file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #acdgg-;h4htm or #acdgg-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/dirs_/#a_/ c_/d_/g_/acdgg_/acdgg-;h_/#acdgg-;h4htm7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/dirs_/#a_/ c_/d_/g_/acdgg_/acdgg-;h4zip7 ,,watts 7#ahag-aijd7 by ,w4 ,,loftus ,,hare ,illustrated with ,eight ,reproductions in ,colour ,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4--,,death ,,crowning ,,innocence 7,frontispiece7 ,a little child lying in the lap of the winged figure of ,death4 ,death1 ever to ,watts a silent angel of pity1 takes charge of ,innocence1 placing it beyond the reach of evil4 ,it was first exhibited at the ,winter ,exhibition of the ,new ,gallery1 #ahif1 and was given to the nation in #ahig4 ,it is now at the ,tate ,gallery4 ,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,edited ,,by ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare ,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,series ,,artist4 ,,author4 ,,velazquez4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,reynolds4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,turner4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,romney4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,greuze4 ,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4 ,,botticelli4 ,,henry ,b4 ,,binns4 ,,rossetti4 ,,lucien ,,pissarro4 ,,bellini4 ,,george ,,hay4 ,,fra ,,angelico4 ,,james ,,mason4 ,,rembrandt4 ,,josef ,,israels4 ,,leighton4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,raphael4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,holman ,,hunt4 ,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4 ,,titian4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,millais4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,carlo ,,dolci4 ,,george ,,hay4 ,,gainsborough4 ,,max ,,rothschild4 ,,tintoretto4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,luini4 ,,james ,,mason4 ,,franz ,,hals4 ,,edgcumbe ,,staley4 ,,van ,,dyck4 ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4 ,,leonardo ,,da ,,vinci4 ,m4,w4 ,,brockwell4 ,,rubens4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,whistler4 ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 ,,holbein4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,burne-,,jones4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,vig,e ,,le ,,brun4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,chardin4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,fragonard4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,memlinc4 ,w4,h4,j4 ,j4,c4 ,,weale4 ,,constable4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,raeburn4 ,,james ,l4 ,,caw4 ,,john ,s4 ,,sargent4 ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 ,,lawrence4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,d,,rer4 ,h4,e4,a4 ,,furst4 ,,millet4 ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4 ,,watteau4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,hogarth4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,murillo4 ,s4,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,watts4 ,w4 ,,loftus ,,hare4 ,,ingres4 ,a4,j4 ,,finberg4 ,others in ,preparation4 ,the ,publishers have to acknowledge the permission of ,mrs4 ,watts to reproduce the series of paintings here included4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,,sempiternum4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,plate ,i4 ,death crowning ,innocence ,frontispiece ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,ii4 ,the ,minotaur ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,iii4 ,hope ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,iv4 ,thomas ,carlyle ,at the ,south ,kensington ,museum ,v4 ,love and ,life ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,vi4 ,love ,triumphant ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,vii4 ,the ,good ,samaritan ,at the ,manchester ,art ,gallery ,,viii4 ,prayer ,at the ,manchester ,art ,gallery ,illustration ,i ,a ,,biographical ,,outline ,in ,july of #aijd the eighty-seven mortal years of ,george ,frederick ,watts came to an end4 ,he had outlived all the contemporaries and acquaintances of his youth2 few1 even among the now living1 knew him in his middle age2 while to those of the present generation1 who knew little of the man though much of his work1 he appeared as members of the ,ionides family1 thus inaugurating the series of private and public portraits for which he became so famous4 ,the ,watts of our day1 however1 the teacher first and the painter afterwards1 had not yet come on the scene4 ,his first aspiration towards monumental painting began in the year #ahdc1 when in a competition for the decoration of the ,houses of ,parliament he gained a prize of #cjj for his cartoon of ,caractacus led ,captive through the ,streets of ,rome4 ,at this time1 when history was claiming pictorial art as her servant and expositor1 young ,watts carried off the prize against the whole of his competitors4 ,this company included the well-known historical painter ,haydon1 who1 from a sense of the impossibility of battling against his financial difficulties1 and from the neglect1 real or fancied1 of the leading politicians1 destroyed himself by his own hand4 ,the #cjj took the successful competitor to ,italy1 where for four years he remained as a guest of ,lord ,holland4 ,glimpses of the ,italy he gazed upon and loved are preserved for us in a landscape of the hillside town of ,fiesole with blue sky and clouds1 another of a castellated villa and mountains near ,florence1 and a third of the ,carrara ,mountains near ,pisa2 while of his portraiture of that day1 ,lady ,holland and ,lady ,dorothy ,nevill are relics of the ,italian visit4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4--,,the ,,minotaur ,in this terrible figure1 half man1 half bull1 gazing over the sea from the battlement of a hill tower1 we see the artist's representation of the greed and lust associated with modern civilisations4 ,the picture was exhibited at the ,winter ,exhibition of the ,new ,gallery1 #ahif1 and formed part of the ,watts ,gift in #ahig4 ,it hangs in the ,watts ,room at the ,tate ,gallery4 ,italy1 and particularly ,florence1 was perpetual fascination and inspiration to ,watts4 ,there he imbibed the influences of ,orcagna and ,titian--influences1 indeed1 which were clearly represented in the next monumental painting which he attempted4 ,it came about that ,lord ,holland persuaded his guest to enter a fresh competition for the decoration of the ,parliament ,houses1 and ,watts carried off the prize with his ,alfred inciting the ,saxons to resist the landing of the ,danes4 ,the colour and movement of the great ,italian masters1 conspicuously absent from the ,caractacus cartoon1 were to be seen in this new effort1 where1 as has been said1 the ,english king stands like a ,raphaelesque archangel in the midst of the design4 ,in #ahdh ,watts had attained1 one might almost say1 the position of official historical painter to the ,state1 a post coveted by the unfortunate ,haydon2 and he received a commission to paint a fresco of ,st4 ,george overcomes the ,dragon1 which was not completed till #ahec4 ,in this year he contributed as an appendix to the ,diary of ,haydon--in itself an exciting document1 showing how wretched the life of an official painter then might be--a note telling of the state of historical and monumental painting in the 'forties1 and of his own attitude towards it2 a few of his own words1 written before the days of the poster1 may be usefully quoted here3 ,,on ,,the ,,public ,,employment ,,of ,,artists ,patriots and statesmen alike forget that the time will come when the want of great art in ,england will produce a gap sadly defacing the beauty of the whole national structure4444 ,working1 for example1 as an historian to record ,england's battles1 ,haydon would1 no doubt1 have produced a series of mighty and instructive pictures4444 ,why should not the ,government of a mighty country undertake the decoration of all the public buildings1 such as ,town ,halls1 ,national ,schools1 and even ,railway ,stations4444 444 ,or considering the walls as slates whereon the school-boy writes his figures1 the great productions of other times might be reproduced1 if but to be rubbed out when fine originals could be procured2 for the expense would very little exceed that of whitewashing4444 ,if1 for example1 on some convenient wall the whole line of ,british sovereigns were painted--were monumental effigies well and correctly drawn1 with date1 length of reign1 remarkable events written underneath1 these worthy objects would be attained--intellectual exercise1 decoration of space1 and instruction to the public4 ,the year #ahdh was a critical time for ,watts2 his first allegorical picture1 ,time and ,oblivion1 was painted1 and1 in the year following1 ,life's ,illusions appeared on the walls of the famous ,academy which contained the first works of the ,pre-,raphaelite ,brotherhood4 ,watts was not of the party1 though he might have been had he desired2 he preferred independence4 ,watts' personal life was at this time pervaded by the influence of ,lord and ,lady ,holland1 who1 having returned from ,florence to ,london1 had him as a constant visitor to ,holland ,house4 ,in #ahej he went to live at ,the ,dower ,house1 an old building in the fields of ,kensington4 ,there1 as a guest of the ,prinsep family1 he set up as a portrait painter4 ,his host and family connections were some of the first to sit for him2 and he soon gained fame in this class of work4 ,there was a temporary interruption in #ahef1 when a journey to the ,east1 in company with ,sir ,charles ,newton1 for the purpose of opening the buried ,temple of ,mausolus at ,halicarnassus1 gave ,watts further insight into the old ,greek world2 and1 one cannot but think1 stimulated his efforts1 later so successful1 in depicting for us so many incidents in classical lore4 ,we have1 in a view of a mountainous coast called ,asia ,minor1 and another1 ,the ,isle of ,cos1 two charming pictorial records of this important expedition4 ,the next six years of the artist's life were spent as a portrait painter2 not1 indeed1 if one may say so1 as a professional who would paint any one's portrait1 but as a friend1 who loved to devote himself to his friends4 ,in pursuance of his principles touching monumental work1 ,watts engaged himself over a period of five years on the greatest and the last of his civic paintings--namely1 the ,justice2 a ,hemicycle of ,lawgivers1 to which ,i shall later refer4 ,watts was a man who seems to have enjoyed in a singular degree the great privilege of friendship1 which while it has its side of attachment1 has also its side of detachment4 ,even in his youthful days he never settled down1 but was a visitor and guest rather than an attached scholar and student at the schools and studies4 ,it is told of him that when just about to leave ,florence1 after a short visit1 he casually presented a letter of introduction to ,lord ,holland1 which immediately led to a four years' stay there1 and this friendship lasted for many years after the ambassador's return to ,england4 ,other groups of friends1 represented by the ,ionides1 the ,prinseps1 the ,seniors1 and the ,russell ,barringtons1 seemed to have possessed him as their special treasure1 in whose friendship he passed a great part of his life4 ,two great men1 the titular chiefs of poetry and painting1 were much impressed by him1 and drew from him great admiration--,tennyson and ,leighton2 from the latter he learned much2 in the sphere of music1 of which ,watts was passionately fond1 there stands out ,joachim the violinist4 ,watts used to recall1 as the happiest time in his life1 his youthful days as a choral singer2 and he always regretted that he had not become a musician4 ,besides being fond of singing he declared that he constantly heard 7or felt7 mystic music--symphonies1 songs1 and chorales4 ,only once did he receive a vision of a picture--idea1 composition and colours--that was ,time1 ,death1 and ,judgment4 ,music1 after all1 is nearer to the soul of the intuitive man than any of the arts1 and ,watts felt this deeply4 ,he also had considerable dramatic talent4 ,in #ahfd some friends found for ,watts a bride in the person of ,miss ,ellen ,terry4 ,the painter and the youthful actress were married in ,kensington in ,february of that year1 and ,watts took over ,little ,holland ,house4 ,the marriage1 however1 was irksome1 both to the middle-aged painter and the vivacious child of sixteen1 whose words1 taken from her autobiography1 are the best comment we possess on this incident3 ,many inaccurate stories have been told of my brief married life1 and ,i have never contradicted them--they were so manifestly absurd4 ,those who can imagine the surroundings into which ,i1 a raw girl1 undeveloped in all except my training as an actress1 was thrown1 can imagine the situation4444 ,i wondered at the new life and worshipped it because of its beauty4 ,when it suddenly came to an end ,i was thunderstruck2 and refused at first to consent to the separation which was arranged for me in much the same way as my marriage had been4444 ,there were no vulgar accusations on either side1 and the words ,i read in the deed of separation1 'incompatibility of temper1' more than covered the ground4 ,truer still would have been 'incompatibility of occupation1' and the interference of well-meaning friends4 ',the marriage was not a happy one1' they will probably say after my death1 and ,i forestall them by saying that it was in many ways very happy indeed4 ,what bitterness there was effaced itself in a very remarkable way4 7,the ,story of ,my ,life1 #aijh47 ,in #ahfg1 at the age of fifty1 without his application or knowledge1 ,watts was made an ,associate1 and in the following year a full ,member1 of the ,royal ,academy4 ,younger men had preceded him in this honour1 but doubtless ,watts' modesty and independence secured for him a certain amount of official neglect4 ,the old studio in ,melbury ,road1 ,kensington1 was pulled down in #ahfh1 and a new house was built suited to the painter who had chosen for himself a hermit life4 ,the house was built in such a way as would avoid the possibility of entertaining guests1 and was entirely dedicated to work4 ,watts continued his series of official portraits1 and many of the most beautiful mythical paintings followed this change4 ,five years later1 ,watts was found at ,freshwater in the ,isle of ,wight1 and in #ahgf he secured what he had so long needed1 the sympathetic help and co-operation in his personal and artistic aims1 in ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,russell ,barrington1 his neighbours4 ,in #ahgg ,watts decided1 in conformity with his views on patriotic art1 to give his pictures to the nation1 and there followed shortly after1 in #ahha and #ahhb1 exhibitions of his works in ,whitechapel and the ,grosvenor ,gallery4 ,a leaflet entitled ,what should a picture say8 issued with the approval of ,watts1 in connection with the ,whitechapel ,exhibition1 has a characteristic answer to the question put to him4 ,roughly speaking1 a picture must be regarded in the same light as written words4 ,it must speak to the beholder and tell him something4444 ,if a picture is a representation only1 then regard it from that point of view only4 ,if it treats of a historical event1 consider whether it fairly tells its tale4 ,then there is another class of picture1 that whose purpose is to convey suggestion and idea4 ,you are not to look at that picture as an actual representation of facts1 for it comes under the same category of dream visions1 aspirations1 and we have nothing very distinct except the sentiment4 ,if the painting is bad--the writing1 the language of art1 it is a pity4 ,the picture is then not so good as it should be1 but the thought is there1 and the thought is what the artist wanted to express1 and it is or should be impressed on the spectator4 ,in #ahhf his pictures were exhibited in ,new ,york1 where they created a great sensation2 but incidents connected with the exhibition1 and criticisms upon it1 caused the artist much nervous distress4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4--,,hope 7,at the ,tate ,gallery7 ,at the first glance it is rather strange that such a picture should bear such a title1 but the imagery is perfectly true4 ,the heavens are illuminated by a solitary star1 and ,hope bends her ear to catch the music from the last remaining string of her almost shattered lyre4 ,the picture was painted in #ahhe and given to the nation in #ahig4 ,a very fine duplicate is in the possession of ,mrs4 ,rushton4 ,it was a peculiar difficulty of his nature which led him to insist1 on the occasions of the ,london and provincial exhibitions of his pictures1 that the borrowers were to make all arrangements with his frame-maker1 that he should not be called upon to act in any way1 and that no personal reference should be introduced4 ,watts always considered himself a private person2 he disliked public functions and fled from them if there were any attempt to draw attention to him4 ,his habits of work were consistent with these unusual traits4 ,at sunrise he was at his easel4 ,during the hot months of summer he was hard at work in his ,london studio1 leaving for the country only for a few weeks during foggy weather4 ,at the age of sixty-nine ,watts married ,miss ,mary ,fraser-,tytler1 with whom he journeyed to ,egypt1 painting there a study of the ,sphinx1 one of the cleverest of his landscapes4 ,three years after his return1 he settled at ,limnerslease1 ,compton1 in ,surrey1 where he took great interest in the attempt to revive industrial art among the rural population4 ,twice1 in #ahhe and #ahid1 the artist refused1 for private reasons1 the baronetcy that other artists had accepted4 ,he lived henceforth and died the untitled patriot and artist1 ,george ,frederick ,watts4 ,,ii ,,the ,,man ,,and ,,the ,,messenger ,having given in the preceding pages the briefest possible outline of the life of ,watts as a man amongst men1 we are now able to come to closer quarters4 ,he was essentially a messenger--a teacher1 delivering to the world1 in such a manner that his genius and temperament made possible1 ideas which had found their place in his mind4 ,he would have been the first to admit that without these ideas he would be less than nothing4 ,if it were possible to bring together all the external acts of the painter's life1 his journeyings to and fro1 his making and his losing friends1 we should have insufficient data to enable us to understand ,watts' message2 his great ambitions1 his constant failures1 his intimate experiences1 his reflections and determinations--known to none but himself--surely these1 the internal life of ,watts1 are the real sources of his message8 ,true1 he was in the midst of the nineteenth century1 breathing its atmosphere1 familiar with the ideals of its great men1 doubting1 questioning1 and hoping with the rest4 ,to him1 as to many a contemporary stoic1 the world was in a certain sense an alien ground1 and mortal life was to be stoically endured and made the best of4 ,it is impossible to believe1 however1 that this inspiring and prophetic painter reproduced and handed on merely that which his time and society gave him4 ,his day and his associates truly gave him much2 the past and his heredity made their contributions2 but we must believe that the purest gold was fired in the crucible of his inner experience1 his joys and his sufferings4 ,in him was accomplished that great discovery which the philosophers have called ,pessimism2 he not only saw in other men 7as depicted in his memorable canvas of #ahdi71 but he experienced in himself the transitory life's illusions4 ,to ,watts1 the serious man of fifty years1 ,love and ,death1 ,faith and ,hope1 ,aspiration1 ,suffering1 and ,remorse1 were not1 as to the eighteenth-century rhymester1 merely ,greek ladies draped in flowing raiment2 to him they were realities1 intensely focussed in himself4 ,watts was giving of himself1 of his knowledge and observation of what ,love is and does1 and how ,death appears so variously2 and who but a man who knew the melancholy of despair could paint that picture ,hope8 ,immediately after the central crisis of his personal life appeared the canvas entitled ,fata ,morgana1 illustrative of a knight in vain pursuit of a phantom maiden2 and before long there was from his brush the pictured story of a lost love1 ,orpheus and ,eurydice1 one of the saddest of all myths1 but1 one feels1 no old myth to him4 ,by a more careful analysis of the artist's work we hope to learn the teaching ,watts set himself to give1 and to ascertain the means that he adopted2 but one point needs to be made clear at this stage1 namely1 that although ,watts was a great teacher1 yet he was not a revolutionary4 ,the ideals he held up were not new or strange1 but old1 well-tried1 one might almost say conventional4 ,they represent the ideals which1 in the friction and turmoil of ages1 have emerged as definite1 clear1 final4 ,they are not disputed or dubious notions1 but accepted truisms forgotten and neglected1 waiting for the day when men shall live by them4 ,furthermore1 ,watts was not in any sense a mystic--neither personally or as an artist4 ,the ,dweller in the ,innermost is not the transcendental self known to a few rare souls1 but is merely conscience1 known to all4 ,the biblical paintings have no secret meaning assigned to them4 ,the inhabitants of ,eden1 the hero of the ,deluge1 the ,hebrew patriarchs1 ,samson and ,satan--all these are the familiar figures of the evangelical's ,bible4 ,eve ,repentant is the woman ,eve1 the mother of the race2 ,jacob and ,esau are the brothers come to reconciliation2 ,jonah is the prophet denouncing the ,nineveh of his day and the ,babylon of this4 ,the teaching--and there is teaching in every one of them--is plain and ethical4 ,so also1 with the ,greek myths2 they teach plainly--they hold no esoteric interpretations4 ,watts is no ,neo-,platonist weaving mystical doctrines from the ancient hero tales2 he is rather a stoic1 a moralist1 a teacher of earthly things4 ,but we must be careful to guard against the impression of ,watts as a lofty philosopher consciously issuing proclamations by means of his art4 ,really he was not aware of being a philosopher at all2 he was simply an artist1 an exquisitely delicate and sensitive medium1 who1 when once before his canvas1 suddenly filled with his idea1 was compelled to say his word4 ,if there be any synthesis about his finished work--and no one can deny this--it was not because ,watts gave days and nights and years to thinking things out4 ,his paintings are1 as he used to call them1 anthems1 brought forth by the intuitive man1 the musician4 ,this was the fundamental ,watts4 ,whatever unity there be1 is due rather to unity of inspiration than to strength or definiteness of character and accomplishment1 and this was sometimes referred to by ,watts as a golden thread passing through his life--a thread of good intention--which he felt would guide him through the labyrinth of distractions1 mistakes1 irritations1 ill health1 and failures4 ,one of the striking incidents in the life of ,watts was his offer to decorate ,euston ,railway ,station with frescoes entitled ,the ,progress of ,cosmos4 ,chaos we have in the ,tate ,gallery1 full of suggestiveness and interest4 ,we see a deep blue sky above the distant mountains1 gloriously calm and everlasting2 in the middle distance to the left is a nebulous haze of light1 while in the foreground the rocks are bursting open and the flames rush through4 ,figures of men1 possessed by the energy and agony of creation1 are seen wrestling with the elements of fire and earth4 ,one of these figures1 having done his work1 floats away from the glow of the fire across the transparent water1 while others of his creative family have quite passed the struggling stage of movement and are reclining permanent and gigantic to the right of the picture4 ,the same idea is repeated in the chain of draped women who are emerging from the watery deep2 at first they are swept along in isolation1 then they fly in closer company1 next they dance and finally walk in orderly procession4 ,but ,chaos1 for all this1 is a unity2 of all material forms it is the most ancient form2 ,cosmos however is the long-drawn tale beginning with the day when ,the ,spirit of ,god brooded on the face of the waters4 ,cosmos might have been ,watts' synthetic pictorial philosophy2 ,herbert ,spencer with his pen1 and he with his brush1 as it were1 should labour side by side4 ,but this was not to be2 the ,directors of the ,north-,western ,railway declined the artist's generous offer1 and he had to get his ,cosmos painted by degrees4 ,on the whole1 perhaps1 we should be thankful that the railway company liberated ,watts from this self-imposed task4 ,we remember that ,dante in his exile set out to write ,il ,convivio1 a ,banquet of so many courses that one might tremble at the prospect of sitting down to it2 the four treatises we have are interesting1 though dry as dust2 but if ,dante had finished his ,banquet1 he might never have had time for his ,divine ,comedy2 so perhaps1 after all1 we shall be well content to be without ,watts' ,cosmos1 remembering what we have gained thereby4 ,besides1 the continuous and spontaneous self-revelation of an artist or a poet is sometimes truer than a rigid predetermined plan4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv4--,,thomas ,,carlyle 7,at the ,south ,kensington ,museum7 ,this canvas was painted in #ahfh1 and is the earlier of the two portraits of the famous historian painted by ,watts4 ,it formed part of the ,foster ,bequest4 ,it is interesting to compare this with the painting in the ,national ,portrait ,gallery4 ,a few words from the pen of the artist1 appearing by way of preface to a book1 ,a ,plain ,handicraft1 may here be quoted to indicate the strong views ,watts took on the ,condition-of-,england ,question4 ,his interest in art was not centred in painting1 or sculpture1 or himself1 or his fellow artists4 ,he believed in the sacred mission of art as applied to profane things4 ,we see how closely he adheres to the point of view made so famous by ,ruskin4 ,both ,watts and ,ruskin1 one feels1 belong rather to the days of ,pericles1 when everything was best in the state because the citizens gave themselves up to it and to each other4 ,writing of the necessity and utility of reviving ,plain ,handicrafts among the mass of the people1 the painter of ,mammon says3 444 ,when the object is to vitalise and develop faculties--the especial inheritance of the human race1 but strangely dormant in our time among the largest section of the community--the claim becomes one that cannot be ignored4 ,looking at the subject from a point of view commanding a wide horizon1 it seems to be nothing less than a social demand1 rising into a religious duty1 to make every endeavour in the direction of supplying all possible compensating consolation for the routine of daily work1 become so mechanical and dreary4 ,when home is without charm1 and country without attaching bonds1 the existence of a nation is rudely shaken2 dull discontent leading to sullen discontent1 may readily become active animosity4 ,there will not be men interested in the maintenance of law and order1 who feel that law and order bring them no perceptible formal advantage4 ,in the race for wealth1 it has been forgotten that wealth alone can offer neither dignity nor permanent safety2 no dignity1 if the man of the population is degraded by dull toil and disgraceful competition2 no safety1 if large numbers drag on a discontented existence1 while the more active and intelligent leave our shores4 ,whether or not our material wealth is to be increased or diminished1 it is certain that a more general well-being and contentment must be striven for4 ,a happy nation will be a wealthy nation1 wealthy in the best sense1 in the assurance that its children can be depended upon in case of need1 wealth above the fortune of war1 and safety above the reach of fortune4 ,the rush of interest in the direction of what are understood as worldly advantages1 has trampled out the sense of pleasure in the beautiful1 and the need of its presence as an element essential to the satisfaction of daily life1 which must have been unconsciously felt in ages less absorbed in acquiring wealth for itself alone4 ,in olden times our art congresses would have been as needless as congresses to impress on the general mind the advantages of money-making would be in these4 7,plain ,handicraft1 #ahib47 ,in ,g4,f4 ,watts1 however1 we have an instance of a man who1 although he sees and is attracted by abstract principles of ethics1 does not perceive the manner of their final application2 he is not really scientific4 ,it might be thought that the painter of ,greed and ,toil1 ,the ,sempstress1 ,mammon1 ,the ,dweller of the ,innermost1 and ,love ,triumphant1 would be able to indicate1 in that sphere of social activity called practical politics1 how these principles could find their expression and realisation4 ,it is interesting1 however1 to know1 and to have it authoritatively from his own pen1 that ,watts at least could not discern either the time or the application of these ethical principles to the affairs of the great world2 for in #aija there appeared from his hand a quasi-philosophical defence of the ,south ,african ,war1 entitled ,our ,race as ,pioneers4 ,he said3 ,inevitable social and political measures claim obedience1 which may be at variance with the spiritual and ethical conscience2 but there comes in the question of necessity1 apparent laws that contest with pure right and wrong2 444 and as we must live1 nothing remains but commerce2 and commerce cannot be carried on without competition1 and pushing the limits of our interests4 ,the result of competition can only be conflict--war1 unless some other outlet can be found4 ,commerce will not supply this2 its very activity1 which is its health and life1 will produce the ambition1 envy1 and jarring interests that will be fatal to peace4444 ,the principle1 ,movement1 must have its outlet1 its safety valve4 ,this has always been war4444 ,the goddess ,trade1 the modern ,pandora1 has in her box all the evils that afflict mankind4444 ,how can ,commerce1 as understood by the principles of trade1 abolish war8 ,the simple principles of right and wrong are easily defined1 and perhaps easily painted2 but the complexity of human affairs and legitimate interests1 conducing to the activity demanded by the great law1 ,movement1 makes some elasticity necessary1 even where there is the most honest desire to be just4 ,thus1 from his own words1 we see how the painter transcends the politician2 he is a stimulator1 he gives hints1 not instructions2 he is commanding1 imperative1 but he does not show how1 nor stay to devise ways and means4 ,he even perceives1 as he thinks1 that though the commands of his pictures1 ,faith1 ,conscience1 and ,love ,triumphant1 be given1 yet they cannot be obeyed fully because of ,evolution and ,destiny1 or as he calls it ,movement4 ,to his intimate friends ,watts1 who was so introspective1 often complained of the duality of my nature4 ,in the midst of affairs1 financial or worldly1 on questions of criticism1 personal conduct and the like1 the great artist was variable and uncertain4 ,though humble and self-deprecatory to an extreme degree1 he made mistakes from which he could escape only with great difficulty2 and he suffered much from depression and melancholy4 ,this man1 however1 never appears in the pictures2 when once in his studio1 alone facing his canvas1 ,watts is final1 absolute1 an undisturbed and undistracted unity1 conscious of that overwhelming rightness known to a ,hebrew prophet4 ,whatever ,time or ,death may have in store for him or any man1 there riding swiftly above them is ,judgment the ,absolute ,one2 whatever theories may be spun from the perplexed mind of the magazine writer about ,expansion and ,necessity1 there sits the terrible ,mammon pilloried for all time4 ,indeed1 he said his pictures were for all time2 they were from the mind and hand of the seer1 who1 rising from his personality1 transcended it2 and as the personality of dual nature gradually fades away into the forgotten past1 the ,messenger emerges ever more and more clearly1 leaving his graphic testimonies spread out upon a hundred canvases4 ,it might be said as a final estimate that the value and sincerity of ,watts' work becomes intensified a hundred-fold when we remember that its grandeur and dignity1 its unity and its calm1 was the work of a man who seldom1 if ever1 attained internal peace4 ,like some who speak wiser than they know1 so ,watts gave himself as an instrument to inspirations of which he was not able1 through adverse circumstances1 to make full use4 ,thus was the ,man divided from the ,messenger4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,love ,,and ,,life 7,at the ,tate ,gallery7 ,love1 strong in his immortal youth1 leads ,life1 a slight female figure1 along the steep uphill path2 with his broad wings he shelters her1 that the winds of heaven may not visit her too roughly4 ,violets spring where ,love has trod1 and as they ascend to the mountain top the air becomes more and more golden4 ,the implication is that1 without the aid of ,divine ,love1 fragile ,human ,life could not have power to ascend the steep path upward4 ,first exhibited at the ,grosvenor ,gallery in #ahhe4 ,companion picture to ,love and ,death1 and ,love ,triumphant4 ,,iii ,a ,,review ,,of ,,watts' ,,work ,failing the ,progress of the ,cosmos1 we have from the mind and brush of ,watts a great number of paintings1 which may be grouped according to their character4 ,such divisions must not be regarded as rigid or official1 for often enough a picture may belong to several groups at the same time4 ,for the purpose of our survey1 however1 we divide them as follows3 #a4 ,monumental or ,historical ,paintings and ,frescoes4 #b4 ,humanitarian or ,social ,paintings4 #c4 ,portraits1 private and public4 #d4 ,biblical ,paintings4 #e4 ,mythical ,paintings4 #f4 ,pessimistic ,paintings4 #g4 ,the ,great ,realities4 #h4 ,the ,love ,series4 #i4 ,the ,death ,series4 #aj4 ,landscapes4 #aa4 ,unclassified ,paintings4 #ab4 ,paintings of ,warriors4 ,caractacus was the first of the monumental paintings2 by them ,watts appears as a citizen and a patriot1 whose insular enthusiasm extends backward to the time when the ,british chief ,caractacus fought and was subdued by the ,romans4 ,he enters also into the spirit of the resistance offered to the ,danes by ,king ,alfred4 ,george and the ,dragon are included by him in the historical though mythical events of our race4 ,undoubtedly the most remarkable of ,watts' monumental paintings is the fresco entitled ,justice2 a ,hemicycle of ,lawgivers1 painted for the ,benchers' ,hall in ,lincoln's ,inn4 ,it is #de x #dj feet4 ,here ,watts1 taking the conventional and theoretical attitude1 identifies law-making with justice1 and in his fresco we see thirty-three figures1 representing ,moses1 ,zoroaster1 ,pythagoras1 ,confucius1 ,lycurgus and his fellow-,greeks1 ,numa ,pompilius and other ,romans4 ,here figures also ,justinian1 the maker of the great ,code2 ,mahomet1 ,king ,alfred1 and even ,attila the ,hun4 ,the painting represents the close of this phase of ,watts' work2 he received a gift of #ejj and a gold cup in memory of its achievement4 ,in ,england1 at least1 no one has ever attempted or accomplished anything in fresco of so great dimensions4 ,watts' monumental genius drove him to sculpture on the grand scale also4 ,hugh ,lupus for the ,duke of ,westminster1 and ,physical ,energy1 upon which he laboured at intervals during twenty-five years of his life1 are his great triumphs in this direction4 ,it is not the first time that an artist deficient in health and strength has made physical energy into a demigod4 ,men often1 perhaps always1 idealise what they have not4 ,it was the wish of the sculptor to place a cast of ,physical ,energy on the grave of ,cecil ,rhodes on the ,matoppo ,hills in ,south ,africa1 indicating how ,watts found it possible 7by idealising what he wished to idealise71 to include within the scope and patronage of his art1 the activities1 aims1 and interests of modern ,colonial ,enterprise4 ,humanitarian ,paintings4--,the earliest of these1 ,the ,wounded ,heron1 asks our pity for the injured bird1 and forbids us to join in the enthusiasm of the huntsman who hurries for his suffering prize4 ,the same thought is expressed in the beautiful ,shuddering ,angel1 who is covering his face with his hands at the sight of the mangled plumage scattered on the altar of fashion4 ,in the large canvases1 ,a ,patient ,life of ,unrequited ,toil1 and ,midday ,rest1 we have paintings of horses1 both of them designed to teach us consideration for the friend of man4 ,the ,sempstress sings us ,tom ,hood's ,song of the ,shirt4 ,the ,good ,samaritan 7see ,plate ,,vii47 properly belongs to this series4 ,it was presented by the artist to the citizens of ,manchester1 as an expression of his admiration of ,thomas ,wright1 the prison philanthropist1 whose work was at that time 7#aheb7 creating a sensation in the north of ,england4 ,if we compare this painting with other ,biblical subjects executed at a later date1 we see how much ,watts' work has gained since then4 ,the almost smooth texture and the dark shadows of the ,manchester picture have given way to ruggedness and transparency4 ,still1 ,the ,good ,samaritan is simple and excellent in purpose and composition4 ,a little known painting entitled ,cruel ,vengeance1 seems to be a forecast of ,mammon2 a creature with human form and vulture's head presses under his hand a figure like the maiden whose head rests on ,mammon's knee4 ,in ,greed and ,labour the seer's eye pierces through the relations between the worker and his master2 ,labour is a fine strong figure loaded with the implements of his toil1 with no feeling of subjection in his manly face2 on the other hand1 the miser creeping behind him1 clutching the money bags1 represents that ,greed who1 as ,mammon1 is seen sitting on his throne of death4 ,mammon is1 however1 the greatest of the three1 containing in itself the ideas and forms of the other two4 ,it is a terrible picture of the god to whom many bow the knee--dedicated to his worshippers4 ,his leaden face shows a consciousness of power1 but not happiness arising from power2 his dull eyes see nothing1 though his mind's eye sees one thing clearly--the money bags on his lap4 ,the two frail creatures of youth and maiden1 types of humanity as ,watts said1 are crushed by his heavy limbs1 while behind a fire burns continuously1 perhaps also within his massive breast4 ,portraits4--,in portraiture1 as in other forms of art1 ,watts had distinct and peculiar views4 ,he gradually came to the opinion1 which he adopted as his first rule in portraiture1 that it was his duty1 not merely to copy the external features of the sitter1 but to give what might be called an intellectual copy4 ,he declared it to be possible and necessary for the sitter and painter to attain a unity of feeling and a sympathy1 by which he 7the painter7 was inspired4 ,watts' earlier portraits1 while being far from characterless1 are not instances of the application of this principle4 ,there is in them a slight tendency to eighteenth-century ideal portraiture1 which so often took the sitter 7and the observer too7 back to times and attitudes1 backgrounds and thunderstorms1 that never were and never will be4 ,watts1 however1 was slightly influenced by the ,pre-,raphaelite school4 ,he might1 had he wished1 have been their portrait painter--and indeed1 the picture of the comely ,mrs4 ,hughes1 a kind1 motherly creature1 with a background of distant fields1 minutely painted1 is quite on the lines of ,pre-,raphaelite realism4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4--,,love ,,triumphant 7,at the ,tate ,gallery7 ,time and ,death having travelled together through the ages1 have run their course and are at length overthrown4 ,love alone arises on immortal wings1 triumphantly1 with outspread arms to the eternal skies4 ,given to the nation in #aijj4 ,somewhat of the same character is the portrait of ,mrs4 ,nassau ,senior1 who1 with one knee on a sofa1 is shown tending flowers1 her rippling golden hair falling over her shoulders4 ,a full-length portrait of ,miss ,mary ,kirkpatrick ,brunton1 dated #ahdb1 also belongs to the old style4 ,watts had a passion for human loveliness1 and in his day some of the great beauties sat to him4 ,the ,jersey ,lily 7,mrs4 ,langtry7 with her simple headdress and downcast eye1 appeared at the ,academy of #ahgi4 ,miss ,rachel ,gurney is a wonderful portrait of a flaming soul imprisoned in a graceful form and graceless dress4 ,miss ,gurney is shown standing1 turning slightly to the right with the head again turned over the right shoulder1 while the whole effect of energy seems to be concentrated in the flashing eyes4 ,watts was able to interpret equally well personalities of a very different character1 and perhaps the canvas representing ,miss ,edith ,villiers is one of the most successful of his spiritual portraits4 ,miss ,dorothy ,dene1 whose complexion ,watts was one of the first to transfer to canvas1 ,miss ,mary ,anderson1 and ,miss ,dorothy ,maccallum1 were all triumphantly depicted4 ,he will be known1 however1 as the citizen portrait-painter of the nineteenth century1 who preserved for us not merely the form1 but the spirit of some of the greatest men of his day4 ,lord ,tennyson sat three times4 ,in #ahei the poet was shown in the prime of life1 his hair and beard ruffled1 his look determined4 ,in #ahfd we had another canvas--the moonlight portrait2 the face is that of ,merlin1 meditative1 thoughtful4 ,as you look at it the features stand out with great clearness1 the distance of the laurels behind his head can be estimated almost precisely1 while seen through them is the gleam of the moon upon the distant water4 ,the #ahij portrait1 in scholastic robes1 with grizzled beard1 and hair diminished1 is ,tennyson the mystic1 and reminds us of his ,ancient ,sage-- 444 for more than once when ,i ,sat all alone1 revolving in myself ,the word that is the symbol of myself1 ,the ,mortal limit of the self was loosed ,and passed into the ,nameless1 as a cloud ,melts into heaven4 ,the portrait of ,john ,l4 ,motley1 the ,american ,minister to ,england in #ahfi1 and author of ,the ,rise of the ,dutch ,republic1 is one of the most successful paintings of handsome men2 ,watts here depicts perfectly the spiritual body of strength1 purity1 and appeal2 the eyes are deepest blue1 and the hair the richest brown4 ,in this case the artist has1 as he was so prone1 fallen into symbolism even in portraiture1 for we can trace in the background a faint picture of an old-time fighting ship4 ,another classic portrait1 so different to that by ,whistler1 is of ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,the sage of ,chelsea sits ruffled and untidy1 with his hands resting on the head of a stick1 and his features full of power4 ,he seems protesting against the few hours' idleness1 and anxious to get back to the strenuous life4 ,the sitter was good enough to say that the portrait was of a mad labourer--not an unfair criticism of a very good portrait4 ,the ,biblical ,paintings are1 as before said1 in partial fulfilment of the frustrated scheme of ,cosmos4 ,eve ,repentant1 in an attitude so typical of grief1 is perhaps the most beautiful2 it is one of a trilogy1 the others being ,she shall be called ,woman1 and ,eve ,tempted4 ,it is singular that in these three canvases the painter avoids the attempt to draw the face of the mother of the race4 ,in the first the face is upturned1 covered in shadow2 in the second it is hid from view by the leaves of the forbidden tree1 while in the third ,eve turns her back and hides her weeping face with her arms4 ,this habit of ,watts to obscure the face is observed in ,the ,shuddering ,angel1 ,judgment in ,time1 ,death1 and ,judgment1 in ,love and ,death1 ,sic ,transit1 ,great ,possessions1 and some others4 ,often indeed a picture speaks as much of what is not seen as of what is seen4 ,incidents from the ,gospels are represented by ,the ,prodigal1 where the outcast is seen crouching on the ground1 his face fixed on vacuity1 almost in the act of coming to himself4 ,for he had ,great ,possessions1 is1 however1 the greatest and simplest of all4 ,there the young man who went away sorrowful with bowed head1 scarcely knowing what he has lost1 is used by ,watts as one of his most powerful criticisms of modern life4 ,although the incident is a definite isolated one1 yet the costume1 figure1 chain of office1 and jewelled fingers1 clutching and releasing1 are of no time or land in particular4 ,it is not a little remarkable that ,watts1 who had breathed so deeply the air of ,italy1 and had almost lived in company of ,titian and ,raphael1 should never have attempted the figure of ,christ or ,his apostles4 ,this was1 however1 not without reason4 ,his pictures were not only for all time1 but apart from time altogether4 ,his only specific reference to ,christianity is his beautiful canvas1 ,the ,spirit of ,christianity1 in which he rebuked the ,churches for their dissensions4 ,a parental figure floats upon a cloud while four children nestle at her feet4 ,the earth below is shrouded in darkness and gloom1 despite the steeple tower raising its head above a distant village4 ,the rebuke was immediately stimulated by the refusal of a certain church to employ ,watts when the officials found he was not of their faith4 ,in this picture ,watts approached nearest to the ,italian ,madonnas both in form and colour4 ,the ,mythical ,paintings are1 in the main1 earlier than the ,biblical series1 but even here the same note of teaching is struck1 and our human sympathies are drawn out towards the figure depicted4 ,in one1 ,echo comes to find her lover transformed into a flower2 in another1 ,psyche1 through disobedience1 has lost her love4 ,she gazes regretfully at a feather fallen from ,cupid's wing2 it is a pink feather1 such as might be taken from the plumage of the little ,lord of ,love who vainly opposes ,death in his approach to the beloved one4 ,in ,psyche1 ,watts has made the pale body expressive of abject loss2 there is no physical effort1 except in the well-expanded feet1 and no other thought but lost love4 ,the legend of ,diana and ,endymion was painted three times--good1 better1 best4 ,a shepherd loved the ,moon1 who in his sleep descends from heaven to embrace him4 ,the canvas of #aijc must be regarded as the final success--the sleeping figure is more asleep1 his vision more dreamlike and diaphanous4 ,orpheus and ,eurydice 7painted three times7 is perhaps the greatest of his classical pictures4 ,it is one of the few compositions that were considered by its author as finished4 ,here again the lover through disobedience loses his love2 the falling figure of ,eurydice is one of the most beautiful and realistic of all the series of ,watts' nudes1 and the agony of loss1 the energy of struggle1 are magnificently drawn in the figure of ,orpheus4 ,looking at the canvas1 one recalls the lines of the old ,platonic poet-philosopher ,bothius3 ,at length the shadowy king1 ,his sorrows pitying1 ',he hath prevailed6' cried2 ',we give him back his bride6 ,to him she shall belong1 ,as guerdon of his song4 ,one sole condition yet ,upon the boon is set2 ,let him not turn his eyes ,to view his hard-won prize1 ,till they securely pass ,the gates of ,hell4' ,alas6 ,what law can lovers move8 ,a higher law is love6 ,for ,orpheus--woe is me6-- ,on his ,eurydice-- ,day's threshold all but won-- ,looked1 lost1 and was undone6 ,in ,the ,minotaur1 that terrible creature1 half man1 half bull1 crushing with his hideous claw the body of a bird1 stands ever waiting to consume by his cruel lust the convoy of beauteous forms coming unseen and unwilling over the sea to him4 ,it is an old myth1 but ,watts intended it for a modern message4 ,the picture was painted by him in the heat of indignation in three hours4 ,a small but very important group of paintings1 which ,i call ,the ,pessimistic ,series1 begins with ,life's ,illusions1 painted in #ahdi4 ,it is1 says ,watts1 an allegorical design typifying the march of human life4 ,fair visions of ,beauty1 the abstract embodiments of divers forms of ,hope and ,ambition1 hover high in the air above the gulf which stands as the goal of all men's lives4 ,at their feet lie the shattered symbols of human greatness and power1 and upon the narrow space of earth that overhangs the deep abyss are figured the brighter forms of illusions that endure through every changing fashion of the world4 ,a knight in armour pricks on his horse in quick pursuit of the rainbow-tinted bubble of glory2 on his right are two lovers2 on his left an aged student still pores over his work by the last rays of the dying sun2 while in the shadow of the group may be seen the form of a little child chasing a butterfly4 ,this picture has the merit1 along with ,fata ,morgana1 of combining the teaching element with one of the finest representations of woman's form that came from ,watts' brush4 ,he was one of those who vigorously defended the painting of the nude4 ,these are some of his words3 ,one of the great missions of art--the greatest indeed--is to serve the same grand and noble end as poetry by holding in check that natural and ever-increasing tendency to hypocrisy which is consequent upon and constantly nurtured by civilisation4 ,my aim is now1 and will be to the end1 not so much to paint pictures which are delightful to the eye1 but pictures which will go to the intelligence and the imagination1 and kindle there what is good and noble1 and which will appeal to the heart4 ,and in doing this ,i am forced to paint the nude4 ,fata ,morgana is a picture of ,fortune or ,opportunity pursued and lost by an ardent horseman4 ,it was painted twice1 first in the ,italian style1 and again in what must be called ,watts' own style--much the finer effort4 ,this picture shows us what1 in the artist's view1 man in this mortal life desires1 pursues1 and mostly loses4 ,fortune has a lock of hair on her forehead by which alone she may be captured1 and as she glides mockingly along1 she leads her pursuers across rock1 stream1 dale1 desert1 and meadow typical of life4 ,the pursuit of the elusive is a favourite theme with ,watts1 and is set forth by the picture ,mischief4 ,here a fine young man is battling for his liberty against an airy spirit representing ,folly or ,mischief4 ,humanity bends his neck beneath the enchanter's yoke--a wreath of flowers thrown round his neck--and is led an unwilling captive2 as he follows the roses turn to briars about his muscular limbs1 and at every step the tangle becomes denser1 while one by one the arrows drop from his hand4 ,the thought of ,life's ,illusions and ,fata ,morgana is again set forth in ,sic ,transit ,gloria ,mundi1 where we see the body of a king whose crown1 and all that represents to him the glory of the world1 is left at death4 ,it is not1 however1 in ,watts' conception essential glory that passes away1 but the ,glory of the ,world4 ,upon the dark curtain that hangs behind the shrouded figure are words that represent his final wisdom1 ,what ,i spent1 ,i had2 what ,i saved1 ,i lost2 what ,i gave1 ,i have4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4--,,the ,,good ,,samaritan 7,at the ,manchester ,art ,gallery7 ,this is an early picture1 painted in the year #aheb and presented to the city of ,manchester by the artist in honour of the prison philanthropist1 a native of that city4 ,these ,i call ,pessimistic paintings1 because they represent the true discovery ever waiting to be made by man1 that the sum total of all that can be gained in man's external life--wealth1 fame1 strength1 and power--that these inevitably pass from him4 ,to know this1 to see it clearly1 to accept it1 is the happiness of the pessimist1 who thenceforward fixes his hope and bends his energies to the realisation of other and higher goods4 ,in this he becomes an optimist1 for this is the pursuit1 as ,watts never ceases to teach1 in which man can and does attain his goal4 ,thus our prophet-painter1 having seen and known and felt all this1 having tested it in the personal and intimate life1 brings to a triumphant close his great series1 where positive rather than negative teaching is given4 ,the ,great ,realities4--,we have seen in ,chaos primordial matter2 we have now from ,watts' brush the origin of things on the metaphysical side4 ,in ,the ,all-pervading1 there sits the ,spirit of the ,universe1 holding in her lap the globe of the systems1 the representation of the last conclusions of philosophy4 ,this mysterious picture is very low in tone1 conforming to ,watts' rule to make the colouring suit the subject4 ,here there is nothing hard or defined2 the spirit of the universe is merely suggested or hinted at1 his great wings enclose all4 ,the elliptical form of this composition is seen again in ,death ,crowning ,innocence and ,the ,dweller in the ,innermost1 and the same expressive indefiniteness and lowness of the colour tones4 ,in the latter effort we have the figure of ,conscience1 winged1 dumb-faced and pensive1 seated within a glow of light4 ,on her forehead is the shining star1 and in her lap the arrows which pierce through all disguises1 and a trumpet that proclaims peace to the world4 ,here1 therefore1 is the greatest reality from the psychological side4 ,we have also cosmical paintings representing ,evolution1 ,progress1 the ,slumber of the ,ages1 and ,destiny1 all of them asking and answering2 not indeed finally and dogmatically1 but as ,watts desired that his pictures should do1 stimulating in the observer both the asking and the answering faculty4 ,in ,faith we have a companion to ,hope4 ,wearied and saddened by persecutions1 she washes her blood-stained feet in a running stream1 and recognising the influence of ,love in all the beauty of ,nature1 she feels that the sword is not the best argument1 and takes it off4 ,the colouring of this picture is rich and forcible1 the maroon robe of the figure being one of ,watts' favourite attempts4 ,a satisfying picture of a little child emerging from the latest wave on the shore of humanity's ocean1 asks the question1 ,whence and ,whither4 ,i reserve for ,hope the final word 7see ,plate ,,iii474 ,if1 as ,i said1 the optimism which is spiritual and ideal springs from the pessimism which is material and actual1 so too does ,hope grow from the bosom of ,despair4 ,this the picture shows4 ,crouching on the sphere of the world sits the blindfold figure of a woman1 bending her ear to catch the music of one only string preserved on her lyre4 ,when everything has failed1 there is ,hope2 and ,hope looks1 in ,watts' teaching1 for that which cannot fail1 but which is ever triumphant1 namely1 ,love4 ,the ,love ,series4--,according to ,watts1 ,love steers the boat of humanity1 who is seen in one of his canvases tossed about and almost shipwrecked4 ,love does not do this easily1 but he does it4 ,love1 as a winged youth1 also guides ,life1 a fragile maiden1 up the rocky steep--,life1 that would else fail and fall4 ,violets spring where ,love has trod1 and as they ascend to the mountain top the air becomes more golden4 ,this picture1 ,love and ,life 7see ,plate ,v47 was painted four times4 ,love and ,death1 painted three times1 represents the irresistible figure of ,death tenderly1 yet firmly1 entering a door where we know lies the beloved one4 ,this is an eternal theme1 suggested1 ,i believe1 by a temporal incident--the death of a young member of the ,prinsep family4 ,love vainly pushes back the imperious figure2 the protecting flowers are trodden down and the dove mourns2 and with it all we feel that though ,love fears ,death1 yet ,death respects ,love4 ,just as ,love and ,death are companion pictures and tell complementary truths1 so ,time1 ,death1 and ,judgment is related to ,love ,triumphant 7see ,plate ,,vi474 ,in the one we see ,time1 represented by a mighty youth half clad in a red cloak1 striding along with great vigour4 ,his companion1 whom he holds by the hand1 is ,death1 the sad mother with weary1 downcast eye and outspread lap ready to receive her load2 but with neither of them is the final word1 for ,judgment1 poised in the clouds1 wields his fiery sword of eternal law and holds the balance before his hidden face4 ,in ,love ,triumphant ,love takes the place of1 and transcends ,judgment4 ,time and ,death having travelled together through the ages1 are in the end overthrown1 and ,love alone rises on immortal wings4 ,thus the stoical painter reaches his greatest height--tells his best truth4 ,the ,death ,series4--,as may be expected1 ,death has no terrors for the fundamental ,watts4 ,never once does ,death look with hollow eyes and sunken cheeks1 or grasp with bony fingers at the living4 ,in ,death ,crowning ,innocence1 as a mother she puts her halo on the infant ,innocence1 whom she claims4 ,death holds a ,court to which all must go--priest1 soldier1 king1 cripple1 beautiful woman1 and young child4 ,the lion must die1 the civilisation be overthrown1 wealth1 fame1 and pride must be let go--so ,watts shows in his ,court of ,death2 all come to the end of the book marked ,finis4 ,death is calm and majestic1 with angel wings1 and overhead are the figures of ,silence and ,mystery1 guarding1 but partially revealing what is beyond the veil--sunrise and the star of hope2 while even in the lap of ,death nestles a new-born babe--the soul passing into new realms through the gates of ,death4 ,again1 ,death is the ,messenger who comes1 not to terrify1 but as an ambassador to call the soul away from this alien land1 quietly touching the waiting soul with the finger-tips4 ,in the beautiful ,paolo and ,francesca the lovers are seen as ,dante told of them2 wafted along by the infernal wind2 of them he spoke3 444 ,bard6 ,willingly ,i would address these two together coming1 ,which seem so light before the wind4 ,francesca's reply to ,dante is of ,love and ,death3 ,love1 that in gentle heart is quickly learnt1 ,entangled him by that fair form4442 ,love1 that denial takes from none beloved1 ,caught me with pleasing him so passing well1 ,that as thou seest1 he yet deserts me not4 ,love brought us to one death4 ,watts has admirably caught the sweetness and sorrow of this situation in his beautiful picture1 which1 again1 is one of the very few he considered finally finished4 ,it is almost a monochrome of blues and greys4 ,in ,time and ,oblivion1 one of the earliest of the symbolical paintings1 ,time is again the stalwart man of imperishable youth1 while ,oblivion1 another form of ,death1 spreads her mantle of darkness over all1 claiming all4 ,landscapes4--,although ,watts will ever be remembered for his allegorical1 biblical1 and portrait painting1 yet he was by no means deficient in landscape art4 ,indeed1 he carried into that branch of work his peculiar personality4 ,not only do his landscapes depict beautiful scenery in a fitting manner1 joining atmosphere1 sunshine1 and colour1 but they convey in an extraordinary degree the mood of ,nature and of ,man4 ,the ,sphinx by ,night has an air of mystery about it that immediately impresses the spectator1 and tells him something that cannot be communicated by words4 ,the ,italian and the ,asiatic canvases by ,watts1 ,florence1 ,fiesole1 ,correna1 ,cos1 and ,asia ,minor1 all induce the feeling of repose and happiness1 and the message that ,nature sends to her devotees comes sweetly and calmly in ,the ,rainbow1 where we look over an extensive valley from high ground1 while heavy clouds and the rainbow adorn the upper air4 ,in ,the ,cumulus we see skyward great cloud masses rolling1 silently swelling and mixing4 ,they recall perhaps the memories of the child1 to whom the mountains of the air are a perpetual wonder4 ,when in ,savoy in #ahhh1 ,watts painted the ,alps1 again with a cloudy sky and a rocky foreground4 ,in this the quietude of the scene penetrates the beholder4 ,english landscape1 to which all true hearts return1 was successfully depicted1 both in form and spirit1 by ,watts' ,landscape with ,hayricks 7like the ,brighton ,downs71 a quiet view from the summit of a hillside1 on which are seen some hayricks4 ,but perhaps the highest of them all is that very peaceful idyll named ,all the air a solemn stillness holds4 ,it was a view from the garden of ,little ,holland ,house4 ,the time is sunset2 a man and two horses are wending their way home4 ,there are farm buildings on the left1 and a thick wood in the background4 ,in this one we feel how thoroughly ,watts uses all forms as expressions of his invisible moods4 ,in purely imaginative landscape1 however1 ,watts struck his highest note4 ,his ,deluge canvases are wonderful attempts2 in ,the ,dove that returned in the ,evening1 the bird is the only creature seen flying across the dreary waste of waters1 placid but for three long low waves4 ,on the horizon the artist has dimly suggested the ark of ,noah4 ,mount ,ararat is especially worthy of mention among the landscapes4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4--,,prayer 7,at the ,manchester ,art ,gallery7 ,this is one of the most simple and beautiful of ,watts' early works4 ,the young woman is kneeling at the table1 book in hand1 her mind absorbed in thoughts of reverence4 ,painted in #ahfj4 ,before ,watts entered upon his series of great imaginative paintings he had used realism for didactic purposes4 ,in those days his work was less rugged than in later times1 and had a delicateness and refinement which is seen to perfection in some of his earlier portraits4 ,a few of these efforts may be mentioned4 ,study is the bust of a girl1 with long red hair1 looking upwards2 it represents a beautiful combination of spirituality and human affection4 ,the ,rain it raineth every day is a picture of ennui and utter weariness1 beautifully and sympathetically expressed4 ,the colouring is very brave4 ,in ,prayer 7see ,plate ,,viii47 the simplicity of the treatment may lead any one to pass it by as something slight and conventional1 but it is perhaps one of the greatest of this type where simplicity and spirituality are combined4 ,in ,choosing ,watts approached very near to the summit of simplicity and charm4 ,a golden-haired girl is choosing a camellia blossom2 but where all are so beautiful it is difficult for her to decide4 ,great interest in this picture lies in the fact that it was painted in #ahfd1 and was drawn from ,watts' young bride ,miss ,ellen ,terry4 ,one is almost tempted to find in this picture the germ of allegory which grew to such heights in the artist's later efforts4 ,the ,warrior ,series4--,watts1 like ,ruskin and many other of the nineteenth-century philosophic artists1 idealised warfare4 ,his warriors are not clad in khaki2 they do not crouch behind muddy earthworks4 ,they are of the days before the shrapnel shell and ,maxim gun2 they wear bright steel armour1 wield the sword and lance1 and by preference they ride on horseback4 ,indeed1 they are of no time or country1 unless of the house of ,arthur and the land of ,camelot4 ,we are thus able to understand the characteristic of ,watts' warrior pictures4 ,the first is ,caractacus1 the ,british chief2 though no ,christian1 he is the earliest of ,watts' heroes4 ,the second is the beautiful ,sir ,galahad1 whose strength was as the strength of ten1 because his heart was pure4 ,we see a knight standing bare-headed at the side of his white horse1 gazing with rapt eyes on the vision of the ,holy ,grail1 which in the gloom and solitude of the forest has suddenly dawned on his sight4 ,the features of young ,arthur ,prinsep1 with his bushy hair1 who later became a general in the ,british army1 can be detected in this wonderful and simple picture4 ,its composition is like a stained-glass window4 ,it is of all ,watts' perhaps the nearest to mysticism1 and at the same time it is an appeal to the young to be like ,sir ,galahad4 ,the original is in ,eton ,college ,chapel4 ,in #ahfc followed ,the ,eve of ,peace1 in which we see a warrior of middle age1 much like ,watts himself at that time1 who has lost the passion for warfare1 sheathing his sword1 glad to have it all over4 ,the peacock feather that is strewn on the floor of ,the ,court of ,death1 and lies by the bier in ,sic ,transit1 is fastened to the warrior's casque4 ,aspiration1 also taken from young ,prinsep 7#ahff71 is a picture of a young man in the dawn of life's battle1 who1 wishing to be a standard-bearer1 looks out across the plain4 ,he sees into the great possibilities of human life1 and the ardent spirit of life is sobered by the burden of responsibilities4 ,watchman1 what of the ,night8 is another wonderful composition1 representing a figure with long hair1 clad in armour1 looking out into the darkness of the night1 with his hand grasping the hilt of the sword4 ,the colour1 low in tone1 and the whole composition1 indicate doubt and yet faith4 ,ellen ,terry was the model for this painting4 ,the ,condottiere represents the fighting spirit of the ,middle ,ages4 ,this soldier is1 like the others1 clad in armour1 and is not likely to have a vision of the ,holy ,grail4 ,his features represent the determination and vigour which were required of him in those ferocious days4 ,the ,red ,cross ,knight accompanying ,una is a charming picture1 representing an incident in ,spenser's ,fary ,queen1 but the palm must be given to ,the ,happy ,warrior1 who is depicted at the moment of death1 his head falling back1 and his helmet unloosed1 catching a glimpse of some angelic face1 who speaks to him in terms of comfort and of peace4 ,this picture1 of all the others1 shows how ,watts has insisted on carrying to the very highest point of idealism the terrible activities of warfare3 ,this1 the ,happy ,warrior1 this is he1 ,that every man in arms should wish to be4 ,he sent a copy1 the original of which is in the ,munich ,gallery1 to ,lord ,dufferin1 whose son was killed in the ,south ,african ,war1 and he declares that many bereaved mothers have thanked him for the inspiration and comfort it has brought to them4 ,watts' pictures are widely distributed2 a roomful may be seen at the ,tate ,gallery1 ,millbank1 ,s4,w4 ,nearly all the portraits of public men are at the ,national ,portrait ,gallery1 ,trafalgar ,square1 ,london4 ,there is a portrait of ,thomas ,carlyle in the ,south ,kensington ,museum1 three or four pictures at the ,manchester ,corporation ,gallery1 and one at the ,leicester ,art ,gallery4 ,there are also several of ,watts' best pictures in a gallery attached to his country house at ,compton in ,surrey2 while his fresco ,justice can be seen at the ,benchers' ,hall1 ,lincoln's ,inn4 ,watts was conscious of the benefit he had received from the great men who had preceded him1 and in his best moments so essentially humble1 that in his last will and testament1 and the letters of gift1 he rises to the great height of artistic patriotism which always appeared to him in the light of a supreme duty4 ,the former document has the following phrases3 ,i bequeath all my studies and works to any provincial gallery or galleries in ,great ,britain or ,ireland1 which my executors shall in their discretion select1 and to be distributed between such galleries4 ,this ,will is dated ,november #a1 #ahii1 and relates to such works as had not already been disposed of4 ,his great gift to the nation was made in #ahig1 accompanied by a characteristic letter in which he says3 ,you can have the pictures any time after next ,sunday4 ,i have never regarded them as mine1 but never expected they would be placed anywhere until after my death1 and only see now my presumption and their defects and shrink from the consequences of my temerity6 ,i should certainly like to have them placed together1 but of course can make no conditions4 ,one or two are away1 and ,i am a little uncertain about the sending of some others2 if you could spare a moment ,i should like to consult you4 ,a few weeks later1 following a letter from the ,keeper of the ,national ,gallery1 he writes as follows3 ,i beg to thank you and through you the ,trustees and ,director of the ,national ,gallery for the flattering intention of placing the tablet you speak of1 but while returning grateful thanks for the intention of doing me this honour ,i should like it to be felt that ,i have in no way desired anything but the recognition that my object in work1 and the offering of it1 has only been the hope of spending my time and exercising my experience in a worthy manner1 leaving to time further judgment4 ,most certainly ,i desire that my pictures should be seen to advantage1 and have a good effect as an encouragement to artists of stronger fibre and greater vitality1 to pursue if only occasionally a similar direction and object4 ,at the end of a long life by no means devoid of mistakes and disappointments1 it would seem as though ,watts attained to his desires4 ,the man has passed away1 while the witness of his aspirations remains4