The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1922-10-19

~ shich he cherished and many 81
which be let slip
After that for 3 Iona time aoth
fms particular happened The land
scape painters dld not return 70 ths
valley and the local excitement over
John Lillie's pictures died down Il
had never been an altogether gym.
pathetic excitement anyway. 50 Ear
a. his fellow townsmen were con.
Icerued Picture making seemed s
childish waste Of time to most Of
them. especially when man was
skilled IN a useful art and had 3
family TO support Summer homes
Increased. and John Lille had an be
could do planning and building and
Iromodeling Gradually his brief
burst Of landscape painting came to
seem 20 his neighhors unique.
amazing episode
mot to him, however. No. altho
he loved bis craft and reyeled IN the
beauty OF the fine old houses which
he was asked 10 reclaim. he never
forgot the greater JOY Of the creative
/ impulse he had known When such
an impulse once grips a man Il never
lets him 90, Little by little. during
/ the long winters and when at times
work was slack in the summer, John
Lille accumulated a store OF canvas
es which he kept in his hen-house.
and concerning which he mostly held
his peace Now and then. when the
thrill OF catching some particularly
lovely effect was uncomfortable, he
tried 10 share II with a neighbor.
but the neighbor did not always un-
derstand-as why, indeed, should
he2 SO he said less and less and
went his hidden way II Il had not
been for the coming Of yet another
landscape painter to the valley last
autumn, the hen-house might have
kept its secrets.
But when the landscape painter
did come! He was a temperamental
soul, and. as the vivid phrase runs,
he went right up in the air. Why, |
this is genius you have in your
midst! he scolded the valley folk
What do you mean by asking him
to come and mend your kitchen
sinks? Kitchen sinks! John Lille
l tell you. we're none Of US fit to
wash his brushes for him
"of course IL was eXtrayagant but
IL was immensely effective in waking
the valley up, and soon John Lilies
name was on every lip and all the
lingering summer people who cared
anything about pictures were making
to the Lille hen-house
John Lille received them cordially
not i'm the least bewildered by the
sudden limelight which had been
turned on him, not too much elated.
but very truly pleased and gratihed.
The artist paints his pictures for
himself and something outside him
which we may as well call Cod; but
he sympathetic approval Of his fell
ow man is needed to make the trim
~ complete On the outer wall of
he house, against the soft gray
Of implanted boards, he
slipt canvas after canvas into a stu
Ito frame which had been given to
him. In the clear autumn light the
paintings showed to great advantage
"They were strange pictures on
General principles. one would have
expected an unframed painter TO see
md reproduce things Photographic
lily. But Lilies Dorset was not at
IN the Dorset Of his neighbors and of
most of the summer people II was
big. elemental world. simple, rath-
n bare. sometimes austere, some
lines instinct with poignant love
mess. always high and remote and
uu of romance In the significant
words OF the landscape painter who
lad unearthed them. his pictures
lad the unreality OF al great
hings One Of the canvases held
nothing but the golden crest Of a
zig. bare autumn hill against a gray
ky Not a bush. not even rock
,roke the noble curve. and only
aint rift in one corner broke the
nonotony of the sky Yet is was
lecture which one could ponder and
earch indefinitely Another showed
white winter world. blurred and in
isunct. with a thin line Of wind
down trees staggering across IT, All
he pictures had mystery and mag
nation
The Outlook's contributor appears
b believe that the world at large viii
in John Lille an import
nj figure
But. whatever may OF may not
amen this is sure that the inhab-