Evening star., 1898-12-17


his hands tragically. Il came back from
Vermont early in October, and 1t was near
~ month before l had single model.
Why, ten years ago / would have had a
line waiting for me at the door | want an
lflsh-American street boy-a young Vaga-
bond, barefooted If possible 1 do not
want schoolboy. home boy. mother 5.
nice little boy or any boy Of that sort
Town is Too Clean
How do You account for it," he was
asked.
THE town is too clean and the boys
all go to school. that is the boys | war:.
and Colonel Waring was responsible for tho
most of 1T. He and the new school laws,
the charitable institutions, the boys clubs,
kindergartens and things Of that sort have
done it. Mind you. l am nol against su, !.
things, far from It. I'm a father and Q
law-abidlng, tax-paying citizen. / am speaA-
ing solely from the view of Il painter II
street boys. I admired Colonel War 2
greatly, but he certainly did play bob VII
my models.
How? He made the streets clean. With
out dirty streets dirty street boys are hard
to find. Then the boys today go 10
school. They have TO go. They are clothed
sheltered by them When they are old
enough they are put to work by the same
charitable influences Now, the boys l
want are idle chaps They don't go to
school. They love dirt, and the hardest
work they ever do is to pose for me. Only
one boy in month, think of il. What is
the world coming top
The painter sadly resumed his walk up
and down his studio. Against one wall
stood a vacant platform on which he has
posed more than a hundred urchins whose
faces, and in some cases whose names even,
are known TO most of the picture buyers of
this country and Europe. In corner was
little disordered heap of idle shoeblack-
ing outfits, like leftover Christmas toys,
almost pathetic in their uselessness. The
sight Of them turned the painters talk into
reminiscent channel.
The Best Boy Models.
II suppose the world is getting better,
and after awhile there won't be any more
ragged street boys for me to paint, but /
really didn't think the time would come SO
soon. The kind of models l paint Were
most numerous back in the early SOS
There were street boys Them Mr.. Brown
went on, enthusiastically, and | had no
difficulty in finding all that / wanted. My
favorite model has always been an Irish
American boy, one who would just as soon
fight as eat-a happy -go-lucky chap. When
such boys were bootblacks they gave to
this Old town picturesque aspect that *
will never have again. Even their boxes
Were picturesque ! have one OF then. or
my platform now studded with brdss-h tad-
ed nails, bound together 10y strips OF tin.
the footreSt clumsily made of wood. The
boy made it himself. The little Italian boys
you find on the street corners now are not
picturesque, and their boxes are made in
some factory by the gross. / have never
had any properties such as are found IL
many studios, except my collection OF
blacking boxes. l haven't any old clothes
to dress the boys up in. What would be
the use? The boy / want wears clothes
that / want too. They fit him. The rents
in them he made himself. No artist could
tear his clothes as picturesquely as he has
inn / hlN nc dAA mo 1a1-
to leave their old clothes here and dress
themselves in better suits before going
home, but that was only done for fear their
old clothes might fall to pieces over night"
You need models for all your work.
was suggested.
Il never paint a picture without a living
model l have waited years often to COM
plete pictures that have designed because
/ couldn't find the right models. l am
looking for some of them now. l am al
ways looking for models. / have been look
ing for them for the past thirty years. 1
have got dozens Of books Of addresses, but
they are not worth anything. The boys
never live in the same place a years time
frequently not six months. They are con-
tinually moving, shifting. Most Of the
boys / have painted lived between 2jth
street and 42d, on the west side of the city
The best of them came from Helrs Kitch-
en-. over near the North river. There were
shanties there once, then rookeries now
tenements. Laboring men live there. The
sticcAo "eic INC bos SfObidS, SCHOOi
houses, churches and sometimes their beds
There was dirt there, and, I'm sorry to say.
crime.
The Boys Were Honest.
But there's one singular thing about the
boys l have had for models, 1 have never
found one of them to be dishonest. 1 don'c
cara what q boys parentage may be or
what kind of surroundings he may have
in what he calls his home, when he comes
into my studio he can be trusted. I sup
pose l have painted very nearly 200 boys
Many of them l have left in my studio
alone for an hour at time. But nsver
missed anything when / came back. One Of
my boys, Barney-I never knew his last
name or if l did have forgotten it-made
himself very useful to me on occasions /
have left him alons in my studio when 1
have been out on errands, and during my
absence visitors have called. Some of them
came to ask questions others to make an
pointments and still others to look at pic-
lures This boy. Barney, entertained them
as well as l could have done myself He
answered their questions. He made notes
OF their requests and he showed them my