New-York tribune., 1897-01-03
FREDERICK WALKER.
A LIFE OF A RARE FIGURE IN THE HIS
TORY OF ENGLISH ART.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF FREDERi@CK @
Win hTfS fiias,ra;,on.. al RoyG 'o Octave. pp Kill. sss
The Macmillan Company.
The present generation has been trained 10
f;out all modern English art. 1t has been the
custom to assume that France alone has mao
true art within Its borders In the nineteenth
century. Only since the revival OF interest IN a
few men like Rossetti. Burne-Jones ana Watts-
an affair Of the last two or three years-"as
much been heard concerning the br1tsh scnoo.
beyond q sneering at Its devotion to the pictorial
representation OF anecdote. Like most miscon-
ceptions. this one has had some foundation IN
fact. But a tremendous amount Of twaddle has
been talked about English mediocrity. Iha'
killing quality has certainly had its own way
with hundreds of British painters; 1t is still ram
pant in the Academy and out OF 1t. But people
are apt to forget, when they are denounc'hs
Hayden, for example. that Turner was MS con-
temporary; they fail to notice that wniie Mr.
Firth was producing some OF the worst pictures
OF modern times Frederick Walker was painting
some of the best In other words the undoubted
fact that the English school, as schooi' mas
been for wears in the hands Of the Philistine
existence Of masters who have not merely made
good pictures but have put the genius OF thelr
country into their work. have proved that Eng
land could be artistic In the face of heroic enor's
on the part of the Phlistine aforesaid to demon
strate that she could be nothing Of the sort.
The hook before us is an eloquent contribution
to the history Of the situation
From Hogarth down the best quality OF the
best English art has been sincerity FREQ walk
er was the incarnation of 1t. He was an Eng
lishman TO the core and his art was the express
sson of himself His biography reveals exactly
the man 10 be expected behind the painter OF
..The Harbour of Refuge" and when we read OF
his silence In the presence Of the old masters q
si,ence that somewhat puzzled his companions
IN more than one trip to the Continent II seems
after all. the most natural thing in the world.
He was not insenstive to Italian art or to the
varied splendors OF the Louvre. They were SIM
plv experiences apart from the steady unoer-
current of English feeling which ran through all
bis short life He could be impressed even de-
lighted. but he could not fall down and wor-
shin: he could not lose himself. abashed. among
the giants who have so often bewildered mooern
men. All the time his inspiration was clear TO
him the road was visible. and when he said 10
his friend Leslie. My ambition Is to be the top
of all. and il live I will.' he would seem to
have known exactly how he was to reach the de-
sired goal. Few painters have been more homo-
geneous In the development OF their art ana the
exclamation would seem to be that few have
eoualled him in the frank acceptance OF their
own natures and environment. resolving. as ne
did, to hammer on the note obviously given them
by God until the end. Some Of his contempora-
ries have stated that Walker seemed to them con-
ceited, and q lady who contributes page to the
present volume speaks of how his surprise
seemed unbounded that everybody did not know
all about him: but the same writer add3
that this did not strike her as rising from any
sort Of undue vanity but from simply never
having occasion to realize that there was any
world but Just the one In which he lived" In
that world he was from the start successful.
His family was in modest circumstances and his
artistic schooling a burden upon his Wild
owed mother But Mrs. Walker and her daugh-
ters delighted in making sacrifices for the youth
who was obviously cut out TO be the genius OF
the family, and after few years Of tentative
work In an architects Office and short appren-
t.ceship to q wood -eng-aver he was launched
es an artistic freelance. making water-colors
and illustrations In black-and-white which soon
gave him a substantial place among his fellows.
Thackeray was the chief Of his early supporters,
and one Of the best passages In his biography is
that relating to the beginning of the friendship
between the great novelist and the budding art
ist. Thackeray at work on THE Advent
ures Of Philip and though he designed the illus
trations for the chapters they appeared in the
old "Cornhill Magazine" he wanted some one to
redraw his rough sketches. From Mr.. George
Smith, who was instrumental in bringing about
the necessary arrangement. the following ac-
count is quoted:
I mentioned the subject to Mr.. Thackeray.
who said. Bring him here. and shall soon
zee whether he can draw An arrangement was
afterward made for me to call for Mr.. Walker
and drive him to Mr. Thackeray's house. in
Onslow Square. early one morning toward the
end Of 1860. The drive was a silent one, Mr..
Walkers agitation being very marked. When
we went up to Mr.. Thackeray. he at once
how nervous and distressed the young artist
was. and addressed himself In the kindest man.
ner to remove his shyness After little time
he said: Can you draw? Mr.. Smith says you
can 'Y-e-e-s. think So said the young man
who was. within a few years, to excite the ad-
miration of the whole world by the excellence
Of his drawings. I'm going to shave said Mr..
Thackeray, would you mind drawing my back?'
Mr.. Thackeray went to his tOilet-tabe and be-
gan the operation, while Mr.. Walker took a
sheet of paper and began his drawing. ! look
ing out Of the window in order that he might
not feel that he was being watched l think
Mr. Thackerays idea Of turning his back to-
ward him was as ingenious as it was kind; for
believe that If Mr.. Walker had been asked to
draw his face instead Of his back. he would
hardly have been able to hold his pencil.
The scene Is thoroughly in character. Walker
was a nervous man. timid he might even be
called, and prone to fall into panic over incl
dents with which men of ordinary temperament
would cope with perfect calmness. 1t Is In
teresting. however. to observe that the extreme
difidence with which he approached Thackeray
did not quench his self-confdence AS has been
indicated above. he believed in himself and In
his art 1t was not long before he realized that
to go on redrawing another mans designs was
infertile and impossible. II am not going to
do any more Of this work." he blurted out to
a..aixt In aI