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Commentary from Forty Years of 'Spy'

When I was working for the Graphic, a portrait in which I took much pleasure was that of Millais. The sittings were most interesting, for in the course of conversation, I gained a considerable insight into his character, and gleaned much information as to his opinions, method of working, and views upon art.

Watts had been the idol of the Royal Academy students up till now, but Millais was taking his place in their estimation, and although he was well to the front as a portrait painter, the enormous competition in this branch of art was scarcely evident yet. The time was approaching, however, when the art student had to consider how he could best live by painting. He was at first full of the noblest intentions, and would frequently exclaim, "Art for Art's sake; that's my motto ... none of your pot-boilers for me." Unfortunately, the day for these very laudable sentiments was passing, and, when men were dependent on their profession, something else had to be thought of. Hence the necessary study of portrait painting.

I remember Millais mentioned his belief in the [143] pre-Raphaelites and their influence upon the young artist; but he considered it important that the student should gradually abandon the influence for a more masterly method of painting and a freer brush. This versatile genius must have puzzled his adorers not a little by his erratic experiments in style; his emulations of Reynolds in a modern portrait (of three ladies playing cards) were in direct contradiction to his previous work — the paint, I remember, was extremely thick, especially on the necks of the ladies. A portrait of Irving followed the next year, painted quite thinly. The students were puzzled and distracted, for in the meantime they had all followed the previous lead, and were still painting necks in foundation white laid on without discretion. Then Millais astonished his coterie by painting "Chill October" in his best manner.

I called upon him once on a matter of advice and discovered him puzzling over his picture called "Cherry Ripe." Something was wrong, and he could not place the fault, and he appealed to my "fresh eye" to find it. It occurred to me that something in the drawing of the head, which was covered with a mob-cap, was slightly out of drawing, and I called his attention to it.

"You've hit it, my boy," he said. "That's just what I thought myself, but I was not quite certain."

He paid me the great compliment of saying he had seen enough of my work to know he could safely ask my opinion, and I felt extremely flattered. ["Cherry Ripe," pp. 142-143]

Some of Spy's Other Artistic Celebrities from Vanity Fair

• The Queen's Sculptor [Joseph Edgar Boehm]
• He Painted 'The Doctor' [Sir Samuel Luke Fildes]
• Anthony Trollope, Novelist (Men of the Day No. 60) 5 April 1873
• "Tess" — Thomas Hardy, Novelist (4 June 1892)
• The Novelist who invented Sensation [Wilkie Collins] 3 February 1872
• The Pre-Raphaelite of the world 19 July 1879

Bibliography

Ward, Leslie ['Spy']. Forty Years of 'Spy'. London: Chatto and Windus, 1915.

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Created 26 July 2005