The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-14

dog yesterday morning. and have done the who'll,
OF II myself"
"Thc Northwest Passage" exhibited nj N,
Academy IN the spring oi 1874, was. r.rhnps
the most popular of oil Millais's paintings nt
the tine, not oni for it, intrinsic merit, but a,
an expression more eloquent than words Of The
vide FELT desire Tint to England should fan ~,
honor Of laying bare the hidden mystery II tls
North 1t might lc done, and England ought
10 do H." This WIS the stirring leg ~ TIA,
uAracd the sui! rrt Of the picture II NAV no,
lc generally known that Capt ~1r'srncv. WA,
In hI7 younger days, had been an ilInhtr 'rt,i
Of byron and Shelley, sat for tho Old ..,inr
whose weather toatrn features give u,isranc,
10 the sentiment nearest 90 his heart. Ky HE
side Is ou,-prcad n map Of the no,hcrn regioua
and, with her hand resting on his. his daughter
sits AT his feet, reading what IL prcsun.ul, me-
record Of previous elInr,s a. reach the pole. IN,
f',r sic figure was painted froma model, who
al, nused for the Stitch, Stitch, Stitch, exhibited
in l.,j
II ~ 10 this period Of MillAis'- ne that MI.
Stuart Wortlcy's rccoll"ct.ons Of him refer; IN,
appreciation Of beauty In women was great I
rrrlcmhcr the intense interest with which We all
listened during a discussion 81 the beauties
of the present day to his views on their compara.
NV 80 ~ ~ 'Af Nl"'hhN Va ~ NHV l1ltu
10 GcorcinH Lady Dudley. ot al that he had seen.
though he rated Mrs. Inrr,ry very near her
On one occasion, in my studio, he said. Whn,
business have you to miss the beauty Of tia,
woman's nostril' Give me a brush And, In
two minutes, he had pu, in the necessary line
10 refine ny hard prcscutment lie was very
strong on refinement and beauty Of line In Q
woman's face, and on the scale and size Of a por.
trait II should always he under life size,
and, so to speak, stand back in its own atmosphere
behind the frame. Very severe against false
enlargement ofthe eyes All. now you are getting
10 draw them nice and small. he said 10 me, on the
subject Of eyes, the only part Of a face that coul
not I've painted absolutely literally from nature
he declared TO be the %iunc.ur~ Of the wing Of the
nose and the cheek, accounting for this view
by the TACT that il is intensely mobile, VARYING
with the slightest change Of expression, action
or light, and that. therefore, TO FIX II hard and
fast IN any direction is a mistake"
In The summer Of 1876 was painted The Neo
man Of the Guard, n type Of he old British war
nor The difficulty WAS to find n model who came
up IN the ideal wrarer Of the historic costume.
but this at last the painter found in Major Robert
Montague. II was this picture that caused the
French artists to eSclnim at the Paris Exposition
Of 1879, and opened Meissoniet's eyes 10 the fact,
a. he himself sid, that England had a great
painter. In the following year Millais painted
"Efie Deans" the models for Ellie Deans were
Mrs ~lAngtty and Mrs. Sklbhard. This IL usually
considered one Of Millais's most successful pictures
in the field Of romance It is an interesting fact
that, within a day Of sending in this picture 10
the Academy, the lovely head Of the girl appeared
10 the painter not high enough above the shoulders
He had the courage and the skill oshift and repaint
the head about three quarters Of an inch higher.
a task 30 difNcult that the success accomplished
on the spun Of the moment is truly astonishing.
The alteration is said 10 have occupied one morn
ing only. In the following year Millais finished
a portrait Of the "rho jersey Lily" then in the
zenith Of her beauty. IT ives in the twrlvcmon,h
Just named that he received in Paris the gold medal
OF honor. and was created an officer of The Legion
Of Honor. In the following year the portrait II
Gladstone was painted then came John Bright's,
and this WIS followed in 1851 by the portrait oi
Cardinal Newman. Meanwhile, in 1880, Millais
received from the University Of Oxford the dtgres
OF del, The portrait Of Lord Bcacorsirld
was unfinished al the tine Of the subjects death
In April, 1851, but II was completed and exhibited
by the Queens command. The portrait If Ten.
nyson followed; it seems that the latter recognized
an extraordinary likeness between Dickens and
Hlfnstll a year later, Mlllals - 'lNcd TWO honOrS
which he valued more highly than any others
conferred upon him The Paris Academic dcs
BeauN Arts elected him q Foreign Associate,
while, from Germany, zane the order Pow 10
Msriie, In June, 1885, Mr. Gladstones Govern
ment, with the Queens approval, decided TO do
honor to art by offering baronetcics to Millais and
Watts. Mr. Watts declined The offer, but Millais
had long held that such a distinction was not only
an honor 70 the recipient, but 10 the whole body
Of artists, and al encouragement to the pursuit
Of an in It's highest and MODEST form.
We must pass over Millaiss latest ~pictires.
and merely note that. nf'er Lord Leighton died In
January, 1896, lie was unanimously chosen rres-
entoft the Royal Academy His day were already
numbered. lie bad already begun The Last
Trek" q drawing II W ich Re had made sons
time before. and which he had intended 10 paint
lie suhcrcd from q malignant 'umor in the throat
and his voice, once powerful, sank 10 q WHISPER.
On Aug. II, 1896, he breathed his last He les
In the Painters Corner" Of Westminster Abbey,
In the same nicle with his friend Leighton, and
with his illustrious predecessors, Sir joshua
Reynolds, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Thomas
Lawrence and benjamin West.