Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-28
AN AMERICAN ARTIST.
David Neal Has Won High
Rank Among the Masters.
HE MADE HIS MARK EARLY.
Making Rogues' Gallery Led TO
His Success
ORIGINALITY A MARKED FEATURE
Having Ideas of His own, He Stamps
Them With His Genius aud Hard
Wsrk Does the Rest.

David Neal. the artist, who stands to-
day in tho foremost rank among American
painters sailed for Europe a few days ago.
lie Will soon be- "at home" again In his
famous studio at No. 20 Kari strasse,
Munich. where he will devote his time to the
completion Of an elaborate painting which
Is to be used in decorating the staircase OF
a famous European mansion.
Neal. tho American. In France and Ger
many to-day. takes rank with the highest
among living European artists.
For the last three years Mr. Neal has
been In the United States engaged In
painting important commissions. among
them being portraits Of b. o. Mills. Now
tnat his work is completed here. the ar
tlst returns to Munich, where so many Of
MS artistic trlumphs were achieved.
MT Neal was born In Lowell, Mass,
some htty-three years ago. but to meet him
and chat with him. or only smoke with
MN, as tho case might be, you would new
or think that he had lived through half
century. He Is one OF those men that
seem to remain perpetually young. a good
looking fellow withal. and a merry one,
win light elastic step and a pair OF up
CURED gray mustaches, and most hope
iessly incurable habit of smoking one cigar
atler another the whole day long.
When Neal was only fourteen years old
he awoke one day to a cold cognizanee Of
mo TACT that his father was dead and
that he had to tind his own living hence
forth. Lowell was a poor place for a four
teen-year-old boy to seek fortune; he
knew as much, so he shook the dust Of
Massachusetts from his shoes and went
I south TO New Orleans. where he found a
JOB as wharf clerk for a firm OF South
American merchants. year later he
dTificd to San Francisco where some huke
Of luck threw him into the way Of a wood
engrayer The eugrayer liked his looks,
proposed TO teach him his art and Neal
Jumped at the opportunity. He never I'm
ished his apprenticeship; his talents as a
draughtsman were way ahead OF his tech
meal skill as an engraver and he was soon
engaged in making Indian ink block draw
ings for all the cngravers In the city. It
was while thus employed that he frs. at
tempted to dabble In p6rtraiture. and was
engaged By The police to build up rogues
gallery, and used to 20 forth skotching
criminals In the courts without the knowl-
edge Of his involuntary sltters.
Two years Of this sort Of business en-
abled him to save up quite a nico little
sum Of money with which he returned 30
New York and then went to private
school at Andoyer. Mass As soon as the
money was spent he went back again to the
Pacific and went into the portrait business
once more, for he found all his old po-
sltions waiting for him. All this
happened IN the old days. when san Fran
cisco was young ana people now iamou7
we're unheard OF. Bret Harte was a chum
OF his, so was Charles Nail. No one had
then ever heard OF THE Luck Of Roaring
Camp" and few thought much OF the
painter who taught the young eugraver
tho use Of color. and whose picture of Wal
leusten is now ono Of the gems in the
Gallery OF Art at Stuttgart
one day while the young artist was
grinding out some criminals head, or the
design Of some baking powder wrapper, or
something, woll-tO-dO citizen entered his
studio. and asked:
when do you intend to so to Europe?'
"As soon as 1 have the money" replied
Neal
friend.
well, my wife and / are going to New
! York by the next steamer, and you had bet
/ ter come along, too.
David Neal left behind him the Golden
] Gate; he left behind him the land OF
wealth and yellow metal that had been the
magnet Of the world but a dozen years
| before; he said au revolr to America, and
/ on New Years Eve Of the year 1862 he FIRST
/ saw the Elbs and the German Fatherlanl.
| He pushed on to Munich went To work at
| the Academy under Kaulbach, and in or
/ about those very same days fell In love aud
| got married.
David Neal was a student Of the Munich
| Academy while the painting class was I'M
| dor the direction Of tho conventional Pro
| lessor Absolute. Absolute was one OF those
! painfully methodlcal creatures OF form that
/ would alwaya mix his colors on the palette
/ before beginning hs work. but as luck
\ would have It. Neal escaped tho direct
1 clutches Of The professor by going TO work
under the guidance OF his father-iu-law