Life, art, and letters of George Inness . cy. 35 CHAPTER III MEDFIELD PERIOD THE Medfield period lasted from 1859 to1864. From the point of view of artisticachievements it was one of great impor-tance in my fathers life. The ideas which he hadabsorbed were now beginning to show in his work, andhis own individual style was developing. In otherwords George Inness was beginning to be GeorgeInness. I do not remember how we got to Medfield, but Iremember smelling wild flowers and fields for the firsttime. I remember also a quarrel with my sister Rosein which I came out victor. My father took me to
Life, art, and letters of George Inness . cy. 35 CHAPTER III MEDFIELD PERIOD THE Medfield period lasted from 1859 to1864. From the point of view of artisticachievements it was one of great impor-tance in my fathers life. The ideas which he hadabsorbed were now beginning to show in his work, andhis own individual style was developing. In otherwords George Inness was beginning to be GeorgeInness. I do not remember how we got to Medfield, but Iremember smelling wild flowers and fields for the firsttime. I remember also a quarrel with my sister Rosein which I came out victor. My father took me to thewood-shed and told me that any man who would strikea woman ought to be thrashed, and that he was goingto whip me; and he did. He picked up a little twig,—it looked like the trunk of a tree,—and switched mewell. I howled, and lay on the floor crying that he hadhurt me; when I looked up I saw dear old Pop, sittingon a saw-horse crying, too. I could not am wiser now. His tenderness and love for his family were beauti- 36. MEDFIELD PERIOD iul. He Bought to understand his children and to en-ter into our games and pleasures, and he would spend hours making kites and for us. Again lieMould be in a different world, an entirely differentman, and 1 would not know my father. As I reviewmy childhood, a little incident flashes back to me of histenderness. Father was veiy fond of roast pig, and Ithink he had been reading Charles Lamb. He wouldtry anything he read about; when he read The Countof Monte Christo he tried hashish. I am glad tosay he did not follow up the practice. But to the pig!Pop gave me a dollar to buy the runt from a farmernear by. To possess a runt had been my ambition,and for one dollar the farmer said he would give meone. That is pretty cheap for a pig. A runt is thesmallest pig in a litter, but in my eyes this fellow wasthe finest little white pet in the world. I brought thelittle squealer home, and built a pen for him only be-cause my mot
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