. John Pettie, , ; . to the tragic intrigueof the other. The picture owed its existence toimportunity. A gentleman called one day atPetties studio and begged him to paint somethingor other as a commission. The artist assuredhim that he should have the first offer of one ofhis next works, but the would-be purchaser waspersistent in trying to exact an immediate promise. Laboursome petition was of no avail, for Pettiewas pressed with commissioned work and by nomeans anxious to undertake anything fresh at themoment. But he was instantly won by his visitorsfinal appeal: My dear sir, Im
. John Pettie, , ; . to the tragic intrigueof the other. The picture owed its existence toimportunity. A gentleman called one day atPetties studio and begged him to paint somethingor other as a commission. The artist assuredhim that he should have the first offer of one ofhis next works, but the would-be purchaser waspersistent in trying to exact an immediate promise. Laboursome petition was of no avail, for Pettiewas pressed with commissioned work and by nomeans anxious to undertake anything fresh at themoment. But he was instantly won by his visitorsfinal appeal: My dear sir, Im over eighty,and I cant afford to wait! Ho ! Ho ! OldNoll was finished for him within a week. Thescene is in a tennis-court. Two Cavaliers look onwith a chuckle of amusement at the spirited sketchwhich a third has made upon the wall. Hissketch is a caricature, but he hardly needed to addthe Old Noll, which he is in the act of picture, quite apart from its colour, is the A STATE SECRET (Size of original, 48 x 03.). ROYAL ACADEMICIAN 99 work of a master draughtsman. The light poseand easy grace of the Cavaher who makes thesketch, the foreshortening of his arm, the hand thatholds the chalk—so lightly that it seems to move—^are all superbly rendered. The two figures of theonlookers are magnificently handled both in lineand mass, and it is by brilliant and subtle draughts-manship that the feeling of merriment is two faces are seen, and these in profile,but that of the Cavalier in red is full of hearty,rollicking laughter, while the curve of the sketcherscheek, the tip of his moustache, and the curl of hiseyelash all betoken amusement and smiling satis-faction with his work. The two figures to the leftoffer a splendid contrast of black and red, and thesetting of the canary sleeve against the red of thecloak is one of those chromatic feats in whichthe painter was so daring and withal so strong masses of black, red, and yellow areenhan
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonaandcblack
