" Marcus
Wilkeson had the amiable vice of flattery.
Patching shrugged his shoulders, and made a contemptuous gesture toward
the canvas with his outstretched brush. "A mere daub," said he. "One
step higher than painting a barn or a board fence--that's all."
"Yet the true artist adorns what he touches," said Marcus.
Patching accepted the homage calmly, as one who knew that he deserved
it. "A very just and discriminating remark, sir. I have no doubt that a
person thoroughly familiar with my style would say, looking at this
panorama, 'It has the severe simplicity of a Patching.' I consented to
paint it, as Tiffles well remembers, only on condition that I should not
wholly abase myself by abandoning the style upon which I have built up
my reputation."
Tiffles, thus appealed to, corroborated the statement with a solemn bow.
The artist continued: "Fortunately, the subject is one peculiarly
adapted to my genius. For instance: the desert of Sahara is a dead level
of sand. It is a perfect type of severe simplicity in the highest sense.
It exhibits no common display of gorgeous colors, such as poor artists
and the ignorant crowd rejoice in.
Pages:
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290