The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-04-08
seIe tro alisrtllang.
MY FIRsP PATRON.
An Arf,st,s Story,


: hh0od. s- ~ - - "a
Seated in my studio, engaged in puttinl
the finishing touches to q small landscape
of which a Summer trip into Shropshir'
had furnished me with preliminary
sketch, was wondering when the love o
the profession had chosen. and the tim
and labor bestowed upon il. would begiI
to bring back some substantial return IL
the form of patronage and commissions
when was startled from my revere by
1 hnsty tap at my door, and CHEEKY volo'
askIng-
.tAre you at home? Oh, all right"
1t was q fellow artist and particular
ehum Of my own, who, entering very un
ceremoniOusly, and somewhat out of breath
znped himself into the only vacant chail
ana a. once procee5ed with
ssI ye broneh4 yoR sg0o6-zstaFs, my boy,
I'm going to make your tortuneT
Being considerably interested begged
him to explain, and only taking sufficient
tine to fill his little brown pipe, he at once
assented, commencing with the inquiry
s.Iiave you had anv visitor YETI"
'.No," 1 replied. ''You are the first. )"
CHATS ali right. he said; Il wished
to be the first to tell you Wen, then, last
evening bad cali from gentleman :
see. here's his card-'Mr. Francis J. Bou-
yelie.' who appears to be acting as an agent
to the Marquis of -, in collecting for
that policeman q small gallery OF works by
native artists, being evidently connoisseur
OF such things. and Lord :, IS, as you
know, q capital patron of our noble profes
sion of the canvas. He has selected one
or two of my things, and expressing de-
sire for something IN the landscape way
didn't forgot you, and shall be very hap
py il We brought you your first patron.
thanked my friend very heartily for his
good nature, and began to fancy my pet
pictures already disposed O..
s'He evidently means business, he went
on to say, s'for he assured me his lordshIp
is not particular as to the price. But We
shall have to send cut pictures to be ap-
proved of at aR address In Wimpole street,
which he left with me. Show him the
best you have and coAfrm the good char
acter that I've given OF you. Don't be
afraid of pGttiRgs good figure on the pic
tures; in TACT you may take a lesson IN that
particular, if in no other, from little Tom
Farncombe The little cad WAS with me
when the party called, and Tom did not
forget to advertise his own works most en-
srgeucally. i want one or two nice bits
OF landscape says this Dir. Bouyerie to
me. / have sweet little thing at home,
close byP cries Tom, running his fingers
through his whitney-brown hair, and with
out more ado, be started home to fetch it.
In the meantime I m ntioned you to him,
and you may expect him, l take 1t, any
minute,
Halo, Brother Dauba, what's the newsI"
st that moment came from an ugly face,
with red stubby beard and moustache,
q d ochreish looking hair, carried behind
the ears, peeping IN at the door. 1 was just
passing looked in you knowi Done bust
ness with your friend, Charley addressing
nv companion. '.Halo old fellow, your
foliage Is rather heavy, amt it?" 20 me-
By -the-by, / showed him the agent of
Lord 1 mean--that little thing
spoke of Delighted with 1t, sir-de-i hit
ed Shall send it up to WiDpole S rect at
once. suppose he hasn't called on you,
has he?" be added, turning to me. "By
the way, don't like that sky, there's no
weather in it. He told me Lord
wanted paintings by men of note only, and
So
..He applied to Tom, chr asked Char
ley
.-ExaetlyT' replied the other, apparently
eanying the question. s.Remember the
subject OF mine? Flgures-cnildren-
ing--viIlsge pooi-sweet effect in middle
distanceF sr--s-ee.-s Is =sF
abr says Charley. "a copy isn't
itg"- ~-
Copy! Are you copy7 MOI sketched
it last Spring. A sweet thing, mind me,
no two mistakes about thati"
''We1r says Charley, seeing Twas becom-
ing bored. Frank waits to finish, so come
along, Tom, and send your sweet thing to
WImpole street as soon as possible, or he
NAV change his mind.
s.Not much fear of that" replies Tom;
and after few more suggestions to me, as
TO the tone of thesky and the handling the
foliage my two friends withdrew.
In the coursssof the day the servant an
nounerd q visitor and looking st the card
she presented, recognized the name
mentioned by Charley. A slight figure
and gentleman-llke appearance, q frank
and easy address, and the general demean-
or of polite man of business. l was more,
than ever disposed to be pleased With my
new patron
81 have waited on you," he commenced,
in a slngularly soft and pleasing voice, ''as
agent OF the Marquis of -, In selecting
q small gallery cf works by native artists.
HIS lordshlp, a. you are aware, is an en-
thusiast In such matters, and possesses no
small degree of ability himself as an anna
teur he Is particularly favorable to the
smaller paintings hike that on your easel
there, and if you are at liberty to dispose
OF any that will suit him, perhaps We can
come to terms"
hastened TO assure him should be only
too happy, and very gladly called his stten-
tIon 10 SONS of my best efforts.
sAh," he said, stepping back and scru-
tinizing each as l placed it In the most
favorable position with his eyes partly closed
and his head on one side, and speaking
slowly, "That's about his lordship's mark,
| fancy. A little too cold perhaps, but yer.
nice. All that's a better one to my view.
Do you think, now, you could manage
say. tour of these, and send them at
at once TO this address. | expect the mar
ouis in town the day after tomorrow, or 1t
may be later; he wall then inspect the col
lection that have made and make his own
selections. Write name and price on back
of each, and suppose you favor me with
call-well' (referring to his pocket diary
and making a note therein ''this day
week, the oath, eh-wi1 that be conyen-
ient?"
/ assured him that nothing could be bet
ter. and having seen my pleasant visitor to
the door, returned in high spirits to the
completion of my work.
Trkine what thought my best picture
In a foar-Eheeler the next d y 70 the ad-
dress in Wimpole street, l found several
brother artiets already assembled there on
the same errand as myself Among them
my friend Charley and little Tom Farm
combe. The latter WAS, as usual, the most
noisy, being engaged in an argument re-
specting the han Cing of the ''sweet thing;
the light was bad or the position unfayoE-
able. but the uniform urbanity of his lord
s ip's agent smoothing any difficulties, and
calming the rufisd temper OF our friend
Whether it was professional envy on my
part, or deficiency Of spprecistive power
/ am free to confess could not see the
great merit of Toms painting. although the
impet7ous little artist continued to Insist
on its having the most favorable place In
the room. .5ft
Don't you see, my dear sir, he argued
'sunless you get the light in that direction
you miss that charming effect In the mid
die distance?' rrs3---f 1---- g
I faneled once or twice I saw smile lurk
at the corners of the mouth, or twinkle IN