The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-07

SO small that the Duke of Sussex. who wa
giving the prizes, had TO rise in order 4
, peer over his desk and see the tiny prize
winner.
The chapter which tells how THE Or
der OF Release" was painted contains SOM
; interesting information and comment
Here is page of it:
; The order of Release is well described b,
Mr. Walter Armstrong, Who begins by quoting
Mr. Andrew Lang in the following notice: ''lr
1888 Millais painted picture in which both hi
dramatic power and his eye for the luvsblc il
woman are superbly shown, and shown under
some difficulties. This The order Of Release i.
now the property OF Mr.. James Renton. IL Wa,
originally painted for Mr.. Joseph Arden, whl
gave the commission for it through Thackeray.
As piece of realistic painting it may chal
lenge comparison with anything else in the
world The takes place not outside a
prison, as more than has been absurdly
supposed, but IN a hare waiting room, into
Which the young clansmsn has been ushcrcd to
his wife, while his gaoitf takes The Order oi
Rcleasc.' which will hsve 10 be verified IN his
superior before i; result in final liberty. Tha
stamp of actual truth is on il; and if ever such
an event Happened il ever Highlanders wife
brought pardon for her husband 10 a reluct-
ant turnkey. things must have occurred thus.
The work is srved by expression and color from
the realism OF photograph The woman
sIrcwd, triumphant air is wonderfully caught,
though the face of the pardoned man Is con-
picture. but by subtle artifce. The color of
the plaid and the saoler's scarlet jacket re-en-
force each other, but do not obitcrate the black
| and-tan of the collie. The good dog act
ually alive. The child in the wonan's arms IS
| uncompromisingly 'nicland.' The Heeh paint
ing. OF the chlld's bare legs, is wonderfully
real; the mans legs are less tanned than usually
arc those Of the wearrrs Of the kilt. Perhaps he
| is grown pale in prison. as a clansman might
| do whose head seemed likely soon TO be set on
Carlisle wall. As a matter OF truthful detail,
observe the keys in the gaolcr's hand the clear
steel shining through touch Of TlIst. The sub
/ leci and the sentiment. no less than the treat
! mcnt, made this picture complete success
| Every word Of this may be endorsed, hut Mr.
| Lang has hardly, ] think, laid sufficient stress
on the mastery Of expression in the wOman's
| face. In II We can see the subtlest mingling Of
emotions achieved by the artist. There is
not only shrewdness and triumph, there is love
for. the husband. contempt mixed with fear fer
the power symbolized by the turkeys scarlet,
pride in her achievement, and the curious
northern satisfaction at the safety OF ones own
property-a jeanie Deans, in fact. with meek
oUstcd by spice Of pugnacity.-
Spiclmann has also an interesting note ON this
picture in bis recently published yillais and His
Works" lie says:
$50 great was Millsis' passion for accuracy
that he Obtained a genuine order of release,
signed by Sir Ilildegrave Turner. when. during
the war. be was governor OF Elizabeth Castle ir
Jersey, and so faithfully did he copy it that
the late Col. Turner. the governors son. who
surprise his fathers signature in the picture. az
he walked through the gallery in which it was
exhibited.
The model for the woman was Mrs. Mil
lais and the face is said to be an exact
likeness of her as she was in 1853. except
for the hair. which was changed from gol
den auburn to black in order to contrast
with that Of the child The famous model
Westall posed for the Highlander. He had
deserted from a dragon regiment. and
was found in the studio of Mr.. Cope. r. A,
and taken back TO his old regiment to be
tried by court-martial. But the artists
lamented his absence raised a subscrip-
ton, and bought him out of the service.
Another picture OF less fame. THE Black
Brunswicker," has as a model for the fe-
male figure Miss Kate Dickens. daughter
Of the novelist. and Sleeping. WAX |
ing" and The Minuet' are portraits OF |
Millais' three children
Quite as valuable as the reproductions |
of paintings are certain prints from Mil |
lais' black and white drawings. Few, per- |
haps, realize how much misery was caused |
TO the artist OF other days by the careless
ness OF engrayers. The author says In |
this connection:
Down TO this time Cs5D his black and white |
drawings. Of which he made many, principally |
for contemporary Literature, done box |
wood, and destroyed in the process Of cutting-in.
Happily. however, the highly finished illustra- |
tions, Of which he did large number in 1888 and |
the three following wears. drawn paper i
in pen and ink aud finished in srpia-wash
body color; 50 most Of these drawings still /
LETT in tier original state, instead Of being cut
TO pieces and ruined by the barbarians Of the |
wood-cIttiug art.
Truly tine wood-cutters Of that day had much
70 answer for. Except, perhaps. Swain, DalZie,
and John Thompson (Eho cut the Tennyson
N gl-aA Fl lruT Eas
tion o. how 70 retain the beautiful and delicate
lines q the original drawings; and even the best
work Of these experts would make the hair Of
the engraners Of "Hzrpcrs Magazine stand on
end nowadays.
The choicest Of my fathers black and
white drawings have never been seen by any but
the family. ! hm therefore. all the more glad
10 give some Of then here, reproduced by our best
modern processes. Ncry few people have any idea
Of the labor and care that he expended on these
drawings. Each one Of them was 10 him care.
fully thought-out picture worthy Of the best |
work that he could put into it, and think it
will be seen from the specimens here given that
he did not overcsiimate the value Of the art.
lie maintained, indeed, that the few quite
at the top Of the tree, both in line and wash.
were entitled 10 rank with the best opponents
Of oil and water color; and if he had lived ] feel
quite sure that with sil his keen desire TO en-
courage true art. in whatever form displayed.
We should in time see workers in black and white
admitted freely TO the honers Of the Academy
as are the line engTavers-
Millais was particularly conscientious
about this work and would often tear up
his finished pictures unless perfectly salts
fed with them. He hated scamped work,
and used often TO say, when he discovered
that some talented but poyerty-strlcken
artist had. under pressure done more work
than he coulG do we'll Another poor devil
gone wrong for the sake of few sovcr-
eigns,"
We see not only the artist but the man
In this biography though undue attention
Is not paid to personalities. The circum-
stance of his friendship with Ruskin, With
its tragically romantic conclusion, is, ss
L should be. merely touched upon, while
he biographer has done all in his power to
describe the goodness, sweet nature. and
,onjugal devotion OF Lady Millais There
are several portraits OF her, all showing a
sensitive charming, and rather sad face. |
fhe most interesting is perhaps that made
by Watts when she was girl Of eighteen, |
Miss Euphemia Chalmers Gray. This BIZ
1graphy contradicts a current report that !
;he was the model for the woman in THE
Huguenot," but there are several other
pictures, painted after her marriage to
dii'ais. in which her face appears Among
hese is The Eve of st. Agnes" paint
ID in 1862, to illustrate that stanza in
Keats poem in which Madeline stands,
lalf disrobed, the moonlight falling upon
Ter from the stained-glsss window The
of this picture was taken from
he historic old mansion, knoie Park Mil
els and his wife took rooms at the village ,
IN near by. in December, and the picture !,
vas painted In a wonderfully short time.
{ is curious fact that Miilais discovered
hat even the strongest light of the full
noon did not throw coloTs on any object,
Is described In the poem. and he had TO
ise a bull's-eye lantern. The author says:
Knole was close by-a large house ;eBsnted by :
n old caretakor-and, except the floor Chen I