The Power of Public Opinion by George du Maurier. Punch (June 21, 1879): 282.
Our Pet Critic (soothingly).— “Well, I can't conscientiously praise it, old Man! But I'll tell you What I can do for you–I'll blackguard it so fearfully that lots of People will come forward out of fair play and swear it's the greatest Work of Genius this Age has ever seen!”
Pictor Ignotus [Unknown Painter].— “Thanks, my dear Boy, bless your kind Heart!”
Pictor Notus [Well-known Painter].— “Ha! Ha! Ha! You an Art-Critic! Why how old are You, my Lad?”
Our Pet Critic (sternly).— “If you dare talk that way to me, sir, I'll be hanged if I don't publish it, as my earnest conviction, that your Picture is the one supreme crowning Masterpiece of Contemporary Art.”
(Appalled by the threat, Pictor subsides.)
What Artists and Their Families Have to Put Up With
- Equal to the Occasion"
- Trials of a Painter's Wife
- Histrionic Egotism [an actor's self-centeredness]"
- How Reputations of Distinguished Amateurs are Sometimes Made
- Precedence in Vanity Fair
- Two on a Tower
- Nature versus Art
- Artistic Amenities
- Distinguished Professionals
- Social Taradiddles
- What Our Artist Has to Put Up With
- The Mother of Invention
- Varnishing Day at the Royal Academy
- What Our Artist Has to Put Up With
- À Fortiori
- Encouragement
Image courtesy of Internet Archive. Text by George P. Landow. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Last modified 3 February 2011