Meissonier, his life and his art . I-ORTRAIT OF DR. CUYON, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE. There arc things one ought never to finish ;—the bloom of the sketchshould be left upon them. For instance, I could not Improve upon thisdrawing, because it was the outcome of a sudden inspiration. I caught F F 2l8 MEISSONIER up the chalk one niorning when I was looking at my horse, and thiswas the result. The pleasure of modelling in good wax is indescribable. You feelthe form growing under your fingers. It is a real delight, that ot a direct creation. I always fintl it very ditficult toteacli other people to
Meissonier, his life and his art . I-ORTRAIT OF DR. CUYON, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE. There arc things one ought never to finish ;—the bloom of the sketchshould be left upon them. For instance, I could not Improve upon thisdrawing, because it was the outcome of a sudden inspiration. I caught F F 2l8 MEISSONIER up the chalk one niorning when I was looking at my horse, and thiswas the result. The pleasure of modelling in good wax is indescribable. You feelthe form growing under your fingers. It is a real delight, that ot a direct creation. I always fintl it very ditficult toteacli other people to draw. I havelost the habit of drawintr outlinesmyself, for in painting I always blockout the relief at once. Every painter is more or less ofan actor. He has an instinct forpose and gesture ; without it, hecould neither feel, nor discover, norindicate as he Tin: HfRDV-CUKDY PLAYER. (Pencil Sketch.) I have been asked to send somedrawinofs and sketches to the Ex-position des Beaux Arts. I amwriting to Gerome as follows :— Itwas no idle fancy which made meclose my poor portfolio yesterday,after having made it over to you-SO unconditionally the day before. I have always held a strict opinionthat what a man should show in his lifetime is his finished work, andnot that which shows how he did it. I hesitated long, before I madeup my mind. . But you pressed me, and hating as I did, torefuse, I gave you over all those odds and ends of sketch(;s,—done onanything, w^ith any tools that came to hand,-to be used at yourdiscretion. HIS PROFESSION 219 Doctor, your attitude has altered insensibly: that always hap[)enswith a portrait. It is the same with a picture, no model gives me quitewhat I want at first, and I begin again and again until the pose is right.
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