New-York tribune., 1911-12-24
ANOTHER VIEW OF MR.. LAWSON
BEHIND THE STRING SCREEN.

ready Mancini gets TO work. In an in
credibly short time he strings the subject
frame Then in exact duplicate the canvas
one In the first stringng there is appar-
cutlv little method other than completely
10 network the entire surface network il
into large spaces. say an inch to an inch
and a half in the clear Of each. These
first spaces are all individualized by means
Of a few diagonal strngings. which break
! UP the squares formed by the straight
! Crom-the-top-to-t -the-bottom and sde-to-sde
strings.
! When these frames have been strung TO
/ his satisfaction, and he has squinted his
/ subject from all angles Of the studio, paint
! ing begins-a daub here, a splotch there and
a lab in between. Then fevered hurry
ing TO and fro of additional stringing, first
on the subject frame, then on the CORE
spending one which he rushes from time TO
time into different parts Of the studio, so
that the stringng and painting go hand in
hand.
There is wonderful method in this string
ing / have found my whole being forced
through, we will say, my right eye, which
was penned I'm an inch and a half string
square Later I have had # forced out
through half Of this space, then through
a quarter and so on, until all that was
alive of me was connected up with all
that was alive Of Mancini through string
made triangular space no larger than
Glove end, and through this space Mancinis
inner man and mine would chum while he
trans1xed mine to his canvas. He had not
chased me up and down his string traps
many times before / intuited the method
OF this part Of his madness.
lie would hold my very soul in one Of
these creviccs. as though # We're riveted
to his. while he focused the color scheme.
Then he would release me for a moment
while he blended his pigments. Then,
with his brush poised ne would again fix
me. and, owing to his wonderful string
scheme. instantancously. Then. holding me
as i'm a wise. ne would tiptoe the length of
his studio. and, Ike "A flash, dart his
brush at the tiny triangular space on his
string-nettcd canvas If the result was
true 10 his vision he would fill the studio
with wild peals of exultations, emphasized
with a hurl Of brush and palette into the
air Oftentimes he would execute a dance.
a sort of cross-breed Indian war waltz and
Partisan Cancan. I'ut, If the result skew
coed his vision things would be doing
things painful and often disgusting To gaze
upon.
As an illustration OF this odd creatures
oddities: During the days Mancini worked
| on my canvas he kept up Joyous war
( bling in French, which, if translated Off
/ hand. would run about this way: "Hurrahi
| hurrah! hurrah Monsieur Levlson he is
/ I'm Rome. llurrah hurrah, hurrahi Man
! cini will paint Monsieur Lcvison as Mon
/ sicur Lcyison never was painted before.
/ Vivc la Monsieur Leviscn, Vive Ia Man
| cini; Vive la Papa Mancln" Nive Ia
macaron vive la macaron vive la maca-
/ ROM which horse-sensedly translated
would read: "l Mancini. am going 10 paint
/ great portrait Of Mr.. Lawson. for which
| will receive a lot OF money. with which
! I will buy food for the only thing / love.
my father" While the words were al
ways about the same, the tune 10 which
! they were warbed varied every hour of
/ the twenty-one times three which marked
my sitting.
You touch on Mancinls ignorance Of
| money affairs. His stunts in this direction
were away over the limit Every morning
when my carriage stopped in front of No. >
| via Margutta it would encounter an army
of from hfty 10 a hundred of the habltues
of this picturesque artist locality-modcls
| brokcn-down painters. photographers ana
| the general r0rad of the pointing world
aud they would gleelully tell one another