Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-07-27
PAINTED BY A MADMAN.
First hits of Color In His Odd Pic
turc Were In His Own blood.

At the end OF the long corridor on the
ground floor Of the state capitol building
in Sacramento hangs remarkable pic
ture. 1t is n hunting scene, in which is
depicted n man crouching in an attitude
Of expectancy, gun in hand, awaiting
the approach Of a flock of ducks. BY his
side lies dog, whose eyes are also fixed
on the approaching birds, and near the
hunter crouches n half grown boy, also
watching The first thing to attract the
attention of the visitor is the insane glare
in the eyes of all the subjects portrayed
on the canvas, or, rather on the piece OF
bedticking, for it is upon the latter ma,
terial that the picture has been painted.
This glare is accounted for by the fact
that the artist is q maniac and at the
present time an inmate Of the insane hos
pital Mt Stockton. He was at one time a
portrait painter of note, whose constant
application to his profession weakened
his brain.
| After his Incarceration, unprovided
with the implements of his beloved art
and longing to portray the Wild fancies
that thronged upon him, he carefully
/ ripped up the covering OF his mattress,
/ spread it upon the floor of his apartment,
/ opened vein in his arm to procure car
mine and began tracing the red handker-
chief with which ne covers the head Of
his principal subject. Finding it useless
to attempt to wean him from his ruling
passion, the authorities furnished him
with materials, and this picture was the
outcome. 1t is claimed that when work
ing with brush and colors he is as gentle
and quiet as n child. 1t is only when
these are taken from him that he raves.
Ehat t.. L..
merit of n decided order has been con
coded by many connoisseurs. To the close
student there are many details in the sub
ject portrayed on the crude bedtickng
that plainly speak the artistic vagaries,
and to those unacquainted with its his
tory these details are simply unpardon-
able. For instance, the flags and cattails
on the right of the group bend toward the
center as though swayed by the wind,
while those on the left bend to meet them,
giving the impression that the wind was
blowing both ways. But in the main,
taking each object portrayed as an en-
tirety, they plainly show the artist, even
hidden as he is behind the cloud of in
sanity.
The coloring is as dead in tone as the
artists own life and yet blends in its en-
tirety, showing none Of the glaring incon
sstencies that can be detected in many
of the details. Who is the artist. what
his former life, his family ties, his boy
hood ambitions and longings, his sue
cesses and failures until the period ii
which his brain gave way, will probably
never be known, as his past seems
shrouded in mystery. At the asylum il
Stockton he was known simply as al
East Indian His birthplace was the is
land of Jamaica.
This unknown artist has a prototype
in the Napa insane asylum who ha
traced one Of the most grewsome subject
ina ginnble, the skeleton of a child perch
ed on the shoulders of its mother, who's
eyeless, bare skull has an upward can
and whose twisted jaws seem dstorte,
in an attempted smile on her offspring
The border around this remarkable phan
tasy of a disordered brain shows a re
markable delicacy Of tracery and out
line and wonderful knowledge of anat
omy, as every object portrayed is differ
ent and perfect The artist in this cas-
was formerly one Of the best know
fresco painters in San Francisco and i
said to be employed in the painting de
partment at Napa. He is known q
George-San Francisco Bulletin.