Millais
-'^
Mi m' 'fS?*?
MASTERPIECES IN
COLOUR
IN
M^MOMA
FOR MA>4Y YEARS ATEACKEi;. IN THIS COLLEOE:>r55N.£>? THIS B(2);ClSONE^ANUMB€R FFPH THE LIBRARY 9^JvLK >10JMES PRESENTED TOTKEQMTARIO CDltECE 9^ART DY HIS REIATIVES
D^'-CXo'..
MASTERPIECES IN COLOUR EDITED BY T.
-
-
LEMAN HARE
MILLAIS 1829--1S96
"Masterpieces in Colour" Series Author.
Artist.
BELLINI. BOTTICELLI.
Georgb Hay.
BOUCHER.
Henry B. Binns. C. Haldane MacFall.
burne.jones.
A. Ly3 Baldry.
carlo dolci.
George Hay. Paul G. Konody.
CHARDIN. constable. COROT. DA VINCL DELACROIX.
C. Lewis Hind.
Sidney Allnutt.
M. W. B ROCKWELL. Paul G. Konody.
DtTRER.
H. E. A. Furst.
FRA ANGELICO. FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. FRAGONARD. FRANZ HALS. GAINSBOROUGH
James Mason. Paul G. Konody. Haldane MacFall.
C
Edgcumbe Staley.
Max
HOLBEIN.
Rothschild. Alys Eyre MackLi.j. C. Lewis Hind. S. L. Bensusan.
HOLMAN HUNT.
Mary
GREUZE.
HOGARTH. INGRES.
LAWRENCE. LE BRUN, VIGEE. LEIGHTON. LUINL MANTEGNA. MEMLINC.
E. Coleridge. A. J. FiNBERG. S. L.
C.
Bensusan.
Haldane MacFail
MILLET.
A. Lys Baldry, James Mason. Mrs. Arthur Bell. W. H. J. & J. C. Wealb. A. Lys Baldry. Percy M. Turner.
MURILLO. PERUGINO. RAEBURN. RAPHAEL.
Sblwyn Brinton. James L. Caw. Paul G. Konody.
MILLAIS.
REMBRANDT. REYNOLDS.
ROMNEY. ROSSETTl RUBENS. SARGENT.
S. L.
Bensusan.
JosEP Israels. S. L. Bensusan. C. Lewis Hind. LuciBN Pissarro. S. L. Bensusan. T.
Martin Wood.
TINTORETTO
S. L.
TITIAN.
S. L.
WATTEAU.
Bensusan. Bensusan. C. Lewis Hind. Percy M. Turner. S. L. Bensusan. C. Lewis Hinb.
WATTS. WHISTLER.
T.
TURNER. VAN DYCK. VELAZQUEZ.
W. LoFTUs Hark. Martin Wood
Others in Preparation.
PLATE
I.—THE
ORDER OF RELEASE.
Frontispiece
(Tate GaUery)
one of the pictures which Millais always reckoned among all his successes, and that it has many notable qualities which justify his preference can certainly not be denied. It is wonderful in its earnest and thoughtful reali:m, and it explains its motive with a completeness that is most convincing. The expression on the face of the woman who brings the order which frees her husband from prison is singularly happy in its combination of tenderness for the wounded Highlander, and triumph over the hesiThis
is
the greatest of
tating gaoler;
joyous
and there are many other little touches, like the of the dog, and the unconsciousness of the which amplify and perfect the pictorial story.
effusiveness
sleeping child,
Millais
LYS BALDRY 速 m 速 ILLUSTRATED WITH EIGHT REPRODUCTIONS IN COLOUR
BY
A.
LONDON:
T.
C.
&
NEW YORK: FREDERICK
E.
A.
C.
JACK
STOKES
CO.
J^
3/
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate I.
The Order At
of Release, 1746
the Tate
Frontispiece
.
GaUery
Page II.
The Boyhood At
III.
of Raleigh
.
,
.
.
14
the Tate GaUery
The Knight Errant
24
At the Tate GaUery
IV.
Autumn Leaves
34
At Manchester Art GaUery
V. Speak
1
Speak
40
!
At the Tate GaUery
VI.
The Vale
of Rest
50
At the Tate GaUery
VII. Ophelia
60
.
At the Tate GaUery
VIII.
The North- West Passage At thÂŤ Tate GaUery is
...
70
AS xjL
a record of some half century of brilliant
and of practically
activity,
unbroken success, the Everett unlike
the
Millais
those
life-story
many
in
is
which
can
majority of artists
be
of John
respects
told
who have
about played
great parts in the modern art world. XI
He
MILLAIS
12
had none of the hard struggle tion, or of
stances,
for recogni-
the fight against adverse circum-
which have too often embittered
the earlier years of
men
destined to take
eventually the highest rank in their profession.
Things went well with him from the
first;
he gained attention at an age when
most painters have barely begun to make a bid
for popularity,
assured
and
his position
was
almost before he had arrived at
man's estate.
no doubt, to
He owed some his
personaUty, but
it
of his success,
attractive
and vigorous
was due
in far greater
measure to the extraordinary powers which he manifested from the very outset of his career.
For there was something almost sensational in the
manner of
his unusual precocity,
his development, in
and
in
the youthful
PLATE 11—THE BOYHOOD OF RALEIGH (Tate Gallery) It would not be inappropriate to describe the " Boyhood of Raleigh " as the prologue to the romance of which the last chapter is
written in the
"North-West Passage,"
for in both pictures the artist
Young Raleigh and life. boy friend are under the spell of the story which the sailor is telling them, a story evidently of engrossing interest and stimulating suggests the fascination of the adventurous
his
to the imagination.
The
faces of the lads
show how inspiring they beyond the sea.
find this tale of strange experiences in lands
MILLAIS self-confidence
15
which enabled him to take
a prominent place among the leaders of opinion
artistic
while
more than a boy.
So
he
was
early
little
still
was
the proof
given that he possessed absolutely uncom-
mon
powers, that he was not more than
nine years old
when he began
serious art
training; and so evident even then
destiny that this training
was
his
was commenced
on the advice of Sir Martin Archer Shee, the
President
whom
of the
the child's
Royal Academy, to
performances had
been
submitted by parents anxious for an expert opinion.
The
President's declaration
he saw these early
had provided
for
efforts,
that
when
"nature
the boy's success,"
was
emphatic enough to dissipate any doubts there
young
might have
been
was
to be
Millais
whether
or
encouraged
not
in his
MILLAIS
i6
artistic inclinations
was
justified
;
and that
by subsequent
this
emphasis
no one
results
to-day can dispute.
The family from which Millais sprang was not one with any past record of art achievement. His ancestors were men of and inclined rather to be
action
than students of the
mans who had for
several
among
fighters
They were Nor-
arts.
settled in Jersey,
and had
been
counted
hundred
years
the more important landholders in
that island, where at different times they
held
several
estates.
tors
Millais
derived
From his
perament and that militant
these
ances-
energetic
tem-
activity
which
enabled him in his career as an artist to
triumph dices
signally
— the
over
qualities
helped him to
make
established
which his
preju-
undoubtedly
power
felt
even
MILLAIS by the
17
who were most opposed
people
to him.
He was
on June
born
8th,
1829,
at
Southampton, where his parents were temporarily living, but his earliest years
spent in Jersey.
began to show
It
definitely
was
cUnations; he
was
at
in
were
1835 that he
his
artistic
in-
Dinan then with
his
parents and he amused himself there by
making sketches of the country and people with
success
so
remarkable
that
even
strangers did not hesitate to recognise him
as a budding this estimate
genius.
Three years
was confirmed by
later
Sir Martin
Archer Shee, and the boy was then sent to
work
at the art school which
Henry Sass
carried on in Bloomsbury, a school which
had at that time a considerable reputation as a training place for art students, and in B
MILLAIS
i8
which most of the early Victorian painters received their preliminary education.
Soon
after
he entered
this school Millais
gave a very striking proof of
his precocious
ability—he gained the silver medal of the
Society of Arts for a drawing of the an-
and an amusing story
tique,
is
told of the
when he appeared at the prize-giving to receive his award. The Duke of Sussex was presiding at the meetsensation he created
ing,
of
and to
"Mr
tion
amazement, when the name
Millais"
presented medal.
his
was
called,
himself as
the
To amazement
when a
a small child winner of the
succeeded admira-
consultation with the officials
of the Society proved that this boy of nine
was
really
the successful competitor, and
the presentation
was
received with great
applause by the spectators of the scene.
MILLAIS two
After
some study dition,
years'
19
work under Sass, with
Museum
in the British
in ad-
he was admitted into the schools of
the Royal Academy, and, though his age
then was
only
immediately to prove hold his tivity.
own
he
eleven,
in
this
how new
began almost well he
could
sphere of ac-
During the six years over which
his studentship at the
he won every prize
and carried historical
for
Academy extended which he competed,
off finally the
gold medal for
painting with a picture of
"The
Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the Daughters of Shiloh."
This was
vious year he had
in 1847; in the pre-
made
his first
appear-
ance as an exhibitor at the Academy with
an ambitious composition, "Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru," which Victoria
is
and Albert Museum.
now His
in
the
most
MILLAIS
20
ambitious effort at this period was, however, the design,
"The Widow Bestowing
her Mite," which he produced in 1847 for the Westminster Hall competition, a vast
canvas crowded with
life-sized figures
was remarkable enough
which
made
to have
the
more experi-
reputation of a far older and
enced painter.
So
progress had been without
far his
interruption.
The
rare
brilliancy
of
student career had gained him the approval of his fellow-workers in
his
fullest
art,
and
he was beginning his career as a producer with every prospect of becoming immediately one of the time.
most popular
Everything was
had undeniable
ability,
attractive personality, in
many ways
that,
in
good
artists of his
his
favour; he
health,
and an
and he had proved
young as he was, he
MILLAIS
21
could handle large undertakings with sound
judgment and complete confidence. with what seemed to be his
Yet,
way smooth
before him, he did not hesitate to risk his
already assured position in the art world
by setting himself openly the
opinions
who were
in opposition to
of practically
all
the
men
then counted as the leaders of
That he knew what might
his profession.
be the penalty he would have to pay rebellion
this
against the
fashion
for
of the
moment can scarcely be doubted, but he was by nature too strenuous a fighter to be daunted by dangerous his convictions,
possibilities,
and
once formed, were always
too strong to yield to any considerations of expediency. In his
1848,
own
he and two friends of about
age, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and
MILLAIS
22
William Holman Hunt, conceived the idea of
making a
practical protest against the
inefficiency of the
work which was being
done by the more popular
The
time.
artists
three youths had
the influence of Ford
of the
come under
Madox Brown, who
with splendid sincerity was labouring to realise
but
an
ideal
upon an
based not upon fashion,
earnest
desire
for ^truthful
expression, and by his example they were
induced to study a purer type of art than
any they could see about them. purer
art
they
turned
to
the
For
this
works of
the Italian Primitives, whose childlike unconventionality and unhesitating naturalism
touched a responsive chord of these youths
who
still
in the natures
retained
the simple faith in reaUty which the
charms of childhood.
some of is
one of
They decided
PLATE III.-THE KNIGHT ERRANT (Tate Gallery) It is
generally recognised that the effective representation of the
nude figure imposes the severest test not only upon an artist's powers of drawing and painting but upon his sense of aesthetic propriety as v/ell. The " Knight Errant " proves beyond dispute that Millais
was
able to pass this test triumphantly, for the picture
a magnificent technical achievement and is absolutely discreet in treatment. The subject, a lady rescued from robbers by a wandering knight, is one which occurs frequently in mediaeval romance.
is
MILLAIS
25
that for the future they would base their
upon that of the early
practice
own
Italians,
and that they would have none of the
artifi-
of the age in which they found
ciaUties
themselves.
Their resolve was a bold one,
but the manner in which they proceeded to
make it They
effective
was bolder
still.
organised an association, the
of which,
"The Pre-RaphaeHte
title
Brother-
hood," significantly asserted the nature of their artistic aims,
and as the founders of
this association they
pledged themselves to
seek the inspiration of their art Italian
painters
who
had
in
lived
those before
Raphael
was
principles
were abandoned by Raphael and
born,
his successors.
the
Brotherhood
painters,
James
To
and
whose
sterling
the three founders of
were joined two other Collinson,
and
F.
G.
MILLAIS
26
Thomas Woolner and
Stephens, a sculptor,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti's brother, William Michael, who, being a writer, the office of secretary.
so constituted,
was
was given
The Brotherhood,
formally inaugurated in
the autumn of 1848, and the
members
at
once set to work to prove by their acts the reality of their belief in the creed they
had adopted.
The
first
fruits
of the
movement were
seen in the following spring at the Aca-
demy where be
Millais,
remembered,
who was
not
quite
then,
it
twenty,
must exhi-
bited his " Lorenzo and Isabella," a picture striking in its originality
power.
What
it
implied
and
in its
was
not,
immediately realised by the
it
however,
public;
that
made it very was surrounded
the manner of the painting unlike those by which
unusual
MILLAIS was if
27
generally recognised, but most people,
they thought about the matter at
seem had
to failed
all,
have assumed that the painter to bring himself into line with
the art of his time through youthful inexperience rather than by deliberate inten-
Time and
tion.
practice,
they considered,
would correct such deficiencies
were apparent bella,"
in
in taste as
the "Lorenzo and
Isa-
and when the lad had arrived at
years of discretion he would be the to see the necessity for
first
amendment.
But the members of the Brotherhood, probably feeling that their not
produced
quite
the
initial effort
effect
had
intended,
took other steps to define their attitude.
They
started, in
January 1850, a magazine
The Gemiy which was proffered as the organ of the new movement. It called
MILLAIS
28 was
sufficiently
of faith, and neither
fession its
illustrations
it
lenge to
were wanting
was intended all
to be,
text nor
in clearness
indeed,
was
an open chal-
the advocates of the old order
of things; and as such
the people
in its con-
its
The magazine,
of statement.
what
uncompromising
who saw
it.
it
It
was taken by
was only
in ex-
istence for four months, but even in that
short time
it
did its
work thoroughly, and
put an end to any doubts there were in the minds of art lovers and art workers
concerning itism
;
the
meaning of Pre-Raphael-
thenceforward Millais and his friends
had certainly no reason
to
complain of
being ignored.
The pictures hibition
was given to the they sent to the 1850 Academy exwas, however, by no means what
attention which
MILLAIS
29
they desired, though, doubtless,
must have
it
been much what they expected. exhibited
and
a
"Portrait
his Grandchild,**
and "Christ
Ariel,"
Parents penter's
"
— better
the House of His
known
as
"The
Car-
these visible embodi-
ments of the principles
Germ were
Gentleman
"Ferdinand Lured by in
Shop"— and
a
of
Millais
received
down
laid
an
with
The
in
absolute
The audacity of the young painters who sought by works of this character to discredit the smug and artificial respectability of the art which was storm
of
abuse.
then in vogue excited the
critics
beyond
control and brought forth a veritable orgie
of virulent expostulation. Millais, with his
mind made up and
fighting instinct fully roused,
man
to yield to clamour.
his
was not the
He made no
con-
MILLAIS
30
cessions, but, loyally supporting the policy
of the
demy
Brotherhood, showed at the Aca-
in 1851
"Mariana
the
in
"The Return of
"The Woodman's Moated
Grange,"
Dove
to the Ark,"
of the
were
which
Daughter,"
as
frank
their
in
and all
Pre-
Raphaelitism as any of the previous year's
and
canvases,
all
of which were greeted
with even more vehement disapproval by the literary custodians of the popular taste.
Every possible kind of misrepresentation of the aims of the young painter and his
was employed
friends efforts,
all
from
insult
the
chosen.
Academy
discredit
sorts of base motives
puted to them
and
to
;
ridicule, specious
were used course
were imargument,
in turn to drive
they
had
their
them
deliberately
Appeals were even made to the to
have
the
pictures,
round
MILLAIS which
this
controversy
31
was
moved summarily from the
raging,
exhibition
things unfit to be set before the
the
as
eyes of
But fortunately the courage
the public. of
re-
Brotherhood
was
proof
against
everything which the opposition could do,
and neither abuse nor threats had any effect.
Yet Millais at the time suffered
principles;
his
for
paintings which had been
commissioned were thrown upon his hands,
and able.
his pictures almost ceased to
He had
be
sale-
every proof that his
Pre-
Raphaelitism was commercially a mistake
and
that,
if
he
persisted,
the
absolute
marring of his career as a popular painter,
was more than likely, yet, so stubborn was his conviction that he made no change in either his principles or his practice.
Happily, as time went on, the position
MILLAIS
32
of affairs began to improve
exhausted
itself
;
the opposition
by excess of
violence,
and
movement took up
able champions of the
the cudgels in defence of the young artists.
One
the
of
most authoritative of these
champions was Ruskin, who found
in this
apparently forlorn hope infinite possibilities
whose declaration
of artistic progress, and
that the Pre-Raphaelites were laying "the
foundations of a school of art nobler than the world has seen for three hundred years
generously expressed
wards
the
his
Brotherhood.
trouble to study their art, their motives, so that he
not upon
sentiments
He
took
artistic
demand
the
based his advocacy
principles
were sane and sound enough to his exacting
to-
and to analyse
vague sympathy but upon
understanding of
"
real
which
satisfy
even
for purity of aesthetic
PLATE IV.-AUTUMN LEAVES (Manchester Art Gallery)
As an example terises so
many
of the quiet
and unforced sentiment which characwhich Millais painted, this delightful
of the pictures
composition deserves particular consideration.
It
has a certain
and solemnity of manner, but in its suggestion of the sadness of autumn there is no trace of morbid sentimentality and no kind of theatrical effect. The picture is a sort of allegory expressed with exquisite tenderness, and with a simple frankness of manner which is especially persuasive. severity of design
—
MILLAIS purpose.
35
That the ultimate success of Pre-
Raphaelitism was due to his energetic
in-
terposition cannot, of course, be claimed
the boldness
and tenacity of the
who had adopted
the
new
artists
creed had more to
do with the improvement which was brought about in the popular attitude
—but
Ruskin's
counter attack upon the critics had a valuable effect, and undoubtedly helped greatly to
open the eyes of the
public.
It is interesting, too, to
the the
moment when the attack was fiercest Royal Academy showed its faith in
Millais is
note that just at
by electing him an Associate.
He
said to have been the youngest student
ever received
into
the
Academy
schools,
and he must have been one of the youngest painters ever chosen as an Associate, for after his election
it
was discovered
that he
MILLAIS
36
had not reached the age at which, under
Academy ciateship was the
rules,
admission to the Asso-
possible.
So
his election
had
to be declared invalid
and he had to wait
some few years longer
—until
official
1853—for the
recognition of his claims.
must assuredly be counted to the
But
it
credit of
Academy that such readiness should have been shown to admit the ability of a
the
young
artist
who was
openly in rebellion
against the fashions of his time, and whose
work was by
much members
of
that
implication a condemnation
was being done even by
of the Academic circle.
His election
in
matter of course;
won
his
way
to
1853
came more as a
by that date he had a position which could
scarcely be questioned even by the bitterest
opponents of Pre-Raphaelitism, and he had
"
MILLAIS laid
37
foundations
securely the
of that
re-
markable popularity which he was destined to enjoy for the rest of his
It
life.
would
have been hard, indeed, to deny that he deserved whatever artistic merit of the
pictures
rewards were due to highest order, for his
had passed well beyond the stage
commandHis "Ophelia" and "The
of brilliant promise into that of
ing achievement.
Huguenot "
in 1852, his "
and "The Proscribed
and in
Order of Release "
Royalist"
his exquisite " Portrait of
1854,
are to
in
1853,
Mr. Ruskin
be accounted as masterly
performances which would have done credit to
a painter whose
skill
matured by more than half a strenuous tions of a
effort,
full
had been lifetime
of
and which, as the produc-
young man who did not reach
his twenty-fifth birthday until the
summer
MILLAIS
38
of i8S4, are of really extraordinary import-
The "Ophelia," "The Huguenot," and "The Order of Release," can be placed, indeed, among the most memorable exance.
positions of his artistic conviction,
and the
"Portrait of Mr. Ruskin" ranks with the
"Ophelia" as one of the most astonishing
examples of searching and
which can be found
faithful
modern
in
study
art.
These pictures were followed
closely
by
—by
"The Rescue" in 1855, by "Autumn Leaves," "The Random Shot," "The Blind Girl," and "Peace Conothers not less notable
eluded," in 1856, and
the Ford,"
"News
by "Sir Isumbras at
"The Escape
from Home,'*
of a Heretic," and
in 1857.
Of
this
group
"Sir Isumbras at the Ford" was the least successful, but
"Autumn Leaves," with
its
exquisite delicacy of sentiment, and those
PLATE
V.
-SPEAK SPEAK! !
(Tate Gallery)
To
the
man who
him
has loved and
lost,
the vision of his lady appear-
dawn seems
so real and living that he begs her to speak to him, and stretches out his arms to clasp what is after all only a creation of his imagination. The dramatic
ing to
as he
lies
awake
at
feeling of the picture is as convincing as its pathos
;
the painter has
grasped completely the possibilities of his subject, and he story with just the touch of mystery needed to give
The management
it
tells his
due
signifi-
and shade, and of the contrast between the warm lamplight and the greyness of the early morning, is full of both power and subtlety.
cance.
of the light
MILLAIS two
41 "The
delightful little canvases,
Girl,"
and "The
supreme
Random
interest both
Blind of
are
Shot,"
on account of the
depth of thought which they reveal and of their splendid executive accomplishment.
Another great picture appeared
—"The
Vale of Rest," which differed from
most of the works which produced
had hitherto
Millais
handling
in its larger qualities of
and more serious symbolism. importance was not artistes
in 1859
admirers
fully
when
it
Its
realised
was
first
but Millais himself looked upon best thing he had done
;
and
special
by the
exhibited, it
as the
this opinion
has since been generally recognised as ciently well founded.
He had
shown so much solemnity of quite
so
pictorial
suffi-
not before feeling
nor
complete a grasp of the larger essentials,
though
in
"Autumn
MILLAIS
42
Leaves" there was decidedly more than a hint of the seriousness of purpose
which
gave authority and dignity of
"The
style to
Vale of Rest."
There was at over his
art,
this
time a change coming
a change which suggested
that the stricter limits of Pre-Raphaelitism
were a his
little
too narrow for him
youthful enthusiasms
now
that
were being
re-
placed by the more tolerant ideas of mental maturity.
abandon
But he
cover
in
no
his earlier principles;
rather to find to
was
how
artistic
haste to
he sought
they might be widened
motives which
came within the scope
of
the
scarcely
creed
to
which the Brotherhood had originally been
So he alternated between the literalism of "The Black Brunswicker" {i860), "The White Cockade" (1862), "My pledged.
MILLAIS First
Sermon "
(1864),
(1863), "
43
My Second Sermon
''
and "Asleep" and "Awake," which
were shown
in
all his earlier
1867 with that daintiest of
paintings,
"The
Minuet," and
the sombre suggestion of such imaginative
"The Enemy Sowing
pictures as
and the
finely
conceived " Eve of St. Agnes,"
of which the former
Academy
in 1865,
seemed as
mind as
Tares,"
was exhibited
and the
at the
latter in 1863.
It
he was trying to make up his
if
to the direction he
for the future, testing his
was
powers
to take
in various
ways, and studying himself to see
how
his
wishes and his temperament could best be
brought into accord.
But when art world in
in 1868
he broke into the new
which he was to reign supreme
for nearly thirty years, his
abandonment of
the technical methods which he had adopted
MILLAIS
44 in 1849, 3^^d
used ever since with compara-
was as
tively little modification,
was
surprising.
In
careful,
searching,
and
it
small
details,
exactly
he
precise
had
matter-of-fact
and
what
examined.
His
were
almost
vein,
of
of
record
microscopically "
student
brushwork,
in
" Asleep " and " Awake
he was the
literal
his
in
realistic
1867
decisive as
in his
most
pedantically
accurate in statement of obvious facts
;
and
even his charming " Minuet " was elaborated with a care that nation this
to
left
supply.
dwelling
upon
nothing for the imagiIn
1868,
little
however,
things,
all
all
this
studied minuteness of touch and literal presentation of
disappeared.
what was obvious, had suddenly All that
his Pre-Raphaelitism
vision
remained to him of
was the acuteness
which had served him so well
of for
MILLAIS twenty years of nature;
45
his intimate examination
in
everything else
had gone,
his
minute actuality was replaced by large and generous suggestion, his restrained brush-
work by the broadest and most emphatic handling, his
view by a kind of
realistic
magnificent impressionism which expressed rightly
the
enough the personal robustness of
man
himself.
What made
this
change the more dra-
matic was the absence of any suggestion in his
work
previous
that he
was prepar-
ing for an executive departure of such a
marked
kind.
of subjects,
A or
diversion into a
an
inclination
new
towards a
more serious type of sentiment, might haps have been looked of
"The Vale
of Rest,"
ing Tares," and
for
class
per-
from the painter
"The Enemy Sow-
"The Eve
of St. Agnes,"
MILLAIS
46
but even in the larger manner of these pictures, there
desired
"Stella,"
"The
little
adopt a
to
But
ing.
was
if
to imply that he
new mode
of paint-
the "Souvenir of Velazquez,"
"The
Sisters,"
Pilgrims to St. PauFs," and
which
he contributed to
the 1868 Academy, are compared with what
he had done before, the
full
significance
of his action can be perceived.
The "Souvenir is
of Velazquez,"
indeed,
one of the most decisive pieces of fluent
brushwork which has been produced by
any modern painter of the British It
is
and
entirely convincing in in its
gestion, is
directness
summariness of executive sug-
and as a masterly performance
it
by no means unworthy to stand beside
the works of that master to in
its
school.
some
sort designed as
a
whom tribute.
it
was But
MILLAIS it
has a peculiarly English charm which grafted
Millais
to
with
technical
the
school, is
47
happy discretion on
manner of the Spanish
and as a study of
childish grace
almost inimitably persuasive.
princesses
whom
The
it
little
Velazquez painted were
too often robbed of their daintiness by the formality of the surroundings in which
was
their misfortune to
child
in
picture
this
be placed, but the
by Millais has
none of her freshness, and, with finery,
is
a happy, young,
still
little
all
lost
her
thing,
ready for a romp as soon as the sitting over.
In
the
long
it
series
of
is
fascinating
studies of child-life which he painted with quite exquisite
sympathy, this one claims
a place of
particular
count of
beauty of characterisation, and
its
its
entire absence
prominence on ac-
of affectation, quite as
MILLAIS
48 much
as
it
does on account of
its qualities
as a consummate exercise in craftsmanship.
This was the canvas which he
Academy as
decided to hand over to the his diploma work.
He had been promoted
to the rank of Academician his intention then in
finally
was
in
to be
the Diploma Gallery by
1863,
and
represented
"The Enemy
Sowing Tares," which he regarded as every
But
way a sound example
in
of his powers.
his fellow-Academicians, for
some not
very intelligible reason, did not agree with
him about the and
it
suitability
of this picture,
was, therefore, refused.
So he
them the " Souvenir of Velazquez " a fortunate choice,
for
it
sent
instead,
brought perma-
nently into a quasi-public gallery what
is
indisputably an achievement worthy of him at his best.
;
PLATE VI.—THE VALE OF REST (Tate Gallery)
None Millais
of the pictures
was
still
said to surpass
and
certainly
a
which can be assigned
"The
none expresses better in
treatment the
to the period
when
adherent to the Pre-Raphaelite creed can be Vale of Rest " in depth and purity of feeling
strict
artist's
conception.
its
character and
The same
manner
of
exquisite sentiment,
which distinguishes " Autumn Leaves " gives Rest" an absorbing interest; and the way in which every detail of the composition and every subtlety in the arrangement and expression of the subject have been used to enhance the effect which the artist intended to produce, claims sincere
to
and
dignified,
"The Vale
of
unqualified admiration.
MILLAIS Once
on
started
his
51
new
direction as
a painter he went forward with unhesitating confidence in his ability to realise his
and as the years passed
intentions,
by he added picture
company of
large
already
picture to
after
his
the
successes.
His admirers, surprised as they were at first
by
his startling
not hesitate offer;
accept
to
indeed
change of manner, did
the
what he had
splendid
to
vigour of his
work brought him an immediate increase of popularity, and he was thenceforth re-
home and abroad as one of most commanding figures in the whole
cognised at the
array
of British
art,
authority
was not
In
he
"Nina,
1869
as a leader whose
to be questioned.
exhibited
his
portrait
Daughter of F. Lehmann,
"The Gambler's
of
Esq.,**
Wife," a "Portrait of Sir
MILLAIS
52
John Fowler," and "Vanessa," a companion picture to his "Stella;" and in 1870 "A
Widow's Mite," "The Boyhood of Raleigh," and "The Knight Errant," with some other
works of
less importance.
Miss Lehmann
The
portrait of
one of the pictures upon
is
which his reputation most securely admirable in
its
technical quality and
among
observation of character; and others
"The Boyhood
"The Knight
rests,
of Raleigh,"
its
the
and
Errant," are worthiest of at-
tention because they are treated with great distinction,
interest
and have
in large
which always
results
measure that from judici-
ous interpretation of a well-selected subject.
"The Boyhood is
of Raleigh," especially,
to be considered on account of
session
of a
certain
dramatic
its
pos-
sentiment
MILLAIS which might
by an
with
a sense of
in the
less
artist
fitness.
charm and
story with is
have been made theat-
easily
rical
53 endowed
surely
But
it
conviction,
tells
its
and there
action of the figures, and in the
expressions
on the
faces,
just
the
right
degree of
vitality
needed to make clear the
pictorial
motive.
"The Knight Errant"
perhaps, less significant as a piece of
is,
but
invention,
the it
artist's
affords
list
it
has a distinct place of achievements,
in
because
one of the few instances of his
treatment of the nude figure on a large scale.
It
proves plainly enough that his
avoidance of subjects of this class was not
due to any
inability
on his part to succeed
as a flesh painter, for this figure ful
both in colour and handling
;
is
beauti-
it is
more
probable that the classic formality and con-
MILLAIS
54
which public opinion
ventionality
in
this
country requires in the representation of the nude did not appeal to a
decorative
Leighton,
like
stance
—the
presented
modern
in
type,
Moore,
Albert
or
too
painter—of
figure
woman
is
for
Indeed, from the standpoint
nature's facts.
of the
with his
and sincere regard
of actuality
love
man
that
Millais
frankly
and too
men
for
in-
has
re-
unidealised,
too
realistically femi-
nine.
But is
in this disregard of
convention there
a kind of summing up of
his beliefs as
Though he had changed outward aspect of his art he was
an
in
spirit
Raphaelite his
the
artist.
days.
keenness
a
Pre-Raphaelite,
he
remained
to
and a the
natural
to
Pre-
end
He depended more upon of vision
still
him,
of the
and
MILLAIS assiduously
cultivated
may have had
by years of close
upon what powers he
than
observation,
55
of abstract imagining; and
he sought to only a limited extent to set
down upon which chiefly
his
satisfy
canvas those mental images
men who
look upon nature
as a basis for decorative designs.
The mental image with him was a reflection of fact, fied
direct
not an adaptation modi-
and formalised
in
accordance with
re-
cognised rules, not a fancy more or less remotely referable to reality; but he had certainly
an ample equipment of that taste
which enables the painter to discriminate
between the
realities
which are too crude
and obvious to be worth recording, and those which by their inherent beauty claim
a permanent place
He
had, too, the
in
an
judgment
artist's
memory.
to see that the
;
MILLAIS
56
nude, treated as his
satisfy
it
aesthetic
would have to be to conscience,
too plainly stated to
would be
be entirely accept-
able.
He
found a
much more
appropriate
field
for the exercise of his particular capacities
by turning
to
Many
landscape painting.
of his earlier figure compositions had been
how
given backgrounds which showed
well
he could manage the complex details of
masses of tangled vegetation, or the broad
and simple
lines of
a piece of rural scenery
but in 1871 he attempted for the
first
time
in
itself
a landscape which was complete
and
not
merely
incidental
in
a
picture
human interest. This landscape, " Chill October," was at the Academy with his "Yes or No?" "Vicmainly
tory,
O
concerned
Lord,"
"A
with
SomnambuUst," and the
MILLAIS of George
"Portrait
Grote,"
57 and
it
was
welcomed by a host of admirers as a new of his
revelation tainly
tion in
though into
so
much
it
the
It
has cer-
the estima-
is still
held; and
imaginative
that
insight
which accounts
subtleties
in
it
justify
was and
lacks
it
poetic
Turner,
which
qualities
which
versatility.
work
of a
master
for
like
must always claim the respect
of art lovers as a large, dignified, and sincere study of nature in one of her sadder
moods. its
It
is
the reserve of the picture,
reticent realism, that chiefly
memorable,
for
it
is
makes
neither imposing
subject nor striking in effect; but in
broad simplicity there
is
it
in its
something rarely
fascinating.
Other nature studies of the same character followed at brief intervals during the
MILLAIS
58 next
few
years;
they added
to
the
in-
terest of the artist's practice, but they can
scarcely be said to
have equalled
in
im-
portance the portraits and figure subjects
which he completed at career.
this
stage of his
Millais was, of course, far too great
a master to have artistic practice to
failed in
any branch of
which he seriously de-
voted himself, but the very capacities which
made him so successful as a painter human subject prevented him from
of the look-
ing at open-air nature with the necessary
degree of abstraction.
The
acter of a piece of scenery, individual peculiarities,
physical charits details
and
he could record with
absolute certainty, though the elusive subtleties of
atmosphere, and the charming ac-
cidents of illumination, which in the
poetic
mean
so
much
rendering of landscape,
he
PLATE VII.-OPHELIA (Tate GaUery)
Realism
more searching and more significant than that which and attained in this small canvas would hardly
Millais sought for
come within the bounds of possibility. But the picture is much more than a simple study of facts it has an exquisite charm of poetic feeling, and it is conceived with a full measure of the tenderness needed in a representation of the most pathetic of eill Shakespeare's heroines. Such a work has a place, definite and indisputable, among the classics of art, and counts as one of the chief masterpieces of the ;
British School.
MILLAIS dwelt upon hardly at
all.
6i
In
many
of his
landscapes the breadth and dignity, the accurate relation of part to part, the fascinating simplicity of manner, which are
among
the greater merits of "Chill October," can
be praised without reservation or hesitation; but the touch unreality,
painter real
by which the inspired landscape
seems to suggest more
spirit
tempted
of fantasy, of actual
;
of nature,
and never,
it
truly the
he hardly ever
may
fairly
be
at-
said,
with complete success.
The
years over which his activity as an
exponent of pure landscape extended
are,
however, memorable because they saw the production of some of the most triumphant
achievements of his maturer
two landscapes, and "Flowing
life.
With
his
"Flowing to the Sea,"
to the River," he exhibited
MILLAIS
62
"Hearts are Trumps," a por-
1872 his
in
group which has become a modern
trait
classic
;
and
the
trait,
in 1873
three-quarter
But
Bischoffsheim."
his
all
it
length
was
of "Mrs.
in 1874 that
he
many ways the greatest paintings, "The North-West
showed what of
another wonderful por-
is in
Passage," a work which,
if
he had done
nothing else of moment, would suffice to place
him
painters of the old man,
who
picture, is is
much
among the master world. The head of the
securely
is
the central figure in the
entirely magnificent,
and there
besides in this canvas which would
have been beyond the reach of any one but
an
artist of
was
almost abnormal power.
followed
in
1875
by
his
"Miss Eveleen Tennant," and the
"Yeoman
This
portrait in
of
1877 by
of the Guard," which runs
MILLAIS "The
63
North-West Passage" close in the
race for supremacy.
At
this time, indeed, his productiveness
was extraordinary; traits,
level
men
and
in all of
por-
pictures,
and landscapes appeared
succession,
a
subject
rapid
in
them he kept
of masterly practice
to
which other
reach only occasionally and at rare in-
tervals.
Between 1873 and 1879 he painted
eight landscapes,
all
important in scale and
interesting in treatment, but after 1879 he
produced no
more
when he began a apparently
too
nearly
for
fresh
busy
figure subjects to give
ten
portraits
much time
of-door work, and to satisfy the
made upon him by sitters
hardest.
he
must have
He was
series.
with
art
had
years,
to out-
demands
collectors
to
and
work
and his
Yet popularity did not make him
MILLAIS
64 and
careless,
neither
nor his
of outlook
freshness
his
work diminished
hard
his
freedom of expression.
Conscientiousness
was always one of
as a craftsman
and the knowledge that
virtues,
his
he had
a host of admirers ready to accept almost he would
anything
not the
tainly
give
effect
them had
cer-
of inducing him
to
lower his standard. In the long
of his paintings, which
list
belong to the period beginning in 1879 ^^^ several
stand
—for
example,
ending
in
special
prominence
traits of
Hon.
W.
1888,
out
with
his por-
"Mrs. Jopling," and "The Right E.
Gladstone,"
"Cherry Ripe,"
and "The Princess Elizabeth,"
all
"The Right Hon. John Bright"
in 1879,
in
1880,
"Cardinal Newman," "Alfred, Lord Tennyson,"
"Sir
Henry
Thompson,"
"Cinder-
MILLAIS ella,"
and "Caller
65
Herrin'," in
"J. C.
1881,
Hook, R.A.," and "The Captive,"
in
1882,
"The Marquess of Salisbury" in 1883, "The Ruling Passion," and another por"Bubbles"
trait
of Gladstone,
1886,
and "The Marquess of Hartington*'
in 1887.
Some
in
1885,
of these were
shown
Academy, but he was producing
in
at the
far
more
year by year than could be exhibited there, so he sent
many important works
to the
Grosvenor Gallery, and most of his subject pictures to the galleries of the dealers
whom
they were commissioned.
After in
by
1888
his effort;
Academy
only
there in
was some
relaxation
that year he had at the
one
picture,
a landscape,
"Murthly Moss," and only one
portrait in
each of the years 1889 and 1890, though he showed several works
in other galleries.
E
MILLAIS
66
In 1892 his landscapes " Halcyon Weather,"
and " Blow, Blow, thou Winter Wind," were
Academy, but
the
at
worked no more
after that
out-of-doors.
year he
Of the can-
vases painted during the last three or four years are
of
his
his
the
life,
portrait
most
memorable
"John Hare"
of
"A
(1893),
"Speak! Speak!"
(1895),
runner"
of which were at the
all
(1896),
and
Fore-
Academy, and "Time the Reaper" which
was
at the
New
Gallery in 1895.
"Speak!
Speak!" was purchased by the Chantrey
Fund
trustees,
and
is
now
in the National
Gallery of British Art with the other ad-
mirably chosen examples of his art which
were given to the nation by Sir Henry Tate.
The crowning honour to
him
in
February
of his
1896,
life
came
when he was
MILLAIS
67 Academy
elected President of the Royal
succession
Lord Leighton
to
—an
in
honour
which was particularly appropriate not only because of his eminence as an also because he
artist,
had been intimately con-
nected for nearly sixty years with the stitution
over which he
to preside. in his
1895,
To
in-
called
he referred
speech at the Academy banquet in at
which he took the chair
whose
him from occupying
this
was then
this connection
place of Leighton
tion.
but
his
The words which occasion
expressed
illness
in
the
prevented
accustomed posiMillais
used on
generously
and
affectionately his sense of obligation to the
Academy by which he had been his boyhood,
trained in
and from which he had
re-
ceived encouragement and support at the
most
critical
period of his career, and de-
MILLAIS
68 with
Glared
characteristic
he owed to
it
frankness
that
a debt of gratitude which
he never could repay.
To
those, however,
who know how
loyal
he was to the institution that he loved so well
it
indeed,
more
would seem that the debt was, fully
paid.
Few men have done
to uphold the repute of the
Academy,
few have by the brilliancy of their powers
and
more
their
charm of personality done
credit.
President
That Leighton was the
can
be
readily
Millais, as his successor,
admitted,
it
ideal
but
would have carried
on a great tradition with dignity and sympathy and with no diminution of his predecessor's generous tolerance and earnest
sense of artistic responsibility.
He would
have kept the Academy on broad
and by
his impatience of
empty
lines,
formalities
PLATE VIII.-THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE (Tate Gallery)
Even
if
the "North- West Passage" were not the masterly piece
of painting that it
it is, it
would
still
be a picture of importance because
appeals so vividly to the national spirit of adventure.
Arctic explorer, no longer able to satisfy his
still
The
old
strenuous inclinations,
which is being read to him by his daughter, and yearns once more to battle with the hardships which must be faced by the traveller in the frozen north. The old man's head, one of the finest technical achievements in modern art, was painted from Trelawny, the friend of Byron, and Shelley. listens to the record of his past activities
MILLAIS he would have prevented touch
with
71 from losing
it
movements
the
modern
in
art.
But, unfortunately, he
was destined
to
hold his honourable office for but a brief time.
Even
death he
Leighton's
before
had been suffering from a throat trouble which not long
was pronounced
after
to be
cancer; and in the months that followed
on
immediately
made
the
election
his
Not long
rapid progress.
disease after the
opening of the 1896 Academy Exhibition his
condition
immediately
became so
fatal result
serious
that an
was expected
;
but
by an operation he obtained some temporary relief and his
few weeks. brief respite;
This,
life
was prolonged
was
however,
he died on August
was buried a week
later
in
St.
for
only 13,
a a
and
Paul's
MILLAIS
72
Cathedral, where
had
he
before
little
more than
followed
months
six
old
his
friend's
body to the grave.
To speak
of his
death
premature
as
would be scarcely a misapplication of the
Although Millais had completed his
word.
was
sixty-seventh year he
young man. there
even
painted
in
physique
the
to him,
slowly,
and the
powers would
many more
years.
The
of great achievement remained
and
his death
for
of his
and buoyant tempera-
inevitable degeneration of his
have not begun
shadow of
To a man
ment age would have come
possibility
a
those last works
under
nearly impending death. splendid
art
perceptible diminution of his
vitality
which he
in
His vigour had not waned, and
was no
artistic
still
it
would be true to say that
robbed us of much which would
MILLAIS
73
have added greatly to the sum total of British art.
Yet we may be grateful to
for allowing
him
his
youth
years
;
it
to develop the promise of
splendour of his maturer
in the
so often the
is
lot
of the preco-
cious genius to die
young with
but half
If
fulfilled.
as
Millais
did
it
fate
to
his mission
death had
come
to
Bonington or Fred
Walker, our loss would
have
been
sad
indeed.
discussing Millais as an artist the
In
part which his personality played in
ing him
what he was must by no means
be overlooked.
Something of the
and the
of his art
way
in
mak-
virility
vitality
was due
to the
which he kept touch with the
life
about him, and interested himself in people
and things. secret
upon
He was no his
own
recluse
ideas,
or
who
fed in
narrowed
MILLAIS
74 his outlook
by hedging himself round with
prejudices and preferences for one special
went
Instead, he
class of artistic material.
out into the world and acquired his impressions of humanity in first
tion
hand, finding
with
human
his
all
much
directions
and at
pleasure in associa-
fellow-men.
To
nature he gave free rein;
own he was
his
a keen sportsman, a lover of children— of
whose ways he had, as he proved of pictures, a perfect
in scores
understanding
a man who was always happy
—^and
in
con-
genial society, and always welcome.
He
lived his
life,
wholesomely,
in fact, largely, genially,
and he was
spoiled
by the prosperity
him
his
in
maturer years
and
much unwhich came to as he was unas
shaken by the opposition which he had to face in that brief period of his youth when,
MILLAIS
75
he used to say himself, he was
as
**so
dreadfully bullied."
That
this brief taste of unpopularity did
him good rather than harm can well be imagined, it
for
tested with
and
his
power
without making him bitter
some
severity his
to fight vigorously for
he believed to be right has always ing
its
the finer
value as a qualities
—and
such a test
of a strong man,
weak one
for self-examination.
require
what
means of develop-
or as a warning to the
need
tenacity
of the
Millais did not
any incentive to self-examination,
knew well enough what he intended to do when he deliberately set up his own conviction against that of the men who practically ruled British art, and he
because he
did not enter upon the fight with any idea of backing out
if
he found
it
was
likely to
MILLAIS
76
But
go against him.
triumphal progress which he
Academy
the
schools,
the wider pubUc
him as
infalUble
the
of
made through discovery that
was not disposed was
kind
the
after
to accept
possibly necessary to
prove to him that successes as a student did not give him, as a matter of course, an
sion.
among the chiefs of his profesHe was taught roughly, and in a
way
that roused both his fighting spirit and
assured place
his pride, that this position
was
to be
won
only by sustained and strenuous effort; and lesson
this
persisted
he
long
never after
forgot.
he
had
effects
Its
become
popular favourite, and they helped,
it
a
can
fairly believed,
to strengthen his char-
acter and to keep
him from that easy con-
be
tentment with his own works which first
step
towards
degeneration.
is
He
the did
MILLAIS
77
not degenerate after he had secured what
he had been striving silenced his critics,
for;
although he had
and had won them over
to his side, he continued to sit in severest
judgment upon
himself,
exacted from his
own
they could give him.
and to the
last
he
capacities the utmost
The
plates are printed
The l/l2
by Bemrose &* Sons, Ltd., Derby and London
text at the
Balcantyne Pkuss, Edinburgh 3
Date
V^n
P
^opl^
r^
\^ ^/
'i^'?
THE ONTARIO CrtUBCa OF ^KT,
an<»n).
iV^
^<