SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF MILLAIS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2397, 8 February 1900, Page 60

SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF MILLAIS.

It was not my fortune to know Millais intimately till somewhat late in his career ; but when I knew him I ielt at once the extraordinary charm of his nature. I felt, too, that I had not till then done sufficient justice to what was the essential quality of his art. I had, perhaps, counted at more than its true value that poetic quality in his earlier work which the true development of his genius had then left far behind. I am sure I had not sufficiently recognised the enduring magic which sprang from his unbiassed devotion to nature, and which remained a constant factor of his genius till the closing days of his life. And of one unfailing sign of genius I was assured at the outset of our acquaintance. He revealed to me then — and I nevei failed to recognise it afterwards — the unconquerable youthfulness of his spirit. As the extraordinary accomplishment of his earlier days shows something of the mastery of the man guiding the half-tutored hand of the boy, so in all his later work there is to be found something of the naivete of the boy still controlling the riper product of maturity. And he had in him then, I remember, even apart from his art, much of the conquering ambition of a boy. To the end of his life Millais, even in his painting, was always at school ; and when his work was completed, he had still something of the air of a schoolboy on his way to win a prize. The very frankness with -which these qualities in his nature were revealed made him, I must think, more than ever lovable to Ihose who know him well — and I am remided vividly of them now when I recall the preparations that were being made for the great exhibition of his collected works in the Grosvcnor Gallery. During the days of the hanging, Millais was constantly there, sometimes buoyant, sometimes dejected, but never absent. There were daj s Avhen the sight of his own pictures | ranged round the walls left, him genuinely convinced that no greater painter had ever lived. There were other days when it was plain to see that this or that work, which till then he had not seen for years, left him for the moment with a fai move modest impression of his own powers. On one occasion, taking me by the arm, he led me to a certain picture, the title of which I need not name, and said, "My dear fellow, a painling talks to you like a man. There are some pictures in this gallery that say to me, ' Millais, my boy, when you did that you were a vulgar fellow !' " And then, suddenly turning to the picture before us, he said," " And that's one of them ! There are others," he added, " which tell me quite a different thing ''—-and lending me across the room he pointed lo " The Knight Errant," and broke out, half-defianlly, "Whatever they may say, I am not ashamed of that!"' I remember well, too, a later evening during the same time when we were waiting for the arrival of " The Huguenot," which Millais himself h,ad, n,gt seen, since

the days Avhen it Avas painted. We had had some difficulty to obtain the loan of it, and the exhibition Avas already arranged, with this one A'acant space left upon the Avail.- It Avas late at night before the Avork arrived from Preston, and .Millais, nervously chewing his pipe betAveen his lips, anxiously Avaited for the lid of the case to be unscreAved. His hand rested on my arm, and I could feel it trembling Avhile the carpenters Avere at their Avork. At last the triumph of his early manhood Avas shown to him again. As he looked at it the tears Avere in his eyes, but he only said, "Well, not so bad for a young&ter." And still cheAving his pipe, he left us suddenly and Avent home. A touch like this made one feel how deep and lioav lovable was the nature of the man. He Avas indeed simple and sensitive in a rare degree, despite an outAvard bearing that sometimes seemed to betray too much of the confidence that comes of worldly success. At that time, I Avell remember, the thought of his earlier Avork seemed to fill him Avith a neAV ambition, and he told me over and over again that he meant to make a neAv departure and to do something that Avould more than rival the best of his achievements in the past. There Avas the boy again; he Avas not content Avith beating others — he Avanted to beat himself. But the departure was not to come. With unerring hand his genius had led him towards that Avhich he Avas best fitted to accomplish. Even when older ideals appeared to prevail, nature in truth Avas all in all. In his treatment of landscape or of human life, his Avas the masterhand of portraiture, and it may be doubted whether any painter has ever lived Avith a keener insight into the subtlest individualities of form and colour. — Comyns Carr, in the Speaker.