THE PRICE OF PAINSTAKING.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 35, 30 August 1890, Page 3

THE PRICE OF PAINSTAKING.

Meissonnier, the great French artist, is an example of the genius which is the outcome of relentless labour and concentration of purpose. His last p’cture lias been purchased for the unprecedented sum of £34.000. It is entitled ‘ 1814 Campaign of France,’ or more popularly ‘ The Retreat from Moscow.’ A correspondent writing of Meissonnier ten or twelve years ago gave the fidlowing anecdotes of the painter while al work on the ‘ 1814 :’ — One cannot imagine how much pains his ‘lBl4’ cost him. In a biting cold winter day the writer had gone to I’oissy together with the celebrated art critic, Paul Burty. It was snowing, and there was a foot of snow on elm _ omul. We found Meissonnier on the turret of his chalet, sente I in the war costume of Napoleon I. on a stuffed gray horse, an ’ painting the figure of the Emperor, as it was rendered by a large mirror that stood at some distance from him. He had been there thiee hours, unmindful of the cold, and was perfectly happy, as he said, because he had found the sinister tones of a Russian landscape. Paul Burty ventured to remark that as he had already finished painting the landscape he might withdraw and continue his work in the studio, without exposing himself to the same disaster that overtook “ The Great Army.” ‘ How could I obtain in the studio !’ Meissonnier quite excitedly rejoined, ‘the right tone and the true effect of Napoleon’s gray coat in harmonious contrast with the sombre grays of the sky and the snowy carpet on the ground, and the just value of the flesh tones of the emperor’s countenance, darkened by the dull atmosphere of a winter sky ?' It was there on the top of that turret, that he completed what is perhaps his masterpiece. ‘ About a month later the writer found Meissonnier in his studio scraping out the figure of Napoleon, to paint which he had endured so many hours of a freezing temperature. ‘ What on earth are you doing now ?’ 1 asked, almost bewildered. ‘An old servant of the Emperor has been here,! Meissonnier replied, ‘ who was with him in Russia. He had tears in his eyes and spent a good hour in silent contem{ilation before my picture. After 1 hail coaxed liim for a ong while to tell me whether he found anything inexact in the canvas, the good old man finally said : ‘ During the campaign of Russia His Majesty wore the uniform of the Chasseurs, not that of the Grenadiers. Moreover, His Majesty never consented to have his epaulettes unfastened fiom his tunic. That will explain to you why the armholes of his overcoat were so large.’ 1 had painted Napoleon in the uniform of the Grenadiers, anil with the epaulettes outside of his coat. How could 1 help doing what lam now doing?” Thus, love of truth overbalanced all other considerations, and Meissonnier began studying anew the uniform of the Chasseurs, the effect produced by the epaulettes under the overcoat, and so on, until he obtained the same perfection he had reached in the accessories of his previous portrait. This conscientiousness, perseverance and love of the truth explain the artistic value of Meissonnier’s works.’