Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-28
SOOTHING A TROUBLED BOY
Experiences of Foreign Fainter with an
Omaha Lad in Chicago,
DIFFICULT DUTY OF KEEPING QUIET
Notable speech Fired at the Young
stcr While the Painter Painted
on-RecoIIcctions of Felix
Moscheles.

Moscheles.
a distinguished portrait painter bearing
| the French name Of Felix Moscheles paid
a visit to the United States several years
/ ago and was so impressed with what he
/ saw that he opened studios in New York
and Chicago His experiences in this coun
| try were sufficiently novel to be preserved
in book form under the title, Fragments
Of an Autobiography" which was issued re-
Gently.
One chapter OF the book is devoted to his
experience with a bright Omaha boy, the
then 4-year-old Robert Morse, son of w. V.
Morse Mr. Moschees gives a description
| of the boy, his mother and the difficulties
they both experienced in getting the young
ster to sit patiently for his portrait. He
writes thus of the incident:
81 had got very busy in the studio | had
taken in Chicago where ! was spending the
winter of 1887 when very pleasantly
worded letter reaohed me, inviting me to
transfer my studio to Omaha, two days
| Journey farther west. l could not accept
! the invitation and SO it was arranged that
at least one of my intending models should
be brought to me to be dealt with accord
ing to the severe laws of the portrait
painters art Robert Morse was years of
age and had distinct objection to be thus
dealt with and out of that circumstance
arose a series of difficulties. But, oh, now
beautiful he was. | see him now
as he was handed out of the
carriage on his arrival at the Hotel
Richelieu, his golden curls escaping from
beneath his Phrygian cap of liberty and
cascading over his shoulders We were in
the depth of winter and his sturdy little
figure was warmly clad in the ample folds
of the toboggan costume-a sort of ulster
made of deep-toned red flannel, collar and
cuffs of the same material but dark blue,
and the cap to match His mother led him
unstairs-or / sGould more correctly say,
speaking of this typical American child,
was led upstairs by him. After forty-eght
hours travelling that lady stepped out of the
train much as if it were one of those boxes
marked Worth, Paris" She was lovely
woman, as l soon learned; lovely not only
in outward appearances, but in that moral
and intellectual sense which the American
language connects with the word
A Determined Little sitter.
Then follows a description of the mother.
the determination to paint the boy in full
length and head portrait of the mother.
Then he begins his story Of the difficulties
made by the boy, who declined to sit or to
iCdNe lue SbuulO Nltu ulo IuOlntI NdS SlI-
ting. He tells of the devices used to cir
cumvent the powers of resistance, all of
which failed miserably. Even the wife of
the painter succumbed to the boy and his
determination not to do what was wanted
of him. Mr.. Moscheles illustrates this feat
ture thus:
"At all hours of the day Robert was de-
lightfully bright but his cuteness seemed
sharpened as bedtime approached. Not that
i
bed, but however sleepy he was his spirit of
resistance seemed somehow to revive when
the moment came to recite his little prayer.
On one occasion all went smoothly as long
as he prayed for his father and mother, his
brothers and sisters, but when it came to his
uncles and aunts and to their numerous Off
spring he made a decided stand, putting it
plainly to his mother, L say, mamma, why
can't they pray for their own crowd? An
other time there had been in the course OF
the day distinct difference of opinion be-
tween Robert and his mother on the ad-
visibility of his going out sleighing. He
gave in with unwonted docility, but when
the evening came and the fond mother
folded her hands and knelt by his bedside
he shook his head and said. NO, mamma,
no sleigh no prayers!' "
Finally Mr.. Morse came on to assist, as
the time was growing short. The painter
says the father stood the boys doings for
a time and then, in decided manner, took
him away to another ROOM Mr.. Moscheles
continues
"But if I expected bowling and gnashing
Of teeth I was to be disappointed Nothing |
broke the silence until after some time the |
door opened and father and son reappeared. |
Robert took his place, clutched the cord |
attached to the toboggan and listened with |
tt,,, TO is fnth ha~fc nrlc
were spoken slowly and impressively, CIV
ing mo time to apply whatever faculty of
correct drawing l possessed.
The Father Explains 1t.
"'sir,' he began solemnly, Robert wishes
me to communicate to you what has passed |
between us during our absence from the |
room. 1t did not take me long to elicit from |
him the fact that he has no desire to see his |
portrait finished. He has even assured me
that as far aS he was concerned II need |
never have been painted at all. He further
stated that he at no time formed desire |
TO visit Chicago, and that he much preferred |
Omaha to that city. Also, he said-and | !
think with some show of reason-that hav-
ing no playmates here he would like to re-
turn, to those he left behind, more espe-
cially his brothers and sisters. Now, sir,
you are aware that I, on the other hand,
finish that portrait and / could see no
cause why l should recede frcm that posi-
tion, so / politely but firmly requested him
to do as l desire. There are, no doubt,
some boys who. when thus thwarted and
opposed, would not have hesitated to strike
their fathers, but Robert is not a boy of
that description He would at all times
respect his fathers independence. STILL
you see. we were at what you might call
loggerheads, We had gotten flXedlike in
a dark place with no door behind us, the
windows left out and a stone wall in front.
Under these circumstances 1 cast about in
my mind, and 1t occurred to me we should
do well TO make straight for arbitration.
Now Robert said he did not know the pre-
else meaning Of arbitration, so / explained
to him that when two parties could not
agree it was usual to call in a third to
decide which way things were to be settled.
! wanted to nominate you, sir, but Robert
put in his opinion that you might not be
tho right person for our purpose. He said
! myself should do better. so after giving
the matter careful consideration i decided