Meissonier, his life and his art . te Is clearlystruck. The passive side of the picture, showing the murderedman, balances the other by reason of the fame of the mighty dead,before whom the Kino- of France had trembled, and who liesthere alone, stretched out on the one side, filling up the spaceopposite the group. Some painters there are (it Is a diverting notion) whose processis always the same ; they always know exactly, beforehand, howthey will treat such and such subjects. It is only when I come totransfer Nature directly to my canvas that 1 hit on the process suitedto the subject I have i
Meissonier, his life and his art . te Is clearlystruck. The passive side of the picture, showing the murderedman, balances the other by reason of the fame of the mighty dead,before whom the Kino- of France had trembled, and who liesthere alone, stretched out on the one side, filling up the spaceopposite the group. Some painters there are (it Is a diverting notion) whose processis always the same ; they always know exactly, beforehand, howthey will treat such and such subjects. It is only when I come totransfer Nature directly to my canvas that 1 hit on the process suitedto the subject I have in hand. 200 MEISSONIRR Those ancient engravers, the IMehncks, knew their l)usinessthoroughly. They had a good sohd louiulation of teaching to goupon. No\ young people coolly undertake the most difficultwork, without knowing how to draw ; they are full of self-confidence. . There are days when nothing seems enjoyable. . On otherseverything delights In art, everything depends on the frame ofmind one brings to oneswork. If we really are inlove with our art, the moreskilful we grow, the lesswe shall produce, for themore fastidious we shallbecome. I never hesitate aboutscraping out the work ofclays, and beginning afresh,so as to satisfy myselfand try to do better. Ah !that better which onefeels in ones .soul, andwithout which no true artistis ever content! Others may approve and admire ; but that counts for nothing,compared with ones own feeling of what ought to be. THE PAINTER. (M. Leroys collection.) I was asking Dr. G . . the other day, whether the same thingoccurred in medical science as in art ; whether there were ljrok(Mi linksin th(^ chain of acquired science. Me answered No. Is it Irom ART impotence then, or is it (lelil)erately, that the painters of a pro-
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