New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-03-16

lipder IN her than she has been Ia herSeh ITO
,bought her so nice frank and bien odrdccr'se' t"o
he had no other ambition than to PANT her a. '".
looked TO hm--or rather wOuld nave loohVu "'''
che zone against the tide Of fashion, IN trusting !"
rot,roI charms and discarding tie aids to beauty
aforesaid To have done so would he pracucalIy
diGicuIt ~ person DESTROYS Of shining in society
But in accepting the artists point OF view so iar "'
the portrait went everything would have oeen
rendered smooth. -
N,issonier however owned that when hfN.
Mackav was coming to his studio she touu"
no fault whatever with the skin ana cum
nlexion he gave her. He Thought tha' ~, '
was appreciatiye of his desire not to pant INC i|
and Gid refined gold She exprcs'eu ~ mn"
Interference for a Rembrandt hat. lhat "''"
dress IN his opinion. should govern the Who,' 'n''
acter of tbe toilet. He studied 10 's'apiiSn nam
~. ho4,reer the beadaear and the rest oil inc Gus
trpe hut in doing so he owns he violated iaShi""'
and tbe canons of taste of the mantua-makerS' VINO
now set M 10 dominate painters auu u'"n''"
Authors. In painting Mrs. Mackay, he looked Tor
ward TO obtaining the favorable SURFACES
of future generations; and hoSt
of competent Judges felicitatcd him on
what he had done. He was accused of having adj
mitted 10 Mrs Mackays attorney that nc hau
given the hand of his hired model to the lady'
This WAS not true He had only used the modei Ill
studying certain muscular movements ana the ehoo'
of glove which is on the point of being put on
model was TO a painstakng artist engaged III
such task. and who did not wish to bore MS SIT
ter. as necessary as lay figure for the arrange
ment of drapcry.
There was never any desire expressed mat the
portrait should not be exhibited at the t11enniai
Salon." II is customary for painters TO SEM por-
traits direct from their studios TO picture SHOWS
Meissonier was never more astonished than when
be received from Mrs Mackay letter in live pages
in every line of which the opinion was
expressed that he had sighted his WORK.
The ears and hands were not hers, she salo
She was she further complained, represented as
being ten wears older than her real age, ana the
| foce taken as n whole was not likeness. The
painter repeated to me the written answer "niCh
he sent 10 her. II was extremely courteous. lie
| expressed the greatest sorrow that he hau ho'
pleased the lady, and that she had thought he
! should not have sent the portrait in an
unfinished state 10 an exhibition. The fact that he
had siuned it was proof that he had done all that
Law III him to render 1t acceptable TO her bnt ne
| intimated between the lines that no was Wiling
! TO touch il up again to please her a tIehch
woman would have seen that he was Mold
ing ont an olive branch and come for
ward playfully to exercise the prerog-
! atlve Of her sex, which all the artist wanted.
! When Beauty orders, what true man would not
! obeyl French lady would have perhaps also
sent a prettily turned note in which she com
manded the artist TO accept friendly dinner.
whisper his meo cplpo into her and, to please
her paint the lily and gid refined gold. An affair
of high art should not have been treated as busl-
| ness matter Unfortunately Mrs Mackay has too
much associated with kings and queens III exile 10
! be learned iii all the refnements OF the KIM OF
| French that artists and literary men speak and
write 10 each cth0r. High lite society Is not good
| school in which TO learn il. Did not Lord Lyons
draw upon himself q rebuke from clever
| author for having In writing to victor
! Hugo styled him Monsieur lie Senateur
The painter was also netled at the lctcr closing IN
an incidental invitation to the Sunday evening " ~
| homes of the writer. 1t no compliment, he
! said to be invited to 60 there with mob of Wis
| itOrs.
! However he would have overlooked all this II
! Count Telfner Mrs. Mackay's brother-in-law, had
not replied TO his note in one In which all the COM
pliments due to an officer of the Legion of Honor,
! and a member Of the Institute, and master
whom the Royal and Imperial families Of
| Europe are proud to honor were neglected.
| The terminal formula which the Count
| adopted was "Je vOus salue" Il salute y0ul'
! This is minimum OF politeness and
!
or the owner of drug store. AZ MessOnier said
'All the compliments with which a letter writ
ten with polite intention winds mp. have no mean
ing But their absence shocks IL is like going
into a room with ones hat On ones head. You have
observed how shocked the public at the repre-
sention of la Dame Aux Cameliss' when ArmaRds
father keeps his hat in the boudoir Of Marguerite
! Gnafic, Count Telfners Je vOus salue' had pre-
cisely that effect on me. As he Is up TO
all the niceties of the French language,
was bound to take offence. | then placed
the whole matter in tho bands of NJ. Georges Pelt,
and he when the picture refused, had no other
! course open to him than that Of an appeal to the
! law courts.
Il am sorry the affair Ia, ended a. 1t has done,
/ for | had hoped that my portrait Of Mrs. Mackay
| who repeat, inspired me with sympathy would
| be immortal and excite interest long after are
| all in cur graves. But what vas | 10 dot Could
l admit that ! had sighted my work, and then
extorted 1aking price' Could I, fairy to myself,
| have asked less from her than from any other
wealthy amateur who orders pictures OF me
You have no idea how much more
| il takes ont of painter to compose harmonious
dress and finish exqustely all its details than 10
do a frock coat with SHIRT front and collar. My
price for a in such gar nent without any &C
cessory is 10 O0Of. The other 80, 900 not too
much for the costume of Mrs. Mackay. If she had
commanded me, a woman is always priv
LEGGED to command q man. | should have Obeyed
! her with alacIity. There would have been nothing
der0gatOTy iediug to feminine caprice, or a
feminine ideal of art. But it would have cost mo
an effort to make the picture loo1 ton years young
o. because in composing her dress | made it in
! harmony with the wearer's age
AIcissonier told me that he had never had any but
! delightful relations with Americans until this I'M
happy affair and in it Boulevard and other influ-
ences, which were not American, came out Mrs.
! Mackay, he felt from the first, Incapable of
showing anger at an unAattoring portrait by hang
/ ing il NJ 4 dshonorsble place She was neither,
if the artist judged her well, spiteful gross
minded But she was guileIoss and badly sur
rounded. The fact that she was 80 might be gath