An Artist's Recollections.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue XV, 9 April 1904, Page 41

An Artist's Recollections.

The “Recollections” of John Callcott Horsley, R.A., recently published by John Murray, London, are, in a sense, a disappointment. They are pleasantly written, and include some amusing stories; but they do not give any vivid picture of the life of a great painter, or shed any light upon the secrets of art and of artists. Horsley was the son of a famous musician; his mother came of a family of famous painters; so that two strains of art met in him. Art thus came to Horsley early, and by right of Nature; but his “Recollections” shed no light on the process by which the painter is trained. When he was still a boy he executed paintings which find a place in the Sheepshanks Collection in the South Kensington Museum. Another, still the work of a comparative boy—. the Pride of the Village—is in the Tate Gallery. Horsley won such fame by his work that he was invited to paint the portrait of the Princess Beatrice, and was brought in touch with the Royal family, and he has some pleasant stories to tell of the Queen and her household. Perhaps the most influential member of the Royal household at that time was Miss Skerrett, who held the appointment of Head Dresser, and the care of her jewellery, to Her Majesty. She was really the Queen’s confidential secretary and adviser. Horsley’s description of her is amusing:—“To begin with, there was less of her than I ever saw in any woman; under five feet in height, and as thin as a shred of paper, she had a face of the brightest intelligence, but of almost comical plainness of feature. Her mind was of the purest and strongest, sustained by devout Christian faith, and illumined by brightest intelligence. She was unremarkable linguist, and a widely-read and cultivated woman. How successful Miss Skerrett was is best proved by the words of Sir Edwin Landseer: ‘She is the dearest and most wonderful little woman I ever knew. If anything goes wrong in Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, or Windsor, whether a crowned head or a scullery maid is concerned, Miss Skerrett is always sent for to put it right.’ ” Landseer was a favourite in the Royal circle, and his gift as a raconteur was a source of great delight to the Queen, who would keep him telling stories so late that the prosaic Prince Consort got wearied. The Queen, on one occasion, had asked him to give “one more tale”: “The Prince leaned back with an air of resignation, and Landseer dashed into a story of a friend who had trained a collie to find money in a marvellous way. One day, on the moors, he had a wager that he would send the dog away with a keeper, then hide a five-pound note, eall the dog to heel, and tell him to find the note. ‘Did he do so?’ said the Queen, with amused eagerness. ‘Well, your Majesty, not the note, but he brought back the five sovereigns in change.’ ..... •When, to the Prince Consort’s evident relief, they adjourned to their rooms, and Landseer was undressing, there was a tap at the door, and one of the gentle-men-in-waiting came in with a message to tell Landseer, from the Prince, that the Queen had not believed the story of the five-pound note!” The musical side of Horsley’s character brought him into close friendship with many famous musicians, the greatest of these being Mendelssohn, of whom he tells some pleasant stories: “Mendelssohn’s control over orchestras was perfectly marvellous, and was entirely caused by the kindly, good-tempered way in which he made his criticisms, and the absolute confidence in him as a leader with which he inspired the performers. I have seen him stop the band with one touch on his desk, then rush up the orchestra like a cat, and then you would see him patiently and quietly pointing out to the offender where, instead of playing A flat, he had played A sharp.” Horsley knew Turner, the famous painter, intimately, and the single gleam of light on the methods of great artists the book contains is in relation to the world-famed colourist. Horsley was puzzled by one marvellous feature in

Turner’* famous picture of the Snowdon Range. It was the tender warmth «f the light clouds encircling the moon. Horsley puzzled himself in vain to discover how this exquisite effect was produced. As it happened, the picture began to “buekle” from its mount, and was placed in the hands of a well-known expert to be remounted. Haden, who was in charge of the picture, received a note from the expert, begging him to call without delay: “He did so, and rushed into Hogarth’s shop, exclaiming, ‘What is it, what is it? Have you spoilt the drawing?’ ‘No, no, sir; we have got it off beautifully, but, having so often heard Mr Horsley speak of the rosy tint round the moon, I thought you would be interested to know that I have discovered how it was obtained!’ Ho produced the drawing, and turned it on its face. There was a revelation! A circle of orange vermilion had been plastered on the back with an ivory palette knife where he wanted the effect, and then worked sufficiently far through the pores of the previously-wetted paper to give the show of colour, while retaining the smooth surface without a trace of workmanship on the right side.” Horsley gives one interesting detail as to Turner’s methods: “Among the wonderful water-colours painted by Turner and exhibited at the Royal Academy, was one of a man-of-war, in what is called, technically, ‘rapid perspective.’ It was done at one sitting, in response to a petition from a child staying at Farnley, who asked for a picture of a man-of-war. The child stood by him, and he proceeded to put in all the detail with explanatory comments: ‘This is the body of the ship. Now come the masts; here go the guns!’ What evidently most impressed the child was the extraordinary rapidity, and the way in which, as he said, he ‘made the paper bubble.’ It was Turner’s habit to keep the paper always in a fluent condition of moisture. It is most noticeable that in whatever stage his drawing might be left, it was always beautiful. This is very plainly seen by looking at his unfinished sketches; these are in all stages, and every one of them is interesting. An amateur lady artist tried to get some criticisms out of him on a drawing. ‘Put it in the water jug, my dear,’ was his sole answer.”