On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
black looks . Oh , the delight of hurrying it away to my bed-room , turning over the plates , copying them out , learning the origin and insertion of the muscles , and then getting my sister to hear me ! She and I used to walk about the house , with our arms round each other ' s neck , —she saying , ' How many heads to the deltoid ?' « Where does it rise ? ' ' Where is it inserted ? ' and I answering . By these means , in the course of a fortnight , I got by heart all the muscles of the body . ^ My . energy was incessant . My head whirled at the idea of going to London and beginning life for myself . My father had routed me from the shop , because I was in the way with my drawings ; I had been driven from the sitting-room , because the cloth had to be laid ; scolded from the landing-place , because the stairs must be swept ; driven to my attic , which now became too small ; and at last I took refuge in my bed-room .
" One morning as I lay awake very early , musing on my future prospects , the door slowly opened , and in crept my dear mother with a look of sleepless anxiety . She sat down on my bed-side , and took my hand , and said that my father blamed her very much for promising that I should go up to London , that he had been talking all night to her , and had said that I should have everything I wished , if I would only give up my scheme . She added , ' My dear Benjamin , you are our only support , and in the delicate state of your poor father ' s health , God only knows how soon I may be left alone and unaided . It will break my heart if , after all my care and anxiety for your infancy , you leave me , just as you are becoming able to comfort , and console me . '
"I was deeply affected , but checking my tears , T told her in & voice struggling to be calm , that it was of no use to attempt to dissuade me . I felt impelled by something I could not resist . 'Do not , ' said I ,. ' my dear mother , think me cruel , I can never forget your love and affection , but yet I cannot help it—I must be a painter / Kissing me with wet cheeks , and trembling lips , she said in . a broken voice , ' She did not blame me : she applauded my resolution , but she could not bear to part with me . ' . ' . ' "J , then begged her to tell my father that , it was useless to harass me with further " opposition . She rose , sobbing as if to break her heart , and slowly left my room , borne down with affliction . The instant she was gone , I fell upon my knees , arid prayed God to forgive me if I was cruel , but to grant me firmness , purity , and piety , to go on in the right way for success , * # # * # *
" Remonstrances , quarrels , scoldings , tookplacewithout end ; till at last , seeing all was useless , and cursing my firmness , they agrged to let ine go , and give me twenty pounds to start upon . " Profound indeed were the predictions that I would be glad to return to papa and mamma before a month was over . " My poor father worn down with- long sickness , the sad effect of trying to drown remembrance in wine , tottered about me . I collected my books and colours —packed my things—and on the 13 th of May , 1804 , took my place in the mail for the next day . The evening was passed in silent musing . Affection for home was smothered , not extinguished in me , I thought only of London—Sir Joshua —Drawing—Dissection—and High Art .
" The next day , I ate little , 6 poke less , and kissed my mother many times . When all my things were corded and packed ready for the mail , I hung about my mother with a fluttering at my heart , in which duty , affection , and ambition were struggling for the mastery . "As evening approached I missed my mother . At last the guard ' s horn announced the coming mail ; I rushed up stairs , called her dear name , and was answered only by violent sobbings from my own bed-room . She could not speak , —she could not see me , —' God bless you , my dear child , ' I could just make out in her sobbings . The guard became impatient ; I returned slowly down stairs with my heart too full to speak , shook my father by the hand , got in , the trunks were soon on the top , the whip cracked , the horses pranced and started off—my career for life had begun !"
He flung himself into the vortex . He studied , dreamed , quarrelled , felt the extremities of poverty , but struggled on amidst the cheers of friends and the sneers of antagonists , living a wayward , ill-regulated , fierce , but happy life , full of emotion . Let our second glance be at his triumph . He has painted Christ ' s Entry into Jerusalem , and exhibits it : — " Glorious days ! The opening of the exhibition of a picture of mine was relished by none so much as by my pupils . Tq them I trusted for writing nnd despatching tickets for the private days , and it was a time of general fun and enjoyment in my house and painting-room . In the evening I returned and signed , till they amounted to 800 , I having previously marked the Court Guide . All the ministers and their ladies , all the foreign ambassadors ^ all tho bish ops , all the beauties in high life , the officers on guard at tho palace , all the geniuses in town , and everybody of any notewore invited and came .
, " I got through the glazing in three days ; , covered up tho picture , and finished tho room by Friday night , promising tho men a guinea to drink . Never did fine fellows prove themselves more thorough-bred . " Ah those dayB ! Whilst tlio excitement lasts it is all very well , but then comes the reaction and tho exhaustion . The tickets were all out . Saturday camo at last . I staid over at Hatchctt ' Co / lee Room , wont into tho hall before tho hour I had fixed , and seeing servants all at their posts , chairs all in a row , thought it odd nobody had como before twelve . I folt at any rate somebody ought to have been over-anxious . Then I got wretched and said , < Perhaps , nobody will come . coffee tcli
Yc « nobody will come , that ' s clear / I went over to tho -room again , wainff ' thc clock inside tho bar . At half-past twelve I stolo over again . Sammonn looked knowing . ' Anybody como ? ' m \ d I . ' Yes , air ; Sir William Scott is just tf orio in ' ' That will do , ho always gooH to every exhibition on earth , and bringM everybody . ' Away I went , and had a good , lunch , drank a couple of glasses of sherry , and sullied forth about half-pn « fc three , ready for anything . Ah I turned mv nnxioun ovch t owards the hull , a crowd of carriages was blocking up 1 iccudilly . « Ha ha , that will do / said I ; and bounding over , I found tho whole passage full of servants , and nil tho bustle and chat , nnd iioibo and hallooing of coachmen , of a regular rout at noon-day ! Up I wont , proudly ; Saimnons wan seven loot high ; there was no speaking to him . Tho room was ftill . Keats and Ha / htt wore up in a corner , really rejoicing . At this moment in camo the 1 email ambassador and his suite ; his fine manly pornm and black beard , with I iih splendid dress made a prodigioufl show , and ho miid , in good EngliBh and m a loud voice ,
' I like tho elbow of soldier . « By fivo all whb enthusiasm , especially amongst tho women . I rotty dears when wcro thoir hearts ever shut against enterprise , pathos , or passion i >
" Still the Christ ' s head was certainly not successful . The penitent girl , blushing and hidino- her face , brought to Christ by her anxious mother ; the Samaritan woman and centurion spreading their garments in the road ; Wordsworth ' s bowing head ; Newton ' s face of belief ; Voltaire ' s sneer ; the enormous shouting crowd , and the action and position of our Saviour , with Peter and John , were decided favourites . The Christ ' s head startled people . It was not the traditional head ; not the type , not orthodox . Everybody seemed afraid , when in walked , with all the dignity of her majestic presence , Mrs . Siddons , like a Cere ' s or a Juno . The whole room remained dead silent , and allowed her to think . After a few minutes Sir George Beaumont , who was extremely anxious , said in a very delicate manner , ' How do you like the Christ ? ' Everybody listened for her reply . After a moment , in a deep , loud , tragic tone she said , 'It is completely successful . I was then presented with all the ceremonies of a levee , and she invited me to her house , in an awful tone , and expressed her high admiration of the way in which I had so variously modified the same expression . ' The paleness of your . Christ , said she ' ives it a supernatural look / ¦
, g _ ; " Lady Murray said , ' Why , you have a complete rout / Lord Mulgravewas at the top of the room , and received congratulations from everybody . Wilkie tried to be enthusiastic ; Jackson was startled ; but neither expressed themselves to me as I had done to them under similar circumstances . Prince Hoare was there . In fact , all the world of fashion was there ; and I returned home totally overwhelmed by a flood of sensations , which may easily be conceived by every reader who remembers what I had undergone since I begun the study of the art . " The Jerusalem was considered , like the Solomon , a national triumph . I had proved that the people cared about High Art , and that an Englishman could execute it . I had defied the Academy ; I kept my position against its incessant obloquy . I had brought a great work to successful conclusion without legitimate means " relying on my energy and the sympathy of my friends .
, " On the Monday after the exhibition opened to the public . The rush was great , and went on increasing j the success was so palpable , so decided , that the Academicians got into a fury , and crept to see it one at a time , each time holding forth to their friends , and damning it by saying it had good parts . Notwithstanding the feeling displayed in its favour , the abuse of it was so great that it was the subject of a positive battle . " -... ¦ ¦ And after this we follow him-. through many a sad scene , enlivened occasionally by a gleam of success , but growing darker and darker with troubles , sorrows , failures , till his courage gives way , and suicide becomes
his desperate refuge ! ^ . , The pleasanter traits noticeable are the steady affection borne to ms wife and children , his own earnest laboriousness and impassioned delight in Art , and the ever youthful confidence with which he-sustained himself through all struggles . Tom Taylor , who has executed his difficult task in a manner deserving of the warmest praise , and whose editing ought to be a model for future biographers , closes these volumes with an excellent , though somewhat stern appreciation of Haydon as a man and artist , aud fromUiat appreciation we borrow the following remarks : —
" Haydon was self-willed to obstinacy . He rarely asked advice , and never took it unless it approved itself to him , without reference to the sagacity or information of the adviser . He was indefatigable in labour during his periods of application , but he was often diverted from his art by professional polemics , by fits of reading , and by moods of discomfort and disgust , and other distractions which are explained by his circumstances . What he undertook he generally mastered , and he showsja rare ' thoroughness' in the manner of his inquiries and studies , and a pertinacity not often associated with so much vehemence and passion us belonged to him . " His judgment was essentially unsound in all matters where he was personally interested . ° His inordinate vanity ( which is sometimes ludicrously exhibited ) blinded him throughout to the quality of his own works , the amount of influence he could wield , and the extent of sympathy he excited .
" He was unscrupulous in conduct , but not unprincipled , and , I believe , though many will question it , that he seldom contracted obligations without the intention and expectation of meeting them . But when n man once becomes embarrassed , it is hardly possible to estimate the value , or no-value rather , of such intentions . His conduct in inducing his pupils to accept bills for his accommodation , admits of no defence , and I cannot offer any palliation for his habits of begging and borrowing beyond those which these memoirs must suggest to all fairly-judging readers , —I mean his necessities , his sanguine temperament , his occasional extraordinary successes , and his pervading conviction that he was the apostle and martyr of high art , and , as such , had u sort of right to support from those who would not find him the employment he was always craving . His constant demand was i ' ov work and wages , and in default of these , ho asked for subsistence while ho worked , in tho hope thnt sooner or later tho wages must come .
" His religiousness is puzzling . Few men have lived in a more continuous practice , of prayer ; nnd though his arc little more than requests for what he most desired , addressed to tho Being in whose power lie believed it to bo to grant them , —begging-letters , in fact , despatched to the Almighty , —it must not be forgotten that the prayers of many ' eminently-pious' people , and indeed of whole churchos and sects , arc little more than this . His faith in an over-ruling' power was not strong enough to induce a calm and steadfast waiting upon ( UhVh will , but neither , ns it seems to me , is tho faith of the inoat , prayerful persona of this character . One thing I may say , that ho wecuis to have lived iu the habitual belief of a personal , overruling , and merciful Deity , and that this belief influenced his inward life , his relations with his family , aud , so fur as his necessities did not interfere , with tho world .
" His lovo of art is , to my mind , inextricable from bin belief in himself ; and Iuh struggle to advance tho art was never without reference to tho glorification of himself as tho artist . " ' Ilia , ambition for High Art was but-personal ambition ; lio not only identified himself with it , but naively confesses in more than one place , that ho was " mudo uneasy when ho thought any oilier painter' was working in tho same- direction . " When iirat Wilkio ' s name is mentioned as a young man with something in him , — " Hang the fellow , " writes Haydon , " I hope with his something he is not going to bo an historical painter !" Elfsewhero ho says , — " Yet tJiere was this consolation ; nobody else in the art was doing any important thing . " And road th \ 8 : —
" * Have not the oilbrts of the nation , I asked myself , ' been gigantic ? To such glories she only wants to add tho glories of uiy noble art to make her the grandest nation in tho world , and theuo aho shnll havo if God » pnve my life . ' "
Untitled Article
Jvi ^ y 23 ; 1853 . ] THE LEADER . ^
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), July 23, 1853, page 715, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1996/page/19/
-