Y'A K%3 ft" JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY i DONATED BY PETER W. MOORE'1988 iwl? -Mm *^E&MHI m&w* v& ~*i j>v ••• i r« i1 * *, &*^Bfc u 'r* A*» *' , ^ 6^fjfflB^rW^?5% :&*&£ &tmm <j ill ^* *~&, A Z*ttyi&mz^ j#**^ S/'-SMH ^^- CTSr» /5^5r,V- y/j/s/ ***&&* //£& w '&%&&£**••• 9fr&. <&£ SH m ^ //. ^•^ IK ?* .>> kX' - %.«* lL?r ™ It Famous Paintings Selected from the World's Great Galleries and Reproduced in Colour With an Introduction byG. K. CHESTERTON and Descriptive Notes CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITEDLondon, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1913 LIST OF PICTURES ARTISTArcher, James, R.S.A. Bashkirtseff, Marie •Bouguereau, William Adolphe-Brett, John, A.R.A. .Brown, Arnesby, A.R.A. . Clark, Joseph . . . . Constable, John, R.A. Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille • It M »> M Correggio • Da Vinci, Leonardo •Detaille, EdouardFantin-Latour, Henri Fragonard, Jean Honore .Gainsborough, Thomas, R.A. • M »» Greuze, Jean Baptiste >» » » Hook, James Clark, R.A.Hunt, Alfred WilliamIsraels, JosefLeader, B. W., R.A. Le Brun, Madame Vigee •Legros, Alphonse Leighton, Lord, P.R.A. Mauve, Anton . Meissonier, J. L. E. . Millais, Sir J. E., Bart., P.R.A. Morland, George TITLEMY GREAT GRANDMOTHER . THE MEETING ....CHARITY . FROM THE DORSETSHIRE CLIFFS .THE RIVER BANK MOTHER'S DARLING . THE HAY-WAIN THE FISHERMAN'S HUT A FLOOD ..... MERCURY INSTRUCTING CUPID IN THE PRESENCE OF VENUSMONNA LISA ....THE DREAM ....FLOWERS ..... THE FOUNTAIN OF LOVEQUEEN CHARLOTTE THE MARKET CART .THE HEAD OF A GIRL FIDELITY HOME WITH THE TIDEWINDSOR CASTLETHE SHIPWRECKED MARINERTHE STREAM IN SUMMER-TIME PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST .A CANAL WITH A FISHERMAN " AND THE SEA GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN IT "WATERING HORSESA CAVALIER ...." SPEAK ! SPEAK ! " .MY FIRST SERMON THE RECKONING THE INSIDE OF A STABLE PAGEThe Guildhall Art Gallery, London . . . .26The Luxembourg, Paris . .10The Birmingham Art Gallery . 24The Tate Gallery, London . 32The Guildhall Art Gallery, London .... 5The Tate Gallery, London . 13The National Gallery, London . 28The National Gallery, London . 17The National Gallery, London . 36The National Gallery, London . 31 11 The Luxembourg, Paris . . 30The Victoria and Albert Museum, London . . . .12The Wallace Collection, London 50The Victoria and Albert Museum, London . . . .15The National Gallery, London . 40The National Gallery, London . 4The Wallace Collection, London 35The Tate Gallery, London . 49The Tate Gallery, London . 44The National Gallery, London . 4(5The Guildhall Art Gallery, London .... 25The National Gallery, London . 23The Victoria and Albert Museum, London . . . .14The Tate Gallery, London . 41 The National Gallery, London . 20 The Wallace Collection, London 33 The Tate Gallery, London . 9The Guildhall Art Gallery, London . . . .42The Victoria and Albert Museum, London .... 1 The National Gallery, London . 16 LIST OF PICTURES ARTIST Murillo Parsons, Alfred, R.A. • • Peacock, Ralph •Rembrandt • Reni, Guido Reynolds, Sir Joshua, P.R.A. • Riviere, Briton, R.A.Rossetti, Dante GabrielRubens, Peter Paul .Sargent, John Singer, R.A. Stanley, Lady (Dorothy Tennant) Steen, Jan • Stone, Marcus, R.A. Troyon, ConstantTuke, H. S., A.R.A. Velazquez • Waller, S. E Webster, Thomas, R.A. . TITLETHE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN " WHEN NATURE PAINTED ALLTHINGS GAY" THE SISTERS .... SYNDICS OF THE CLOTH MERCHANTS'GUILD " ECCE HOMO "... PORTRAIT OF MRS. RICHARD HOAREWITH HER INFANT SON THE TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS DAY DREAMS .... THE ABDUCTION OF THE SABINE WOMENMiss ELLEN TERRY AS LADY MACBETH His FIRST OFFENCE .GRACE BEFORE MEAT ON THE IloAD FROM WATERLOO TO PARISWATERING CATTLE"ALL HANDS TO THE PUMPS :> .RUBY, GOLD AND MALACHITE KING PHILIP IV. OF SPAINSWEETHEARTS AND WIVES .THE SMILE The Louvre, Paris . The Tate Gallery, London PAGE. 19 8 The Tate Gallery, London . 21The Rijks Museum, Amsterdam . 43 The National Gallery, London . 7The Wallace Collection, London 47 The Guildhall Art Gallei. London . . . .37The Victoria and Albert Museum, London . . . .18The National Gallery, London . 27 The Tate Gallery, London . 2 The Tate Gallery, London . 34The National Gallery, London . 22The Guildhall Art Gallery, London .... 6The Wallace Collection, London 38The Tate Gallery, London . 3The Guildhall Art Gallery, London . . . .29 The National Gallery, London . 48 The Tate Gallery, London . 39 The Guildhall Art Gallery, London . . . .45 THE RECKONING By GEORGE MORLAND (1763-1804) IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON Morland's chief characteristic was that he painted the life thathe knew. His pictures were of the everyday life of his time, and ofthe experiences of the folk with whom he mixed. His father was apastellist, and from him Morland received his first lessons in art.The parental discipline was unusually stern, and if the idea was tocrush vice out of the boy, the result was not of the nature anticipated,for as soon as he was free of the paternal control, the painterplunged into those excesses which, though they did not diminish hisoutput, hampered his life by keeping him in a state of privation, andultimately cut short his career in his forty-second year. Only thegreatest gifts and the rarest facility could survive such conditions ofliving as Morland experienced; and, fortunately for Art, he possessedthem. In the last eight years of his life he produced some ninehundred paintings, besides over a thousand drawings. Morland's work necessarily has the defects of his qualities and ofhis life. He was a rapid worker and in his haste he often seems tohave sacrificed some of the power which a more deliberate method mighthave imparted. Yet, in spite of all, he is one of the greatest mastersof the English School, uniting in his work the magic of Gainsboroughwith the delicacy of an old Dutch painter. Though he made aspeciality of horses, he painted life on the high road and scenesof rural life with marvellous insight and skill. If his women arenot great ladies, they still possess a charm and grace of theirown; and if his fame rests mainly upon his power of paintinganimals, his best attributes are shown in the social scenes whichhe portrayed so faithfully. K.P. SERIES II. MISS ELLEN TERRY AS LADY MACBETH By JOHN SINGER SARGENT, R.A. W THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON Mr. Sargent is primarily a portrait painter, a branch of his artwhich attracted him in his student days and has since gained himrenown, not merely for the technical power of his work but for thedeep insight into character which is revealed in his canvases. Hisfather was a Boston physician, but he was born in Florence, where,in an atmosphere of artistic culture, he spent his youth. When hewent to Paris at the age of twenty, to study in the studio of CarolusDuran, he signalised his arrival by producing an admirable portraitof his teacher. Two years later he proceeded to Spain, where hepassed several agreeable months, during which he came under thespell of Velazquez, who has inspired him ever since. Traces of theSpanish painter's influence may generally be found in his portraits,though allied to an individual insight which belongs to Mr. Sargenthimself, and makes his work original while it adapts the methods ofthe Master's style. This picture, once the property of the late Sir Henry Irving,was presented to the nation by Sir Joseph Duveen in 1906. MissTerry wears the costume designed for Sir Henry Irving's revival ofMacbeth at the Lyceum Theatre—a robe of metallic blue, the longgreen sleeves decorated with iridescent beetle wings. Her arms areraised above her red-gold hair, while in her hands she holds thecrown of Duncan. The portrait painter has paid full justice lo the character portrayedby the actress, and has skilfully subordinated the rich colouring ofthe design to the expression of the face, which arrests the eye atonce and compels the interest of the spectator before he turns hisattention to the beauties of the picture as a whole. P.P. SERIES II. ALL HANDS TO THE PUMPS By HENRY SCOTT TUKE, A.R.A. IN THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON Mr. Tuke belongs to the open-air school of painters, and is oneof the famous Cornish artists, although, like Mr. Arnesby Brown(who divides his year between the Duchy and Norfolk), he spendsa great deal of his time at his residence near London. He evolvedhis individual style under the compelling stimulus of an originalmind. His early art training, certainly, would seem to have beencalculated to turn his talent into somewhat different channels. For several years he studied at the Slade School. Then camea twelvemonth in Italy, followed by a couple of years in the studioof J. P. Laurens in Paris. Laurens was an historical painter whosecreed was the depicting of historical scenes with absolute accuracy.He painted the horrors of the Inquisition with cruel fidelity, andperhaps he taught young Tuke the value of accurate observation.Anyhow, from this training emerged the characteristic work whichthe world of art knows so well to-day. The young artist was only twenty-one when his first picture wasexhibited in the Royal Academy, and thenceforth his pictures becamea feature of many important exhibitions, notably at the GrosvenorGallery, the New Gallery, the Paris Salon, and Munich. He waselected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1900, eleven yearsafter his picture "All Hands to the Pumps" was hung at BurlingtonHouse, and was acquired for the nation by the Trustees of theChantrey Bequest. The picture, like all good paintings, tells its own story. Theseamen are pumping out their waterlogged vessel, from which a sailhas been carried away by the gale of wind. The reversed ensign isa signal that the craft is in danger, and the sailor in the shroudspoints to help at hand. K.I'. SERIES II. THE HEAD OF A GIRL By JEAN BAPTISTE GREUZE (1725-1805) IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON Greuze furnishes an interesting example of the inability often displayed by artists and writers lo appraise the value of their own work.He flattered himself that he was an historical painter, and it must berecorded that this unfortunate obsession made him ridiculous. Asthe result of many remarkable genre studies he was elected to membership of the Academy. He delayed the production of his diplomapicture so long that he was forbidden at length to exhibit until he hadsupplied it. When eventually he submitted the painting it was foundto be in the nature of an attempt to justify his claim to be a painter ofhistorical subjects, but the result was such a fiasco as to call down uponhim a dignified and tactful rebuke from the Director, after Greuze hadbeen received with ceremonious honour. Greuze took the courteouslyadministered snub in bad part and for many years refused to exhibit. The whole episode illustrates the curious lack of judgment whichis apt to affect the great. The triumph which Greuze achievedwas that he gained an enormous popularity as a painter of scenes ofdomestic life, when this seemed the exclusive privilege of painters ofhistorical or allegorical pictures. That triumph he could not or wouldnot acknowledge, but preferred to suffer by comparison in a commonplace department of art rather than shine by himself in an originalsphere. He acquired wealth as the result of his industry, but squanderedhis substance, and in the evening of his day was forced to solicit commissions which he was physically incapable of performing satisfactorily.Finally, in 1805 he died in the Louvre, in great poverty. " The Head of a Girl " reveals Greuze in his happiest style,and is an example of the kind of work that gained him popularityand fame for all time. P.P. SERIES II. THE RIVER BANK By ARNESBY BROWN, A.R.A. Iff THE GUILDHALL ART GALLERY, LONDON Although Mr. Arnesby Brown divides the greater part of his timebetween Cornwall and the Norfolk Broads, he may be said to belong tothe St. Ives School of painters, of whom he is the most prominent. Hisdelightful pictures are very popular, and examples of his art grace manyof the public galleries. He was born in Nottingham in 1866, and attended the School ofArt there before becoming a private pupil of the late AndrewMacCallum, under whom he learnt the importance of accurate observation and of correct painting. At that time he worked much in the openair, and the influence of his studies is found in his out-door paintingsto-day. He joined the Herkomer School at Bushey in 1889, andremained there three years, during which his first Royal Academypicture, "A Cornish Pasture" (exhibited in 1890), was painted while hewas on a visit to the "delectable Duchy." Ever since his first picturewas shown he has been an annual exhibitor at Burlington House. " The River Bank" was painted in Norfolk, and appeared in theRoyal Academy in 1902, the year before he was elected an A.R.A. Itfollowed the " Morning," now in the Chantrey Collection. The picture is painted in rich, glowing colours, which, with theeffect of atmosphere, invest the simple subject with the dignity of natureitself. Some cattle are grazing by the riverside on a showery day. Theskins of the animals glow in the sunshine which irradiates the misty air.On the right of the picture part of a rainbow's arc is seen, stretching upinto the sky, from which the clouds are breaking away in green andpurple glories. It is a beautiful picture, full of the majesty and peaceof nature in a wilful mood. P.P. SERIES II. ON THE ROAD FROM WATERLOO TOPARIS By MARCUS STONE, R.A. IN THE GUILDHALL ART GALLERY, LONDON There are many points of interest of a personal nature connectedwith this picture in addition to its imaginative and dramatic power. It was painted just half a century ago when the artist was onlytwenty-two years old, and for a boy of that age it is certainly aremarkable achievement. The artist, when staying with CharlesDickens at Gad's Hill, came across a volume of Beranger, and readtherein the exquisite poem " Souvenir du Peuple," which inspired theyoung painter with the idea for this work. So enamoured with itwas he, that the picture was rapidly completed, and was exhibited inthe Royal Academy the following year. This particular episode in the life-story of Napoleon hasa perpetual interest for English folk. After the disastrous defeat ofWaterloo, the Emperor, with a small escort, fled to Paris, and thepicture presents an incident of the flight. Resting for a brief space,he has entered a cottage, and is brooding by the fire. GeneralBertrand is drying the Emperor's coat, while a group of peasantsstand aloof and gaze with awe and sympathy at their fallen idol—a young mother with a baby in her arms, a little girl and boy, ayoung widow, and an old soldier with an empty sleeve. There is anabsence of men of fighting age, who have been drawn away forservice in the campaign. A statuette of the Emperor on the chimneyshelf, and a print of him in his coronation robes on the wall,accentuate the lost glory, which is further emphasised by thedrizzling rain outside, where the villagers are to be seen questioningthe escort. F.P. SERIES II. "ECCE HOMO" GUIDO RENI (1575-1642) IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON An interesting theory, which has often been put forward, is thequestion of the manner in which the character of an artist may affecthis work. Does the frailty of a man reveal itself in the work ofhis mind and hands? Guido Reni is a painter who furnishes anexample that the theorists may well ponder over. He was aninveterate gambler, and many who admire his work would censurehim for the habit. Yet with it all he has produced such sermonsin paint as have profoundly moved the generations of men throughout the world ever since his time. Here is one of the most poignant pictures ever conceived andput upon canvas, showing the " Man of Sorrows " in one of theaculesl phases of His suffering : " Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiersplatted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purplerobe. . . . Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purplerobe. And Pilate saith unto them, ' Behold the man 1' " Guido painted innumerable pictures which are to be seen in allthe principal European galleries. He studied under Calvaert andLudovico Caracci, and went to Rome, first in 1599 and again in1605. Here he worked for the Church, and one can imagine thatthe prelates welcomed him as a painter who could move the soulsand stir the imaginations of their congregations. Through a quarrelwith Cardinal Spinola concerning an altar-piece for St. Peter's, heleft the Eternal City and migrated to Bologna, where he died. h.P. SEKIKS II. » "SPEAK! SPEAK!" By SIR J. E. MILLAIS, P.R.A. (1829-1896) IN THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON. Millais was the most popular painter of his day, and at thepresent time his pictures still retain their popularity. His career wasremarkable. His hand seemed to take to drawing naturally, for atthe age of six he produced some sketches of soldiers which seemedimpossible to be the work of such a child. He was the youngestpupil ever admitted to the Academy Schools, and when he waspresented with the medals and prizes he had won he was so tiny thathe was placed upon a stool to receive them. His first picture in the Academy was exhibited in 1846, and itis interesting to note that two of his pictures, "A Maid Offering aBasket of Fruit to a Cavalier" and " Charles I. in the Studio ofVan Dyck," which were painted when he was a youth, are exhibitedin the Tate Gallery. Through Holman Hunt, Millais became a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, whose principle it was to paint everything" from Nature and from Nature only," and it is told of him that hewas seen near Oxford studying leaves on the branch of a treethrough a magnifying glass to paint them in a background. Hiswork at this time was much abused by the critics, but he found anardent champion in Ruskin. "Speak! Speak!" was exhibited at the Academy in 1895, andwas purchased for the Chantrey Collection for £2,000. The manhas been reading the love letters which lie on the table by his bed,and, raising his eyes, he sees the spectre of a bride. She parts thecurtains at the foot of the bed and looks into space with unearthlygaze while he stretches his hands towards her as if imploring herto speak. p.p. SERIES ii. 9 THE MEETING MARIE BASHKIRTSEFF. (1860-1884) IN THE LUXEMBOURG, PARIS Marie Bashkirtseft was one of those unfortunate geniuses whoselives are one long struggle with a more or less hysterical emotion.As her famous " Journal" shows, she lived for emotions, for successand for fame. On April 3rd, 1883, she wrote in her journal: " Ifeel within me the power to render whatever strikes me. I feela new force, a confidence in myself, which trebles my faculties.To-morrow I am going to begin a picture which charms me." The next entry runs: " Red Letter Day, Wednesday, April 4th.Six street children grouped, their heads close to one another, halflength only. The eldest is about twelve, and the youngest six.The tallest, seen almost from the back, holds a nest, and the othersare looking on, in various and suitable attitudes. The sixth is alittle girl of four, seen from the back, her head raised and her armscrossed. The description may sound commonplace, but, in reality,all these heads together produce something excessively interesting." That was her first idea for ' The Meeting," which was exhibited in the Salon of 1884, and created a widespread interestthroughout Europe. After her death it was bought by the Stateand hung in the Luxembourg. Into her brief life of twenty-four years she crowded a varietyof experiences which she has immortalised in her remarkable" Journal." She was seventeen when she finally determined todevote herself to art, and her astonishing capacity was the wonderof her masters, who could hardly credit the fact that she waspractically untrained. She reproduced life as she saw it, finding in the streets of Parisand in its types a rich source of inspiration which she delighted toexpress in colour as Zola expressed it in words. P.P. SERIES II. IO MONNA LISA By LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452—1519) A melancholy interest attaches to this picture owing to theirreparable loss which the world has sustained by its theft fromthe Louvre not so very long ago. Vasari, a famous Italian criticwho lived in Italy in Leonardo's day, says of it: "Let him whowants to know how far Art can imitate Nature realise it byexamining this head ... it is a work that is divine rather thanhuman." The painter was one of the wonder-men of the world. Bornat Vinci, between Pisa and Florence, he became a painter, sculptor,architect, and engineer, and achieved renown in all these capacities.At the age of twenty-eight he went to the East as engineer to theSultan of " Babylon," or Cairo, and in later years he planned asystem of hydraulic irrigation for the plains of Lombardy. In 1500he entered the service of Caesar Borgia as architect and engineer,and four years later he finished this half-length portrait of " thewoman with the inscrutable smile," which is accounted his mostcelebrated easel picture. His famous " Last Supper" was painted on the walls of therefectory in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Ithas suffered from frequent restoration, necessitated by the dampnessof the walls and the method of painting in oil upon plaster, but itstill remains one of the world's masterpieces. Leonardo was not content with an easy adherence to knownrules, but achieved his style by a thorough and painstaking studyof Nature. His known works are few in number, but Englishpeople are fortunate in being able to study and enjoy a representativepicture in the National Gallery, while the finest series of his drawings are in the British Museum and at Windsor. P.P. SERIES II. 11 FLOWERS By HENRI FANTIN-LATOUR (1836-1904) IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON "To paint the rose," wrote a well-equipped writer on the deathof Fantin-Latour, "is not one of the loftiest tasks an artist can sethimself, but Fantin did it supremely well, and with such handlingand taste as his, a picture of a bunch of flowers in a vase becameundeniably a dignified and delightful work of art." But Fantin was more than a painter of flowers. Those who havestudied his "Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Edwards," in theNational Gallery, or his portrait-groups " Un Coin de Table" and"A Studio at Batignolles," in the Luxembourg, will agree thatFantin was a worker of high order, and in his handling of colour,equal to the best. If his drawing was, at times, a little uncertainand faulty, it was a defect redeemed by many merits. In another medium than oil—that of lithography—Fantin furthergained appreciation in the world of art. For nearly twenty yearshe laboured assiduously to revive the lithographer's art, thendegraded by commercial use, and yearly produced a number ofsubjects, regularly exhibited at the Salons, and now prized by thegreat museums and private collectors. A fine set of proofs is inthe possession of the British Museum. Many of his subjects wereinspired by the works of Wagner, Schumann, and contemporarycomposers, all showing that Fantin was poet as well as craftsman.As was once said of him, he "wrapped his soul in music. Thenhe took his crayons, and with wondrous dexterity drew, for hisfellows to see, the visions he heard. Fantin-Latour was born in 1836, and, after studying painting withhis father, entered the studios of Couture and Courbet. He died in1904, full of years and honour. P.P. SERIES II. 12 MOTHER'S DARLING By JOSEPH CLARK Iff THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON Mr. Clark was born at Cerne Abbas, in Dorsetshire, in 1834,and when he was about 13 years of age migrated to London