Si r John Ev e rett Millais

His A rt and Infl u ence

A . l r B y L . B a d y ” Aut or of A bert Moore Hi s Life an Work s h l : d ,

Etc .

LONDON GEORGE BELL S O NS

1 8 9 9

PRE FA C E

THE RE is no intention to give in these pages anything approaching a detailed personal history of Sir John i ai f s of M ll s, or to treat at any length the act his private f h life. Such matters are better le t to the biographers w o deal with the man and desire to draw a portrait of him ff of as he lived . What is o ered here is an appreciation i s art of hi s t of th e h influence upon the time, an estima e of ae value his intervention, as an artist, in the sthetic movements that marked the years over whi ch his career f extended . There ore only those personal details have been included which are important because they have f s s h some bearing upon his pro es ional progre s, or ave helped to confirm him in a preference for a particular of line action . In th e case of Sir John Millais this separation of the r f e a tist rom the man is the easier, becaus , admirable and n f si cere though he was in his devotion to his pro ession, his he did not make it sole interest ; but, outside his f and studio, threw himsel into the occupations amuse s t of and ment hat are dear to every man robust vitality, are expres sive of physical inclinations rather than in

tellectual f s . O gi t ur concern is with him as a worker, as one of the greatest painters that the British School has known ; and it is only incidentally nec essary to refer ' to his domestic aflairs when they happen to explain significantly how far his private pursuits aided in keep of ing up the splendid virility his art. His pictures and drawings are the essential facts that have called for

consideration, because by them his place in history is vi PREFACE

fixed ; and as a commentary on them this book must be read. r has of Fo tunately it been possible, by the courtesy the of of owners the copyrights his pictures, to summarise pictorially the many phases of his practice at the various of f far as stages his working li e, and to hint, as may be

t t - - done wi h reproduc ions in black and white, at the great of of art ness his artistic ability . All sides his are s of his t i s illu trated, and the evidence given versa ility v comprehensi e and intelligible. Sincere acknowledgment of very valuable ass istance of in the preparation the letterpress is due to Mr M . H . of Spielmann, who has also allowed the use his exhaustive ’ of was list the artist s pictures, which compiled originally for his s o book, Millais and his Work and to Mr Ge rge

Allen, by whose permission appear certain quotations from the writings of Mr Ruskin which have a particular f e f f s re erence to th per ormance o Sir John Millai . C O N T E N T S

P REFACE

L IST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ha ter C p I . InTRODUCTORv

II . BIOGRAPHICAL

— III. YEAR BY YEAR EARLY WORKS

— IV . YEAR BY YEAR LATER WORKS

FI RE RTR V . GU PAINTING, INCLUDING PO AITS

VI. LA NDSCAP E ART

VII. BLACK AND WHITE WORK

V III MMENT AND RITICIsu s . CO S C

’ CHRONOLOGICAL LIST or THE ARTIST S PAINTINGS

INDEx T I T L E V I G N E TT E TO WORDSWORTH'S POEHS LIS T O F ILLUS T RAT IONS

A SOUVENIR or V ELASQUEz

’ TITLE V IGNETTE To WORDSWORTII S POEMS

BOOKP LATE or MR CHRISTOPHE R SYKES

I I RT b Frank H ll . E . S . S IR J M LLA , BA , y o

THE BATT LE or STIRLING

LOVE

CHRIST IN THE HOUS E or HIS PARE NTS By permi s sion of Messrs M Queen B rotkers

AUTUMN LEAVES

THE ORDER or RELEAS E

TE E NORTH- WEST PASSAGE By permi ssion qf ti e proprietors of tile Illustrated London

PIZARRO SEIe G THE INCA or PERU

THE HUGUENOT

THE RETURN OF THE DOVE To THE ARK

i n Me n iversi t Galleri es Ox ord F rom Me pai nti ng U y , f

APPLE BLOSSOMS

ix x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ROSALIND AND CELIA

JOAN OF ARC

. OO R A. J. C H K, .

THE PRINCES IN THE TOW ER

A FORERUNNER

IR O E . I AIS RT m elf HN LL . B h S J M , BA y i s

F Me ai nti n i n M z Galler Florence rom p g e Ufi i y ,

LORENZO AND IS ABELLA

THE PROSCRIBED ROYALIST

THE BLACK B RUNSWICKER

THE BRIDES MAID

rvm M i nt useu a ri d e F e pa i ng i n Me Fitzwi ili am M m, C mb g

OPHELIA (Pb i ogr avure Plate)

l r Froman M i d -31g i n are National Gal e y aj 3 a A rt.

A HIG HLAND LASS IE

THE PARABLE OP THE LOST PIECE O P MONEY

B ermi ss Messr s ion H. r a y p qf G aves nd Co.

S IR ISUMERAS AT THE FORD

MY FIRST SERMON LI ST OF I LLUSTRATI ONS x i

PA GE MV SECOND SERMON

THE MINUET

ASLEEP

JUST AW AKE

m s o M ssrs r and C By per i si on f e H . G aves o.

THE MARTYR OF THE SOLWAY

THE KNIGHT ERRANT

' From Me pai nti ng i n Me Nati onal Gallery of B ri tts/I A r t

' THE B RIDE

MRS BIS CHOFFSHE IM

m ssi II s lc s B er i on o . L . Bi e fiei m E s . y p f ofl , q

A YEOMAN OF THE GUARD

THOMAS CARLYLE From Me pa i n ti ng in Me Nati on al Portrai t Gal lery

’ PRINCESS E LIZABETH IN PRIS ON AT ST JAMEs s

MRS PERUGINI

S T STEPHEN

FromMe pai nti ng i n Me National Gal lery of B ri ti sb A rt

A DISCIPLE

' From Me pai nti ng i n Me N ati onal Gallery of B ri tts/l A rt

’ CA LLER HERRIN

By permi ssi on of Me Fi ne A rt S oci ety

T HE CAPTIVE x ii LI ST OF I LLUSTRATI ONS

DROPPED PROM THE NEST

A WA!!

THE VALE or REST

From Me pa i nti ng i n Me National Gallery of B ri tiM A rt

’ MERCY ! ST BARTHOLOMEw s DAV

THE ES CAPE OF A HERETIC

i ssi on S i r IV. E . Houl dm rM B art. M P . By perm of , ,

V ICTORV, O LORD !

THE RIGHT HON . W. E . GLADSTONE

t n at ( Mri stMeer Ox ord From Me pai n i g M, f

THE RIGHT HON . THE EARL OF BEACONS FIE LD

B THE MOST HON. THE MARQUEss OF SALIS URY, K . G .

OHN RE ES . J HA , Q

B rm s i b Har s y pe i s on q a es e, E q .

S IR HENRY IRVING

MRS JOPLING

CHILL OCTOBER

THE BLIND GIRL

THE OLD GARDEN xiv LI ST OF I LLUSTRAT I ONS

PAGE ORLEY FARM

F rom r e Farm b ermi ssi on Messrs (Ma man and Hall O l y , y p of p

THE CRAW LEY FAMILY

r Framle na e b M r F om y Parso g , y per mi ssi on of ess s S mi M,

THE BISHOP AND THE KNIGHT

' F rom Me orn i Ma u ne b ermi ssi on o Messrs S mi M C h ll g , y p f ,

E lder and Co.

LAST WORDS

FromMe omhill Ma azi e b mi ssion o Messrs S mi M C g n y per f ,

E lder and Co.

IRENE

mMe omhill Ma zine b erm ssi o Messr s miM Fro C ga , y p i on f S ,

E lder and Co.

THE BOARD

“ ’ PLEASE, MA AM, CAN WE HAVE THE PEAS TO S HELL

F m Me mhil l M az ine b rmi ss Me M ro Co ag , y pe ion of ssrs S mi ,

E lder and Co.

’ FARMER CHELL S KITCHEN

F rom Once a ee b ermi ssion Messrs B r adbu r W k, y p of y ,

ON THE WATER

F m Once a ee b ermi ssi on o Messrs B radbur ro W k, y p f y ,

THE MONK

F r Once a ee b ermi ssion M srs om W k, y p of es B radbury

THE MARGARET WILS ON, SCOTTIS H MARTYR

From Once a Week by permi ssi on of Messr s B r adbury Agnew and Co.

ANNA AND HE R LOVER

From Once a ee b ermi ssi on of Messrs B radbu r W k, y p y , LIST OF I LLUSTRATI ONS ! V

THE PLAGUE OP ELLIANT

F rom Once a ee B radbur W k, M y ,

THE BORDER WIDOW

' From ome Aflections b ermi ssi on c Messr G R led H , y p f s . u t ge and S ons

S HE LED THE WAY

F The Harn n s M R rom pde s, Mpermi sion of essrs G. outledge and S ons

THERE Is NAE LUCK ABOUT THE HOUSE

me r M r o ffections e mi ssi srs . F omH A , Mp on of es G Ru tledge BOOKP LATE DE S IGNED FOR CHRIS TOPHE R S YKES f r om a F u tu r e by

IR . E . I . n k !l ol l S MI A A T P . . F r LL S B R A . a J . , R J O HN EVERETT MILLA IS

C H A P T E R I

INTRODUCTORY

HE record Of the British School Of painting during the present century has been especially remarkable for its r of of has va iety incident. A curious series episodes very ' aflec ted of art definitely the character our national practice, and has powerfully influenced th e whole course of artistic r s of prog ess . Event the utmost moment have been n u merous eno ugh to make this period of our art history c of pe uliarly significant as a time active development, and to mark emphatically that growth of popular interest in aes thetic questions which is now bearing ample fruit. In all sorts of ways Circumstances have combined to produce ff c of art b ut e e ts extreme value, not only to workers, to v a e ery thinker as well, who wishes to rrive at a correct estimate of the manner in which taste controls the work of Ings our social economy. Perhaps the most instructive feature of this century o f development has bee n its extraordinary freedom from any i e th ing like ordered regularity. The aesthet c cre d which is to- day so devoutly an d S O generally accepted has been not f formulated on any care ul and exact system , but rather

as a res ult of occurrences apparently accidental . It has t a grown by slow stages and wi h many fluctuations, lter nating between almost feverish impulse and absolute

stagnation . Every now and then some happy chance has a stimulated sudden movement, and c used a great advance ; and then there has succeeded an equally marked retro A 2 J O HN EVERETT M I LLAI S

ression t e e g , in which positions hat appear d to be secur ly a occupied were abandoned with unaccount ble haste, and principles see mingly immutable were given up without of even a momentary hesitation . A vigorous conflict opinion has bee n in progress for the greater part of the s Of has r e time, and each pha e thought in tu n be n accepted f d et as an in allible revelation, calculate to s tle finally and for ever all the points at issue. What has at las t come out of this prolonged strife is s a a rea onably definite agreement on m in questions, a healthy acknowledgment of the right of all sides to a a if a t he ring, only there is sincerity in wh t hey have to

- of art say. The many sidedness is admitted willingly enough ; and a broad toleration of genuine effort en courages workers of the better sort to strive for the of e f expression their true convictions, s cure in the belie that they will not be has tily misjudged . There is no longer any need for them to subject themselves to c e not traditions whi h originat d, in an intelligent under standing of the facts upon which all sound aestheticism e f of f s is bas d, but rather in a alse idea being in the a hion they can choose their own manner of stating what they and a believe, can use each his particular individu lity to give variety and active vitality to their methods of practice. It is quite worth while making some examination of the Of th e led sequence events which have to this emancipation . There is something to be learned by studying the apparent incoherences of thought and the Obvious inconsistencies of performance characteristic Of what has been the busiest of he . the t period our art history When century began, influence of a group Of great mas ters was still powerful to r ff of t s s. cont ol the e ort heir succes or Reynolds, Gains few r fo e borough, and Romney, had died only a yea s be r , Ho ner Raebum e but Laurence, pp , , Morland, and som of rr o n other painters scarcely less capacity, were ca ying th e teaching of thes e chiefs of the British School ; and

4 JOH N EVERETT M I LLAIS the standard Of executive perfection to which their pre decessors had eas ily attained nor can it be put down only to a freak of nature who had endowed the artists of one century less generously than th ose wh o had lived in the one immediately preceding. What had really happened C of t of was a hange hought, a complete upset the convie tions by which the art of this country had hitherto been n controlled . Rey olds, Gainsborough, and their contem oraries f tu p and immediate ollowers, were close s dents of o f v reality, and , with all their love style, ne er sacrificed ‘ c i truth to e fle t ve artifice. They had a sound instinct for of a splendour technic l method , and understood perfectly W hat devices of execution would give to their work an t impressive digni y, and a persuasive refinement. Their e of r pictures combin d rich harmony colour relation , st ength of s t of de ign, and certain y statement, to an exceptional degree ; but were always based securely upon nature and owed to earnest regard for her direction their superlative of s t quality easy ma tery. Sinceri y and absence of affecta tion made them valuable as object - lessons in executive management, and surrounded them with that atmosphere of robust vitality which is rightly accepted as the hall f mark O excellence. Yet the value of these examples of perfectly controlled aes theticism was so little appreciated by the men who were responsible for the art production of the middle years Of the century that the introduction of a debased and f senseless form o practice became possible. The artists who might have carried on the noblest traditions Of our Of school , and might, even with their limitations technical skill, have done credit to themselves and their surroundings, preferred to substitute feeble and inanimate theories for the e f for t honest b lie s which were presented heir adoption . They blinded themselves with fallacies about the merits of a style founded not upon exact observation of nature but upon abstractions that they were pleased to consider

I NTRODUCTORY

ma s v . wa h intellectual and i ginati e It , t ey thought, a sign of weakness to study the facts of the world about them or to show that they had either the capacity or the inclination to t deal wi h realities. Their duty was to trust their own of for inspirations, and to make up by readiness invention their deficiency of visual training. The farther they got away from the taint of naturalism the better they were for the t e v pleased , more completely did hey b lie e that they f were ulfilling their mission . With such a view o f their responsibilities it was not surprising that year by year they should have sunk Of deeper into the slough convention. They had no f r of guide but their own erring ancy, no cont ol but that f s f a hion, and were merely dri ting helplessly in whatever of direction the delusions the moment might lead them.

Naturally their art degenerated and dwindled , until it of was on the verge of extinction. A little honesty purpose might have saved it ; a touch of sturdy self respect might have awakened it to a sense Of its futile incompetence ; but instead it preferred to continue in its f oolish courses, glorying in its disabilities, and unconscious, of f or careless, the ate that was awaiting it in the near future. To put matters once again on a proper footing very drastic measures were necessary . There was nothing to be gained by compromises, or by dealing gently with the misconceptions which were hurrying the British school to for extinction . The only possible cure the ills with which it was at this time afflicted was a radical change of policy f the orcibly imposed upon artists themselves, and upon the peo ple whom they were misleading. Clearly the decline of professional taste had gone so far that no remedies which affected detai ls merely could be expected to prove of f beneficial . Only an absolute abandonment the alse for the principles which were responsible degeneration, ' and a sustained eflort to begin again with due humility 6 J O H N EVERETT M I LLA IS

r e f and real sincerity, could ensu e anything like a hop ul f i f prospect for the uture. A new direct on had to be ound ' for d ifierent aesthetic endeavour, and a basis upon which of to build up a scheme practice. The delusions about l l the of intel ectua art, blind worship unmeaning style t tr the fal and emp y abs actions, all lacious absurdities which had encouraged the descent from the sublime to the t e ridiculous hat had been in progress, had to be destroy d without mercy. Vehement and unhesitating Opposition to the prevailing fashion was all that could be depended ff a al of ff upon to e ectu lly ter the course a airs, and to awaken the art world sufficiently to a sense of its position to give a proper trial to the more wholesome methods which were needed to replace those that were plainly discredited and obsolete. What had to come was a return to the studious natural ism that was as surely the attribute of the work of the eighteenth - century British masters as it has bee n the supreme merit of the great canvases by mas ters of other c o schools. As anything like re antation was not t be expected on the part Of the men who in the wisdom of their own conceit had been setting up their weak opinions against the commanding authority of the leaders of f t the pro ession , there was little hope hat a belated con t i n f version would make hem active any attempt at re orm .

The change had to be brought about without their help , and it involved ousting them from a position to which they were not entitled . Happily the means Of doing c to this proved at the criti al moment be available, means ' e flective most , and exactly calculated to produce results not that were only beneficial, but also permanent. O pportunely enough, when matters were at their worst, our its and art was seemingly at lowest ebb, a group of young artists suddenly raised the standard Of revolt i ffi of t aga nst the ine ciency heir elders, and asserted with all the courage of youth their disbelief in th e creed that INTROD UCTORY 7

t f t s l o hey ound hemselve cal ed upon t accept. They came forward to challenge the advocates of the existing state of art politics and to wage war against what they felt r t to be pe nicious and unnatural doc rines. The suddenness o f the o the onslaught made it necessarily all m re dramatic. There was a degree of unexpectedness about this declara tion of a new opinion that drew upon it more immediate r attention than it might othe wise have gained, and gave it to the a surprising power excite keenest possible interest. Of f o course, the interest took the orm f bitter opposition a se in a gre t many ca s, and the young reformers found themselves committed to a very strenuous conflict, but t the hey had resolution to persevere, and to meet attack with redoubled assertion . It was not long before allies began to gather round m them. Their enthusias proved to be contagious, and t e heir tenacity excit d first wonder and then respect. People see med to realise that perhaps there was something worth considering in a movement which was supported w t v an i h so much confidence, and that ideas ad ced with such evident conviction were not to be lightly dismissed f few of as the fancies o eccentric innovators. A the better type of thinkers on art subjects joined themselves s and t e e of to the rebel , wi h a sincere acknowl dgm nt of t t ff r the justice heir cause, gave hem e ective and p actical encouragement as well as intelligent advocacy. Slowly, s Of the of but surely, a consciousne s inadequacy the

exis ting conventions spread in many directions, and step by step a healthier and saner phase of belief won its way f to general acceptance. Doubts as to the in allibility of the professors of theories that were proclaimed to be f d the of alse and mistaken increase , until whole array delusions that had been gathered together was scattered be fore the irres istible advance of the forces of enlightened

- common sense. That the only inspiration by which the f artist can profit must come rom nature, and that the 8 J O H N EVERETT M I LLAIS purer this inspiration is kept the better the results it will f give, was in a little while rankly recognised ; and with this recognition came not only a complete reform o f f pro essional practice, but also a marked improvement in ’ the popular capacity to sympathise with artistic e flort. A t of be d first the party progress, as was to expecte f of the t not rom the nature task hey had undertaken , was prepared to abate one atom of their assertion of the principles to which they had pinned their faith. They i f u d o t had an obst nate anaticism to pset, and to this hey had to profess a stronger obstinacy and a fanaticism more V of uncompromising. Their iew was definite to the verge a ft brutality, and was st ted with a directness that le no u opening for quibbles about their meaning. Nat ralism

- of e so t te was the corner stone their cr ed , hey would tolera nothing in art which did not reproduce nature with d r scrupulous fidelity an minute exactness . Eve y little r f detail , eve y small accessory, must be care ully and e f no o f the lovingly studi d rom actual objects, and part subject selected might be slurred over or disregarded as f a trivial or unimportant thing. A per ect whole could only be built up by absolute perfection in every one of ’ its for was components, nature s severe completeness held

to be simply a result of her infinite complexity. S O f , to justi y their attack upon the men who rejected

nature as something common and unclean, an associate unfit for the i of i companionsh p imaginative and invent ve minds,

these young artists put themselves with a kind of child . e like trust utterly and entir ly into her hands, and paraded t heir dependence upon her for the world to see. Had v or of they been less con inced, less sure the position they u s a e e had taken up, their infl ence would c rc ly have b en

to - s s e f s strong enough over ride an e tabli h d a hion . Their only hope lay in so defining the contrast between what t w hey preached and practised , and hat was advocated of f s no by the rest the pro e sion , that there could be doubt

I NTRODUCTO RY

of t f about the reality heir belie . They had determined

on a protest, and , with sound judgment, they took care that they did not weaken its effect by any failure to make

their essential points with absolute clearness . But when once the principle for which they were e for fighting had gained acceptance, and the ne d their e f e int rvention was grate ully recognis d , they did not

hes itate to modify the extreme rigour of their manner. — They and their followers for it was not long before other — young artists began to join them found other ways of interpreting nature without toiling to reproduce all her infinite variety in each Closely detailed and elaborately e t realis d picture. They proved hat exquisite accuracy t was possible wi h less technical restraint, and less labour i f s s to be simply imitat ve. The larger act that she present to t the earnest student, could be used pictorially wi h just r l as much t uth, and just as much honesty, as the litt e things which call for patience rather than largeness of vision ; and a less delibe rate method of execution could be made to express quite as many meanings as th e precise and careful brushwork which records every vein on a leaf ’ or every feather in a bird s wing. As the purely militant side of the movement ceased to for its call emphasis, wider artistic possibilities came more a to the f i for cle rly ront ; and , though the crav ng naturalism has remained ever since as the source of all that is best the n in the modern art production, chances ope to th e workers who have built their practice upon the ground won for them in the middle of the century are still increas ing year by year. of in In one sense, the astonishing revival aesthetic telligence which has made itself evident during recent to be S times is accidental , in that it is ascribed imply o f n of t the ortu ate appearance, at the right moment, cer tain men with sufficient strength of character to stem a see mingly irresistible tide of degeneration. But in I o J O HN EVERETT M I LLAI S

of ff ts another, it is the direct outcome e or to educate f of public taste, and to oster a truer understanding artistic the of ques tions . When battle the new school against d won t t the Ol was , here was no hing to check almost for unlimited development, there was no longer any barrier of narrow and irrational conventions blocking the W S CO e way to better things . A ider p brought a higher type of achi evement and a sounder appreciation of the relative importance Of those devices by which the inten A S rofes tions of the artist can be made credible. the p of V n d sional and public point iew expa de , the power to distingu ish between good traditions and bad grew more ‘ flic ent and and e i , the inclination to produce encourage a e work of permanent value g in d a greater hold . s the Sincerity, and an hone t desire to profit by teaching n of nature, have come at last to be recog ised as the essentials for success in art ; and if the workers can prove satisfactorily that from first to last they are inspired by real t f devotion to hese principles, they have no reason to ear not c t t e that their individuality will be respe ted , or hat h ir personal interpretation Of the facts by which they are

l be . of t impressed wi l denied consideration Liberty hought, if t f the f and, hey satis y one undamental condition, complete f f t an reedom o action, are gladly allowed to hem ; but y of t the hi of f a t n hint a re urn to wors p orm l preconcep io s, ‘ an S of for t aflectati ons or y how liking rivial , would not b e of ff the of tolerated . The condition a airs at end th e t century repeats, only on a larger scale, hat which existed at the beginning ; and the fallacies that have intervened between these two epochs of masterly activity hav e ease n happily c d to be a y thing but an unpleasant memory . Healthy vitality has taken the place of morbid dec rep i s t t our tude ; and in its re tored and robust s reng h, nativ e school is capable once again of holding its own again st any competitors it may chance to meet. r the e Conce ning men thems lves, who were chiefly re I NTRODUCTO RY I I s ponsible for this awakening of the better insti ncts Of the art community, there is something to be said . They stand out as conspicuous figures in our history, prominent of t ft as much on account heir rare gi s and capacities, as by reason of their courage and perseverance in asserting to t f If the principles which hey had pinned their aith. they had not been endowed with more than ordinary for t e f c qualifications h ir work in li e, they could s arcely have made their propagandism so effective ; while without the most assured confidence in the justi ce of their cause they could not have kept their enthusiasm alive through the long stru ggle that they had to face before they could f f u o . f eel themselves certain victory But, ort nately, they summarised be tween them all that was necessary to arrest and retain the attention of everyone who had any real rec eptivity and any inclination to examine the inner i meaning Of artistic pract ce . As a group they combined of i f of peculiar accuracy v sion, infinite ertility imagina l of t tion, true origina ity me hod and manner, and a sturdy self- reliance and tenacity that could be depended upon in any emergency. They were bound together by a of t f of strong tie sympa hy, by a per ect understanding t heir mutual aims, and by a common instinct to reject everything that seemed to them to be antagonisti c to the purity of art . That they influenced one another at first can scarcely be doubted ; it was natural that their assoc iation for a r t f the of the particula end , and heir isolation rom rest f t painting raterni y, should have brought them into a f somewhat close agree ment on details o proc edure. But this influence by no means extended into a control of n not t their perso al views, and plainly it did swamp heir f . O distinctive individualities Indeed , as a demonstration of ee the wide applicability a consistent cr d , the variety f t for o heir work had a very definite persuasiveness, it was well adapted to convince the s incere student that a JO H N EVERETT MILLAIS respect for sound principles did not imply any sacrifice r of the of personal libe ty, or any surrender right to independent thought. f a The chie figures in the group, the le ders round whom, n of f as time we t on, gathered a host ollowers, were Ford a w r s M dox Bro n, Dante Gab iel Ro setti, Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais ; and certainly it would be hard to find a quartette offering fuller opportunity for interesting o of comparis ns. Each member it is to be credited with the possession of some special qualities that distinguished

f r . for him rom the othe s Ford Madox Brown, instance, was of t a man infinite indus ry, a curiously earnest thinker, whose respect for fact led him to minutely realise the most a of th e f s to and intimate det ils li e he elected illustrate, a lover of quaint symbolism with an extremely acute sense of the dramatic val ue Of the little touches by which he r filled up his pictorial na ratives. Rossetti was steeped In f of r poetic ancy , an exponent eve ything recondite and f f of anci ul , and the slave an imagination which knew no was of the w of limitations ; and subject to none la s logic. He lacked nothing of sincerity in his worship of nature ; but she was to him rather the source of suggestions that he enjoyed adapting than an absolute model whom he t wished to represent wi h imitative exactness. Holman

was in - de fin Hunt , and is, a pa ter with a well ed religious of tendency that has not only governed his choice subject, but has also given to his art a peculiar earnestness and devout intention . No influence has at any period O f his life been able to turn him from the direction he chose in his s youth, and he paint now, as he did then, with unquestion ing conviction . It is possible that if the success of the campaig n against the Old fallacies had depended solely upon the exertions of s s and example the e three artist , it might have been

far . less immediate and convincing Untiring industry, the endless imagination, and most devout conscience would I NTRODUCTORY I 3

w Of have had, beyond doubt, a real po er appeal to certain clas ses of thinkers ; and there would have been many people ready and willing to attach themselves to men who showed the highest development of these particular attributes but what would have resulted would have been the f of e s rather orming detached s ct , each acknowledging of the the authority a single head , than stimulating into permanent activity Of a great movement susceptible Of unlimited expansion, and based upon immutable principles.

What was needed to unite these diverse individualities, and to bri ng into existence a combination of forces so thorough and coherent that it would solidly sway the

of c o- f whole mass public opinion, was the operation o a robust fighter, able to dominate by his personal authority r of and t all the est his associates, wi h an endowment of qualities varied and brilliant enough to gain the popular f attention as a matter o course. Such an one was for tunately available in the person of John Everett Millais ; and to him may fairly be given the Chief credit for the final triumph of the cause which more than anyone else he strove to keep alive. I e sa h nd ed , it is not too much to y t at the awakening of

i of f - Br tish art, which we are enjoying the ruits to day, t of i ts owes to him the grea er part completeness. That he was admirably supported by the men who were one with him in aesthetic intention is not to be denied ; and that he would have been unable alone, and without active t f to sympa hisers as tenacious as himsel , convert the whole f if of community to saner belie s is, the limitations human

r t . if ene gy are considered , more han likely But he had not been in the front of the battle the victory would have one ff been a hollow , and its e ects would have been only one partial . He was the commanding figure who could

t n of s Of - engage the at e tion the wide t circle art lovers, and by the attractiveness of his personality put himself on i s good terms even w th his opponent . Nothing was too JOHN EVERETT M I LLA IS

for to no s to diffi cult him attack, Obstacle eemed him t s of insurmountable, and here was no te t his courage that r he was unwilling to undergo. Through eve ything he S kept up the same determined pirit, undaunted by opposi r tion and unspoiled by success, car ying with him the men whose natures were less adapted for the active assertion of a and of a logic l artistic policy, , finally, by the weight his own f f n - of cheer ul belie in the sig ificance his mission, conquering all the forces of indifference and spiteful self interes t which had been arrayed against him by the o f of supporters the old order things. of o To understand the extent his influence, it is nec s sar to y analyse his personality, and to examine those details of hi s character which had the chief share in

s . not one haping his destiny His nature was a complex , and was free from the curious contradictions which Often f of de y explanation. No want agreement be tween the habits of his daily existence and the manner of his art o f made him incomprehensible, or suggested any doubt

t . O and his sinceri y n the contrary, the direct straight f s mascu orward hone ty, the sturdy independence, and the the of f line vigour, which were guiding principles his li e, were also the causes by which the particular trend of his aesthetic convictions was determined . He put his real f sel into his art, and its manly simplicity was the result of his habitual unwillingness to confuse himself with side s to r for al l is ues, or st ay into speculations which, their f no of ascination, gave plain promise success. As a of f f matter act, his imagination was not o the type that f d and ee s on abstractions, he had not the sort of mind which enjoys playing with dreams and fancies rather s than fact . The redundancy of thought which shows in everything that Rossetti produced , and marks him as an inventive genius with an almost uncontrollable craving for imagery d o an symbolical suggestion, can hardly be said t have

I NTRODUCTORY I 5

e Of be n ever a possibility in the case Millais. He had for no instinct contemplative habits, and no inclination to yield to that custom Of introspection by which morbid s n preference are o ly too apt to be encouraged . Yet he of f had poetry in him , but poetry a kind that comes rom of u f a love Nat re, and rom the constant and devoted study f r o of her charms. He could eel the att action f a piece of c r r t exquisite s ene y, and he was enti ely responsive o the witchery of a dainty personality ; but he hardly ever tried to build upon what he felt a strange edifice of wild t t s i nifications ffi devices wi h peculiar cryp ic g . It was su cient for him to record the beauty that he enjoyed ; and if hi he was satisfied he could give to other people, by s of of rendering, something the p leasure that the exercise h his faculty of Observation ad brought to him . t e In his you h, when he was closely associat d with d men like Rossetti and Holman Hunt, he showe him se f it far l , is true, to be so in sympathy with their aspira tions that he met them not only on the common ground of Of naturalism, but as well on that symbolism. His “ s earlier picture , such canvases as Christ in the House ” ” “ a of His Parents, Ferdinand lured by Ariel, Marian t ” ’ ” in the Moa ed Grange, and The Woodman s Daughter, or r f example, we e not wanting in touches designed to s amplify the pictorial story, embroiderie on the main motive, which, by their variety, made the whole meaning

of b - s more attractive, and provided a series little y plot to s of support and explain the dramatic purpo e the work. r for When, howeve , the necessity this intimate associa as Of s tion diminished , the condition art politic improved , of c and the rout the old conventions be ame indisputable, he gave himself up more and more to the avowal of his as f independent conviction . He ce ed to exert himsel to f f rr use weave curious webs of ancy, pre e ing instead to his amazing technical power to realise the pleasanter er aspects of Nature. Gradually, but surely, his mann 16 JOH N EVERETT MI LLA I S

C n e e O f ha g d , passing through the phas quieter and less e elaborated imagination, which was best illustrat d by The ” ” ” s s Random Shot, Autumn Leave , Apple Blos oms, “ ” of of and The Vale Rest, until , at last, in the middle f of v n his li e, came the sudden development that con inci g e of s the c rtainty election and practice, by which real greatness of his ability was impressed upon the public

mind . In this he was following the course that his instincts f f of was taught him to pre er. While the ervour protest of his to upon him, and the vigour antagonism dogmas e that he disliked sway d his judgment, he tried sincerely enough to adapt his methods to those of the men who u be t were on his side in the str ggle, and streng hened his influence over them by concessions to their inclina i f of tions, and by giving pract cal proo his interest in f the their aims . But when he elt that he had chance to extend his authority beyond the limits of a purely f to pro essional agitation , and touch a larger public than would have bee n within his reach if he had continued only to advocate the extreme views that agreed well t w enough with his early en husiasm, he very isely did not waste his Opportunity. By minor modifications that involved no surrender of the essential articles of his hi s f creed , he made art per ectly comprehensible, gathering of thereby a whole host supporters, and , by his considera for the tion general taste, establishing his popularity, and t of n hat the school he represented, permane tly and

effectively. t Wi h all his discretion , and all his keen understanding of the tactics needed for carrying to success a piece of not complicated policy, he would certainly have had so great a personal influence if his artistic qualifications had

e . e be n less indisputable Even when he was most attack d , at the time when all that ridicule could do to kill the movement that he was fighting to encourage was being By per mi ss i on 4 Me Corpor a tion q/ lll a nclres ter AUTUMN LE A V ES

I NTRODUCTORY

ie no one u tr d by artists and critics alike, was bold eno gh to deny that he was endowed by nature with extraordinary f u s O . e fre n of f gi ts He was acc d ely e ough want judgment, f of a deliberate eccentricity, wil ul disregard esthetic pro rieties of p , irreverence, obstinacy, and a whole host other f v o . f con e il tendencies, but never incapacity In act, the sciousnes s of hi s amaz ing strength was the inspiring cause O f the bitterness with which his early work was received ; f and when, a ter a while, angry disparagement and ridicule of was both died away in a kind sulky despair, it this same sense Of his power that led lovers of art to accept him as t to a leader whose authori y was not be questioned . Perhaps the mos t eloquent and acute estimate of the s of for f f personal fitne s Millais the pro ession he ollowed , and the best statement of his claim to rank among the i f of f ch e men our school, came rom Mr Ruskin, whose earnest recogn ition of the purity of the motives by which young reformers was actuated was Qu e atest pieces of encouragement that the movement received . He, at least, took them seriously, and felt with them the neces sity for strenuous opposition to those blind gu ides of a blind public whose u nfitness for illais any educational work he clearly perceived . In M he most plainly discovered the qualities that make for mighty one of achievement, and in a passage in his books he draws l t s a paral el between him and that o her giant in Briti h art, n u n J . M . W . Tur er, that in its exquisite appreciation is

a . o t surp ssable S significant, indeed , it is, that it may, wi h

at - out apology , be quoted length as an exact word picture, recording with absolute accuracy every intimate feature Of his artistic personality. It to s is always be remembered, the great critic write , no or that one mind is like another, either in its powers perceptions ; and while the main principles of training for all l as must be the same , the result in each wil be various as the kinds of truth which each will apprehend ; B J OH N EVERETT M I LLAI S

f of ff there ore, also, the modes e ort, even in men whose n n th i er principles and final aims are exactly e same. for two Suppose, instance, men , equally honest, equally l to industrious, equally impressed with a humb e desire render some part of what they saw in nature faithfully ;

and, otherwise, trained in convictions such as I have of t endeavoured to induce. But one hem is quiet in f temperament, has a eeble memory, no invention, and

excessively keen sight. The other is impatient in tem erame nt h as p , a memory which nothing escapes, an

invention which never rests, and is comparatively near e sight d . Set them both free in the same field in a mountain O r valley. ne sees eve ything, small and large, with almost the same clearness ; mountains and gras shoppers alike ; the s the leaves on the branches, the veins in pebble , the th bubbles in e stream but he can remember nothing, and l f to invent nothing. Patient y he sets himsel his mighty task abandoning at once all thoughts of seizing transient ff m Of t e ects, or giving general i pressions hat which his eyes to s present him in microscopical dissection, he choose of some small portion out the infinite scene, and calculates with courage the number of weeks which must elapse f of be ore he can do justice to the intensity his perceptions, or f Of the ulness matter in his subject. e of Meantime, the other has be n watching the change the clouds and the march of the light along the mountain f sides ; he beholds the entire scene in broad , so t masses O f f O f true gradation , and the very eebleness his sight is to in some sort an advantage him , in making him more of the aérial of f sensible mystery distance, and hiding rom him the multitudes O f circumstances which it would have for been impossible him to represent. But there is not one change in the casting of the jagged shadows along Of on fo the hollows the hills, but it is fixed his mind r ever ; not a flake O f spray has broken from the sea of

I NTRO DUCTO RY 19

C s d loud about their ba es, but he has watche it as it melts to s away, and could recall it its lo t place in heaven by the

ff O f . Not S O slightest e ort his thoughts only , but thousands s of of and thou ands such images, Older scenes, remain congregated in his mind , each mingling in new associations now n f and th with those visibly passi g be ore him , ese again f of own con used with other images his ceaseless, sleepless h o . w imagination, flashing by in sudden troops Fancy his paper will be covered with stray symbols and blots, — and undecipherable shorthand as for his sitting down ‘ ’ to draw from nature there was not one of the things to for which he wished represent, that stayed so much as five seconds together : but none O f them escaped for all that : they are sealed up in that strange storehouse of his of out t he may take one them perhaps, his day twenty n No far . w years, and pai t it in his dark room, away , e of obs rve, you may tell both these men , when they are to t young, that they are be honest, that hey have an f not important unction, and that they are to care what ou Raphael did . This y may wholesomely impress on f the of them both. But ancy exquisite absurdity ex pecti ng either Of them to pos sess any Of the qual ities of the other. 0 the fe of I have supposed ebleness sight in the last, and i n of invention the first painter, that the contrast between them might be more striking ; but, with very slight

. to modification , both the characters are real Grant the

first considerable inventive power, with exquisite sense Of to e to colour ; and give the s cond , in addition all his other of faculties, the eye an eagle and the first is John Everett th l l a e . Mi l is, second Joseph Mallard Wil iam Turner Of This exhaustive consideration Millais as an artist, was Of written though it in the earlier years his career, f be ore his Opinions had settled into mature stability, is . of f equally applicable to the work his whole li e. It s o f s f expre ses exactly the manner his in tinctive pre erences, 20 J O H N EVERETT M I LLAIS and clearly defines the sources of his controlling influenc e o s upon our native art. He saw things as most pe ple wi h to t of V s a e see them, wi h absolute clearness i ion, and st t d them frankly and sturdily without any effort to impose a peculiar V iew of his own upon the rest of the world . Realism was always the one unalterable fact by which h e of me was guided , and the changes which, in the course ti , l t ff th e came in his pure y technical me hods, never a ected intention that inspired his whole range of achievemen t.

t rt - It is as s rongly perceptible in The No h West Passage, ” as in The Order O f Release or The Minuet It the a of of th e as governs tre tment the Yeoman Guard, ” ” of O or surely as that phelia, The Huguenot ; and it of 188 gives to his portrait Mr Gladstone, painted in 5 , the same vivid actuality that distinguished the Portrait of a Gentleman and his Grandchild produced as far back as 1 849 . To the last his art remained completely convinced ;

and it never lost its power over other minds than his. who s The many capable men prang up around him , the e pledged to principl s which he was advocating, never diminished his popularity by attracting to themselves a ny NO i f part of his following. competit on was power ul enough to oust him from his pre - eminence and be retained to his won death the fruits of the victory he in his youth. His place in the history of the century is an assured one ; he f s h of gained it airly, and he held it by heer strengt individuality and by the obvious s uperiority Of his artistic a i qu lit es .

C H A P T E R I I

BIOGRAPHICAL

IT was apparently to his ancestry that the artist who has played S O important a part in the resuscitation of British art owed his spirit and his energy in attacking established f in . o stitutions He came a stock which was, in bygone for centuries, by no means unready conflict with people in f m Of r . d authority The a ily, Norman o igin, settle in Jersey to e for at some date anterior the Conquest, and it h ld n early seven hundred years a position of some prominence

- Of en among the land holders that island. Many tries in the local records tend to imply that the members of the Of f to Millais clan were men importance, power ul enough set se In to - them lves opposition their over lords, and to the ffi who f eccles iastical O cials, tried to exact rom them dues d to and acknowle gments that they were unwilling render, and the recurrence of these entries is frequent enough to s uggest that this independence was something more than occasional . The estates they held seem to have varied in difierent of f generations, or else there were branches the amily r s of for in many pa t the island, at various times the of its f the name, in one or other many orms, appears in s of Of In 1 1 ff e document most the parishes. 33 Geo r y Milay es is entered in the Royal Rent Roll ; in 1 38 1 John and Guille Millais are recorded as paying taxes to the ’ Prior of St Clement s ; in the middle Of the fifteenth O f f who century the head the amily, usually was named r Of 1 2 John , settled in the pa ish St Saviour ; and in 5 7 M llais one Of Clement y , presumably his descendants, was 2 ! 2 2 JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S

Of . the 1 0 o Rector that parish By marriage, about 54 , f John My llais to the heiress Of the Le Jarderay s the Tapo n t s of f es ate, in the pari h St Saviour, came into the amily and remained in their possession until the begi nning O f the present century ; and in 1668 another John Millais is mentioned as a tenant of the Crown in the parishes of Grouville now and St Clement. The name, even , is pre ” in for served the island there is a village called Millais , of O of to the t in the parish St uen , and a range hills nor h i ” east O St Heliers is known as Les Monts Millais. was r on 8 Although John Everett Millais bo n , June , 182 f 9, at Portland Place, Southampton, his ather was an

a Of ffi . inhabit nt Jersey, and an o cer in the island militia ’ of f The first five years the child s li e were spent in Jersey, 1 8 e hi s i n but in 35 he was tak n by parents to Dinan, n S of O f Britta y, where he began, by his ketches the scenery Of to i the place and the ty pes the people, g ve the first convincing proofs of the remarkable artistic capacity that ff so and was in him . These early e orts were surprising, f attracted so much attention outside his amily circle, that when he was not more than nine years Old he was brought to London for an expe rt opinion on his chances in the profession for which he seemed pre destined . The a e President Of the Roy l Academy, Sir Martin Archer She , was i c consulted, and his encourag ng de laration , that ’ ” for the Nature had provided the boy s success, decided f Of wh o d to uture the young artist, was at once allowe In 1 8 8 d begin serious study. 3 he entere the drawing S chool in Bloomsbury which was carried on by Henry as e e for th e S s , and r gard d as the best available place training of budding genius. In the same year he took the f the t of for f the silver medal O Socie y Arts, a drawing rom n a d a tique, and c used quite a sensation when he appeare , O f to his f m at the distribution the prizes, receive award ro

the O f s who . O f Duke Sus ex, was presiding The surprise the spectators is said to have bee n unbou nd ed when Mr

B IOGRAPH I CAL 2 3

f C f Millais came orward , a tiny hild in a pina ore, to ffi answer to his name, and even the O cials at first found it hard to believe that he would be really the win ner of th e medal . For two of years he remained under the tuition Mr Sass, a n artist who during the earlier years Of this century e xhibited at the Royal Academy and other exhibitions a great many portraits and figure - pictures that are now for

. e to not on gotten He des rves be remembered, account o f own to his success as a painter, but because he gave many men who have since become famous their first t grounding in artistic knowledge. Wi h his teaching, and a a of f s the good de l work rom the cast in British Museum, th e boy developed so rapidly that when he was only eleven years Old he gained admission to the Royal

Academy Schools, the youngest student, it is said, that

has ever been received into them. His career there was of a series successes. For six years he laboured inde fati abl f of g y , and gave proo his ability by taking prize f 18 a ter prize, beginning with a silver medal in 43, and n 18 the for a e ding, in 47, with gold medal a historic l of picture, The Tribe Benjamin seizing the Daughters

of Shiloh. Subjects Of this type seem at that time to have attracted Of him strongly, and to have occupied a great deal his for 1 8 6 d attention, in 4 he had painted , and exhibite at ” Of the Academy, Pizarro seizing the Inca Peru , which

is now in the South Kensington Museum, and in the Of El iva following year another study violent action, g To 1 8 seized by Order of Archbishop Odo . 47 also “ s n be longs the great design, The Widow be towi g her ” for the Mite, Westminster Hall competition, a canvas

n f f - fourteen feet lo g by ten eet high, covered with li e size ff for figures. Such an e ort speaks well the energy and of O f ambition a lad eighteen, who could within the space Of a few months carry out so vast an under 24 J OHN EVERETT M I LLAIS

“ to E l iva d a taking in addition the g , and his gold me l

picture. far f the of e w SO his progress had been, rom point vi Of u s the Older men, who were busy with their pompo f a ificiali i r . He rt t es, ext emely satis actory and promising f of f had had proved himsel to be possessed rare gi ts, and he begun to paint just the sort of bombas t which was then was entirely fas hionable. To all appearance historical art to have in him an exponent Of exactly the type req uired to f d r of to in use into its y bones some spark vitality, and f d B u f o . t give to its allacious traditions a touch cre ibility , for of r e happily the art the count y, these expectations wer f doomed to disappointment. He had only been eeling his s hi s way, and, not having had time as yet to analy e d f inclinations , he had temporarily accepte , with youth ul of a rs f imitativeness, the precepts his te che and ellow s student . It did not take him long to discover that he to i was on the wrong track, and decide that there was n another direction a far better opportunity for the assertion

o f own n . I S his indepe dent convictions ndeed, he howed in of the the shaping his artistic policy, and in arranging of of his methods expression, the same precocity that had f Of f distinguished his mani estation technical skill . Be ore he could have bee n expected to have come to any clear opinion about the relative advantage Of different phases of

thought, he had actually made up his mind that the school, of for which, the moment, circumstances had made him a f t hi s member, was undamentally wrong, and hat mission in f li e was to destroy it. He was j ust nineteen when he elected to take u pon h f imsel this responsibility . About the middle of the year 1 8 8 f s 4 , he, and his riends Ros etti and Holman Hunt, in of spired partly by the example Ford Madox Brown, and partly by their own study Of the works of the Italian who f o f Primitives , be ore the time Raphael , had laboured n f with devout and simple aturalism , ormed the idea of THE HUGUE NOT

B IOGRAPH I CAL 2 5 rev erting to a type of art which contained the germs Of

. h great achievement They decided , then and there, t at the s principles which guided the early ma ters, and made their productions so convincing, were being deliberately

se - ignored by the modern men , who second hand practices were based upon the conventions created by a long line of of degenerate successors Raphael and his contemporaries . S O these three youths agreed among themselves to break away from the rules and regulations by which they had e n to b e bound in their student days, and proclaim the f truth s that they elt their teachers had withheld from them . From this agreement sprang into existence an association of that, despite the small number its members and the of f f Of r shortness its li e, has le t upon the history the B itish ff School a mark clear and ine aceable.

- o t a The Pre Raphaelite Brotherh od , as his associ tion was called by way Of plainly declaring the intentions and of who to f ambitions the men belonged it, was ormally Of 1 8 8 . I con stituted during the autumn 4 t included, in addition to the three originators, two other painters,

James Collinson and F. G . Stephens, a sculptor, Thomas who W oolner, and a writer, William Michael Rossetti , of ac ted as secretary the Brotherhood . Ford Madox

B rown never became a member, although he entirely sym athised s of for p with the arti tic aims the group, he had, of it is said , doubts concerning the utility such a banding o e d to f t gether, and was mor incline avour independent i a ct on ; but several other young painters, who were never Of formally the company, gave it practical support, and f e its . O o penly adopt d methods Indeed , the list these outside sympathisers soon became a long one ; it included

such able workers as William Bell Scott, Arthur Hughes, B evet ell e . . . . Thomas S ddon, W L Windus, and W H , who were directly inspired by the beliefs O f the Brotherhood ; if to and , as would be quite legitimate, it were extended take in all the othe rs whose first essays in art were 26 JO HN EVERETT MI LLA IS

- s s controlled by Pre Raphaelite principles, an a toni hing number of artists who have reached high rank in their s to profe sion could be added it.

At first the inner significance of the Pre- Raphaelite in movement was lost upon the general public. When, 1 8 e 49 , Millais exhibit d at the Academy his Lorenzo and ” Of was Isabella, by which his adoption the new creed not plainly enough asserted , the picture was unkindly e o receiv d . It was ridiculed, perhaps, by the pe ple who realised that it showed an artistic intention somewhat unlike that which was then generally prev alent ; but its novelty Of manner was put down to the youth and i n n Of experie ce the artist, and was regarded as a minor few of ed defect that a more years practice would rem y. 1 8 0 t But in January 5 , the Bro herhood took a step that very effectually removed any doubts that were felt by the public about the meaning of such canvases . They began to l Tlee Germ issue a month y magazine, called , in which they and their friends stated with sufficient plainness what

- Pre Raphaelitism really meant, and what were the opinions f that they pro essed . As a commercial speculation the a e f r for f f m gazine must be reckon d a ailu e, a ter the ourth no number it ceased to be issued , and at time had it any i . d ts f general circulation It serve purpose, however, O making quite intelligible the creed Of its promoters ; and of it gave to the world certain etchings Holman Hunt, Deve rell Collinson, Madox Brown , and , and much literary

matter by Coventry Patmore, Woolner, W. B . Scott, F. G. two Stephens, the Rossettis and their sister Christina, and

some other writers. An etching was prepared by Millais for ft e Of the fi h numb r, an illustration a story that Dante f not Rossetti was to write ; but this fi th number did appear. Though Tbe Germ died so quickly for want of sup it f e port, had ully accomplish d what was required O f it f a n in the way O prop gandism . Whe the next batch of

Pre - Raphaelite efforts was exhibited in the spring of 18 50

B IOGRAPH ICAL there was no trace of hesitation or toleration in the com m n of the f e ts the older artists and press . A per ect storm ” o f a ou t. buse broke Against Ferdinand lured by Ariel, ” an d O f Christ in the House His Parents, which were the C h e f to i pictures sent by Millais the Academy, the bitterest a tta ck was directed . They were pronounced to be revo l u ti onary and repulsive ; and even their technical ability w as or misrepresented . Everything that could be said d o n to to e minimise their influence, and discredit the mo d tives by which they were inspired, was lavishe upon th e of f o m without restraint, in a kind renzy f anguished e xcitement. t the All his , however, was mild in comparison with f agitation in the ollowing year, when it was seen that th e - of Pre Raphaelites, instead bowing to the storm d i re an recant ng their Opinions, were prepa d to go to even a of greater lengths in the avow l their convictions. The o its pposition had done best to howl them down , and to frighten them by ferocious threats ; but all this expenditure n O f misapplied energy had had o result. Millais exhibited ’ ” Of to The Woodman s Daughter, The Return the Dove ” ” the d and the Ark, and Mariana in Moate Grange, “ ” Holman Hunt Valentine and Sylvia ; while the other members of the group gave equally definite proofs o f their u intention to persevere in the co rse they had adopted. an Alarm at this defiance, and perhaps uneasy conscious ness of the real strength Of a movement that gave so little S Of of ign yielding to pressure, drove the supporters the of ff to e existing condition a airs almost incr dible lengths. They demanded that these canvas es should be removed Of from the exhibition the Academy, summarily expelled as outrages on good taste they urged the students in the to c n art schools shun the Brotherhood , and everyone o c ed of f e ne t with it, as a source in ection, bre ding plagues that, unless promptly stamped out, must inevitably destroy all that was bes t and purest in the art of the country ; 2 3 J OHN EVERETT M I LLA IS

t of they descended to the lowest dep hs misrepresentation , and drew the line at nothing in the way of e x aggera

. i for tion Calm and crit cal judgment ceased , the moment, of n to exist, and a hysterical absence bala ce threw into f con usion even the best ordered and judicious minds. d ff as This outburst had one imme iate e ect, an unple ant one for for the young artists, it checked a while the sale ” Of of s their pictures. Christ in the House His Parent ,

e d on s for - had be n painte commi sion a well known dealer, and it remained for many years on his hands ; but ” a Ferdinand lured by Ariel, which had lso been com

was f . I missioned, re used by the intending purchaser t was f of a terwards sold to Mr Richard Ellison , a collector rare was u u discrimination , who introduced to Millais by a m t al e friend . Other canvases belonging to th same period ’ r f eithe returned rom the exhibitions to the artist s studio, or of were parted with at low prices, and on terms pay

ment none too favou rable.

But in a little while things began to mend . The virulence of the defenders Of vested interests exhausted itself ; and here and there strong men showed themselves

to of - s ready champion the cause the Pre Raphaelite . a Mr Ruskin came into the arena, an enthusiastic dvocate of an u ndertaking that was in every way calculated to

appeal to his vivid sympathies. He criticised with no

hesitating u tterance the bitter fallacies Of the se lf- con stituted keepers of the public conscience ; he met attack

with counter- attack ; and he declared with acute and . prophetic insight that the pilloried artists were lay ihg the foundations Of a school of art nobler than the world h for t as see n hree hundred years. His explanations of f of of their methods, and de ence their view nature, were

just what were needed to set people thinking, and to undermine the popularity of the dogmatic preachers of

fa . u f lse doctrines Some years, it is tr e, elapsed be ore his s the f enthu iasm, and dogged perseverance O the young

B IOGRAPH I CAL 29

a e O f art men , fin lly convert d the great majority lovers, but C the conversion did come, and it was omplete. Meanwhile Millais was manfully playing his part in the S e struggle, giving no ign that he mind d being, as he put f ” f . it in a ter years, so dread ully bullied Nothing could shake his resolve to work out his artistic destiny in the r e way he thought best, and opposition only st engthen d f of a was not his belie in the justice his c use. Happily he entirely without encouragement from the chiefs of his own f for th e m the s pro ession, just at ti e when out ide world r was dec ying him most strenuously, the Academy elected r i of him an Associate, an action that to mode n crit cs the retrograde policy of that institution must seem quite i n ca explicable. This election was, however, quashed, be use he was discovered to be under the age at which admission was possible ; and it was not till 1 853 that he was t e again chosen. By his time he had add d to the list ” “ ” of O his paintings, his exquisite phelia, The Huguenot, “ ” e O of s The Proscrib d Royalist, and The rder Relea e,

of - all works the highest value, and regarded to day as f of r t plain proo s a quite ext aordinary abili y. They f of t ared badly then at the hands the cri ics, who did not a take the trouble to understand their signific nce, and fas tened instead upon trivial imperfections that had no

importance whatever. For about ten years he remained faithful to the Pre t f Raphaelite creed, and made no serious at empt to modi y t hi s r of his me hods. During this period appeared Port ait i ” ” ” “ Mr Rusk n, The Rescue, Autumn Leaves, The Blind ” ” ” Isumbras of Girl, Sir at the Ford, The Vale Rest, ” O f and Apple Blossoms, which the last two are to be r a eckoned as to some extent transitional, le ding the way in o i to the later changes both his the ry and pract ce. What was to be the nature of these changes was fore “ ” of the shadowed by The Eve St Agnes , shown at 186 th r f his n Academy in 3, e yea be ore adva cement to 30 J O H N EVE RE TT M I LLA IS

d the rank of Royal Academician . After this he wavere for e of a while b tween recollections his earlier style, and a very definite desire to find other ways Of expressing him “ ” f Of sel , between the elaborate precision Leisure Hours, ” and Swallow ! Swallow l the matter- Of- fact of Asleep ” “ and Awake the grim imagi nation of The Enemy ” f of sowing Tares, the elegant ormality The Minuet, and “ “ ” f of f the technical reedom Joan o Arc and Esther. h d The variations in his production at t is time , implie a degree of uncertainty in his idea as to the course which for th e it would be best him to adopt, a hesitation about way in which he would most profitably occupy himself after the abandonment of those details of his boyish faith t a s that had served heir purpose, and had ce ed to be essential to his advance . He was conscious of the possi bilities that his wonderful command over his materials e of open d up to him , and he knew that his years devoted study had gi ven him an equipment O f knowledge that would serve him in any emergency ; what he was seeking was the exact form in which to cast his efforts so as to allow full scope to his abilities and to make indisputable h o t t at wide p pulari y which was coming to him at last. There was no hes itation about the avowal of his new

views when finally he did make up his mind . With a was suddenness that absolutely startling, he abandoned the close and careful realism that marked in such canvas es ” “ ” “ ” as Asleep, Awake, and The Minuet, the still

O f - continuing influence his Pre Raphaelite conviction, and f of chose instead the riotous reedom touch, and the happy readiness of suggestion that make his Souvenir of Velas ” ” “ ” quez, Rosalind and Celia, and Stella, so impressive. The dramatic point O f this change is that a year sufficed

to ve . 1 86 was bring it into acti operation In _ 7 he still anxious to work out bit by bit and part by part every f h act t at his subject might present, and, in his zeal for to o f a naturalism , leave no chance mist ke about the exact

J OA N O F A RC

B I OGRAPH I CAL meaning of his treatment ; in 1 868 he had thrown himself heart and soul into the task of persuading his admirers to of to accept hints in the place plain statements, and h O f understand subtle compromises wit nature, instead O f r direct transcriptions her asse tions . He knew so well what she had to say, that he could trust himself to sum to r marise, avoid minute explanations in telling her sto y, o f its and yet t miss nothing o truth . Thenceforward his progress was an almost unbroken Of r of f series successes, gained by superb maste y cra ts f manship, and by the splendid confidence in himsel that the o O f put his intentions always beyond p ssibility doubt. W few to of f ith exceptions his pictures, the end his li e, were worthy to rank with the best that the British school can show, great in accomplishment, admirable in sty le, and attractive always by their frankness of manner and

of . s e purity motive In ome ways he enlarg d his borders, “ for 1 8 1 t O in 7 he made, wi h Chill ctober, his first digression into landscape without figures, and began that of of array important studies the Open air, which are to be reckoned as the plaines t evidences of his limitless nd of patience a searching power Observation. t As a por rait painter, also, he developed superlative f i of gi ts, adding year by year to a collect on master O f pieces unequalled by any his contemporaries . He f of was ortunate in his sitters, and the list his pro d uctions in this branch of art includes a large proportion of the most beautiful women and distingushed men who f of r have graced the latter hal the centu y. He immortal of f ised impartially leaders ashion, pretty children, noted f politicians, and people eminent in many pro essions ; and in his rendering of these various types he missed nothing of the individuality and distinctive character with which

s - each one was endowed . Here e pecially his Pre Raphaelite training stood him in good stead ; for the habit of close analysis and careful investigation had been so impressed 32 J OHN EVE RE TT M I L LAIS upon him by the experiences of his youth that his i n s tinctive now f h i s judgment was per ectly reliable, and ability to decide promptly and with certainty about th e aspects O f his subject which were fittest for pictori al c h re ord ad become absolutely complete. In thi s su :cession of portraits some stand out command in l as no a f s for was g y t ble per ormance even an artist, who ” —for ff m always distinguished example, Mrs Bischo shei , ” ” s n Mis Eveleen Tennant, Mrs Jopling, Mrs Perugi i, ” “ Ir Hon . . . Sir Henry ving, The Right W E Gladstone “ “ f . R A o J C . Hook, , and The Marquis ar a e as Salisbury, m king great moments in his c r er ; just f of r a rom time to time figure compositions rare impo t nce, “ ” “ ” - ffi ea like The North West Passage, E e D ns, The ” ” i n a ! l Princes the Tower, and Spe k Speak punctuated of e the progress his intellec tual and imaginative volution . a O f f t He was lways, to the last day his li e, ambi ious and r t of a eager to g apple wi h problems technic l expression . Courage to face the supreme difficulties of his profession never failed him. He had no idea of avoiding responsi bilities Of , or finding in an easy convention a way to evade his duty to art ; and he tried consistently to bring his production up to the high level that would satisfy his W — ideals . hen he missed his aim and there is no such — thing as unvarying success for any artist it was not for of h ff t f want t ought or sincere e ort, but ra her rom over “ of f sa anxiety. He once said himsel , I may honestly y that I never consciously put an idle touch upon canvas, and that I have always been earnest and hard - working ; yet the worst pictures I ever painted in my life are those ” into which I threw most trouble and labour ; and in f these ew words he summed up his whole history . It was characteristic O f him that the honours which were heaped upon him in his later years should have diminished neither the strength of his work nor the charm Of his

ff f- personality. A ectation or sel consciousness were the . C. HOOK J , R. A .

B IOGRAPH ICAL las t things that were possible to such a nature with its t almost boyish energy and magnificent vitali y . Yet he had every reason to be proud Of success that had come to f of own him , not by ortunate chance, but as a result his was ffi of o f tenacity. He made an O cer the Legion ’ Honour, and received the Medaille d Honneur at the Paris International Exhibition in 1 878 ; the degree O f f e f 1 880 . . O D . C L was con err d upon him at x ord in , and at Durham in 1 893 ; he was elected a Trustee Of the 1 88 1 of National Portrait Gallery in , a Foreign Associate the a é 1 882 of Ac d mie des Beaux Arts in , and President th e Royal Academy in 1 896 ; he was created a Baronet i n 1 88 Offi of the O Of o 1 8 5 , and an cer rder Le pold in 95 ; nd i Offi O f the O of a was, bes des, an cer rder St Maurice, th O é ” and e Prussian rder Pour la M rite, and a member f of i w of o the Academies V enna, Belgium , Ant erp, and St r one of Luke, Rome, and San Fe nando, Madrid . He was th e few Englishmen invited to contribute his portrait to the great collection of pictures of artists painted by them ‘ in fii zi se lves the U Gallery at Florence. Such a record proves most cogently the manner in which the public e stimate of his capacity changed as years went on ; it is instructive to compare its unanimity of recognition wi th the story of the time when art teachers were urging their re of pupils to g et the name Millais with hisses , and were of the holding up his work, and that his associates, to

bitterest execration . The post of President of the Royal Academy he held r S ix for fo only months, he succeeded Lord Leighton on r 20 th 1 8 6 1 of the Februa y , 9 , and died on 3th August in e Off same year. His election, howev r, rounded appropri ately that long association with the Academy to which he hi s 18 referred in speech at the 95 banquet, at which he “ presided in the absence Of Lord Leighton. I must tell t y ou briefly my connec ion with this Academy. I entered n the Antique School as a probationer, when I was eleve C 34 JOHN EVERETT M ILLAIS years of age ; then became a student in the Life School ; and I have risen from stage to stage until I reached the f : position I now hold o Royal Academician so that, man and boy, I have been intimately connected with this

f- a- r Academy for more than hal centu y. I have received — here a free education as an artist an advantage any lad — may enjoy who can pass a qualify ing examination and I owe the Academy a debt Of gratitude I never can repay. — hi I can . I can, however, make t s return give it my love th e r wn I love everything belonging to it, casts I have d a bo r from as a y , the books I have consulted in our Libra y, ” NO the very benches I have sat on. other teaching had a institution had, indeed , any p rt in his education no f other art society had, by throwing over him the aegis o i s s men t influence, given him invaluable a sistance at a mo t when the world was against him and in no other direction had such practical belief in the greatness Of his future been f r Of . t th mani ested T uly, he owed a debt grati ude to e one of its Academy, and he repaid it by being ever most r and t ed t i active supporte s, by doing infini e cr it o ts best t tradi ions. f a n of ar His death not only le t a g p in the ra ks t, but o fu it also t ok away, while he was yet in the ll enjoyme nt Of hi s se t r powers, a man who sterling quali ies had att acted of fr f s a host iends. His rankness and hone ty, his geniality and e kindliness, and, above all , his manly wholesomen ss, of r t without taint mode n decadence or morbidi y, endeared v a him to e eryone with whom he c me in contact. He was i the typically English, in the best sense, w th all physic al and mental attributes that have enabled our race to of r S dominate the world, a lover the count y, a good hot, e f a ke n fisherman, and a earless horseman . The very lo ok of r - u m him, with his stalwa t, well set p figure, and handso e, s f- f of rf el reliant ace, conveyed the impression pe ect h ealth of and r h mind body, and decla ed the inex austible vigo u r f his o nature.

B I OGRAPH ICAL 35

His life- long instinct was to fight strenuously against r t t eve ything hat looked like injus ice or oppression, and in the Academy he championed as siduously every Cause e o its of that se med t him to lack due measure support. Especially was he an advocate of generous encouragement fo r the great school Of black and white drawing that has sprung up Of recent years ; and it was his constant desire to see the illustrator accorded something Of the ofli c ial t e r f recognition which has hi herto be n rese ved , un airly, as u for —a he arg ed , painters and sculptors only desire that had its origin in that love of illustrative work which was so happily exemplified by his own ample achievement in black and white. There was something peculiarly pathetic in the fact that his life should have ended just when he had reached the position that must have see med to him after his long and t the intimate connection wi h the Academy, most honour able to which he could aspire. To be the head of the so i i f institution that he loved well, and to be ha led as ch e the t e r a of hi s in place hat had s en eve y st ge development, f to no f to rom childhood ripe maturity, could t ail be any t r f of u hing but exquisitely g ati ying to a man his nat re. But almost at the moment Of his election it appeared that there was little time left him in which to enjoy the honour that had crowned his many years of devotion to the great f a principles Of art. The atal dise se that had gripped him f was Off a little while be ore not to be shaken , and was s ff t apping rapidly and e ectually even his superb vitali y. the f He worked on, however, almost to end, hope ul even Of ff r the i n the midst su ering, active in ca rying out duties ffi t the s o f his O ce, and busy as ever wi h canva es that f crowded his studio. He was ully represented in the i of 18 6 of s Academy Exh bition 9 , by a group portrait , and by a picture, A Forerunner, which showed no of failin stren th of an sign g g g or y relaxation in his grasp f f Of the e ssentials o his cra t. JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S

t f s of his Then, wi h pain ul suddenne s, came the verdict

th . t r doctors, at his case was hopeless The h oat trouble, that h ad been growing month by month more acute and

s i was to . distres ng, pronounced be cancer and incurable In June the disease had made such strides that the end seemed to be imminent, but an operation gave him some f f i the of relie , and his li e was prolonged t ll middle August, when at last death released him from his agony. He e the l pass d away at house in Pa ace Gate, Kensington, that had bee n the scene of the many triumphs of his ed f of later years, dying as he had liv , ull courage and i f t f pat ence, earing no hing, and meeting his ate with e f i h . O u 20 t che r ul resignat on n Aug st , he was buried in ’ f St Paul s Cathedral, beside his old riend Lord Leighton, whom only a few months before he had helped to lay to rest.

‘ CHA PTE R III

YEAR BY YEAR—EARLY WORKS

T HE opportunities that have bee n afforded for the proper appreciation of the life - work Of Sir John Millais have f rt t o unately been bo h interesting and adequate. As it was particularly important that the value of his interven tion in the aesthetic developments of the last fifty years t t should be horoughly understood, and that here should be no doubt in the public mind about the significance of his r f contribution to modern art histo y, we may airly con gratulate ourselves on the fact that the whole sequence Of effort should have been illustrated more than once by com t prehensive and exhaustive exhibitions . In his way a later generation has been made familiar with those earlier stages of f the his practice, which must be considered be ore mean ing of his more recent performances can be fully realised ;

to s - f of and the pre ent day art lover, the oundations his aesthetic belief have been revealed in their right relation to t the superstructure built upon hem . I the of the c 188 1 the n galleries Fine Art So iety in , at r 1886 Grosvenor Galle y in , at the Manchester Art Trea in 1 88 18 8 the sures Exhibition 7, at the Academy in 9 , ’ story Of the artist s life was told with all possible cogency of own t by the aid his pictures, ga hered together and placed i a e t in instruct ve juxt position . The canvas s wi h which he f the of challenged , in the fi ties, Opposition the Older men, the later works which marked the victory of th e Pre

Raphaelites, and the many mas terpieces that brought him of e at last to his position assured pr eminence, provided in f O f his ca these shows exquisite proo s pacity, and summar 37 38 JOH N EVERETT M I LLAI S ised for the benefit Of people who had bee n unable to f out of ollow his progress step by step, the steady working e xh i his intentions. Necessarily, it was impossible in any bition to collect more than a moderate proportion Of an output that totalled over three hundred and fifty in Oil i Of paintings alone, without taking nto account any that mass Of black and white drawings with which he is also to r be credited . But at the Grosvenor Galle y, and again at the Of w Academy, enough his work was sho n to make a hi s a t to e cle r es hetic purpose, and leave no qu stion about his right to attention . Both collections had the merit of justifying quite com letel the has f p y claim, which so O ten been advanced on f of a his t behal the rtist, that precoci y was almost without f f r r parallel . They le t no room o doubt conce ning the reality of his command over technical intricacies at an age when most students have scarcely begun to think about applying to independent practice the knowledge acquired t during their school raining, and proved him to be possessed , of the of f even as a lad, an insight into details his pro ession u which comes as a r le only to the mature mind. The precocity that they revealed was not merely that Of per formance f f , an early acquirement o the devices o crafts man it ship ; was, as well, a surprising completeness of conviction about the application Of executive methods to the illustra t of - ion well considered principles. There was nothing tentati ve or undecided about the pictures which began the record of his working life ; they were essentially the efforts Of who own a man knew his mind , and wished to impres s upon other people ideas that he had formed in perfect f good aith. a the Re lly only period during which he worked, as students will, without reasoning about the meaning Of what he was doing, and content simply to reflect the View of t tw f o hers, was when he was be een ourteen and eightee n. not f f f of t He had reed himsel then rom the taint the imes.

YEAR BY YEAR—EARLY WORKS

The influence of the bastard grand style with which the men about him were afflicted was for a little while power ful r him r to enough to ca ry into ext avagances, and delay of ai the shaping his individuality. His p ntings before 18 8 W the f Of the 4 ere quite in ashion moment, designed to display his facility in composition and his S kill in mechan t h f f o o . . ism, wi h somet ing the violence B R Haydon, the of th e of Maclise gorgeousness Etty, pedantry , and with touches Of the mannerism Of many other artists who were —or —f t then doing their best worst or English A rt. E ty certainly occupied his thoughts when he produced Cy mon ” and Iphigenia, which he seems to have begu n when he was v not 1 8 1 about se enteen, though he did finish it until 5 ; and there is a strong suggestion Of Haydon in the strain “ ” and theatrical pose of Pizarro seizing the Inca of Peru . of his f s More real sel appeared in the enormou picture, ” e for The Widow bestowing her Mite, prepar d the West al minster H l Exhibition, and the six lunettes which he executed for the Judge’s Lodgings at Leeds in 1847 ;

f- r r r e more sel est aint and bette judgment. They show d s t for f t that he wa beginning to hink himsel , wi h less dependence upon the arbitrary rules laid down by the convention- mongers who were ready to welcome him as h O f t o . s now t e heir c mpany The lunette , which hang in i e e Corporat on Art Gallery at Le ds, were, inde d , distinctly meritorious as attempts in serious design ; and The ” e Widow bestowing her Mite, though hardly qual in a was s c rrying out to its great intention , very intere ting h f . t e as a display of youth ul ambition This picture, by wa f r y , no longer exists in its complete o m ; it was bought by a dealer who cut it in two : one piece is now at

t the t . Tynemou h, o her in America In the following year he exhibited at the Academy a ”

o of . p rtrait W Hugh Fenn , and at the British Insti

n . tu tio , his gold medal picture Meanwhile the new f t i n fluence was coming into his li e, and, under the s imulus JOHN EVERETT M I LLAIS

f for t a of a resh conviction, he was preparing hat radic l change of direction which was to make his future work

- to f so important. Pre Raphaelitism was be hence orth his s of guiding principle, and the a sertion the highest truths ti of art was to be his aim . SO he agreed with Rosset and Holman Hunt that they should each choose a sub “ ” f of s the jcet rom Isabella and the Pot Ba il , poem by a s and t t s of Ke t , paint it wi h absolute fideli y to the tenet for f s their common creed, with strict regard act , and t a f wi hout dep rting in the smallest degree rom nature. Out of this agreement came the picture which was the r i a of 1 only cont ibut on by Millais to the Ac demy 849. It was characteristic Of him that he should be the only h f fth one of t e three to ulfil his part o e arrangement. While t r t a i the o hers were t oubling wi h laborious prep rat ons, he had made up his mind about the treatment of the motive a he had chosen, had settled every det il, and finally had carried to triumphant completion a very remarkable com ” position. This picture, his Lorenzo and Isabella, with its the Of e f s amazing care in rendering textur s and sur ace , its its minute finish, delicate colour, and its brilliancy of a and illumination, is uncompromising in its re lism, extra ordinarily patient in its representation O f the material ar selected . The v ious figu res were painted from friends

— - O f f i n - law Mrs and relations the young artist rom his sister , f two . Hodgkinson, his ather, the Rossettis, Mrs F G .

f - Stephens, and some ellow students. The reception accorded to the picture by the critics was on the whole n ot f to u un avourable, though it was pronounced have too m ch ” r Of manne ism , and to be the work a man evidently ” f for f enslaved by pre erence a alse style. That Millais had made up his mind about the merits o f f h i s such mannerism, and had a very pronounced belie in ” f e tw e r alse style, was se n plainly enough a elvemonth lat ” w the of hen Ferdinand lured by Ariel, Portrait a ” “ r u s e Gentleman and his G andchild, and Christ in the Ho

T HE BLACK BRUNS W IC KE R

J OH N EVERETT M I LLAI S

i t s . disease, all finished w h the same loath ome minuteness ’ The child Christ stands before the carpenter s bench with the Virgin kneeling beside him preparing to bind up of c with a piece linen a wound in his hand , at whi h Joseph,

f f of o . leaning orward rom the end the bench, is lo king St of Anne in the background is picking up a pair pincers, and beside Joseph is John the Baptist coming towards the n A n central group with a bowl of water in his ha ds . assistant on the other side of the picture watches the incident gravely. The keynote of the whole composition is its earnest

of - d ai symbolism . Every one the lovingly laboure det ls of the explains something the story, the tools on the wall, on f dove perched the ladder, and the sheep, typi ying the f f f of u c aith ul, and the wattled ence, an emblem the Ch r h, which are seen through the doorway ; while in the meadow beyond is placed a well as a symbol O f Truth. In its s as a imaginative qualities, the picture is not les m terly th n a e er in its technic l accuracy, and excit s as much wond by the depth Of thought it reveals as by its astonishing ac ’ I er complishment. t is the greatest of all the artist s earli r f the works, ma king definitely his emancipation rom Of d and in influences his stu ent days, his development f n cra tsma ship. d ’ He exhibite next The Woodman s Daughter, which u 18 he had beg n in 49 , and with it Mariana in the Moated ” ” of ree Grange, and The Return the Dove to the Ark, th of i n pictures medium size, which excited the intense dignation of the commentators on the art work of the r f u year, and d ew rom Mr Ruskin the first eloq ent ex of of Of pression his approval the purpose the Brotherhood , and his advocacy of the claim Of Millais and his friends to the support Of everyone who had honest convictions u TO abo t artistic questions. the same date belongs The ” w ’ ’ ” Bridesmaid , kno n at one time as All Hallow s E en , t of d t an exquisite s udy a girl passing, in accor ance wi h

44 J OHN EVERETT M I LLA I S

authority for h is restoration to freedom . The little drama ff r is most convincingly played , and the di erent cha acters, ’ even to the collie d og that leaps up to lick his master s

f s in t . hand, per orm their part with complete s ceri y There ” e is hardly so much conviction in The Proscrib d Royalist, a P uritan maiden visiting her Cavalier lover who is hiding in a hollow oak tree : there is even an obvious touch of of arti ficiality ; but as a display superb industry, and exquisite management o f the intricacies of woodland to scenery, this picture is certainly be ranked among the ’ artist s best. The same exquisite industry made his Portrait of Mr

Ruskin supremely valuable as a technical achievement.

He reached in it the highest level of pure Pre- Raphael

itism . f of , and showed most surely the per ection the strict principles by which his artistic personality had been

r - d and shaped . The great c itic stands bare heade almost in profile on the rocky bank beside the waterfall o f Glenfinlas and , in the Highlands, posing easily naturally ; and the artist has painted both the figure and its surroundings with searching knowledge. The landscape v e background especially, pure, vi id, and solid as a sincer ” and u Of u e spontaneo s mode painting could make it, to q ot f A Meneea m a contemporary criticism rom the , can only be as n f described magnificent, fi er even than the lea y ” e i Of was no e i s tt ng the Ophelia. This portrait t s en n 188 1 was public until , when it included in the collection l of T o at the ga leries the Fine Art Society. w other small ” ” n pictures, Waiting, and A Highland Lassie, both u be s to th e 1 8 exhibited, are to a signed year 54. The “ l s for High and La sie was a study Waiting, which is ” also known as A Girl at a Stile. It was painted from the lady, Miss Euphemia Chalmers Gray, whom he 1 8 married in 5 5 . r s Of o Conce ning the merit The Rescue, most pe ple e e se m to hav agreed . Mr Ruskin pronounced it to be A HIGHLAND LASS IE

46 JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S

t d f th e Of a window. The monument was pain e rom tomb Old C a Sir Gervaise Allard, in the hurch at Winchelse , where of 1 8 d the artist was staying in the autumn 5 5 . The Blin ” O f Of Girl , another his minute realisations landscape t for its r details, and no able as well t ue and natural pathos of was produced at the same time. The village Winchelsea ” - the . u is seen on the hill behind figures Pot Po rri, a small picture of two young girls also belongs to this year. At the next Academy exhibition his chief work was Sir ” mbras as of Isu at the Ford, originally known A Dream ” an c of n r the Past, allegory sus eptible ma y inte pretations, and one that the public h ad some diffi culty in under I f se an . t d standing was reely attacked and discus d, it of f u drew down a measure denunciation rom Mr R skin , ” of r who summed it up as a rough sketch a g eat subject, — and described it as not merely a Fall it is Catastrophe. its of and ea of w ff Yet fineness design, b uty t ilight e ect t of have placed it, according to the modern estima e the ’ f c o s. I artist s a hievement, among the best his canvase t takes certainly a much higher position than The Escape Of of f a Heretic, a piece plain melodrama, or News rom ” Home, a Highlander reading a letter as he sits on the r a of t enches at the Crime , both which were with it at the

d . the 1 8 Aca emy Two heads, which were in 89 exhibition d at Burlington House, were painte at this time, and have a S pecial interest be cause they are the only pictures by Millais which suggest that he was ever perceptibly in fl n ue ced by Rossetti. There was another break in the sequence Of his con tributi ons 18 8 n to the Academy, in 5 ; and it was ot till ” the following spring that The Vale of Rest S hocked ft e the public, that, a er having b come accustomed to Millais

- f u the Pre Raphaelite, now o nd themselves called upon to t accept him in quite ano her guise, as a symbolist and

. s imaginative moralist He had entered upon his tran ition, and had moved far from the literalis m of Christ in the

— YEAR BY YEAR EARLY WORKS 47

s of r v of Hou e his Pa ents, and the ob ious actuality ” n Ophelia, towards that comi g declaration of those indiv idual preferences which were to guide him in the ” Of f Of f Of work the latter hal his li e. The Vale Rest is said to have bee n of all his paintings the one most highly estimated by the artist ; and it is justly reckoned ” t ” with Lorenzo and Isabella, Au umn Leaves, Chill ” ” O - ctober, The North West Passage, and the Yeoman ” O f f f the Guard , as among the chie successes o his career. It certainly overshadows the canvases that accompanied it “ of f . o to the Academy, The Love James I Scotland , ” n and Apple Blossoms, which was then called Spri g s Flowers. This la t work was rather aptly attacked by ” Mr Ruskin as a fierce and rigid orchard, but he admitted its of indisputable excellence handling and its real power. and It is somewhat uncompromising in aspect, is more to be commended as an exercise in realism than because it possesses those great pictorial V irtues that distinguish of The Vale Rest. Between 1859 and 1863 the artist produced more than f f n o o n . a doze things, most which were minor i terest ” Brunswicker u Among them was The Black , a pict re f ” O the same class as The Huguenot, and The f in Proscribed Royalist, but scarcely so success ul either

fe n f . eli g or per ormance It was , however, popular enough

the n . at time, and had a great vogue as an engravi g f f who r The ace o the girl , t ies to delay the parting f n f between hersel and her hussar lover, was pai ted rom

of a . the daughter Ch rles Dickens, now Mrs Perugini A ” n larger canvas, The Ra som, was at the Academy in ” 1 86 2 , with Trust Me, and another work, The Parable ” c of not of the Lost Pie e Money, which was destroyed long afterwards by an explosion in the house of Baron ”

arrochetti n n . M , where it was ha gi g The White Cockade, a small painting which repeated one Of his earlier black n was the the a d white drawings, shown in same year at 43 JO H N EVERETT M I LLA I S

and n s French Gallery ; he fi ished several other small work , of which The Bride may be taken as an example. The Academy in 1 863 is memorable because it included ” of n t not only his Eve St Ag es, wi h its splendid render Of e n of ing rich textures and de p to es cool colour, but ” n also My First Sermo , a child sitting in a pew at church, f n d of a on and asci ate by the eloquence a pre cher whom ,

t ee d . hough he is not s n in the picture, her gaze is fixe us This picture, which achieved immediately an enormo Of of amount popularity , was practically the first that long series O f studies of child - life with which Millais put himself into successful competition with Sir Joshua n c the ff c of Rey olds, and gained a pla e in a e tions the public that is only reserved for men who know exactly to the n t what will appeal te derest human emo ions . ’ ” h of f Den was Anot er picture children, The Wol s , in t S the same exhibition ; but his one was less imple, and was more notable for brilliancy of tec hnique than for o Charm f subject. By the success O f My First Sermon he was induced ’ to paint for the next year s exhibition a companion subjec t ” the a h the m My Second Sermon, s me c ild, in sa e pew, and wearing the red cloak that appeared in the other u t the t pict re, but this ime unimpressed by novel y of her f the surroundings. She has ound discourse a little beyond n and to her understandi g, has gone sleep in all innocence. Of A larger picture, two children, in red velvet dresses, sitting on a carpeted floor with an elaborately patterned of leather screen behind them, and a bowl gold fish at t f heir eet, was shown at the same time under the title, of Leisure Hours and a couple portraits also appeared . But besides these Academy contributions he produced in ” ” 1 86 Con 4 The juror, Charlie is My Darling, and another

O f son of Tom . portrait, a Taylor During the next twelve months he was not less “ t for he the a Th indus rious, exhibited at Ac demy e

D S ERMON MY SECON

— YE AR BY YEAR EARLY WORKS 49

” “ ” ” n of Enemy Sowi g Tares, Joan Arc, Esther, The ” n Roma s leaving Britain, and Swallow ! Swallow and r two other canvases at the French Galle y. Neither m ” ! !” The Ro ans leaving Britain, nor Swallow Swallow ' can be accounted as anything but i ndiflerent illustrations of his capacity : the one is weak and inconclusive ; the “ other violent in colour and wanting in Charm ; and Joan ” of r of t Arc, st ong though it is as a piece pure pain ing, C is really nothing but a lever costume study. But The Enemy Sowing Tares has a dramatic significance that ' is r eflorts n O f ra e even in his most imaginative , an amou t intellectu al purpose greater than almost any of his other the pictures can be credited with . He had treated same t of r t n subjec as one the illust a io s to a book, The Parables ” of O was o 186 . ur Lord , which published ab ut 4 The figure of ersonifies One who the sower p the Evil , is scattering the

e of r u - s ed with an expression g im pleas re in ill doing, while around him slink and crawl prowling things dimly seen

he of . n in t gloom night The artist, who had just bee the f n n promoted to rank o Royal Academician, i te ded this to be his Diploma picture ; but when he Offered it to r d the Council it was, st angely enough, not appreciate , f f t er on e and there ore re used. A lit le lat he deposit d the

Souvenir of Velasquez instead. A s a brilliant contrast to the strange fancy of The ” r s e e 1 86 one of Enemy S owing Ta e , th re appear d in 7 and f of the brightest most delight ul his paintings, The ” Minuet. A young child in a scarlet dress, which she of holds up with a due sense importance, is just beginning a dance in a room sumptuously hung with tapestries that make an effective backgrou nd to her gay attire. Her ai r of t quaint responsibili y, and her childish stateliness, are are u the r particularly attractive, and s ggested by a tist with charming freshness and yet with just the right hint of old t of fashioned formality . With his delicate expression ” youthful graces was exhibited his Jephthah, a great and D J O HN EVERE TT M I LLA IS

C o f serious composition, representing the hampion Israel s t his eated in his house wi h daughter beside him and , ” as two h well , small pictures, Asleep, and Awake, t at, the Of and in minute and elaborate treatment accessories, in the precision of touch employed to define and realise t a of every de ail, reverted almost to the unsp ring labour

- his Pre Raphaelite days . But they really marked finally and distinctly the end of and a d his early methods, might almost h ve been painte with the deliberate intention Of emphasising th e change in his technical man ner that was immediately at hand . With them he bade farewell to the executive devices ' s and O fl that had served him so well in the pa t, rounded that busy period of his life in which were included of Of hi s the brilliant successes his youth, the struggles o the f mis under early manh od, and steady progress rom standing and misrepresentation to the general and sincere accepta nce which it was his fortune to gain before he had d d reache mid le age.

J UST A W A KE

5 2 JOHN EVERETT M I LLA I S a portrait group of his three daughters in white and blue s s o dre se set against a background f pink and white az aleas. the To same year belong also some smaller works, among ” the e them another with title, The Bride, which was us d s ff r two or three time by the artist at di e ent periods. That his new manner was not the result of a momentary fa or of s s for r s ncy, a pa sing de ire expe iment, was een a of of cle rly next year when his portrait Nina, daughter ”

. for F. Lehmann, Esq was exhibited ; in this canvas he showed an amount of mastery that surpassed even the certainty and ready contrivance Of the Souvenir of

z of ru - Velasque and another piece masculine b sh work , t Vanessa, a companion to the Stella hat had been o seen in the previous exhibition, proved that the wish t rival the great executants of other schools had possessed “ ’ ” . f Of him completely The Gambler s Wi e, a Portrait Sir

of - John Fowler, and a couple water colours , completed of 1 86 the list his contributions to the 9 Academy. Thes e were followed by a group that was as interesting for varied accomplishment as for the evidence it afforded of his ’ ” s. unhesitating progres It included A Widow s Mite, which was a picture very different in its inspiration from ” his Westminster Hall design, The Knight Errant, A ” ” F Of lood, The Boyhood Raleigh, and two portraits. Of these the most conspicuous were The Boyhood o f ” ” Er t Raleigh, and The Knight ran The first is to be of of regarded as one his happiest pieces sentiment, a s t plea ant romance related with natural charm , and wi h a of f touch human eeling that makes it most persuasive. of the The figures young Raleigh and his companion, who of are sitting on the old pier a Devonshire seaport, listen ing to the tales of adventure told them by a sunburnt e sailor, are happily conceiv d, and the atmosphere of the

whole picture is exactly appropriate. There is no strain f ff i th ing a ter e ect, no exaggerat on, and e whole scheme is “ arr ou t f t c ied t wi h per ect consis ency. In The Knight By pe n m s s w n of tire ’ ‘ Co rpor ati on 0/ L l w r/w l THE MA R I YR O F T HE SOLWA Y

YEAR BY YEAR—LATER WORKS

of f f Errant, romance a more anci ul kind is attempted , a ia v li sm story with a flavour of med a that fits it well . v The picture, howe er, is remarkable especially because it provides one of the few instances in which Millais set him self to paint the nude figure ; and it has a technical interest of an unusual sort bec ause it puts beyond question his ability to excel in a branch of practice that is universally a ffi admitted to be exception lly di cult, and to require the rares t combination of knowledge and skill. As a study of the r of has flesh texture figu e the maiden, who been er to r e t of stripped by robb s and bound a t e , is wor hy all praise ; and as a piece of subtle yet glowing colour it is h comparable with t e bes t efforts Of the Venetian Masters. too Of the ett f The armour, , Knight who is s ing her ree is h of of superbly andled . Some the quality the work is, s t t perhap , to be attribu ed to the compara ive haste with which it was painted it is said to have bee n completed in o n n t more tha six weeks. A story is told with reference to this painting that is t a as to the of wor h quoting, especi lly it helps fix date f his of another o his productions . In first arrangement ’ the figures he had turned the girl s head towards the a t d the spect tor, and had hereby injure appreciably senti as t ment of the composition . SO dissatisfied w he wi h the res ult that he was at first inclined to destroy the n of n picture ; but, upon co sideration, another way solvi g ffi as f was the di culty w ound. The head cut out and a of s s n fresh piece canva ew in. On this he painted the a face as it now appears, in profile ; and by the ch nge he e the ff c the greatly improv d pictorial e ect. The pie e with al was v d ft origin head preser e , and is supposed, a er having d r an n been inserte in a la ger c vas, to have bee completed ” t r Of S i s as The Mar y the Solway. This upposition certainly borne out by the strong similarity between the pose of the martyr and that of the nude figure in The ” Knight Errant 54 JOH N EVERETT M I LLAI S

“ 18 1 O e In 7 he broke new ground , and, with Chill ctob r, began that series of great landscapes to which for some while he devoted himself with unwavering application an d intense respect for nature. Until 1880 there was scarcely th e of for w any break in succession these canvases, Flo ing ” ” to to i 1 8 2 the Sea and Flowing the R ver appeared in 7 , “ “ ” 18 r e Scotch Firs and Winter Fuel in 74, The F ing ” “ of the n 18 O r Moor and The Deserted Garde in 75 , ve “ the 18 6 of n Hills and Far Away in 7 , The Sound Ma y ” “ ’ ” 18 1 8 8 and Waters in 77 St Martin s Summer in 7 , Urquhart Castle In 1 879 ; but then there were no more “ ” i 1 888 Murthl the m unt l , when y Moss was at Acade y, ’ and Christmas Eve at Mr Maclean s gallery. r These landscapes, however, represent a very small p o portion of the memorable pictures that made the period between the beginning of the seventies and the middle of the eighties specially distinguished even in his remarkable ft career. During these fi een years he produced about a ft Of ff m hundred and fi y works di erent kinds, and a ong them were many that mark the highest and most perfect ” of . O development his art With Chill ctober, he sent to “ ” O O the Academy Yes, or N Victory, Lord l A Som ” nambulist the a Of , and Portr it George Grote and in ” 1 8 2 f r 7 came his amous po trait group, Hearts are Trumps, n which was hailed at the time with e thusiasm, and has remained ever since in high favour with all lovers of his

work . It is generally supposed to have been painted in of f of s W alde rav rivalry the amous picture the Ladie g e,

by Sir Joshua Reynolds, but it bears really only a super ficial ce resemblan to that celebrated canvas, and owes its distinction far more to th e inventiveness and ability Of the t of modern master han to any imitation his predecessor. a Some other portr its were exhibited with it.

Another splendid technical achievement, the Portrait Of ” ff the f a Mrs Bischo sheim , belongs to ollowing ye r. With this he stamped himself as the indisputable leader of our

YEAR BY YEAR—LATE R WORKS s o su cho l, preme in accomplishment, and alone in his mar vellous command over the intricacies of executive practice. N f had f so ever be ore he shown himsel consummately able, or so confident in his extraordinary readiness of resource and only occasionally in the years that followed can he f be said to have reached the same degree of per ection . His admirable portraits of Mrs Heugh and Sir William ” ” n e O Ster dale Bennett, and thre pictures, Early Days, h, ” ” a so ew - th t a Dream long Enjoyed , and N Laid Eggs, a f f of pretty ancy painted rom one his daughters, were hung in the same exhibition ; but their merits were to some extent overshadowed by the superlative power of ff ” Mrs Bischo sheim . f m as one That this per or ance w not a happy accident, of those chance successes which sometimes come to an artist as a result O f a fortunate combination of circum Of stances, was put beyond doubt by the character his contributions to the 1 874 Academy exhibition . He fully maintained the high level of craftsmanship at which he had t arrived in the previous year, but he displayed his streng h o a c in a large and ambitious comp sition, an import nt subje t

Of r - a picture instead a portrait. The No th West Pass ge may fairly be reckoned as the most complete assertion of his mature conviction that he ever put before the public. Its motive was one calculated to appeal vividly to his militant instincts, and was suited in every way to his n a t e of robust and e ergetic person li y. The id a indomitable ‘ perseverance in the face of difli culties see mingly i nsur a f ff to mount ble, O tenacious e ort triumphantly accomplish t a a great intention, was quite in accordance wi h his natur l sympathies ; and the picture has therefore an inner sign ificance to which almost as much interest attaches as

f a t . to its outward aspect o unhesit ting certain y It is, s of perhaps, a little unequal in execution, but part it are n a of old mag ificent, and especially the he d the seaman, who sits at the table and listen s to the story of Arctic 56 JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S exploration that is being read to him by the gi rl seated f t for of e d at his eet. The si ter this splendid study rugg

the f of n. age was Mr Trelawny, riend Shelley and Byro

To the same year as The North - West Passage belo ng

of a - r - e o f The Picture He lth, a three qua ter length figur t ff h ai r a young girl, wi h her hands in a mu , and long e D a falling over her should rs, standing in a garden ; A y o a d Dream a portrait f The Hon . W lter Rothschil ” or of h ld and Still f a Moment, a vivacious picture a c i f of f n ree in a white pina ore, seated on the trunk a alle t , f o me with a little dog in her lap. These were ollowed by s ” o of NO and more p rtraits, and by a couple pictures, , of n es on The Crown Love, which Mr Ruski , in his not ” s as s t d the Academy, di missed sketche , though he admit e Of was n i th e that The Crown Love , in dramatic se t ment,

f C s s . 18 no chie anva shown that sea on But neither in 75 , r 1 8 6 in 7 , when Forbidden Fruit and Getting Better a n his were exhibited, did Millais paint nythi g finer than ” r of n port ait Miss Evelee Tennant, an amazing display of n r brilliant colour and strong tones, ha dled with g eat fluency and with a kind of riotous enjoymen t of the chances that were afforded him by the characteristic e Of picturesquen ss his subject. “ His masterpiece for 1 877 was the Yeoman of the ” a es Gu rd, an even more riotous and gorgeous say in strong t f of f colour han his chie work the year be ore. The scarlet f m of uni or with its lavish embroidery black and gold , and f was its picturesque ashion, something that exactly suited his fancy ; and he revelled in his struggle with the many ffi s t a d di cultie hat such a technic l problem presente to him . But there is little sign in the picture that he found this I subject more than usually exacting. t is particularly for r noteworthy its consistent and thorough t eatment, for the sound judgment with which every detail both Of the colour and the design has been managed ; and it is not less interesting on account of the sensitive and characteristic

YEAR BY YEAR—LATER WORKS re ndering Of the worn Old face Of the model than as a Of f i Of r fo piece still li e paint ng quite ext aordinary rce. The year in which it was exhibited was one in which he was u for wi t nusually prolific h it he showed , at the Academy, h i s portrait Of The Earl of Shaftesbury and a picture ! Yes at the Grosvenor Gallery, Stitch Stitch and ” rt s of Of O po rait The Marchioness rmonde, Countess G ” rosvenor, and Lady Beatrice Grosvenor at the King f ” Street Gallery, his delight ully imagined Effie Deans ; ” ’ s Puss in Boot , at Mr Maclean s gallery ; and he painted ,

s of t - - t beside , his portrait Carlyle, and a hree quarter leng h f picture O a girl to which he gave the title Bright Eyes . the These were not exhibited at time. a 1 8 8 o At the Grosvenor G llery appeared, in 7 , A Go d ” Resolve, a girl in a blue bodice and brown skirt, standing ” w t r i h her hand on an Open Bible, and Twins, a port ait f of . group o the daughters Mr T R. Hoare ; and at the

Academy The Princes in the Tower, a composition that ” r has had a g eat success as an engraving ; A Jersey Lily, “ o r of oo was n and a p rt ait. His Bride Lammerm r show l Of separate y, at the King Street Gallery. the works i n f ar t r completed the ollowing ye , the bes emembered is ” e r of all s Ch r y Ripe, the most widely popular his picture of ch s the s ildren, and in some respect daintie t and most fascinating illustration that he ever gave of a clas s of art production that requires particular delicacy and subtlety of “ t s of expression. To the Academy he sent por rait Mr ” ”

. . t rt Gladstone, Mrs S H Bedding on, and Mrs A hur ” of t en Kennard, and another Mrs S ibbard to the Grosv or

Gallery. too aintiri Of There, , was hung next spring his p g Mrs ” an of f Jopling, exquisite example his most per ect and not accomplished art, quiet, reserved , and simple, but want in i of g in meaning, and curiously exact in its suggest on the f m n charm that attaches to a gi ted personality. The treat e t of f f f of the sensitive ace, refined and eminine, and yet ull 58 JOH N EVERETT M I LLAI S

n S O u f f ca e l es s decisio , is sure and j dicious, so ree rom r u s r c e idealisation or tho ghtless mannerism, that it can ca ly i o n l t . be oo highly praised The picture, altogether, is except a u l i es in its manner, combining with rare skill the noblest q a ti ’ of the artist s method with the best expression o f h is s was of ra fin e capacity for close Ob ervation. It one seve l Of the t c o n things same class hat he exhibited that year, temporaneous with the likeness of himself painted for th e ‘ Ri llt H fliz i the of o n. U Gallery, and with portraits The g ” ” t e n e John Bright, Miss Ca herine Muriel Cowell St p y , r o n e Luther Holden, and Miss He mi ” a k oo Schenley. All these, with a picture, c lled Cuc ,

wo . t children sitting in a wood , were at the Academy the f of s made Indeed , during first hal the eighties, portrait up the bulk of his contributions to the exhibitions at m Burlington House and the Grosvenor Gallery, while ost of his subjec t- pictures were shown at one or other O f th e ’ TO 188 1 T dealers galleries . the Academy he sent, in , he ” Rev. John Caird , Bishop Fraser, Sir J . D. ” “ ” ” t Greenall Th Astley, Sir Gilber , Lord Wimborne, e

of Beaconsfield one - t hi Earl , and only subject pic ure, s pretty Cinderella and to the Grosvenor Gallery h is ” - of s f exquisitely handled portrait Mrs Perugini, who e ace a Of t appears in sever l his earlier works, and ano her subje ct ” 1 2 picture, Sweetest Eyes were ever seen . In 88 the “ “ a Ac demy had his Cardinal Newman , Sir Henry ” ” “ ” Thompson, Mrs James Stern, Dorothy Thorpe, Mrs ” ” Bud ett H R . . H. Richard g , D Thwaites, and . The ” Princess Marie of Edinburgh in 1 883 his S plendid study f “ ” “ ” “ o . R A of J C. Hook, , The Marquis Salisbury, T. ” . two f s H Ismay, and Charles Waring, ancy portrait , ” “ - - e Love Birds, and Forget me not, and a subj ct, The ” “ ” 1 88 le Grey Lady ; in 4, Sir Henry Irving, F etwood ” “ ” “ d Wilson, Miss Scott, and a large picture, An I yll, ” 1 88 “ “ and , in 5 , Lady Peggy Primrose, Simon ” ” O and “ T Fraser, rphans, the important canvas, he

' By per mi s s i on of the F i ne A r t PRINC E S S E LIZA li E I H IN P RISON ' w ner s o Me co r i h t A T S T A M ES S S oci ety , o f py g J

04 J OH N EVE RETT M I LLAI S

f t he ad vo selection O suitable material . But beyond his cated S pecial precautions against any narrowing of the ’ artist s practice by too close adherence to one kind of In hi s i n o picture. his Thoughts he put t convict on i t “ words of considerable S ignificance : Individuality is not all that should be looked to ; a varied manner must be t a e a a he cultivated as well. I believe h t, howev r dmir bly in e t n erf h e may paint a c r ai method , or however p ectly e i of ect rt o may rend r a certa n class subj , the a ist sh uld not be content to adhere to a speciality of manner or r t n method . A fine style is good, but it is not eve y hi g ” it is not absolutely necessary . Certainly Sir John carried out these principles in hi s had a e own production . He many sides to his ch ract r s of s r w th as an arti t, and used his powers ob e vation i f not b splendid reedom . His popularity was gained y of one of n the reiteration any set ideas, but by showi g f of I n himself equally capable in many orms painting. was i c his figure pictures he by turns dramatic, romant , at t wa sternly realistic, and imes sentimental in a robust y ; i i n in his portra ts he was incisive, direct, and accurate ; hi s c s r i n landscapes pre i e, exact, and searchingly co rect his rendering of what was before him ; and in his wate r colours and drawings in black and white delightfull y

f . c no se t acile and ingenious He had no spe iality, and conviction that there was one particular thing he c ou ld do better than anything else ; so that he never restrained his love of variety or bound himself by limitations base d

simply upon expediency. In any classification of his works the first place mu st

r fi ure- and tr necessa ily be given to his g paintings por aits . e of c Inde d, they make up the bulk his a hievement, and f of t i represent the ullest growth his capaci y. The h story of hi s f li e is principally written in them . They S how more convincingly than anything else he did what manner Of man h e was , and how his nature shaped itself through By per miss ion of Me I- i ne A r t D E NE rs o Me co r i ht DROPPE FROM TH S T S oci ety, owne f py g

FIGURE P I CTURES A ND PORTRAI TS 65 m rs of t ff any yea unremi ting e ort. The charm of his — personality distingu ishes them all a charm as evident in the simpler and more limited subjects as in those which made great demands upon his powers of invention and contrivance. There was never any suggestion that he did not honestly feel the motive with which he was was not f dealing, or that he per ectly convinced that f f O . I f what he had chosen was worthy record he ailed , it was bec ause he had misapprehended the suitability of a o his materi l , not because he had been trying t do s of hi s omething outside the range belief.

Curiously, perhaps, his honesty and directness were at the same time th e source of what was best in his and c of t f pictures, the ause heir chie weaknesses . Had he not been so frank and wholesome minded he could never have arrived at that exquisite appreciation of the daintiness of childhood to which he gave expression in a of ss f a gre t many his most succe ul canvases, and c n er r s of all ould ev have gained, as he did , the hea t

c e of art . O of C lass s lovers nly a worshipper hildren, with th s e most absolute sympathy with their ways and habit , could have painted pictures as persuasive as Cherry ” ” if a r Rip e, A Wa , C lle The Princess a of t of Eliz beth, and that long series pret y studies, f ” f ” which Per ect Bliss, Dropped rom the Nest, ” r Forbidden F uit, and Little Mrs Gamp, may be O qu oted as types. nly a man with the happiest sense of delicate shades of character could have commanded th e extraordinary popularity that came to him as a res ult of his production of pictures such as these. ” as For instance, Cherry Ripe, when it was issued a coloured plate by the proprietors of Tile Grapltie was the created a quite astonishing sensation. SO great anxiety of the admirers of the artist to Obtain this re production that an edition of was exhausted in

e w a s f the e n . N a f d ys, without at all atis ying d ma d early

F. JOHN EVERETT M I LLA I S

of s u e d for double the number copie co ld have be n sol , the total of the orders received at Tbe Graplrie o ffice ucc approached a million. That this unprecedented s ess was due to the subtlety of the treatment of the picture is beyond question ; the little sitter is not represente d as r c ti play ing a part in any d ama omic or pathe c, she is r wi placed among no romantic su roundings, and th an r no accessories that suggest y sto y. She is simply her f f i - quaint little sel , per ectly ch ld like, absolutely natural,

Of f- s c and without a touch sel consciousnes . She la ks the hint Of s tately artificiality that marks the Souvenir of z a for l e Velasque she m kes no appeal sympathy, ik the Princess Elizabeth She is fascinating purely as a pretty piece of nature recorded by a man who was blessed with a temperament that never lost its yo uth ful f h res nes s. What was a quality of inestimable value in work that lent itself well to the assertion of all that was d ainties t and most refined in hi s conviction became now and then a source of weakness when he tried to apply it to the r of r car ying out more complicated themes. His d ama at times de scended into an artlessness that would have been feeble if it had not been redeemed by its indisputable A n of ff sincerity. example this is a orded in Peace r of Concluded , the sto y which is explained by ’ the f toy animals, taken rom a Noah s ark, which are being grouped by a child upon the knee of the wounded ofli cer who is the central figu re in the picture ; and there is something of the same imperfection of thought in such i ” compositions as The Romans leaving Br tain, and ! ’ ” Mercy St Bartholomew s Day. They are to be reckoned among his failures because in interpre ting them he has bee n satisfied to be obvious and matter of- f act, and has not risen to the greater possibilities p re “ sented by exacting subjects ; just as in his Joan of A rc has e m t of his he miss d the ro an ic side heroine,

’ MERCY—S T BA RTHOLOME W S DA Y

JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S

e ss the u h ts ing is not to be ques tion d. They expre tho g his f a es an d of a man who, with all straight orw rdn s u now t urfa c e simplicity, co ld and then look benea h the s and work o ut problems far more profound than it was

- s his every day habit to inve tigate. t in t whi c h Even in his less monumen al works, hose with S o w a he made up his high general average, he could h

o t . a h e sterling sense f ar istic responsibility Indeed, wh t as e nc chose to do was done, a rule, with so much consist y and so much logic that the result rarely suggested an y as n of inquiry to the sufficie cy the motive. Howe ver Of t r slight the amount his inspira ion, the picture he p o uced f its i o n d was usually satis ying, and, within limitat s, s admirably complete. It might not cau e any deep t e ” ” flection i ; it might, like Cherry Ripe, The Capt ve, ” e t r of s aim a Cind rella, and many o he s the same cla s, t nothing more than the reproduction of a personality ; or it might have only a thread of story binding together th e s various actors in the scene repre ented. But it was hardly ever to be passed by without attention or to be disregarded as the performance of an artist who had not solidly con vinced himself before he Offered to other people the proofs

Of his mental application . had f His romance, especially, this merit o being well thought out. It was never complicated by excess of and was its the f details, strict in adherence to main acts of the story, without irrelevant matter introduced to com “ l e f c p et picturesquely an imper ect con eption . The Knight ” Errant is a v ery good example of his method of dealing “ an f own f with incident evolved rom his ancy ; and Victory, ” O Lord l is equally characteristic as an instance of the power with which he could seize upon the salient points of e hi m i a subject suggest d to by written h story. Many of of the his finer paintings were illustrative, records impres sions made upon him by things he had read, and expres sions of the instinct that brought him throughout his THE ESCA PE O F A HE RETIC

FI G URE PI CTURES A ND PO RTRAITS 69 l i fe such success as a draughtsman in black and white ; b u t they were only occasionally direct illustrations of a r f p ticular passages from books. More o ten what he a v was V of g e his iew what might have happened, rather th a n a plain reproduction in paint of what was already x e in fi d words. H e preferred to base himself more upon the spirit than th e of r f r f letter a sto y, to find a new reading o himsel , and to treat it with a considerable degree of independence. I n The Princes in the Tower he followed none of the a c and Efli e cepted versions, in Deans he made a subject o u t of the slightest possible suggestion in the text of the ro mance ; yet both pictures show that pecu liar air Of con v i c tion which results from a perfect understanding of what f i s essential or the prOper application of dramatic material . I n s l s of the e, as in a most all his rendering incident, appears h is of a the of r habit att cking not climax the sto y, but ra of an ther one its earlier stages, intermediate moment w hen the action is still in progress and the final result is i s u ggested rather than clearly foreshadowed . Th s habit r w as always st ong upon him . It gave their particular ” n i terest to such early works as The Huguenot, The ” B Brunswi cker d lack , The Proscribe Royalist, and “ ” of r did The Escape a He etic, just as much as it to ” of later pictures like The Girlhood St Theresa, or Speak ! Speak ! and by introducing a touch of specu lation into the record of his thoughts he enhanced the fas cination which was never wanting in his stu rdy in i s v ent on .

r r Of fi u re - Indeed, there was in eve y b anch his g painting uffi o for o s ome s cient reas n his p pularity, some distinct attractiveness Of mental quality to add convincingly to the impression created by his superlative command over be d . t technicalities He could tender, dain y, and refine in his studies Of children ; serious and solemn in his c i symbolical ompositions ; pathet c, vigorous, and passion 70 JO H N EVERETT M I LLAI S ate by turns in his subject - pictures ; and through a l l of o me ran a vein sentiment that was always wholes , ff n c ed clean , and intelligible. He never a ected to be influe f s al to him n o r by eelings that were not hone tly natur , did he pretend to represent anything that he did n o t S W a h e believe in incerely and without question . h t was f an d painted invariably what he elt at the moment ; , as r W e s whether it was a m terpiece, like The No th t f e C o n Passage, or a comparative ailure, like Peac ” eluded s e a the s ec , it expre s d simply the appe l that ubj t had made to him ; and his response to thi s appeal was always unconventional and definite. He trusted in the same way to a personal impression O f f He h ad his sitter when he set himsel to paint a portrait. no desire to be either coarsely material or unduly fan ci ful s of had n in his repre entation modern humanity , and he o e of o was in fix d manner treating all sorts f types . There this most important section of his art no pretence that h e n r wished to create anythi g, or even to build up a t adition as to the way in which the human subject should b e was rendered. What he wanted to show that he under v t O f the f him stood the indi iduali y man or woman be ore , and that his understanding had helped him to make C lear to others the special idiosyncras ies that separated that man f the a or woman rom ordin ry crowd . Portraiture to him was t of n of a ma ter Observatio , receptiveness to suggestion, a of and accept nce what was visible, rather than an artistic process which enabled him to give free scope to his i n ventive instincts. This V iew of his responsibilities was partly the outcome of of t f- his temperament, partly a result the stric sel educa tion that he had gone through in his younger days . To a imitate what he had closely examined, and to st te plainly e ec what he had d cided to be right, had b ome the main r s of and n t p inciple his practice, owhere did they con rol r him so stringently as in his portraits. But they ope ated

THE RIGHT HO N . N F THE E A RL O F B EA CO S I E LD

72 JOHN EVE RETT M I LLAIS

are s interpretation . They studied , exact, and inten ely of d is real, records acute analysis applied with thorough of s t rare crimination, and masterly mechanism u ed wi h f a and control . No per unctory labour appe rs in them , their value is diminished by no slurring over of the little things which help to define the more intimate characteristics of the modern man . As a study in subtleties it is instructive to examine of no te such a portrait as that Mr John Hare, and to f a of the rvous with what S kill the mobile e tures ne , r how of animated face are endered, and the vivacity the actor is suggested by refinement of modelling and l f . va e sensitiveness o drawing There is, too, a uabl ’ illustration of Sir John s methods to be Obtained by comparing with this portrait another of an equally eminent member of the same profes sion. Facially there is little in common between Mr Hare and Sir Henry

Irving, but the artist in painting them has made the difference not merely one of feature. He has marked accurately and with perfect comprehension the divergen ce between the exquisite manipulator of dramatic detail who rejoices in high finish and infinite exactnes s of impersona W f tion , and the deep thinker hose li e has been devoted to the working out of those great artistic problems which the an modern theatre m ager has to face. Another instance of his faculty for realising the men tal character of his sitter is afforded by the marvellous power Of 188 of the 5 portrait Mr Gladstone, a supremely accomplished record of a complex personality in which a r were blended indomit ble will , militant ene gy, and m of f ste decision, with a strain almost anatical enth usi

TO S - asm and credulity. contrast with it the phinx like r of and insc utable head Lord Salisbury, the tender dreamy f of and poetic ace Mr Hook, with the artistic temperament ” proclaimed in every line, the Thomas Carlyle, soured and n and at t c rn cy ical, war with exis en e, or the sad, wo , THE mosT HON . THE MA R UE S S o r S ALIS BURY Q x. , c .

JO HN EVERETT M I LLAI S

I s a t scarcely true. t may be that he wished to expre s th view of himself which he put into words with regard to th e Th e picture of him that Frank Holl produced in 1886 . “ t was now I comment made by Millais on his work , I k oe look a bit of a farmer ; but then I am also a bit of a p t. ” f Th e A nd Holl h as made me all armer and no poet. ai is ce of a l Ufii z i Gallery portr t rtainly that poet, undu y of n d contemplative, and without much hint that sple di tenacity which made Millais so striking a figure in th e

f the i . if ar l record o Brit sh School Still, even it sc ce y s the man w its er ess to suggest we kne , it is by v y unliken the general run of his portraits spec ially interesting as a revelation of his estimate of himself ; and as a piece o f i a n painting t is not bly importa t. About his technical methods there is comparati vely be not a who c erned little to said . He was worker onc f v r vi of t ar d to himsel e y deeply over de ces execu ion, or c e codify his system of painting in accordance with scientific an th principles. He drew well, and h dled his materials wi the sureness and confidence that came from complete know f t His hi f h as o . as ledge what he wan ed to do c e desire, e ta in r s b en already stated , was to re in pictu e that had really cost him deep thought and prolonged labour an as pec t of spontaneity and freshness ; to be direct in state

a - f d ment and simple in expression. He had well ounde belief that the finest art was that in which the meaning of the artis t was to be realised with the least amount of seeking and with as little inquiry as possible about his

t . e e v all l f t in entions Cons qu ntly, he stro e his i e to mas er t s of ft the in ricacie his cra , so that no hesitation on his part d might make his meaning vague or indefinite. Spee he h always ad . Even in the apparently laborious period of hi s

- f a Pre Raphaelite per ormance he could , and did , p int with z f t —the of ama ing acili y head Ferdinand, in Ferdinand ” for n a e five lured by Ariel, was, i st nce, complet d in hours — and as years went on his certainty became even more

CHAPTER VI

LA NDSCAPE ART

W HAT is exactly the estimate that can be formed of th e value of the contributions made by S ir John Millai s to art of t r r the landscape his centu y depends, to a ve y c on s i able t the i der exten , upon v ew that the inquirer may h old concerning the manner in which out- of- door subjects a a r l should be att cked. Landsc pe painting is la ge y a e of a f i s far n er matt r person l eeling, and less tha any oth form of artistic practice amenable to rules and regu la

. t t of a his tions The par icular individuali y the p inter, a f u i s the f art speci l pre erences and s scept bilitie , play chie p both in his choice of material and in his decision as to the shaping of it upon canvas ; and the willingn ess o f art lovers to accept his statements without reservation or ' question is greatly afiected by the impressionability o f ’ an these observers to nature s suggestions. M y people have unconsciously strong convictions about the as pec ts f the t v as d not o world about hem, con ictions b e upon f t o . reason, but arising ra her rom ass ciation and habit If they happen to find in any painter a kindred spirit who es are a him thinks and se as they do, they apt to ex lt , f t h o ten unduly, simply because hey understand what e sa t e r man has to y ; and hey are inclin d to under ate the , i s equally convinced, whose inst nct have led him in a ' r nt difie e direction. The unquestionable popularity that Millais gained by his excursions into landscape was certa inly due to the fact that his observation was of the ordinary and every

n . was a of n not day ki d He student ature, an imaginative 76

78 JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S if his own inclinations lie in the direction of analysis of t t of the of little hings rather han comprehension whole, h f t w ich they orm part, he soon discovers hat by giving way to his instincts he can secure an amount of approval that would never be wi thin his reach if he strove to enlarge his scope and acquire that wider view which could come to

r of c f- e him only by a st enuous process spe ial sel ducation . It cannot be said that Millais ever did make this effort of of to extend the limits his observation nature ; it may, e t f the n s fo r indeed , be doubt d whe her he even elt ece sity vi r an d con it. His con ction was so st ong, his excusable fidence was t t re in his own judgment so complete, hat he was probably in his mind no hesitation about followin g

n e. o a t a conge ial cours More ver, it is e sy to believe hat the acclamation with which his first essays in pure land sc ape were received confirmed him in the resolve to paint what was obviously to the taste of a considerable section f was of o the public. There no question then fighting for recognition against an almost overpowering weight o f f 18 1 h . O opposition He had , be ore 7 , when C ill ctober the f of appeared, won his way to ront rank popular ff was f favourites, and any new e ort he made sure o bein g treated with respect. He had proved that his capacity was great enough to justify a general faith in the val u e r of his artistic achievement, and that his new depa tures would probably be not less significant and authoritati ve than those more familiar attempts by which his reputation had been established . if th e t f t i Certainly, ra her u ile speculat on as to what he if his might have done in landscape, temperament had t t been o her han it was, is abandoned, it must be admitted a that within his limitations he was extraordin rily able. His z of i ama ing patience and his surprising quickness v sion, enabled him to grasp with absolute accuracy the plain facts f u of o nat re, and his command brushwork ensured a rare perfecti on in his pictorial expression of the matter that he By per mi ss i on of t/ w ‘ THE B IND GI R CoW a ti on o/ B cm i ngka m L L

80 JOHN EVERETT MILLAI S

e of of s i c by th rays the setting sun. As a record micro cop r s f insight, the pictu e is superlatively succe s ul ; it could or e ou t b u t hardly be more exact, more closely reason d ; , as a representation of Nature in one of her most impres o too hi s d ff . S sive moo s, it is ine ectual and unconvincing , , ” O f o f most popular landscape, Chill ctober, alls short an d greatness, because it is too plainly studied bit by bit, f n part by part, and built up precisely by the care ul putti g u It in place of material collected for the pictorial p rpose. t not one ti n holds toge her, because it has great domina g so an d intention , but because its construction is ingenious, n no ca n its mecha ism so workmanlike, that single detail e ou of o be criticis d as t relation t the rest. It can hardly be d nor an called learne in design , can it be said to have y t of the of f m conspicuous digni y style ; yet knowledge or , the intimate observation of the growth of ri verside of vegetation , and the appreciation autumnal colouring , which were turned to account by the artist in his treatmen t of the subject, make the canvas prominent among the its greatest nature studies of modern times . In particular of d qualities truth and industry, it is, indee , so notable that there is no difficulty in accepting it as a piece of rare e accomplishment , b yond all comparison with what other painters have attempted in the same direction . There is in existence a note written in 1 882 by the — — artist it is pasted on to the back of the canvas which is not only an explanation of th e method pursued by him in v o f painting this picture, but also gi es an idea the spirit in which he attacked all his work in the open air. Chill ’ October was painted from a backwater of the Tay just f as t . below Kin auns, near Per h The scene, simple it is, for f had impressed me years be ore I painted it. The traveller betwee n Perth and Dundee passes the spot where o on — I sto d . Danger either side the tide, which once a e f c rri d away my plat orm , and the trains which threatened o th for t blow my work into the river. I chose e subject the

82 J OHN EVERETT MILLAIS

i f be painted . Almost his only representat on o the sp ring ” e to was se n in Apple Blossoms, which belongs a d ate f c o n i sed be ore his powers as a portrait painter had been re g , and before the demands made upon him by a su cces s ion of sitters had limited his opportunities for country e x c ur the f of f sions. During latter hal his li e, however, he made of u h d d a practice spending the aut mn mont s in Scotlan , an it was there that he was able to give way to that lo v e of — nature which was so strong in hi m as he once ex pres sed “ : so it I do so delight in painting landscapes, much more than portraiture ! You can so completely p l ease yourself in landscape : you have only yourse l f to satisfy. To these autumns in Scotland was due the produ c ti on ” of to the R r o i n such canvases as Flowing ive , Fl w g to ” of all the Sea, and The Sound Many Waters, pa inted ” on the r W Tay or its t ibutaries ; Scotch Firs, inter ” ” ” Murthl Murthl u h Fuel , y Moss, y Water, and Urq art ” O the T Castle and ver Hills and Far Away, he Old ” of of h Garden , and The Fringe the Moor, in each whic is seen the most ample evidence of his enth usiastic study and of his marvellous accuracy in the rendering o f the results of certain conditions of weather and of the changes produced in the face of the country by the march o f the e the i s seasons. Only h re and there in whole ser e o f hi s landscapes can one be noted which hints at any desire to emphasise the impression made upon him by some passing of n subtlety atmosphere, or by some momentary cha ge of effect ; and only occasionally can he be said to have reverted to the poetry which was so definitely felt in such earlier “ ” ” “ Isumbras pictures as Autumn Leaves, Sir , or The of O Vale Rest. In The ld Garden , he treated acutely of and appreciatively the quiet stillness autumn twilight, the repose of evening in those later months of the year when the first touches of winter frost give warning of the rigours to come ; and in The Moon is up and yet it is

JOHN EVERETT MILLAI S exact position among the pictures of this century mu s t f fr o n e o . I always be a matter opinion t is possible, om t an of the h i h standpoint, to deny to hem y spirit by w c the an d i s landscape in largest sense should be dignified, it equally possible to go to the other extreme and to h ai l them as revelations of all that is most learned an d exh austive in the way of nature study ; the attitude of th e observer must necessarily depend almost entirely upon th e l e v e way in which nature appea s to him, and upon what r preference he may have for one manner of treatment o ver t r ano he . At least there cannot be argued against the artist th at his landscape art lacked in the smallest degree eith er

. on ti knowledge or industry His comment his prac ce, a f e ur am I h ve o ten b en labo ed , but, whatever I , — I am never careless applies as fully to his out- of- d oor

as his fi ure - 0 o work to g pictures. N one but a dev ted and scientific craftsman could have painted so exactly “ the swirl and movement of water as he has done in A ” “ of Flood , or The Sound Many Waters, or could have gi ven so perfectly the character of living vegetation as he the f of O and has in oreground Chill ctober, in the leafy fringe that overhangs the pool in Halcyon Weather and only a draughtsman of infinite cons cience could have suggested with such absolute ec onomy of labour the ex tent of aerial space which is so fas cinating in his drawing of ” t Orley Farm. These hings prove that landscape was not with him a recreation , the occupation of his leisure moments when he wished to lay aside the weightier res ponsibilities of his profession and amuse himself with t s some hing slighter and le s absorbing. He only al tered

- — his focus when he got out of doors ; there was no change of in the minuteness his observation . If anything in the way of attempted definition is of desirable, it may perhaps be said him that he looked at

- of open air nature with the eyes the p ortrait painter, and

CHAPTER VI I

BLACK AND WHITE WORK

T has been well said that if Millais had never devoted h f the of s h ad imsel to painting oil picture , but given f the of o i r his his li e entirely to work b ok llust ation, pos ition among the chief leaders of the British School e a his would still have b en indisput ble, and magnificent t re is abili y would have been amply demonstrated . The , f o t . indeed , a great deal truth in this conten ion Although the world would have bee n the poorer for the loss of his of f ex e mas terly essays in brushwork, and his wonder ul r r of d cises in the a rangement strong colour, it woul have possessed extremely significant evidence of the reality of of o his artistic judgment, and the adaptability f his in tive his ven powers. In black and white work he showed frequently a side of his capacity that appeared in his paint of ing only on great occasions, a sense dramatic exigencies, f for rat n far a eeling illust ive mea ings, beyond what was the of suggested by general run his pictures. As an interpreter of the fancies of other men he was exceptionally of th intelligent, with a memorable grasp e salient points of the story and a remarkable facility in summarising was f of essentials . He a raid nothing in the way of a and no o subject, spared labour t make his drawings completely expressive . His love of black and white was indeed a genuine t one. Illustra ion was not to him, as it so often is with other men , a mere expedient, resorted to because an unappreciative public refused to recogn ise the merit and a of and import nce his paintings, abandoned gladly as 86

BLACK AND WH ITE WORK 87 s oon as he found he could make a sufli cient income w . O the o or ithout it n contrary, he welcomed the pp t u nities with which this branch of art practice pro v ided e of him, and regard d them as the highest value. F or t was r more han twenty years he a prolific illust ator, c o nstantly busy with drawings that were reproduced in a ll kinds of books and magazines ; and even in his later l ife occasional examples appeared to prove that his hand h ad not lost its cunning and that his interest in this type

o f work was undiminished . f o How deeply he elt ab ut this particular subject is, w perhaps, best proved by his constant advocacy, ithin nd the of of a without Academy, the claims illustrative to ffi f e th draughtsmen o cial recognition. Be or e Royal Commission on the Academy he strenuously urged that workers in black and white should be declared eligible for election to membership of that institution as draughts n of s me purely, instead being req uired to disgui e them s elves as picture painters before they could hope for admission ; and his pleading then expres sed a conviction e hi m which remain d strong in till his death. Mr Spiel ” m s ann, in his book, Millais and his Works, quote a of remark made by the artist, as President the Academy, that if he had lived he would have done his utmost to

persuade his fellow- members at Burlington House to adopt his view and to enlarge the narrow Academic borders so as to include the followers of a branch of art e on the which is without an qual in its hold public, and o f the gre atest importance as a means of encouraging a t r tru e taste in aesthetics . He spoke with real au ho ity o and s c n he on a matter that, b th by inclination a so iatio , us of was fully qualified to disc s. His experience illus

trative drawing, and his acquaintance with the history ts e er and o f i dev lopment, w e both peculiarly intimate ; he knew exactly what were the possibilities of influence

possessed by the craft. 88 JOHN EVE RETT M ILLAIS

I e f e t was ess nde d , it may airly be argu d hat he not l influential in layi ng the foundations of the great mod ern school of illustrators than he was in leading the splen did ff ss an h al f renasc ence of pictorial e ort which has, in le th

- art f a a a century, raised British rom a moribund st te to condition of vitality that has hardly been equalled at an y i s me n previous epoch in t history. Among the draughts

f men r se - c s o the sixties, among the whom p e nt day criti ’ place in the front rank of the world s workers in blac k

a ou t e f. and white, Millais st nds as the acknowledged chi a was m n He was as plainly their ch mpion, as he the do i ating and militant spirit of the Pre - Raphaelite revolt ; always the first in every movement that promised to increase the opportunities open to the artists or to improv e the conditions under which their productions could be h presented to t e public. It was largely in response to his demand that those changes were made in the process of wood engraving by which drawing on the block was f f at the t t n reed rom undesirable limit ions, and res ric io s under which illustrators had previously suffered were t removed ; so hat, indirectly, he may be said to have created the facilities which were enjoyed by the younger f f draughtsmen who ollowed in his ootsteps. t 18 0 1 8 The company which he led be ween 5 and 80 , by the f o of o orce b th example and precept, was one f rare n brilliancy. It i cluded not only his own immediate con a fr and t i tempor ries and iends, Holman Hunt, Rosse t , but who many younger men, year by year attached themselves own to it and carried on, each in his way, the principles of v working which Millais con incingly expounded . A complete list would comprise an extraordinary number of s f of name that are amiliar to every student modern art, Pinwe ll Fred Walker, , Houghton, J . W . North, Sandys, n f Charles Keene, Du Maurier, Poy ter, to quote a ew only of the most prominent, and would serve well as a record of a great revival . That he should have kept his place at

90 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS

history of its production proves it to have been a piece of a u t of n moment ry inspiration, an ill stra ion a subject sudde ly th of the suggested and carried out on e spot. The date 18 a drawing is about 49, when Mill is was stay ing at Shotover House making studies for his picture of Ferdinand and ” f . O r o Ariel ne evening he was amusing a pa ty children, of one e s whom Lady Dilke was , by sketching various subj ct that they chose ; and it was in response to a request from her for an illustration of the Battle of Stirling that this ’ d . n an a drawing was executed A moment s consideratio , of ar s es e glance at a book milit y costume , which was b id uffi f i the him on the table, s ced by way o preparat on, and t all su es sketch, wi h its vigorous movement and happy gg t of of and ion the turmoil battle, was promptly completed h n t e u . ha ded over to child, who carried it home in tri mph

e the - t To th se early years, when Pre Raphaelite movemen the of sti v was in first flush its enthusia c acti ity, belong many wonderful drawings full of minute detail and con ceived f i e with infinite ingenuity, care ul composit ons r cord ing subjects chosen from history or from the poems and to be a romances which devoted const nt study. The methods of execution followed by the artist in making

t s v . he e designs were very aried Sometimes he used pencil, but f e sometimes pen and ink, not in r quently he chose as d u his his me i m ink applied with a brush, as in Spoliation ” of of e i t the Tomb Qu en Matilda, or pen and ink w h ” h of as u of was es colour, in his exq isite drawing St Agnes, ’ ’ ” illustrating Tennyson s poem St Agnes Eve. Occasion ss f the s of n ally he expre ed himsel through proce s etchi g, but of his work in this direction there are extant very few o instances, and these, it seems, must be assigned entirely t the period when the views of the Brotherhood influenced him and led him into experiments which he did not follow

f - up in later li e. In water colour, however, he painted con s l a of u tant y . M ny his more important pict res were worked out in this medium before he commenced them upon

BLACK A ND WH ITE WORK 9:

and s has ft r of canvas ; , beside , he le a numbe other water colours which were not intended as studies to be developed l r but m of hi s of a ate on, were independent exa ples use particular form of technical practice that gave him excellent results. The first conspicuous assertion of his power as an illus t 18 u rator was given in 57, when Edward Moxon p blished ’ the of quarto edition Tennyson s poems . With Holman se u s a was Hunt, Rossetti, and veral other yo ng artist , Mill is for and chosen to make drawings the book, the manner in which he turned to account the special opportu niti es pre f sented by the material which he ound then at his disposal, confirmed at once the good opinion that the more j udicious Observers had formed about his chances of success in this a of r a h s f an br nch a t. He st mped im el as instinctive t u of translator, wi h the ac test perception the pictorial of f and possibilities the text that was put be ore him, a marvellous faculty for keeping sympatheti cally in touch the of t . with intentions the au hor His imagination, it u d not f the t m st be remembere , was o erra ic order, prone f ffi f u to build strange ancies upon an insu cient o ndation, and ready to lead him into spec ulations only vaguely con nected t had a n wi h the original matter he undert ke to study. His natural eq uipment for his work was something much t for was far r better han that, what he had instead the mo e al f v uable quality o intelligence. Rarely enough did he miss the true signification of the passage he had to ill us r f rate, and still more arely did he ail to make his ex n of planatio it completely graphic and decisive. To say that he took his colour from the writer with whom he was associated is not to imply any disparage f ment o his ability. Rather it may be taken as an acknow of fi s for If ledgment his tne s his work. he had been less or to i for tractable, less inclined use his analyt cal skill the s of f a r fts n dis ection the ideas ormed by the liter ry c a ma , he would never have shown that astonishing variety and 92 JO HN EVERETT MILLAIS

and r a h e versatility by which he was distinguished , ce t inly would never have touched those depths of knowledg e and thought which he sounded time after time with pe r n t se of an d feet co fidence. It was his sen adaptation , for s n hi s this capacity a similating k owledge, that made n h e Tennyson drawings so impressive. In such desig s as t ” ’ ” ” n and th e Mariana, St Ag es Eve, The Sisters, ” of the O r Death ld Year, and in the slighte Locksl ey ” ” th e Hall , and Edward Gray and Emma Moreland, it is of d se t very mind the poet that is picture , and every touch down by the artist aims at conveying to the observe r exactly and faithfully the mental picture that the word s u n is suggest. The ill strations give us nothi g that n ot n r the t nor do already e sh ined in tex , they hint at any novel or unexpected reading of its hidden meanings ; th ey e may be said to make it visible, and to put th poetic imagery into a tangible form. f r a These Tennyson drawings were, however, but a o et ste of a feast of work of the same class provided lavishly by h Millais during t e decade that followed . In 1 859 Once a n the Week was started, and he bega with first volume a connection with that magaz ine that continued without for interruption some years . Among the earlier drawings that he contributed to its pages were illustrati ons to the lines by Tom Taylor on Magenta and The Plague of ” f Elliant, and among those that ollowed in rapid succession ’ ” ” Chell s a were Farmer Kitchen, Marg ret Wilson, The ” ” i f r e Monk, A Fair Jacobite, wh ch he a te wards paint d as ” ” of c The White Cockade, and The Mite Dor as, which was the germ of the idea later on elaborated as The ’ of t s Widow s Mite. Most he e were comparatively slight a v of e an in handling, be ring e idences spe d in execution, d treated with straightforward and ready simplicity ; but in scarcely a single instance do they show any failure to

v the - er appreciate correctly and vi idly subject matt selected. During the same period he completed a set of nineteen

94 jO HN EVE RETT MILLAIS

’ tions executed by him for that novelist s Orley F a rm are to be placed in the front rank of his bl ack an d w h ite f n . s o desig s Trollope, in his autobiography, re ers to this t ry “ and its illustrator in the words : I am fond of O rley ’ a am f of tr n s b F rm , and I especially ond its illus atio y h are n v e l in Millais, whic the best I have seen in any o ” t a w all e nth u s i any language, a sincere opinion h t ith its as tic ser a i o approval can be endorsed almost without re v t n. If Millais did not reach a level of intelligence qu ite as remarkable in the drawings for the Small Hous e at ” ” ” Framle as and Allington, y Parsonage, Phine Finn , of t v ced in some his o her attempts, at least he ne er produ anything that could be criticised as inefficient or wan t s b ing in ta te, and in execution his work went on year y ar n rea i ye , increasing in power and growi g in happy d f s a . o n h ne s and ch rm By the end the seventies, whe e made himself responsible for the woodcuts in the edi ti on de ’ ” l ur e of i e r Thackeray s Barry Lyndon, it had ga ned a d g ee of f for a t of delicacy and refinement, a eeling be u y line and of m c elegance arrangement, which could hardly be at hed. “ ” Whether the Millais of Barry Lyndon surpassed the ” artist who had handled Orley Farm it wou ld be very difficult to say ; but with these two books he certainly established the standard against which can be measu red not only his own work but that of all other artists i n black and white whom the latter half of this century has produced . It would be possible to quote a great many more in of as for stances his success an illustrator, during the busiest period of his production he contributed to a great many books and magazines but it must suffi ce to call attention to the real meaning of his intervention in this section of the NO work done by the British School . consideration of his influence and no review of his performance would be complete without an appreciative reference to his services d h to black an w ite. As a painter he has a secure place

BLACK A ND WH ITE WORK 95 among the chief modern masters of the world ; but what for if not e he did pictorial art was paralleled , surpass d, by th e won for s victory he the draughtsmen , and by his a ser tion of the dignity and importance of illustration as a form of fo he s of occupation r even t greate t art workers . CHAPTER VI II

COMME NTS A ND CRITICISMS

A LTHOUGH it is very much to be questioned whether written criticisms have any particular value as a means i of ar as ti nal of direct ng the practice an tist, or an educa o e ff c of s influenc a e ting his convictions, a degree hi torical interes t attaches to them, when collected, because they reflect to some extent the unprofessional opinion about hi s ff f if of . capacities at di erent periods his li e They show, o ff s f they d nothing else, how his e ort to express himsel e a t and have be n ccep ed understood , how his aims have to the e the appealed people about him , and what has be n effect produced by his manner of asserting the artisti c

e . creed, good or bad, to which he has given his adherenc of e o f By the tone these criticisms, inde d , some sort i f of th of r est mate can be ormed his streng , and the deg ee of independence with which he has approached the If h as problems that his profession has presented . he t h as ee n never shown any striking individuali y, and b to f a content jog along com ort bly, keeping step with the of f rest his ellows, he is probably written down in the a records as a most respect ble person, with a proper respect for public opinion and a due appreciation of his duty to n t the commu i y. B ut if he has had the courage to take a line of his own i for f n of , and to th nk and act himsel i dependently any fashion by which the ae stheticism of the men about r t him may have been wa ped , his reatment by the critics o is sure t have bee n decidedly violent. What they have set down by way Of opinion concerning hi s work is 96

ORLE Y FA RM

98 J OHN EVERETT M I LLAI S

r and to r a se conse al eady explained , it is easy e li what u nces w f r q e ould have come rom any su render, on his part, of the principles for which he fought so tenaciously. Yet if surrender were ever justified by vehemence of oppositi on ar i s s it would have bee n excusable in his case. Few t t have had to endure such abuse as that with which he was bespattered when he began to give the first convincin g proofs of his decision to break away from the mannerism

was . ee v that he expected to support Rarely, ind d, ha e c s so n u ritic lost their heads completely, or show s ch personal animosity to a worker who was certainly n ot and if f of f r av incapable, might, only rom a spirit ai play, h e

been credited with a reasonable amount of sincerity. t of fact was r t n u i s As a mat er , what w it e abo t Milla , when he was fighting the battle of living art against th e

f of n n f- r can a orces degenerate ig ora ce and sel inte est, h rdly i of th e be called crit cism. It was rather an expression f i idea, to which many savage tribes pin their a th, that a loud noise and a threatening attitude will frighten away Th e an enemy who looks like coming to close quarters. c is as r n devi e is not particularly logical, and , a ule, o ly employed when the enemy is numerically weak ; but it n r its r s has been k own on occasions to se ve pu po e, and to f produce a reasonable degree o disorganisation . It is apt fai f f to to l, however, when the oncoming orce re uses play f c of f the game airly, ac ording to the rules savage war are, and insists upon finding out what amount of solid te sistance se I c there may be behind the noi . n su h an event the shouters either decide with amazing promptitude that

their duty calls them at once in another direction, or they i n es subside engagingly into smil g silence, and do their b t to explain that they have suddenly discovered their

opponents to be a long - lost and ardently - expec ted band of brothers. This was very much what happened in the fifties when rt of f Millais, leading his little pa y re ormers, appeared m ' F ro F r anc/( y P a r rormg c T HE CRAW LEY FAMILY

COMMENTS A ND CRITICISMS 99 to challenge the great horde of mercenaries that had r f of ent enched itsel in the house art. The shouts were very loud , and the warlike contortions were most terrify f to ff ing ; but somehow they ailed have any e ect. He f to f re used run away, and with pain ul determination made to t to evident his intention fight hings out the bitter end . SO in quite a short time it became convenient to admit that he was supporting a good cause, and to substitute for adulation abuse. When once he had clearly proved that he was indifferent to the worst that could be said t o about him, hat he had resolved to work ut his own i t f n salvat on, wi hout help rom people who did ot appreciate or his real purpose, understand the motives by which he was actuated , everyone was ready to back him up and to gain reflected glory by professions of extreme sympathy with his artistic aims. c i f The h e weapon that was employed against him , during the period of most persistent and unbalanced f and attack, was wil ul unscrupulous misrepresentation . of of d if The keynote one type the arguments use , they

can be dignified by such a term , was struck in the of who utterance an inspired critic, announced that Pre ” is the of the who Raffle m is a dodge. In view men wrote f f lf the a ter this ashion , Millais had thrown himse into Pre Raphaelite movement simply to gain the notoriety that

to t . attaches eccentrici y He wanted to be talked about, f r to to get himsel well adve tised, and pose as a kind f r o aesthetic acrobat, who could att act the gaping

wonder of the crowd by his surprising tricks. That he could be sincere in setting himself apart from his con a t tempor ries, was by no means admit ed it saved trouble to to impute to him unworthy motives, and dismiss him as f f a discredit to the best traditions o his pro ession . ho s Even the writers w took a omewhat higher level, and f did not descend to personalities, ound, however, a way to suggest that the intention of his art was sinister and J OHN EVERETT MILLAIS

s of reactionary. Christ in the Hou e His Parents, was e t of an avowal of med i val supersti ion, a piece Romanist propagandism des igned to pervert the morals and upset a the religious convictions of the community. The rtist was a Jesuitical conspirator using his opportunities to undermine the faith of his countrymen : and all this of because, in accordance with the strictest principles i f of e t f t Protestant sm, he chose to reject a orm sthe ic ai h him of e that seemed to to have, by a process inbre ding, degenerated so grossly that it had ceased to be anything f ee but a sham . Much more airly might he have b n attacked for his disregard of all that attractive symbolism by which the art inspired by the Roman Church is di s tin uished for r i o s g , t eat ng a Holy Family with an alm t f ff on pagan belie in nature, and an indi erence to conventi s that are supposed to have a peculiarly devotional signi fi was cance. The religious teaching in his picture n ot s nor a i n sweetened with prettines , made p latable by conceal g its serious import under a veil of se nsuous bea uty ; it wa s s e t tn of the tan as ert d wi h the stern direc ess grimmest Puri , without any concessions to those timid minds that s hri n k from plain facts as things with which it is painful to co me in contact. l o That his rea ism did shock a great many pe ple, wh o t t c made no attempt to understand its ar is ic import, be omes evident enough if the criticisms that deal with the aspe ct o f s t t o are ar his picture , rather han heir symb lism, comp ed . For w f instance, ith re erence to Christ in the House o f ” a i i His P rents, one crit c wrote that Mr M llais, stil l retaining strong marks of that power which distinguish ed Boccaccies ue tu his q pic re last year, has sunk into ex travagance bordering in one instance on irreverence and another declared that Mr Millais and his imitators attempt to engraft themselves on the wildest and mos t t of a uncou h productions the e rly German School, with a ' marked afiectation of indifference to everything we are

I oz J OHN EV ERETT MI LLAI S specimen of what may be called the sportively perso n a l a ne l style We can hardly im gi anything more ug y , ’ s t Millais s e o f gracele s, and unpleasant, han Mr pictur ’ t of a Christ in the carpenter s shop. Such a collec ion sp l y f ff - was re d l eet, pu ed joints, and mis shapen limbs assu y f h a v e never be ore made within so small a compass. We great difficulty in believing a report that this unpleas i n g and atrociously affected picture has fou nd a purchaser a t a ” high price. From this particular critic came also some remarks ab ou t ” e te l Ferdinand lur d by Ariel , which was almost as bit r y ” a e of a s an d dispar g d as Christ in the House his P rent , not less unthinkingly : Another specimen from the sa me n brush inspires rather laughter than disgust. A Ferdi an d of most ignoble physiognomy is being lured by a pea- green e for row of s c h monster, intend d Ariel , whilst a sprites, u r i n w th as it takes a Millais to devise, watch the ope at o i th e turquoise eyes. It would occupy more room than thing is worth to expose all the absurdity and impertinenc e of this work. The same comparison was made in othe r f of the o a . wh o con reviews pictures the ye r The writer, sidered the picture of the Holy Family a pictorial ” ” re was blasphemy, decided that Ferdinand lu d by Ariel , t e the s s hough b—tter in painting, yet more ensele s in the conception a scene built on the contrivances of the stage ana r had t m ger, but with ve y success and yet ano her, ' eflort f f th with an to be air and impartial , ound that e picture of Ariel and Ferdinand is less offensive in point of f subject and eeling, but scarcely more pardonable in t not see s of s yle. We do want to Ariel and the prites the e tu of r e Enchant d Isle in the atti des and shapes g e n goblins, or the gallant Ferdinand twisted like a posture - master by e are m Albert Durer. Thes ere caprices of genius ; but while we condemn them as deplorable examples of per not to verted taste, we are insensible the power they indicate ” so of the r e of over me most cu ious sp lls art. H BOARD F r om Tire S mal l H ome a t A l lmg l on T E

COMMENTS AND CRITICISMS 10 3

Presumably the whole of these noisy misinterpreters of ’ t h e f the Times as artist s intentions took their cue rom , h e f s of t chie dis eminator journalistic Opinion. They were c on to t n ertainly egged by it do heir worst, a d encouraged i n an t o y exaggerated courses hey might like t adopt. The Ti mes c re f , when it de la d that that morbid in atuation w f to hich sacrifices truth, beauty, and genuine eeling, mere ” e the of the ccentricity, deserves no quarter at hands public, s imply pilloried the lad of twenty and invited every passer

b . w y to throw mud at him No onder Millais spoke, in a ft a of ft er ye rs, the fi ies as the time when he was so ” d fu for f read lly bullied ; he must, all his astonishing sel r eliance and firmness of faith in the absolute justice of his c a f f ffi u t the use, very o ten have ound it di c lt to s and against

s torm . e r a the It is, how ve , likely th t he saw through bluster and of s n to v iolence the attack upon him, and was i duced hold on by a consciousness that more than half of the vehemence

o f his opponents arose from their real fear of his ability. If he had been less of a menace to the order of things that e art was bo xisted in the world when he a y , he would not

h ave been held to be worth so much trouble. The desire to if crush him arose from the knowledge that his influence, i allowed to develop, would become irresist ble ; he was too distinct a personality to remain of no account in art politics

when once he had gained a hearing, and the only chance if was to nip his independence in the bud . Even he had but a partial appreciation of the uneasiness that he was c reating among the men who were straining every nerve to a t f keep their popul ri y, he must have elt that there was e f hope of eventual victory, hop enough to justi y him in doggedly resisting every effort to drive him from the

position he had taken up. as What this position w , and why it was assailed so the who u furiously, even by critics had j dgment enough to recognise the greatness of the natural gifts with which JO HN EVERETT M I LLAIS

a c Millais was endowed , is very well explained in an rti le

- f t . . on the Pre Raphaelite ai h that Mr F G Stephens, who f on c e could write with ull authority the subje t, contribut d London Review 1 862—so a e to the in well expl ined , inde d, that one of the most significant passages is worth quoting verbatim : If students referred to the productions of th ose artists who differed from themselves only in being of grea ter s v of h age, and er ilely adopted the dogmas and practice t eir f c seniors, without any re erence to nature, such a pra tice, t s oo of the Bro herhood averred, could not but produce a ch l ter en of ff e pain s, each g eration whom would be more e et , e t a ed because more conventionalis d , h n that which prec ed

s for u . it, and to who e experience they looked g idance of Pre The end this might be guessed , said the Raphaelite Brotherhood in the flush of youthful con fi t r s t of dence, and hey even da ed to add that the re ul following such a pernicious system was obvious in the o f one of t own ri es works almost every heir contempora , o f s and in those pr duced by their immediate orerunner . Declaring that the followers of Raphael had ruined the f of and art, simply because they were ollowers Raphael , not of not t humble students nature, and reflecting, wi hout the of of hi m bitterness, upon practice the Prince Painters f rv Pre sel when he condescended to se e a vile Court, the t Raphaelite Brotherhood, with characteristic audaci y, and with a seriousness which was half veiled in the fantastic ’ of t d assumption their Socie y s peculiar title, determine own S ff that their works should how a di erent motive in art, s w all and that they them elves, ith the powers and skill e that w re within them , would , whatever the consequences f might be, pursue a practice widely removed rom that of those whom they and all the world about them had been taught to respect or imitate. f fun the f ‘ Hal in , Brotherhood called itsel Pre ’ Raphaelite, adopting that title rather to express a full measure of admiration for the motive which guided the

COMMENTS A ND CRITICISMS 10 5 great painters preceding Raphael than intending it to be u as of nderstood , the critics a dozen years ago received it, as of the f s f chosen in approbation o tentime antastic, more ft f f O en ascetic, and almost invariably imper ect systems o execution to which the undeveloped powers of painting possessed by the early Italian artists limited so cruelly their achievements on the panel or the convent wall . Con s id ering how small were the attainments demanded of the t of th e h art cri ics time in question, it is not surprising t ey f of should have allen into this absurdity. Few these men knew enough of th e history of the art they abused the the public mind about, to be able to recognise real state O f th e a case, still less were they prep red to comprehend the true qualities which shine th rough the most bizarre of of of failures execution, most them the result over earnestness and a devout desire to do right, which beset the artists they ridiculed. “ for h of h an Indulgence yout t eir own day, enlightened and foreseeing regard to the importance of that which lay of behind the most audacious declarations the Brotherhood , f u few were not to be expected rom s ch men . A only saw that something might come out of an idea so boldly n t of enu ciated , and , no withstanding the vivid colours its sufli cientl ridiculous side, y well expressed to have merited ” c a gentler consideration th an it re eived .

How correct was th is estimate of the so- called critical of ft O pinion the early fi ies, is excellently proved by the remarks with which the Times accompanied its demand

that no quarter should be given to Millais and his friends. t e W ith reference to his Mariana it declared that, hes young artists have unfortunately become notorious by addicting themse lves to an antiquated style and an no a ffec ted simplicity in painting. We can extend Of t toleration to a mere senile imitation the cramped s yle,

d of i . false perspective, and cru e colour remote ant quity We want not to see what Fuseli termed drapery snapped JOH N EVERETT M ILLAI S

’ n of f f ex i stead olded , aces bloated into apoplexy, or te nuated skeletons ; colour borrowed from th e jars in ’ ”

f rce car c u e. a druggist s shop, and expression o d into i at r It was this criticism particularly that aroused Mr Ru skin

c of Pre - es and into his active hampionship the Raphaelit , drew from him that famous letter to the Ti mer in which f f n ar m s he exposed the allacies o the ewspaper gu ent . He disposed bit by bit of th e charges of technical in t nc e arr e a s the n r i s compe e e which w re ay d ag in t you g a t st , f n h of er ec r h ir de endi g t eir knowledge p sp tive, p aising t e i c tra ference to paint ng, and dire tly con dicting the re Fuseli by the assertion that there is not a s ingle of in the ca e in l ar e study drapery whole A d my, be it g al for e fec ruth wer n sh works or sm l, which, p r t t , po , and fi i , d ar for a t the ra eri es coul be comp ed, an inst nt, wi h white d p ’ ’ of Millais s a a a of ri on the table Mr M ri n , and the ght ’ hand figure in the same painter s Dove returning to the ’ Ark . h s f fr m a man who Although t i power ul support, o was prepared to fight with all his energies on th e side of the t f its ti ate ffe the Bro herhood, did not ail in ul m e ct, chorus of abuse ceased only when it became ev ident that the public sympathised with the artists and not with the s f f t h eca a critic who ound ault wi h t em. B use Mill is was o s tal e the most prominent, the m st con picuously nmd m r of the was th embe group, he fixed upon as e chief and most dangerous figure in a movement that had to

be e . t er d th e check d at all costs As he ow e over res t, for s h th he was chosen as the target the mi siles, t at e men of a e - an sm ll attainments hurl d at Pre Raphaelitism ; d, ' for s m re n the fo the a e ason, whe cause r which he was its e c ed h striving had won way to acceptanc , he re eiv t e fullest share of the adulation that is always lav ished upon success. t of se Anything like unanimi y prai was, however, a long I s time coming. t was neces arily a slow growth, and took

MARGARET W I LS ON F r om On ce a Week T HE S COTT IS H MA RTYR

COMMENTS A ND CRI TI CI SMS 10 7

n m a y years in development. But a constantly increasing te n d ency to judge him more fairly appeared among the n e w who d f er men, , with better balance judgment, re used t o adopt the gross exaggerations of the old type of c i th i r ticism . Year by year e dilut on of the blind and th o ughtless invective with serious and rational considera t i o ec and n b ame more perceptible, with each successive c u seen p i t re he was, it could be , making more secure his ! h o a . O d of se for ld upon educated t ste The r er Relea , i n c its stance, which was at first generally assailed , be ause m f arvellous realism was unappreciated, drew later on rom “ M r Andrew Lang an expression of the Opini on that the s a of u if er s t mp act al truth is on it, and ev uch an event ’ h a if f ppened , ever a Highlander s wi e brought a pardon r r h fo her husband to a reluctant tu nkey, t ings must have r d o ccu re thus. The work is saved by expression and f of Th e c olour rom the realism a photograph . subject n d s the t a the sentiment, no le s than treatment, made his ” f s . o p icture a complete succe s And The Rescue, a v r a u t e y great work, ccording to Mr R skin, ano her : a t f of c ritic wrote Ap r rom the rapture the mother, ’ t h e intense gladness of one of th e children s faces as she ’ s the f- r e mbraces the lady neck, and sel rest ained , yet r o of f ightened, lo ks the boy, who clings about the of er are u i se s houlders the deliver , eno gh to mmortali i the picture and ts painter. In these comments are seen the first fruits of his the ns of t u v ictory, earliest sig hat enth siastic approval which he enjoyed in ample meas ure for the latter part f few a i f the of O f his li e. A quot t ons rom opinions the men who have been able to place his pictures of many s the f periods in their right relation, and to e timate ull v alue and significance of the changes in his manner and rv methods, will se e to establish a complete comparison between the criticism that was intended to crush him and s es r r that which recorded hi succ s. Sir Walte Armst ong, J OHN EVERETT M ILLAI S

r 1886 ec l in the biog aphy which he wrote in , as a sp ia “ of A rt ou rnal : I n c h o number the j , says n our livi g s o l of s English painters, Sir John Everett Millais enjoy by

far the widest fame ; fo r thirty - five years the public h as r s f h his for t u a te conce ned it el wit work, and more han a q r r ’ o r f the of Brunswic k er f a centu y, rom year the Black w a e do nwards, no contributions to the Academy h v ex réra lza él ite cited so much interest as his. Beginning as a p p en ra l m o a e o of a g , he pro ises t end true succ ss r G ins borough and Reynolds ; and through the whole of his a of for a ft transmut tions, or rather his development , er ‘ ’ th e f the I of 1 8 th e L all , progress rom sabella 49 to ady ’ Peggy Primrose of 1885 is but th e growth of four — centuries writ small on a single brow he has at o nce r s rv own a and arr e p e e ed his rather milit nt sincerity, c i d ” his public with him . “ . . I t Mr M H Spielmann, in his n Memoriam notice, hat the M a az i ne c A rt for 1 8 6 appeared in g f September 9 , ar s t decl e hat now not England only, but with her the d of art f whole wi e world , mourns her greatest painter o the n r the d ce tu y, most universally belove man who, through his genius, has ever made his way into the a ff of f f he rt and the a ections a nation . A li e o glory ee prematurely cut short, has b n snatched away, leaving of if its r e English art deprived its brightest, not g eat st, ” ornament ; and in his book dealing with th e memorial 18 8 t a : exhibition at the Academy in 9 , is his pass ge d t Of s Standing ami his series fine achievement , among few which are not a indisputable masterpieces, one may well recall the words th at Millais spoke before the Royal 1 86 Academy Commission in 4, when he championed the candidature of such men as John Leech as members of that body : Very few o f us painters will leave behind and f You us such good valuable work as he has le t. will never find a bit of false sentiment in anything he ’ did . The work with which Millais has endowed his

rro JOHN EVERETT M I LLAI S these tributes to his power declare with all poss ible t e emphasis. To multiply such quota ions would be asy enough ; the applause that he received at last was un t t n s t stin ed, and wi hout a discordant note, but it was ho e , and it expressed the true conviction of people who knew him well and loved him because they did know him . It was characteristic of his eager and straightforward nature that he should derive from his success the mos t hearty enjoyment. Conceit he had none ; but he d e lighted i n the consciousness that his youthful indiffere nce s ur f s the o to clamour, and his t dy re u al to bend to st rm fur t h that raged so iously about him hen, s ould have been in d d e the en justifie publicly and op nly. He rejoiced to thi nk h of f e t at the labours his li e had not be n wasted, and that he had helped to give to the art of this country a renewed a to a vit lity that promises now remain to it perm nently. What he felt about his work is expressed truly in Mr ’ “ Spielmann s book : It is well that the country sho uld apprec iate the triumph achieved in this great exhibition at u t a m h Burlington Ho se h t triu ph to w ich, stretched on

- a r e his death bed, the great p inte look d forward with such s and s keen eagerne s pas ionate interest, a glory not for f r his f himsel alone, but sha ed, by avour, by the whole

. n t v him English School He k ew tha it would indicate , the r v of f f and lying under ste n erdict ate, he ound con t f t f solation in the hought ; not rom vani y, but rom love of if l his art. And the world wi l regard it aright, it will ’ perceive that this collec tion of the greater part of Millais s

f - t d the of li e work, now ga here on scene his early struggles and s vi sub eq uent ctory, constitutes the most important purely artistic event of the kind that has taken place in n the prese t century. Just as the cycle is drawing to its f of n close, the public has the good ortune wit essing a of f display brilliancy, virile power, orce, variety of ex u pression, technical ability, and int itive rightness which assuredly none of us will ever see again from the hand of

COMMENTS AND CRITICISMS 1 1 1 m me an . It was a vindication on which any artist n i h t u f ere is g j stifiably have prided himsel , and th no ’ Ii ffic u lty in believing that to Sir John Millais the s n o w l edge that it would be made so completely must have f be e n p e culiarly grati ying. T h e e t o to s r is one o her p int note, because it mark b e y o n d dispute the growth of his reputation through the

al f- c n r his f h e tu y covered by working li e, and that is the e v e r - i n creasing anxiety of collectors to become possessed f s t f o h i pictures. The prices hat his canvases would etch i n hi s late r years compared strangely with the £2 50 that w as thought to be a great sum for anyone to give for ” hr of n s C ist in the House His Pare t , or with the 1 0 h was him a of 0 for 5 , t at paid to in inst lments £5 , ue he has The Hug not and since his death , by the

of sa - e n a v e rdict the le room, b e ccorded a place among

er . a a u e the old mast s The Ch ntrey Fund Trustees cq ir d , “ ” for 2 e ! ! 1 8 £ 0 0 0 , Sp ak Speak in 95 ; and, some years ” f of es for w c was be ore, his Vale R t, hi h, when it first d r e o exhibite , no one would pay the p ic , £60 0 , put up n it, the was had brought, when Graham collection dispersed, For of e ase ce 30 0 0 guineas . The Order R le he re ived 1 8 1 8 e 2 8 1 £40 0 in 5 3 ; by 79 it had reach d £ 35 , and in 898

it was sold for 50 0 0 guineas . The Black Brunswicker 8 1 1862 2 82 1 8 rose from £ 9 in , to £ 7 in 89 ; and in the a f was for 1 6 same ye r A ternoon Tea sold £ 3 5 , and d Yes for £10 50 . The Proscribe Royalist brought 1 186 2 2 10 0 18 the ar £55 in , and £ in 97 ; and in present ye ’ ” as at for The n 450 0 guine were paid Christie s Mi uet. s f i sse en s on hi s are The e may a rly be cla d as comm t c er. The money value of a work of art does not necessarily its ae t bear any relation to s hetic worth, but keen competi tion between men of means for the privilege of possess ing he s of i all n s t canvase any particular art st is, at eve t , a oof e as the r pr that he is recognis d a leader in a t world,

and a prominent figure among his contemporaries . That JOHN EVERETT M ILLAIS this sign of appreciation was accorded to Sir John Millais in f f his lifetime was a ai r compensation or his early stru ggles . f l h He had ought a good fight, and wea t and honours came a f to him h ppily in ull measure, while he was yet young t was enough to enjoy hem to the utmost. His, at least, not th e fate that has befallen so many other great workers ff r o and s in art, to su e p verty unhappine s through long ar of c ye s labour, sustained only by the onviction that posterity would do justice to his memory

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS

M r si Mr m n rom s t ki mi s AI . i l H i Li s is re r nted b e nd e on o H. S e an p i y p f p , f Ti dates ven are those at kis book entitled Mi llai s and i i i : Works . l e gi

t r u w r/e let . wh en, as near ly as can be ascer tai ned, he va i o s a s were comp ed

184 1 185 1 CUPID C ROW NED W ITH FLOWE RS CYMON A ND IPHIGE NIA MA RIA NA IN THE MOATED GRA NGE 8 c . 1 45 RET URN OF THE DOV E To THE A RK “ W LL A M H H FENN (destro ed OR DA UGHTE RS or NOA H CA R I I UG y ” ESS N T HE D VE ETC . pi cture) I G O , OR WIV ES OF THE SONS or NOA H 1846 “ ’ THE BRIDES MA ID ( A LL HALLOW S ’ v BA PTIS II or GUTHREN THE DANE E EN ) P rzA RRo S EIz ING T HE INCA or PE RU THE MOORIS H CHIRP MEMORY 1847 OPHELIA TH E HUGUENOT THE TRIBE or BE NJA MI N S EIe G THE HUGUENOT (Sketch) THE DA UGHT ERS O R S HI LOH THE H E N T (S tudy) E IG IVA UGU O ’ MRS C V ENT Y K. PA T M RE THE W IDow s M T E O R O I i Wr ’ HEAD OF OPHE LIA (w th eath) S TUDY OR A N INDIAN s H EA D CH L H I D OOD 853 Y TH OU Pane s f“ th° ( l T HE E O F RELEASE MA NH . ORD R OOD “ es l n d m s J g g THE PROSC RIEED R YA L ST 6 A c ; O I , I 5 I eds MUS Ic THE PROSCRIEE D ROYALIST A RT ST GEORGE AND THE DRA GON (sign CYMON (study for Cymon and board) 1854 WA IT ING (or A Girl at a Stile) H FENN A HLAN LASS E or ead of a W . HUG HIG D I ( H ROMEO AND JU LI ET (last scene) Scotch Girl) RUS KI N I 849 SCA PE STUDY or WATERPALL

M SS S IDDAI. ISA BE LLA (Lorenzo and Isabella) I P T A T or A G ENT LE MAN A ND OR R I 1855 AN CH L Mr att HIS GR D I D ( Wy ) THE REsC UE F E INAN L E BY A E L RD D UR D RI THE RA NDOM SHOT (originally CH ST IN THE H SE or HIS ’ RI OU L Enfant du Regiment PA RE NTS 1856

TH AS OHEE THE NCL S N or PEACE 18 OM C CO U IO , 6 ’ 5 T H E WOODII AN S DAUGHTE R (correct title Peace Concluded 1 111 JOHN EVERETT M ILLA IS

AUTUMN LEAv Es THE EYE OP ST AGNES THE BLIND G IRL THE E YE OE ST AGNES (smal l v er PORT RA IT O F A G ENTLE MAN (or si on) “ The Pi cture - book THE EVE or ST AGNES (smal l v e r POT POURRI sion) THE EVE or ST A NES (oil sk etch ) 1857 G HE NRY MA NNERS (MA RQUESS o r HEAD OF A GIRL G RANEY) EA or G L H D A IR SUS PENS E “ ’ S IR IS UMERAS AT THE FORD ( A THE LF S DEN ” WO Dream of the Pas t ) BRIDES MA ID THROW ING THE LUC KY THE ESCA PE OF A E ET C 1 H R I , 559 SLIPPE R THE E APE O F A E ET C 1 SC H R I , 559 1864 (small oil version ) NEWS FROM HOME LE IS URE HOURS “ WEDDING CA RDS CHA RLIE Is MY DA RL ING ” “ S WALLow l S wALLow 1 18 8 5 MASTE R W YCLIP TA YID R (son THE VALE OF REST Mr Tom Taylor) dau f LI LY ( ghter o J. 1859 HAROLD (son of the THE A ES 1 OF C T tess of Winch e sea) LOVE OP J M . S O l THE C N LA ND O JUROR “ RED R N APPLE - BLOSSOMS ( Spring IDI G HOOD CHILDREN GA THERING GRA PES 1865 H EA D or A LA DY (cutting a lock of hair) THE PARAELE OF THE TA RES (or MEDITAT ION the Enemy sowing Tares ) HEA D or A WOMAN OAN OF A RC STHE R 860 1 THE ROMANS LEAV ING BRITA I N THE BLACK BRUNSWICKER THE GREE K S LAVE AT TE NT N D VE TE THE RIVA IS IO I R D 1861

THE R NGLET (see 1859) I THE MINUET 1862 1867 ” THE RANSOM ASLEEP (correct title S LEEPING ) “ THE WHITE COCKA DE JUST AWA KE (correct ti tle WAR ” MRS CHA RLES FREEMAN ING ) “ ” TRUST ME I PHT HAH PA RAELE or THE LOST PIECE {:ASTER CAYLEY MONEY THE BRIDE LA DY IN A GA RDEN STELLA A PASTORA L VANESS A HEA D or A G L IR HN F WLE A T . SIR JO O R, B R , C. E. A H W NDE RING T OUGHTS ROS A LI ND A ND CEL IA THE M S C M ST U I I RESS A SOUVE NIR OP V ELASQUEz SISTE RS 1863 GRE ENW ICH PENS IONERS AT rm: MY F ST E N IR S RMO TOME OP NELSO N (originally ” MY S ECOND S E RMON IfihgdnuI HJ Et auPs )

1 16 JOHN EVERETT M ILLAIS

DUCI-IESS or WESTMINSTE R (Lady Consta nce Leveson- Gower) MRS STIBBA RD LO RD WIMBORNE A JE RS EY LI LY THE EA RL OP BEACONS PIELD THE PRI NCES I N THE TOW E R ’ NON ANGLI SED ANGELI S T MA RT IN S SUMMER COUNTESS or CA RYS PORT BRIDE or LAMME RMOOR POMONA M 1879 RS JAMES STERN OLIV IA M SS HE M NE SCHENLEY I R IO DUCHESS OF WESTMINS TER T HE ES MA “ ” BRID ID FOR THE SQ UIRE MRS JOPLI NG C. K R A . HOO , MRS . EDD NGN N S H. B I MA E r . H. THE NCESS o I R. PRI RI T N ” RT . HON. W. E . GLA S E “ D O EDINB URGH ( A Li ttle Duch ess ) THE P NCESS ELIzABETH RI THE STO WAW AY M SS EAT CE CA R I B RI I D NELL GWYNNE (begun by Land CHE Y R PE RR I seer and completed by Millai s) U QUHA T CAS TLE R R DORO THY THORPE MRS A TH KE NNAR R UR D MRS RICHA RD B UDGETT M SS CATHE NE M R EL C WELL I RI U I O n GA ROW - WH ITBY S TEPNEY ori ina Portrait of ’ ( g lly aYE E S on mal l ne ” IRD ( g y U a Chi d ) ” l Grande Dame ) THE CA PT IV E 880 1 DROPPED F ROM THE NES T BISHOP FRAS E R MRS PE NI RUGI 1883 DIA NA V ERNON M r AL SB Y . A RQUESS o S I UR RT HON. HN 3 8 mm . JO F ET - ME - NOT MRS CM RD ORG ” THE G EY LA Y CUCKOO R D T H ISM“ L THE L EN P. R. C. . U R HO D , S CHA LE S WA NG MISS EV ELYN OTW AY R RI MASTE F EE A N M L A R R M IR HN E . LA S S JO I I B RT . E MILLAISJ ART G IRL W ITH V IOLETS (Small pictu re) G G IRL AT THE S TILE (small picture ) 188 SIR GI LBERT GREENALL 4 LITTLE MISS MUFFETT PERFECT BLISS A N I YLL 1 A TES D , 745 D. THW I LA Y PEG Y P M SE CARDINAL N EW MA N D G RI RO LA Y CA MPBELL CHILDREN or OCTAV IUS MOULTON D A MESS AGE FROM THE S EA A ETT ES . B RR , Q “ THE M STLET E - GATHE E S W EETEST EYES W E RE EV ER I O R R ” EN Y I V N S EEN SIR H R R I G FLEETW OOD WI LSO N REV HN A D. D. . JO C IRD, LADY G ILBERT GREENALL IR . D ASTLEY A T. S . J , B R M SS C TT f P i ade ia ALF E LO ENNYS N I S O (o h l lph ) R D, RD T O MA ESS OF L NE S I R HENRY THOMPSON RQU OR LITT LE MRS GAMP 188 CINDERELLA 5 “ CAPTAI N JAMES (Royal S cots G reys ) THE RU LING PASS ION (or The ” MRS JAMES (Miss Efli e Millais ) Ornithologist ) ’ CALLER H ERRIN ORPHA NS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS 1 17

A WA IF 1891 S N F ASE IMO R R MRS E BE T B HON. H R R GI BS F N ( andsca e and fiures in the OU D l p g GLEN BIRNA M ictu re b La ndseer) p y GRACE M S S MA A ET M LLA S I RG R I I MRS JOSE PH CHAM BERLAIN RT . HON. W. E . GLA S TONE D MRS CHA RLES WE RTHEIM ER THY A H F DORO , D UG TER O HA RRY LAWSON LILACS BUBB LES 1393 . O . A LOW R A T B R , . ’ RUDDIER THAN THE CHERRY “ THE LITTLE S PE EDWE LL S DAR ” LORD ES HER LING BLUE PO T A L W BL W TH W NTE R I B O , O , OU I R ’ ME CY ST BA TH LOMEW S DAY W IND l R R O , 1 572 HA LCYON WEATHER 1 88 MASTE R ANTHONY DE ROTHSC HILD 7 ” “ SWEET EMMA MORE LAND MRS CHA RLES ST UA RT WORTLEY T HE NEST M URTHLY Moss PE THSH E , R IR PE NSEROSO OHN HARE HE LH OF ST THE ESA ALLEG RO GIR OOD R PENS V E or Sad EA RL OF ROSEBE RY I ( ) ME RY MA RQU ESS OF HA RTI NGTO N R 8 CLARISSA 1 95 “ ” 1888 SPEAK ! SPEA K ! TIME THE REAPER MRS PA L HA Y U RD S T STE PHEN THE LAS T R SE OF S MME O U R THE EMPTY CA E MURTHLY ATE G W R ADA A GHTE OF R BE T RI , D U R O R N THE OLD GA RDEN T L S M N, ESQ. E THE E OU I O C . . W R IM R J A DISC IPLE CHRISTMAS EVE 18 6 TW A BA IRNS (Fred erick and M 9 tewart Phi li s chi dren of F122 A F E NNE S l p , l OR RU R

eric P i i s Es . of Gods i l R BE T P LLA k h ll p , q h l , SIR O R U R

Is e Of i t S IR R CHA A N A T . l W gh ) I RD QU I , B R

T M . A THU LL VAN TA NLEY LE H ON P. SIR R R SU I S IG , H EV LLE Na s FORLORN THE HON. JO N N I MAN THE MA RCHIONESS OF TW EEDDALE

G . M LLA S unfinished J . I I ( ) SHELLING PEAS DUCKLINGS AFTE RNOON TEA (ca lled by the artis t ” B E THE Gossips ) RID , BRIGHT EYES 18 0 9 LL NS LK E CO I , WI I DEW DRENCHED FURzE DIGG I NG OUT THE OT'TER IN THE L N E NG A T N L F E and I G RI U UM VA LEY O TH TAY. (L “ THE M N Is UP A ND YET IT Is sca e Sk and fi ures b Mi ais OO p , y , g y ll ) ” NOT HT MA E E E NIG DU URI R, G ORG

H E. LA RT . ON. . ST NE M. P. G KN HT THE W G D O , , OOD IG ,

AND HIS A N S N NT . GR D O HU , W P T A T OF A LA Y SCH L EACHE E OR R I D OO T R, TH MASTER RANKEN WINTE R GA RDEN

J OHN EVERETT M I LLAIS

' E va Seized by Order of Arch action of ” o d o 2 2 p O , 3. 4 erry pe Em t a e Th e 6 1 re nall ir Gi p y C g , , G , S l ” Enem in r Th 8 g y Sow g Ta a , e, 30 , 4 S f ” Esca o a Heretic, The , 46 , 69 Greenwich Pensi oners ” ESher rd Portrait of Tomb of e son 1 , , , 59 N l , 5 u ” Esther Gro venor The Countess Portrait , 49 s , , tchin An re ared b Millais for t E g, , p p y 57 ” v The Germ, 26 GroS enor Galler The, ” Ex ibiti y Eve of St Agnes, The, 29, 48 h on of éorks by

‘tr 37 ” Fair acobite 2 ro n r J , A, 9 G sve o , Lady Beatri ce, PortraIt F h ’ Ki ” armer C ell s tchen, 92 Of: 57

Fenn . u h Portrai t of rote e or e o f , W H g , , 39 G , G g , P e t o , 54 ” Ferdinand Lured b Arie 1 2 y l, 5 , 7,

28. 40 . m ” , a c on eat er 60 8 F H l y W h , , 77, 4 i ne Art S ocIety , The, Its Et bI tron ard Mrs Pau Portrai t of 60 of or s b Mi ais H y, l, , W k y ll , 37 ” are o n Portrai t of 60 2 F ood A 2 H , J h , , , 7 l , 1 5 1 Hartin ton The Mar uis of Portrait F owin to the 82 g , q , l g 54, ” 0 f F owin to th e S ea 82 r 59 l , 54, “ ” Hearts are Trum or id Frui t 4, 73 F b en , 56, 65 g eu Mrs Portrgrt o ” H gh, , z5 5 Forerunner, A, 3 , 6 1 ” i dden r ” H T easure, The, 9 F0 t- m - n 3 3 e ot, 5 ” i land ” H gh Lassie, A, 44 For om, 60 istor of Modern Paintin The t H y g, , For the ui e, 59 Reference to Mi ais in 10 Fow er ir ohn Portrait of 2 ll , 9 l , S , , 5 H R. olden P. C. S . Lut er Portrait F r , h , rase , Simon, Portrait of, 58 ” of s Framle Parsona e I ustrations r 5 y g , ll o F ortrai H ll rank, P t of tor 94 , ” Mi ai s b M 2 ll y, 74 ri nge of the oor, The, 54, 8 , . C. Portrai t of g3 J , , 2, 1 73 ” ’ ” il u ufl l ot The ” 2 amb er s Wife The 2 g , : r 91 43, 471 G l , , 69, 8 1, I 1 1 arr w- i b M G o Wh t y, rs, ortrait of 9 entleman and his randchi d Id l 1 An 8 G l , y l, 745 , , 5 ” t of In Il ernoriam oti ce b A, Portrai , 20 , 40 , N y M. H. ” errn The first ub i f s i egmann in the Ma azin G , , p l cation o , p g e ” 26 Art, 10 8 ” I ma t r s . H. Por it of Getting Bet e , 6 y, T tra , 58 i b Th Irvin ir enr Por t of s e H n. trai G , o g, S H y , , 32, go 8 2 5 . 7 ” irl at a ti e A G S l , , 44 ” ir hood of S t Theresa The 60 G l , , , 69 The i h R g t Hon. W. E . , Portrai t of 57 ; f so 2 o . 3 . 59. 72 ; Portrait

of, wi th his Grandson, 60 ” en irnam 60 8 Gl B , , 3 ” ood Reso ve A G l , , 57 ” ood ords I ustrations in Kennard Mrs A . Portrait of G W , ll , 93 , , , 57 ” ” Kni ht rrant The 2 6 Grace, 60 g E , , 5 , 8 INDE!

an nd w omme on th the attac s made u on hi in his L g, A re , C nts e k p m Order of Re ease 10 outh 1 com ared l 7 , 4 , p , ’ Last Rose of ummer The 60 b Mr Rus i n with Turn er S , , , 75 y k , , Leech o n E ection of b the his ancestr 2 1 ace and date of , J h , l , y y , , pl

advocated Mi ai s 10 8 his bi rth 2 2 o ini on of Sir M . A. , ll , , p e n his a i ° mi tted ton P. tan Portrait ee o bi t 22 ad M. S S h , y , h l y , o 6 1 as a student In the Royal Academy Leisu re ours 0 8 Sc oo s 2 ° his Old meda i cture H , , 4 h l , 3 l p , ’ 3 ” L Enfii n t du Re i ment 2 a member 0 the Pre Ra ae g , 45 3 ; ph l ite rot er ood 2 e ec ted an ”5 B h h , 5 l fil ri 261utuma s o i a m l e n 60 A s c ate of the Ro Acade ? g , y l y , ” Li te Gazette The ri ticisms 2 Ro a Academician 0 , , C 9 y l , 3 on Mil in 10 1 c an es In his met ods 0 1 ° , h g h , 3 , 5 Li tt e Mrs Gam 6 his first landsca es onours l 5 p , h ” Litt e Miss Mu ett conferred on him e ected l , 59 , 33 ; ” l Loc s e Hall 2 President of the Ro a Academ k l y , 9 y l y , ” London Review The Artic e on his deat ° ex ibi ti ons of , , l 33 ; h, 33 h ° the Pre - Ra ae ite Brot er ood his i ctures marria e ph l h h , p , 37 g , 44 m b F . G . Ste ens in 10 his di o a icture his y ph , , 4 pl p , ” Love irds 8 T ou ts on our A rt of od a B , 5 h gh T y ,

Love of ames I . of cot and 6 i ctur s of c i d r n 8 J S l , 3, p e h l e , 4 , ° The 6 6 10 his sub ect - i tures . 47 5 , 9, 9 j p c , Lo renzo and Isabe a 26 0 6 his ortraits 1 0 his ll , , 4 , 7 ; p , 3 , 7 ; 1 10 8 s eed in workin c aracter 4 . 47. p g, h Lorne The Mar ui s of PortraIt of of his lands a e wor 6 his , q , , 59 p k , 7 , ’ c Lunettes for the ud e s Lod i n s at manner of aintin andsca e ° J g g g p g l p , 79 Leeds visits to cot and and t ei r resu ts , 39 S l , h l , ° 82 his love 0 f black - andmhite ' ” M an ne of Ar t The h ou h rawin his n ag , , T ts d g, 3 86 ; e vide ce on our Art of To - da by Mil before the 51oyal Academy Com ub is ed in 6 n memoriam mission 8 10 8 ° ear wor as p l h , 3 , 7, ly k M H i e mann in 10 8 u ra r ° noti ce b . . S an i st to 1 i y p l , ll , 9 r se in the ” M enta 2 ri es of his tures I I I , 9 p c , Mane ester Art reasures Ex ibition Mi ais Miss Portrait of T h ll , , , 59 ” Minuet The 20 I I I ass”. 37 , , , 30 , 49, 5 1, ” Hon ohn Nevrll o f Manners, The . J e , Mite Dorcas , The, 92 ” Portrait of 6 1 Mist e toe at erer The 8 , l G h , , 59, 3 ” Mar aret i son 2 Mon The 2 W l , 9 k , , 9 g ” ” Murthl Moss Mari ana, 92 y , 54, 82 ” h Moated Gran e Murthl r Mariana in t e g , y Wate , 9, 2 2 2 10 Mut er Professor omments in the I S. 7, 4 ; h , , ” art r of the Olwa istor of Modern P ntin M y y , 53 H y ai g, b x0 Memory . 43 y . 9 ’ t arth o omew s Da M First ermon Me l S B l y , y S , My Second Sermon, 48 ” 0 erry , 6 ” ” th ea est The Message from e S , A, 59 N , , 59 N w aid E Mi ais Sir . E . , e L g s ll , J g 55 w m me an o R. A . e s fro o 6 Fr k H ll, , 74 N H , 4

Mi ais Sir . E. Portrait of b ina Dau ter of F. Le mann Es ll , J , , y N , gh h , q i mse f 8 Portrai t h l . 33 , 5 . 73 59 N ” Mi ais Sir . E . a eader of a new O 6 ll , , l , 5 J ” movement 2 the nature of ort est Passa e The 20 2 , I 3, 4 ; N h W g , , , 3 , er ona it 1 3 6 6 0 his P s l y . 4, 3 . 34, 4 47. 5 5 . 7. 7 l 1 2 2 JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS

Oh that a Dream so on en o ed uain Sir Ri chard Portrait of 6 1 l g jy , Q , ,

” ” GId Garden The 82 Random S ot The 16 , , 59, h , , , 45 ” O i via Ransom The l . 59 , , 47 ” Once a ee I ustrati ons in 2 Rescue The 2 10 W k, ll , 9 . . 9 . 43. 44. 7 ” O e ia 20 2 8 1 Retu rn of the Dove to the Ark ph l , , 9, 43 , 44, , Order of Re ease The 20 2 The 2 2 10 6 l , , , 9, 43, , 7, 4 , ” 6 10 1 1 1 mans eavin ritain The 7, 7, l g B , , 49, F fig Or e arm 8 l y , 4 Or e Farm I ustrati ons to Rosalind an d Ce ia 0 1 l y , ll , 94 l , 3 , 5 Ormonde The Marc oness of Roseber The ar of Portrait of , hi , y, E l , , S9 rtrait Rot mcl ild , The Hon. W. Po v th 0 gg O er e 54, 82 r 5 Ro a Acad em The its ear reco y l y , , ly g Parab es of our Lord niti on of the abili t of Mi ais 2 l , y ll , 9 I ustrations of his debt of ratitude to ll , 49, 93 g , 33 Parab e ofthe Lost Piece ofMone exhibi tion of his wor s l y , k The e d b 1 10 Ro a commis . 47 h l y , 37, ; y l Peace Conc uded 18 6 66 0 sion on 8 10 8 l , 5 , 45 , , 7 , 7, ” Ruddier t an the err Penseroso, 59 h Ch y , 59 ” ” Pensive 60 Ru in Passion The 8 6 , l g , , 5 , 7 Perfect iss 6 Ruski n o n Portrai t of 2 Bl , 59, 5 , J h , , 9, 43, Peru ini Mrs Portrait of 2 8 com arison between Mi ais g , , , 3 , 5 , 44 ; p ll ’ si tte r for the i r s ead in the and urner made b 1 his 73 g l h T y , 7, 77 ; ” ac Brunswick er su ort of the Pre - Ra haelite Bl k , 47 pp p ” P ineas Finn I ustrati ons to rot er ood 28 10 6 his criticism h , ll , 94 B h h , , ; ” Pic ture oo The on ictu res b Millais 2 6 B k , , 45 p y , 4 , 45 , 4 , ” Picture of ea th Th e 6 6 10 letter to H l , , 5 47s 5 ) 59: 7 3 ’ ” “ ’ Pil rims to S t Pau s 1 the Timcs 10 6 g l , 5 , P ru izarro seiz ing the Inca of Pe , 2 Sa isbur The Mar uis of Portrai t 3, 39 l y , q , P a ue of i ant The 2 of 2 8 2 l g Ell , , 9 , 3 , 5 , 7 omo Schenl M ermi on o P na, 59 y , iss H e , P rtrait ” m o‘ g Po s 59 5 Portrai t of a Gent eman cotch Firs 82 l , 45 S , 54, ” Por i f a ad 0 Scott Miss Portrai tra t o L y, 6 , , t of, 58 ” Pot- Pourri 6 Sha tesbur The Ear of Portrait , 4 t y , l , re Ra ae ite rot er ood The 0 f P ph l B h h , , r 57 ' first or anised 2 o nal mem ee Si r Marti n Arc er o inion on g , 5 ; Sh , h , p bers of 25 The Germ produced the early promise of Mi llais ' 26 ti on a ai nst 2 ressed b 22 by , ; ta g , 7, 99 y , ” 11 e d b r Rus in 28 10 6 its e i n Peas 60 h l y k , , h ll g , d b r i mb M F. r Isu ras at rd 0 ects ex aine G . th e Fo 2 j pl y S , 9 , S te ens 10 6 82 ph , 4 4 . Primrose d P Portrait of isters The 2 , La y eggy , , S , , 9 “ 8 10 8 ister The Portrait ro 5 , S s , , g u of, 5 1 Frin e in th e Tower The 2 S ma ouse at A i n ton The , , 3 , ll H ll g , , g I ustrations to 57: ; ll , 94 ” ’ he 1 1inw ss Elizabe T 6 omnambu ist A. , 59, 5, S l , , 54

66 Son of Tom a or A. Portrai t of T yl , , Proscri bed Ro a ist The 2 8 y l . . 9 . 43 . 4 ” 6 8 1 m Sou nd of Man aters The 44. 47. 9 . , y W , , 54, ! - - 2 Puss in Boots , 57 8 . 34