Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-08-01

stroke Of luck. | sold the picture
| of the red-haired woodland beauty,
under the title, "A Witch of the
| Brocken,' and had the pleasure Of
| hearing it well spoken Of But
ice then have kept On painting
as did before. 1 painted genre
pictures, and I painted landscapes,
but no one would buy my poor things.
No one noticed them, no one even
found fault with them. In the exhibi-
lions they were always hung in the
| worst place, either in the darkest
corner or in a totally bad light, and
| they always returned with touching
| devotion to the arms of their creator
| Happily, there is still plenty of room
| in our big house, and if in the course
of years that gets filed up, 1 can
always fit you out with painted can
vases, for-but just let me tell you.
when our little girl was about
three months old l went one day into
my mother-in-law's sitting-room. We
did not have any home of our own
then. We had bought this place, but
it was not furnished, and I stayed in
the quiet woodland valley for the
sake of my wife and child. Well,
then, l went into my mother-in-law's
sitting-room and stopped suddenly,
charmed by the picture before me.
Thanks to the century-old linden
frnpc hnfnro win +boro woo -
genuine Rembrandtesque darkness
in the room, and you can picture to
yourself an antique armchair in the
midst of the curious old Dutch
furniture, with old Faience plates
and blackened family portraits on the
walls. Fancy in these surroundings
woman's figure bending her head
over the child in her arms. A single
golden ray of sunlight Just rested Oh
the shimmering hair, as Raphael has
painted it in the Sistine Madonna
1t was the first time, Wolf, that I
was charmed and carried away by my
wife. Ante l said. I must paint
you like that
She raised her head and smiled at
me pleasantly. I began the next day.
1t was a beautiful picture, Wolf.
Every one who saw it said so. it
would have made a sensation at the
Exhibition. And it was a perfect
armchair in her white, airy morning
dress, her head bent down over the
child and the sunshine lighting I'D
her golden hair-not a Madonna,
though suggesting one, but more
human, more touching, appealing
more to the heart.
1T seems absurd to you, Wolf no
doubt, that I should praise my own
work like this, and I cannot even
prove to you that the praise was de-
served-for the picture no longer |
exists. When l was having it packed |
up to send it to the Exhibition in |
Berlin, my mother-in-law declared |
that she did not wish to have her
daughter exhibited like that. It was |
improper, it was immoral, and she |
could not understand how I could be !
willing to expose Ante in her morn
Il stared at her. quite stupefed;
then Antje, too, blushing deeply, |
begged me to keep the picture for
She, too, seemed to consider |
it a want of delicacy in me to be !
willing to exhibit a portrait of her.
[ looked from the original to the |
picture and began to explain to her
patiently the reasons which prompted |
me to exhibit this picture of all
She listened to me with
downcast eyes, and when at the
close of my long harangue I thought
I had convinced her that no one had |
a right to hide away work of art,
that it was her duty and mine to take /
a step forward in the world by means
of this really admirable picture, that |
almost all the great painters had
painted their wives, to the great de-
light of their fellow-men, she only
shook her head and repeated for the
time her imploring, 'Ah,
please don't do it, Leo.'
"Still, I did not give up the battle,
put after three days Of Infinite trouble |
on my part and obstinate refusal on
hers, lost patience; I got angry, and |
slit the canvas up and down with
sharp knife, ordered the servant to
make up a fire in the fireplace, and
burned it with my own hand. Ante
stood by till the last spark had died |
out, looking as white as chalk, and
then she left the room without a
word. But l suffered more from the
whole affair than you can imagine.
"Since then I have given my wife
to understand that her presence in
my studio is not exactly desired-and |
she understands me. She has never |
entered the room since she helped me
to arrange it. What is there here to |
interest her?
To be continued.