. John Pettie, , ; . ity and jewel-like radiance of flesh-colourmight be expected; but the exquisite finish ofhands such as those in the portraits of A. P. Wattand J. C. Noble comes with a touch of wonder-ment. And in the portrait of Mrs. E. there are some flowers on a table, lowdown to the left, standing luminous and quiveringwith reality against a dark background, flowerswhich even Fantin might have owned with pride. His portraits were painted with wonderfulrapidity of workmanship. Some of the finest ex-amples of his mastery and swift ease of techniqueoccupied a few hours
. John Pettie, , ; . ity and jewel-like radiance of flesh-colourmight be expected; but the exquisite finish ofhands such as those in the portraits of A. P. Wattand J. C. Noble comes with a touch of wonder-ment. And in the portrait of Mrs. E. there are some flowers on a table, lowdown to the left, standing luminous and quiveringwith reality against a dark background, flowerswhich even Fantin might have owned with pride. His portraits were painted with wonderfulrapidity of workmanship. Some of the finest ex-amples of his mastery and swift ease of techniqueoccupied a few hours only. Among them aremany done for pure pleasure, showing that apainter does his best when he paints for Petties self-chosen portraits there is a bravuraand audacity which is often lacking in imposedcommissions. Now and then, when he workedsolely for the joy of working, he produced aportrait that had the power of an old master,something of the rich colour and forceful chiaro- A FAYRE LADYE {Size of uriginal, 26 x 20.). ^ / {^^ PORTRAITS 159 sciiro of a Rembrandt, of the vigour and directnessof a Hals. A noteworthy example is the smallportrait of Dr. Burton. Pettie and the doctor,then an old man of eighty-three, were fellow-guests one week-end at the house of Mr. Winnat Birmingham. After dinner on the Saturdayevening, they fell to talk of fishing, and Pettiedescribed his first efforts as an angler in thestream that ran near the foot of the garden athis early home in East Linton. The doctor,who had never met him before, asked furtherabout this house and garden, and after an explana-tion, burst out, Do you know, Mr. Pettie, thatwas my house you were living in ? They struckup a warm friendship, and towards the close ofthe evening Pettie suggested quietly to Winnthat he would like to give him a portrait of hisfriend. Burton was a fine old Scottish gentleman,with a face full of character, who habitually worea costume, with skull-cap and low collar, thatmight almost have be
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonaandcblack
