studied, these apparent contradictions will be easily reconciled, for a naturally melancholy disposition in solitude, when surrounded by sympathetic friends, is apt to become very gay and expansive. Paul Potter's was one of these mobile temperaments ; he spoke readily, and was the leading spirit in his circle." The social success which he gained proved the ruin of his domestic happiness, for his wife's head was turned by the admiration she excited. After a few years' sojourn Potter quitted the Hague in 1G52, and went back to Amsterdam, ostensibly to join the rest of his family, and to comply with the solicitations of the rich Burgomaster Tulp (who craved the privilege of haying the first of purchase of his pictures, and into whose collection the major number of the artist's works went as soon as finished), but in reality to withdraw his wife from the gay circle at the Hague.

It has been insinuated that grief at his wife's misconduct weighed upon Potter's mind and affected his health, but there is no proof of this, because there is no evidence of any alienation between them, and Potter- showed from youth the germs of early death. Many writers have attributed his premature death to his excessive overwork ; for he toiled early and late, and took no rest. After painting all day, he would labour all the evening at engraving or etching the studies he , had used in his pictures by day, and he never went out for pure relaxation, invariably taking sketch-book and pencil. This constant almost feverish application, for which he is blamed, and which is said to have shortened his life, waa but the law of his Being. This restless need for activity was a phase of hia diEta'atfe, foV tno&e whona fat<e destines

to a short life, who have in them the fatal Beeds of consumption, are often impelled to unduu haste (as it seems to outsiders) in order to be able to accomplish the task they feel set them to perform ; they are compelled to burn tho candle at both 'ends, and ibis was ths case with this great artist, this patient, faithful admirer of animals and ! landscapes. He died of consumption in 1654, boforehe had completed 29 years,and was buried in tho great chapel at Amsterdam with all due honours, and left' behind him a reputation, which has been steadily increasing, as a conscientious, truth-] oving artist.