The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-17
PAINTERS AS DIPLOMATS.
Tact Is a Quality Much Needed in Pro-
 fession.

Ut Is perfectly hopeless" says MT. Solo, mon, A. R. A.. "to avoid fiattery alto- gether in protraiture. and, as a matter of fact. never attempt. it. If an old gentle man comes to you with one ear a couple of inches bigger than the other. you must not paint that ear so that it hangs out side the frame. That would be giving him too much for his money. You must make an Apollo out of him, otherwise he will tell his friends that you have no eye for the picturesque"
 And so long as human nature is what 1t is, the artist who is not prepared to sacrifice his career to slavish conscien- tiousness simply cannot afford to ignore the little vanlties and weaknesses of his sitters.
 Probably the woman does not live who would md fault with an artist for making her younger and more beautiful than she is, or the man who would not be secretly pleased at finding that a too aggressive nose had been toned down, bald patch discreetly covered, or a touch of strength and dignity given to weak or common place face. says an exchange.
 Not that sitter is often quite as out spoken as the provincial mayor. The man with the abnormol nose will usually, for instance. gaze pensively at the pictured proboscis and say: "Is my nose really like that?' while the bald-headed man will express surprise at finding that his holr has got so very thin on the top, Of course, as MT. SolomonNsays. the artist knows precisely what the sitter thinks and wants, and if he is a discreet man he will make some little concession to vanity.
 MT. Solomon finds his male sitters quite as vain and troublesome as the ladies, and children more troublesome than either. T always declare" he says, that won't paint them again, but never keep my word. Strangely enough, people expect to pay less for portrait of their chil- dren than for one of themselves, whereas child Is ten times more troublesome than an adult"
 Arthur Hacker, A. R. A., tells some amusing stories of his experiences as a portrait painter An old gentleman" he says. "s4 years of age, called upon me to inquire if you'd paint his young wife lady who was enormously stout and turned the scale at a good IS stone. MT Hacker said the proud husband, I want you to paint an ideal portrait of my wife-something after the style of Ophelia or Juliet--you know what mean.
 MT. Hacker declares that men are just as particular concerning their looks as women-especially the plain ones.
 
 themselves better looking than they are, fact which may cause me some em- barrassment, but this amiable weakness Of the fair sex is excusable, as they rarely see themselves except at their besto
 He finds ample exercise for his dlplo- mauc arts with some of his sitters To the lady, for instance who presents her. self laden with diamonds he explains. tactfully, what pity it is that she should allow the jewels to spoil the exquisite lines offher neck; while to the man who comes to sit with a brand new suit of clothes-an abomination to the artist-he praises old coats showing how much bet ter they fit than garments freshly im- ported from the tailor
 Among MT. Horhomer's many sitters was lady whose appearance suggested the following comments, overheard at the Academy; If I was painted at all, l wouldn't be painted like thatr' If I were like that. I wouldn't be painted at all!' This good lady. who is described as very heavy. very dull. very self-satis- fed,' was sore trial to MT. Herkomer. All his efforts and skill failed to satisfy her with the expression of her face, and at last In despair ,he suggested that If she would put her vague objections into shape 1t might help him. The lady agreed She walked deliberately across the room and pinned on a ponderous smile," re- turned to her chair, indicated with ges- ture that that was what she wanted. and