Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-01-15

| dies career ever prepared, was written
| for the September number of the New
| England Magazine in 1898 by William
Howe Downes. 1t is given nearly entire
herewith:
MP. HARDlE's CAREER AS AN ARTIST
From the time of Copley down to our
| own day the American school of art has
| always been strong in skillful portrait
painters; and it Is so still. Robert Cor
don Hardie is one of the most conspc
uous and deservedly successful of the
| contemporary practicians in this branch
of the painters calling, and to seek the
sources of his power and explain the quail
| tiles which go to the perfeCting of his
work is the aim of the present paper.
Robert Gordon Harde was born in Brat
| tleboro, Vt, March 29. 1854, being the
| only son of the late Major Robert Gordon
| Ilardie and Frances Hyde IIarde His
grandfather was a Virginia planter of
| English descent. 1t is probable that more
| of his forbears were Scotch. His boy
| hood does not seem to have offered any
| very salient sngularities, his attendance
| at the district" school and the High
school having been more or less desultory,
and his prediction for the art of design
| having early shown itself by the produce
| ton OF caricaturcs, maps and sketches of
| all sorts, of the crude and audaCious char
acter common to such juvenile efforts.
His bent for drawing having become
| more and more marked, he was finally
| allowed to go to New York, where. at
the instance of Professor Ellie Charlier, at
| whose house he lived. he began a system
| attic course of study in dra wing at the
| schools Of the Cooper Institute. the Acad-
envy OF Design and the Art Students
| League. Then, acting on the advice of
| Professor Charler, he went to Paris to
!,
French teachers at the Ecole DIES Beaux-
Arts. In the fall of 1873 we find him
| writing home that. after waiting nearly
| six weeks. he has been admitted to the
school as a pupil of NJ. Gerome. He tells
| about his way of living. He and a friend
| have a studio together in the rue Notre-
| Dame des- Champs, nat far from the
| Luxembourg Gardens. Then follows de-
| scription of the place; it is a complete
| picture:
| our studio is on the second floor of a
| two-story building is 20 by 20 feet and
| about Is feet high being finished off to
| the gable roof. There is a skylght and
| high sidelight to the north west. and
| two ordinary windows on the opposite
side Our furniture is exceedingly ordi
| nary. and consists of two small iron bed
steads two tables three or four chairs.
| three easels. a small stove, and a few
other necessary articles. The tables,
| ttltlIS ana Some blItIl lIluSS were puI-
| chased of some students about leaving
| Paris, for very little mone!. the stove
| costing only nine francs, tables five francs
| each. and the chairs only one and half
| francs My part of the rent Of the studio
| is nearly six francs per week. ! take my
| meals at a restaurant in the rue de Buci.
| where many Of the students go, which
costs me three francs per day, making the
| total cost of living twenty-seVen francs,
| or $500 per week, which is the best /
| can do, and, as near as | can learn, is
much less than that paid by the other
| students. Notwithstanding that we prac-
| ticc the greatest economy, we consider
| ourselves very pleasantly and comfortably
| situated
| In the same letter the young man al
| ludes to his visits to the Louvre and the
| Luxembourg galleries, pronounces the
| French the greatest painters and sculptors
of today, and mentions the kindness of
| NJ. Bartholdi, the sculptor.
For five years Hardie worked diligently
| in the Ecole dcs BeauX-Arts, and as
early as July, 1879, he received an honor
| able mention. The year following he
sent "A craYon portrait of woman to the
| Salon. | translate from the NIonteur des
| Arts May 81, 1880: This portrait of a
| woman by Mr.. Hardie, drawn with rare
| affability, caressed by the artists crayon
| as a smiling infant is caressed with the
| hand-this portrait of a woman who must
| have beamed with joy in contemplating
| her effigy happy to be well understood.
| Mr.. Hardie does honor to foreign art, for
| If he is of ourselves by his talent. il is
to the United States of America that this
distinguished pupil of NJ. Gerome be-
| longs
In the autumn of 1850 our young de-
| butant made a journey down the River
| Loir, as he was feeling a little stale and
needing change of air. He passed near
| Ia hot in, ttI
called Vendome, on the banks of this
| stream, which, by the way, is not to be
| confused with the more important river
| Loire. At Nendome he was Hospitality
| entertained by the Marquis de Rocham-
| beau and his family at their castle, over
| looking the picturesque valley of the Loir
The members of this family are the direct
| descendants of the Count de Rochambeau
| who commanded the French troops at
| Yorktown. The counts sword which he
wore during the campaign i'm America is
| preserved in the chateau The de Roch-
| ambeau estate is so extensive that the
| avenue leading from the highway to the
castle is almost two miles long; and is
| arched over by beech trees one hundred
| and seventy years old. Hardie having
| letters to the family, was received with
| open arms, and after dining and break
| fasting frequently at the castle, finally
went to pass two days and nights there.
| during which the family, with the abbe
| and the cure of Thore and Hardie as
| their guests made coaching excursion
| along the valley of the Ioir to Ruille-sur-
| Lolr, where they We're entertained at n
| celebrated convent, and dined with the
| Sister Superior i'm a style to rival Big
non of the Avenue de rOpera The Loir
| llows through one Of the most beautiful
portions of that beautiful land of France.
and the coaching trip must have been
| a charming experience, taking in, as IL
did, the quaint villages of Montoire and
| Troo' with their curious old houses dat
| ing back to the times of Henri ~. Har-
| die remained long at Vendome, after his
| pleasant hosts had gone back to their
town residence; and when he returned to
| Paris In time for the opening of the art
| school, he came well laden with studies
! OF landscapes heads, figures and still-llfe,