,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,edited ,,by--,t4 ,,leman ,,hare ,,millais #ahbi--ahif ,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,series ,,artist4 ,,author4 ,,bellini4 ,,george ,,hay4 ,,botticelli4 ,,henry ,b4 ,,binns4 ,,boucher4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,burne-,,jones4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,carlo ,,dolci4 ,,george ,,hay4 ,,chardin4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,constable4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,corot4 ,,sidney ,,allnutt4 ,,da ,,vinci4 ,m4 ,w4 ,,brockwell4 ,,delacroix4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,d,,rer4 ,h4 ,e4 ,a4 ,,furst4 ,,fra ,,angelico4 ,,james ,,mason4 ,,fra ,,filippo ,,lippi4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,fragonard4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,franz ,,hals4 ,,edgcumbe ,,staley4 ,,gainsborough4 ,,max ,,rothschild4 ,,greuze4 ,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4 ,,hogarth4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,holbein4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,holman ,,hunt4 ,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4 ,,ingres4 ,a4 ,j4 ,,finberg4 ,,lawrence4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,le ,,brun1 ,,vig,e4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,leighton4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,luini4 ,,james ,,mason4 ,,mantegna4 ,,mrs4 ,,arthur ,,bell4 ,,memlinc4 ,w4 ,h4 ,j4 ,j4 ,c4 ,,weale4 ,,millais4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,millet4 ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4 ,,murillo4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,perugino4 ,,selwyn ,,brinton4 ,,raeburn4 ,,james ,l4 ,,caw4 ,,raphael4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,rembrandt4 ,,josef ,,israels4 ,,reynolds4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,romney4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,rossetti4 ,,lucien ,,pissarro4 ,,rubens4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,sargent4 ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 ,,tintoretto4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,titian4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,turner4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,van ,,dyck4 ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4 ,,velazquez4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,watteau4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,watts4 ,w4 ,,loftus ,,hare4 ,,whistler4 ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 ,others in ,preparation4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4--,,the ,,order ,,of ,,release4 ,frontispiece 7,tate ,gallery7 ,this is one of the pictures which ,millais always reckoned among the greatest of all his successes1 and that it has many notable qualities which justify his preference can certainly not be denied4 ,it is wonderful in its earnest and thoughtful realism1 and it explains its motive with a completeness that is most convincing4 ,the expression on the face of the woman who brings the order which frees her husband from prison is singularly happy in its combination of tenderness for the wounded ,highlander1 and triumph over the hesitating gaoler2 and there are many other little touches1 like the joyous effusiveness of the dog1 and the unconsciousness of the sleeping child1 which amplify and perfect the pictorial story4 ,millais ,,by ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry ,,illustrated ,,with ,,eight ,,reproductions ,,in ,,colour ,illustration ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4 ,e4 ,c4 ,,jack ,,new ,,york3 ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,co4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,plate ,i4 ,the ,order of ,release1 #agdf ,frontispiece ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,page ,,ii4 ,the ,boyhood of ,raleigh #ad ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,iii4 ,the ,knight ,errant #bd ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,iv4 ,autumn ,leaves #cd ,at ,manchester ,art ,gallery ,v4 ,speak6 ,speak6 #dj ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,vi4 ,the ,vale of ,rest #ej ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,vii4 ,ophelia #fj ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,,viii4 ,the ,north-,west ,passage #gj ,at the ,tate ,gallery ,illustration ,as a record of some half century of brilliant activity1 and of practically unbroken success1 the life-story of ,john ,everett ,millais is in many respects unlike those which can be told about the majority of artists who have played great parts in the modern art world4 ,he had none of the hard struggle for recognition1 or of the fight against adverse circumstances1 which have too often embittered the earlier years of men destined to take eventually the highest rank in their profession4 ,things went well with him from the first2 he gained attention at an age when most painters have barely begun to make a bid for popularity1 and his position was assured almost before he had arrived at man's estate4 ,he owed some of his success1 no doubt1 to his attractive and vigorous personality1 but it was due in far greater measure to the extraordinary powers which he manifested from the very outset of his career4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4--,,the ,,boyhood ,,of ,,raleigh 7,tate ,gallery7 ,it would not be inappropriate to describe the ,boyhood of ,raleigh as the prologue to the romance of which the last chapter is written in the ,north-,west ,passage1 for in both pictures the artist suggests the fascination of the adventurous life4 ,young ,raleigh and his boy friend are under the spell of the story which the sailor is telling them1 a story evidently of engrossing interest and stimulating to the imagination4 ,the faces of the lads show how inspiring they find this tale of strange experiences in lands beyond the sea4 ,for there was something almost sensational in the manner of his development1 in his unusual precocity1 and in the youthful self-confidence which enabled him to take a prominent place among the leaders of artistic opinion while he was still little more than a boy4 ,so early was the proof given that he possessed absolutely uncommon powers1 that he was not more than nine years old when he began serious art training2 and so evident even then was his destiny that this training was commenced on the advice of ,sir ,martin ,archer ,shee1 the ,president of the ,royal ,academy1 to whom the child's performances had been submitted by parents anxious for an expert opinion4 ,the ,president's declaration when he saw these early efforts1 that nature had provided for the boy's success1 was emphatic enough to dissipate any doubts there might have been whether or not young ,millais was to be encouraged in his artistic inclinations2 and that this emphasis was justified by subsequent results no one to-day can dispute4 ,the family from which ,millais sprang was not one with any past record of art achievement4 ,his ancestors were men of action and inclined rather to be fighters than students of the arts4 ,they were ,normans who had settled in ,jersey1 and had for several hundred years been counted among the more important landholders in that island1 where at different times they held several estates4 ,from these ancestors ,millais derived his energetic temperament and that militant activity which enabled him in his career as an artist to triumph signally over established prejudices--the qualities which undoubtedly helped him to make his power felt even by the people who were most opposed to him4 ,he was born on ,june #hth1 #ahbi1 at ,southampton1 where his parents were temporarily living1 but his earliest years were spent in ,jersey4 ,it was in #ahce that he began to show definitely his artistic inclinations2 he was at ,dinan then with his parents and he amused himself there by making sketches of the country and people with success so remarkable that even strangers did not hesitate to recognise him as a budding genius4 ,three years later this estimate was confirmed by ,sir ,martin ,archer ,shee1 and the boy was then sent to work at the art school which ,henry ,sass carried on in ,bloomsbury1 a school which had at that time a considerable reputation as a training place for art students1 and in which most of the early ,victorian painters received their preliminary education4 ,soon after he entered this school ,millais gave a very striking proof of his precocious ability--he gained the silver medal of the ,society of ,arts for a drawing of the antique1 and an amusing story is told of the sensation he created when he appeared at the prize-giving to receive his award4 ,the ,duke of ,sussex was presiding at the meeting1 and to his amazement1 when the name of ,mr ,millais was called1 a small child presented himself as the winner of the medal4 ,to amazement succeeded admiration when a consultation with the officials of the ,society proved that this boy of nine was really the successful competitor1 and the presentation was received with great applause by the spectators of the scene4 ,after two years' work under ,sass1 with some study in the ,british ,museum in addition1 he was admitted into the schools of the ,royal ,academy1 and1 though his age then was only eleven1 he began almost immediately to prove how well he could hold his own in this new sphere of activity4 ,during the six years over which his studentship at the ,academy extended he won every prize for which he competed1 and carried off finally the gold medal for historical painting with a picture of ,the ,tribe of ,benjamin ,seizing the ,daughters of ,shiloh4 ,this was in #ahdg2 in the previous year he had made his first appearance as an exhibitor at the ,academy with an ambitious composition1 ,pizarro ,seizing the ,inca of ,peru1 which is now in the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum4 ,his most ambitious effort at this period was1 however1 the design1 ,the ,widow ,bestowing her ,mite1 which he produced in #ahdg for the ,westminster ,hall competition1 a vast canvas crowded with life-sized figures which was remarkable enough to have made the reputation of a far older and more experienced painter4 ,so far his progress had been without interruption4 ,the rare brilliancy of his student career had gained him the fullest approval of his fellow-workers in art1 and he was beginning his career as a producer with every prospect of becoming immediately one of the most popular artists of his time4 ,everything was in his favour2 he had undeniable ability1 good health1 and an attractive personality1 and he had proved in many ways that1 young as he was1 he could handle large undertakings with sound judgment and complete confidence4 ,yet1 with what seemed to be his way smooth before him1 he did not hesitate to risk his already assured position in the art world by setting himself openly in opposition to the opinions of practically all the men who were then counted as the leaders of his profession4 ,that he knew what might be the penalty he would have to pay for this rebellion against the fashion of the moment can scarcely be doubted1 but he was by nature too strenuous a fighter to be daunted by dangerous possibilities1 and his convictions1 once formed1 were always too strong to yield to any considerations of expediency4 ,in #ahdh1 he and two friends of about his own age1 ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti1 and ,william ,holman ,hunt1 conceived the idea of making a practical protest against the inefficiency of the work which was being done by the more popular artists of the time4 ,the three youths had come under the influence of ,ford ,madox ,brown1 who with splendid sincerity was labouring to realise an ideal based not upon fashion1 but upon an earnest desire for truthful expression1 and by his example they were induced to study a purer type of art than any they could see about them4 ,for this purer art they turned to the works of the ,italian ,primitives1 whose childlike unconventionality and unhesitating naturalism touched a responsive chord in the natures of these youths who still retained some of the simple faith in reality which is one of the charms of childhood4 ,they decided that for the future they would base their own practice upon that of the early ,italians1 and that they would have none of the artificialities of the age in which they found themselves4 ,their resolve was a bold one1 but the manner in which they proceeded to make it effective was bolder still4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4--,,the ,,knight ,,errant 7,tate ,gallery7 ,it is generally recognised that the effective representation of the nude figure imposes the severest test not only upon an artist's powers of drawing and painting but upon his sense of sthetic propriety as well4 ,the ,knight ,errant proves beyond dispute that ,millais was able to pass this test triumphantly1 for the picture is a magnificent technical achievement and is absolutely discreet in treatment4 ,the subject1 a lady rescued from robbers by a wandering knight1 is one which occurs frequently in medival romance4 ,they organised an association1 the title of which1 ,the ,pre-,raphaelite ,brotherhood1 significantly asserted the nature of their artistic aims1 and as the founders of this association they pledged themselves to seek the inspiration of their art in those ,italian painters who had lived before ,raphael was born1 and whose sterling principles were abandoned by ,raphael and his successors4 ,to the three founders of the ,brotherhood were joined two other painters1 ,james ,collinson1 and ,f4 ,g4 ,stephens1 a sculptor1 ,thomas ,woolner and ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti's brother1 ,william ,michael1 who1 being a writer1 was given the office of secretary4 ,the ,brotherhood1 so constituted1 was formally inaugurated in the autumn of #ahdh1 and the members at once set to work to prove by their acts the reality of their belief in the creed they had adopted4 ,the first fruits of the movement were seen in the following spring at the ,academy where ,millais1 who was then1 it must be remembered1 not quite twenty1 exhibited his ,lorenzo and ,isabella1 a picture striking in its originality and in its unusual power4 ,what it implied was not1 however1 immediately realised by the public2 that the manner of the painting made it very unlike those by which it was surrounded was generally recognised1 but most people1 if they thought about the matter at all1 seem to have assumed that the painter had failed to bring himself into line with the art of his time through youthful inexperience rather than by deliberate intention4 ,time and practice1 they considered1 would correct such deficiencies in taste as were apparent in the ,lorenzo and ,isabella1 and when the lad had arrived at years of discretion he would be the first to see the necessity for amendment4 ,but the members of the ,brotherhood1 probably feeling that their initial effort had not produced quite the effect intended1 took other steps to define their attitude4 ,they started1 in ,january #ahej1 a magazine called ,the ,germ1 which was proffered as the organ of the new movement4 ,it was sufficiently uncompromising in its confession of faith1 and neither its text nor its illustrations were wanting in clearness of statement4 ,the magazine1 indeed1 was what it was intended to be1 an open challenge to all the advocates of the old order of things2 and as such it was taken by the people who saw it4 ,it was only in existence for four months1 but even in that short time it did its work thoroughly1 and put an end to any doubts there were in the minds of art lovers and art workers concerning the meaning of ,pre-,raphaelitism2 thenceforward ,millais and his friends had certainly no reason to complain of being ignored4 ,the attention which was given to the pictures they sent to the #ahej ,academy exhibition was1 however1 by no means what they desired1 though1 doubtless1 it must have been much what they expected4 ,millais exhibited a ,portrait of a ,gentleman and his ,grandchild1 ,ferdinand ,lured by ,ariel1 and ,christ in the ,house of ,his ,parents--better known as ,the ,carpenter's ,shop--and these visible embodiments of the principles laid down in ,the ,germ were received with an absolute storm of abuse4 ,the audacity of the young painters who sought by works of this character to discredit the smug and artificial respectability of the art which was then in vogue excited the critics beyond control and brought forth a veritable orgie of virulent expostulation4 ,millais1 with his mind made up and his fighting instinct fully roused1 was not the man to yield to clamour4 ,he made no concessions1 but1 loyally supporting the policy of the ,brotherhood1 showed at the ,academy in #ahea ,the ,woodman's ,daughter1 ,mariana in the ,moated ,grange1 and ,the ,return of the ,dove to the ,ark1 all of which were as frank in their ,pre-,raphaelitism as any of the previous year's canvases1 and all of which were greeted with even more vehement disapproval by the literary custodians of the popular taste4 ,every possible kind of misrepresentation of the aims of the young painter and his friends was employed to discredit their efforts1 all sorts of base motives were imputed to them2 ridicule1 specious argument1 and insult were used in turn to drive them from the course they had deliberately chosen4 ,appeals were even made to the ,academy to have the pictures1 round which this controversy was raging1 removed summarily from the exhibition as things unfit to be set before the eyes of the public4 ,but fortunately the courage of the ,brotherhood was proof against everything which the opposition could do1 and neither abuse nor threats had any effect4 ,yet ,millais at the time suffered for his principles2 paintings which had been commissioned were thrown upon his hands1 and his pictures almost ceased to be saleable4 ,he had every proof that his ,pre-,raphaelitism was commercially a mistake and that1 if he persisted1 the absolute marring of his career as a popular painter1 was more than likely1 yet1 so stubborn was his conviction that he made no change in either his principles or his practice4 ,happily1 as time went on1 the position of affairs began to improve2 the opposition exhausted itself by excess of violence1 and able champions of the movement took up the cudgels in defence of the young artists4 ,one of the most authoritative of these champions was ,ruskin1 who found in this apparently forlorn hope infinite possibilities of artistic progress1 and whose declaration that the ,pre-,raphaelites were laying the foundations of a school of art nobler than the world has seen for three hundred years generously expressed his sentiments towards the ,brotherhood4 ,he took the trouble to study their art1 and to analyse their motives1 so that he based his advocacy not upon vague sympathy but upon real understanding of artistic principles which were sane and sound enough to satisfy even his exacting demand for purity of sthetic purpose4 ,that the ultimate success of ,pre-,raphaelitism was due to his energetic interposition cannot1 of course1 be claimed--the boldness and tenacity of the artists who had adopted the new creed had more to do with the improvement which was brought about in the popular attitude--but ,ruskin's counter attack upon the critics had a valuable effect1 and undoubtedly helped greatly to open the eyes of the public4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv4--,,autumn ,,leaves 7,manchester ,art ,gallery7 ,as an example of the quiet and unforced sentiment which characterises so many of the pictures which ,millais painted1 this delightful composition deserves particular consideration4 ,it has a certain severity of design and solemnity of manner1 but in its suggestion of the sadness of autumn there is no trace of morbid sentimentality and no kind of theatrical effect4 ,the picture is a sort of allegory expressed with exquisite tenderness1 and with a simple frankness of manner which is especially persuasive4 ,it is interesting1 too1 to note that just at the moment when the attack was fiercest the ,royal ,academy showed its faith in ,millais by electing him an ,associate4 ,he is said to have been the youngest student ever received into the ,academy schools1 and he must have been one of the youngest painters ever chosen as an ,associate1 for after his election it was discovered that he had not reached the age at which1 under the ,academy rules1 admission to the ,associateship was possible4 ,so his election had to be declared invalid and he had to wait some few years longer--until #ahec--;for the official recognition of his claims4 ,but it must assuredly be counted to the credit of the ,academy that such readiness should have been shown to admit the ability of a young artist who was openly in rebellion against the fashions of his time1 and whose work was by implication a condemnation of much that was being done even by members of the ,academic circle4 ,his election in #ahec came more as a matter of course2 by that date he had won his way to a position which could scarcely be questioned even by the bitterest opponents of ,pre-,raphaelitism1 and he had laid securely the foundations of that remarkable popularity which he was destined to enjoy for the rest of his life4 ,it would have been hard1 indeed1 to deny that he deserved whatever rewards were due to artistic merit of the highest order1 for his pictures had passed well beyond the stage of brilliant promise into that of commanding achievement4 ,his ,ophelia and ,the ,huguenot in #aheb1 his ,order of ,release and ,the ,proscribed ,royalist in #ahec1 and his exquisite ,portrait of ,mr4 ,ruskin in #ahed1 are to be accounted as masterly performances which would have done full credit to a painter whose skill had been matured by more than half a lifetime of strenuous effort1 and which1 as the productions of a young man who did not reach his twenty-fifth birthday until the summer of #ahed1 are of really extraordinary importance4 ,the ,ophelia1 ,the ,huguenot1 and ,the ,order of ,release1 can be placed1 indeed1 among the most memorable expositions of his artistic conviction1 and the ,portrait of ,mr4 ,ruskin ranks with the ,ophelia as one of the most astonishing examples of searching and faithful study which can be found in modern art4 ,these pictures were followed closely by others not less notable--by ,the ,rescue in #ahee1 by ,autumn ,leaves1 ,the ,random ,shot1 ,the ,blind ,girl1 and ,peace ,concluded1 in #ahef1 and by ,sir ,isumbras at the ,ford1 ,the ,escape of a ,heretic1 and ,news from ,home1 in #aheg4 ,of this group ,sir ,isumbras at the ,ford was the least successful1 but ,autumn ,leaves1 with its exquisite delicacy of sentiment1 and those two delightful little canvases1 ,the ,blind ,girl1 and ,the ,random ,shot1 are of supreme interest both on account of the depth of thought which they reveal and of their splendid executive accomplishment4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,speak6 ,,speak6 7,tate ,gallery7 ,to the man who has loved and lost1 the vision of his lady appearing to him as he lies awake at dawn seems so real and living that he begs her to speak to him1 and stretches out his arms to clasp what is after all only a creation of his imagination4 ,the dramatic feeling of the picture is as convincing as its pathos2 the painter has grasped completely the possibilities of his subject1 and he tells his story with just the touch of mystery needed to give it due significance4 ,the management of the light and shade1 and of the contrast between the warm lamplight and the greyness of the early morning1 is full of both power and subtlety4 ,another great picture appeared in #ahei--,the ,vale of ,rest1 which differed from most of the works which ,millais had hitherto produced in its larger qualities of handling and more serious symbolism4 ,its special importance was not fully realised by the artist's admirers when it was first exhibited1 but ,millais himself looked upon it as the best thing he had done2 and this opinion has since been generally recognised as sufficiently well founded4 ,he had not before shown so much solemnity of feeling nor quite so complete a grasp of the larger pictorial essentials1 though in ,autumn ,leaves there was decidedly more than a hint of the seriousness of purpose which gave authority and dignity of style to ,the ,vale of ,rest4 ,there was at this time a change coming over his art1 a change which suggested that the stricter limits of ,pre-,raphaelitism were a little too narrow for him now that his youthful enthusiasms were being replaced by the more tolerant ideas of mental maturity4 ,but he was in no haste to abandon his earlier principles2 he sought rather to find how they might be widened to cover artistic motives which scarcely came within the scope of the creed to which the ,brotherhood had originally been pledged4 ,so he alternated between the literalism of ,the ,black ,brunswicker 7#ahfj71 ,the ,white ,cockade 7#ahfb71 ,my ,first ,sermon 7#ahfc71 ,my ,second ,sermon 7#ahfd71 and ,asleep and ,awake1 which were shown in #ahfg with that daintiest of all his earlier paintings1 ,the ,minuet1 and the sombre suggestion of such imaginative pictures as ,the ,enemy ,sowing ,tares1 and the finely conceived ,eve of ,st4 ,agnes1 of which the former was exhibited at the ,academy in #ahfe1 and the latter in #ahfc4 ,it seemed as if he was trying to make up his mind as to the direction he was to take for the future1 testing his powers in various ways1 and studying himself to see how his wishes and his temperament could best be brought into accord4 ,but when in #ahfh he broke into the new art world in which he was to reign supreme for nearly thirty years1 his abandonment of the technical methods which he had adopted in #ahdi1 and used ever since with comparatively little modification1 was as decisive as it was surprising4 ,in #ahfg he was the careful1 searching1 and literal student of small details1 precise in brushwork1 and exactly realistic in his record of what he had microscopically examined4 ,his ,asleep and ,awake were in his most matter-of-fact vein1 almost pedantically accurate in statement of obvious facts2 and even his charming ,minuet was elaborated with a care that left nothing for the imagination to supply4 ,in #ahfh1 however1 all this dwelling upon little things1 all this studied minuteness of touch and literal presentation of what was obvious1 had suddenly disappeared4 ,all that remained to him of his ,pre-,raphaelitism was the acuteness of vision which had served him so well for twenty years in his intimate examination of nature2 everything else had gone1 his minute actuality was replaced by large and generous suggestion1 his restrained brushwork by the broadest and most emphatic handling1 his realistic view by a kind of magnificent impressionism which expressed rightly enough the personal robustness of the man himself4 ,what made this change the more dramatic was the absence of any suggestion in his previous work that he was preparing for an executive departure of such a marked kind4 ,a diversion into a new class of subjects1 or an inclination towards a more serious type of sentiment1 might perhaps have been looked for from the painter of ,the ,vale of ,rest1 ,the ,enemy ,sowing ,tares1 and ,the ,eve of ,st4 ,agnes1 but even in the larger manner of these pictures1 there was little to imply that he desired to adopt a new mode of painting4 ,but if the ,souvenir of ,velazquez1 ,stella1 ,the ,pilgrims to ,st4 ,paul's1 and ,the ,sisters1 which he contributed to the #ahfh ,academy1 are compared with what he had done before1 the full significance of his action can be perceived4 ,the ,souvenir of ,velazquez1 indeed1 is one of the most decisive pieces of fluent brushwork which has been produced by any modern painter of the ,british school4 ,it is entirely convincing in its directness and in its summariness of executive suggestion1 and as a masterly performance it is by no means unworthy to stand beside the works of that master to whom it was in some sort designed as a tribute4 ,but it has a peculiarly ,english charm which ,millais grafted with happy discretion on to the technical manner of the ,spanish school1 and as a study of childish grace it is almost inimitably persuasive4 ,the little princesses whom ,velazquez painted were too often robbed of their daintiness by the formality of the surroundings in which it was their misfortune to be placed1 but the child in this picture by ,millais has lost none of her freshness1 and1 with all her finery1 is still a happy1 young1 little thing1 ready for a romp as soon as the sitting is over4 ,in the long series of fascinating studies of child-life which he painted with quite exquisite sympathy1 this one claims a place of particular prominence on account of its beauty of characterisation1 and its entire absence of affectation1 quite as much as it does on account of its qualities as a consummate exercise in craftsmanship4 ,this was the canvas which he finally decided to hand over to the ,academy as his diploma work4 ,he had been promoted to the rank of ,academician in #ahfc1 and his intention then was to be represented in the ,diploma ,gallery by ,the ,enemy ,sowing ,tares1 which he regarded as in every way a sound example of his powers4 ,but his fellow-,academicians1 for some not very intelligible reason1 did not agree with him about the suitability of this picture1 and it was1 therefore1 refused4 ,so he sent them the ,souvenir of ,velazquez instead1 a fortunate choice1 for it brought permanently into a quasi-public gallery what is indisputably an achievement worthy of him at his best4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4--,,the ,,vale ,,of ,,rest 7,tate ,gallery7 ,none of the pictures which can be assigned to the period when ,millais was still a strict adherent to the ,pre-,raphaelite creed can be said to surpass ,the ,vale of ,rest in depth and purity of feeling2 and certainly none expresses better in its character and manner of treatment the artist's conception4 ,the same exquisite sentiment1 sincere and dignified1 which distinguishes ,autumn ,leaves gives to ,the ,vale of ,rest an absorbing interest2 and the way in which every detail of the composition and every subtlety in the arrangement and expression of the subject have been used to enhance the effect which the artist intended to produce1 claims unqualified admiration4 ,once started on his new direction as a painter he went forward with unhesitating confidence in his ability to realise his intentions1 and as the years passed by he added picture after picture to the already large company of his successes4 ,his admirers1 surprised as they were at first by his startling change of manner1 did not hesitate to accept what he had to offer2 indeed the splendid vigour of his work brought him an immediate increase of popularity1 and he was thenceforth recognised at home and abroad as one of the most commanding figures in the whole array of ,british art1 as a leader whose authority was not to be questioned4 ,in #ahfi he exhibited his portrait of ,nina1 ,daughter of ,f4 ,lehmann1 ,esq41 ,the ,gambler's ,wife1 a ,portrait of ,sir ,john ,fowler1 and ,vanessa1 a companion picture to his ,stella2 and in #ahgj ,a ,widow's ,mite1 ,the ,boyhood of ,raleigh1 and ,the ,knight ,errant1 with some other works of less importance4 ,the portrait of ,miss ,lehmann is one of the pictures upon which his reputation most securely rests1 admirable in its technical quality and its observation of character2 and among the others ,the ,boyhood of ,raleigh1 and ,the ,knight ,errant1 are worthiest of attention because they are treated with great distinction1 and have in large measure that interest which always results from judicious interpretation of a well-selected subject4 ,the ,boyhood of ,raleigh1 especially1 is to be considered on account of its possession of a certain dramatic sentiment which might easily have been made theatrical by an artist less surely endowed with a sense of fitness4 ,but it tells its story with charm and conviction1 and there is in the action of the figures1 and in the expressions on the faces1 just the right degree of vitality needed to make clear the pictorial motive4 ,the ,knight ,errant is1 perhaps1 less significant as a piece of invention1 but it has a distinct place in the artist's list of achievements1 because it affords one of the few instances of his treatment of the nude figure on a large scale4 ,it proves plainly enough that his avoidance of subjects of this class was not due to any inability on his part to succeed as a flesh painter1 for this figure is beautiful both in colour and handling2 it is more probable that the classic formality and conventionality which public opinion in this country requires in the representation of the nude did not appeal to a man with his love of actuality and sincere regard for nature's facts4 ,indeed1 from the standpoint of the decorative figure painter--of men like ,leighton1 or ,albert ,moore1 for instance--the woman that ,millais has represented is too frankly unidealised1 too modern in type1 and too realistically feminine4 ,but in this disregard of convention there is a kind of summing up of his beliefs as an artist4 ,though he had changed the outward aspect of his art he was still in spirit a ,pre-,raphaelite1 and a ,pre-,raphaelite he remained to the end of his days4 ,he depended more upon the keenness of vision natural to him1 and assiduously cultivated by years of close observation1 than upon what powers he may have had of abstract imagining2 and he sought to only a limited extent to set down upon his canvas those mental images which satisfy men who look upon nature chiefly as a basis for decorative designs4 ,the mental image with him was a direct reflection of fact1 not an adaptation modified and formalised in accordance with recognised rules1 not a fancy more or less remotely referable to reality2 but he had certainly an ample equipment of that taste which enables the painter to discriminate between the realities which are too crude and obvious to be worth recording1 and those which by their inherent beauty claim a permanent place in an artist's memory4 ,he had1 too1 the judgment to see that the nude1 treated as it would have to be to satisfy his sthetic conscience1 would be too plainly stated to be entirely acceptable4 ,he found a much more appropriate field for the exercise of his particular capacities by turning to landscape painting4 ,many of his earlier figure compositions had been given backgrounds which showed how well he could manage the complex details of masses of tangled vegetation1 or the broad and simple lines of a piece of rural scenery2 but in #ahga he attempted for the first time a landscape which was complete in itself and not merely incidental in a picture mainly concerned with human interest4 ,this landscape1 ,chill ,october1 was at the ,academy with his ,yes or ,no8 ,victory1 ,o ,lord1 ,a ,somnambulist1 and the ,portrait of ,george ,grote1 and it was welcomed by a host of admirers as a new revelation of his versatility4 ,it has certainly qualities which justify the estimation in which it was and is still held2 and though it lacks that imaginative insight into poetic subtleties which accounts for so much in the work of a master like ,turner1 it must always claim the respect of art lovers as a large1 dignified1 and sincere study of nature in one of her sadder moods4 ,it is the reserve of the picture1 its reticent realism1 that chiefly makes it memorable1 for it is neither imposing in subject nor striking in effect2 but in its broad simplicity there is something rarely fascinating4 ,other nature studies of the same character followed at brief intervals during the next few years2 they added to the interest of the artist's practice1 but they can scarcely be said to have equalled in importance the portraits and figure subjects which he completed at this stage of his career4 ,millais was1 of course1 far too great a master to have failed in any branch of artistic practice to which he seriously devoted himself1 but the very capacities which made him so successful as a painter of the human subject prevented him from looking at open-air nature with the necessary degree of abstraction4 ,the physical character of a piece of scenery1 its details and individual peculiarities1 he could record with absolute certainty1 though the elusive subtleties of atmosphere1 and the charming accidents of illumination1 which mean so much in the poetic rendering of landscape1 he dwelt upon hardly at all4 ,in many of his landscapes the breadth and dignity1 the accurate relation of part to part1 the fascinating simplicity of manner1 which are among the greater merits of ,chill ,october1 can be praised without reservation or hesitation2 but the touch of fantasy1 of actual unreality1 by which the inspired landscape painter seems to suggest more truly the real spirit of nature1 he hardly ever attempted2 and never1 it may fairly be said1 with complete success4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4--,,ophelia 7,tate ,gallery7 ,realism more searching and more significant than that which ,millais sought for and attained in this small canvas would hardly come within the bounds of possibility4 ,but the picture is much more than a simple study of facts2 it has an exquisite charm of poetic feeling1 and it is conceived with a full measure of the tenderness needed in a representation of the most pathetic of all ,shakespeare's heroines4 ,such a work has a place1 definite and indisputable1 among the classics of art1 and counts as one of the chief masterpieces of the ,british ,school4 ,the years over which his activity as an exponent of pure landscape extended are1 however1 memorable because they saw the production of some of the most triumphant achievements of his maturer life4 ,with his two landscapes1 ,flowing to the ,sea1 and ,flowing to the ,river1 he exhibited in #ahgb his ,hearts are ,trumps1 a portrait group which has become a modern classic2 and in #ahgc another wonderful portrait1 the three-quarter length of ,mrs4 ,bischoffsheim4 ,but it was in #ahgd that he showed what is in many ways the greatest of all his paintings1 ,the ,north-,west ,passage1 a work which1 if he had done nothing else of moment1 would suffice to place him securely among the master painters of the world4 ,the head of the old man1 who is the central figure in the picture1 is entirely magnificent1 and there is much besides in this canvas which would have been beyond the reach of any one but an artist of almost abnormal power4 ,this was followed in #ahge by his portrait of ,miss ,eveleen ,tennant1 and in #ahgg by the ,yeoman of the ,guard1 which runs ,the ,north-,west ,passage close in the race for supremacy4 ,at this time1 indeed1 his productiveness was extraordinary2 subject pictures1 portraits1 and landscapes appeared in rapid succession1 and in all of them he kept to a level of masterly practice which other men reach only occasionally and at rare intervals4 ,between #ahgc and #ahgi he painted eight landscapes1 all important in scale and interesting in treatment1 but after #ahgi he produced no more for nearly ten years1 when he began a fresh series4 ,he was apparently too busy with portraits and figure subjects to give much time to out-of-door work1 and to satisfy the demands made upon him by art collectors and sitters he must have had to work his hardest4 ,yet popularity did not make him careless1 and his hard work diminished neither his freshness of outlook nor his freedom of expression4 ,conscientiousness as a craftsman was always one of his virtues1 and the knowledge that he had a host of admirers ready to accept almost anything he would give them had certainly not the effect of inducing him to lower his standard4 ,in the long list of his paintings1 which belong to the period beginning in #ahgi and ending in #ahhh1 several stand out with special prominence--for example1 his portraits of ,mrs4 ,jopling1 and ,the ,right ,hon4 ,w4 ,e4 ,gladstone1 ,cherry ,ripe1 and ,the ,princess ,elizabeth1 all in #ahgi1 ,the ,right ,hon4 ,john ,bright in #ahhj1 ,cardinal ,newman1 ,alfred1 ,lord ,tennyson1 ,sir ,henry ,thompson1 ,cinderella1 and ,caller ,herrin'1 in #ahha1 ,j4 ,c4 ,hook1 ,r4,a41 and ,the ,captive1 in #ahhb1 ,the ,marquess of ,salisbury in #ahhc1 ,the ,ruling ,passion1 and another portrait of ,gladstone1 in #ahhe1 ,bubbles in #ahhf1 and ,the ,marquess of ,hartington in #ahhg4 ,some of these were shown at the ,academy1 but he was producing far more year by year than could be exhibited there1 so he sent many important works to the ,grosvenor ,gallery1 and most of his subject pictures to the galleries of the dealers by whom they were commissioned4 ,after #ahhh there was some relaxation in his effort2 in that year he had at the ,academy only one picture1 a landscape1 ,murthly ,moss1 and only one portrait in each of the years #ahhi and #ahij1 though he showed several works in other galleries4 ,in #ahib his landscapes ,halcyon ,weather1 and ,blow1 ,blow1 thou ,winter ,wind1 were at the ,academy1 but after that year he worked no more out-of-doors4 ,of the canvases painted during the last three or four years of his life1 the most memorable are his portrait of ,john ,hare 7#ahic71 ,speak6 ,speak6 7#ahie71 and ,a ,forerunner 7#ahif71 all of which were at the ,academy1 and ,time the ,reaper which was at the ,new ,gallery in #ahie4 ,speak6 ,speak6 was purchased by the ,chantrey ,fund trustees1 and is now in the ,national ,gallery of ,british ,art with the other admirably chosen examples of his art which were given to the nation by ,sir ,henry ,tate4 ,the crowning honour of his life came to him in ,february #ahif1 when he was elected ,president of the ,royal ,academy in succession to ,lord ,leighton--an honour which was particularly appropriate not only because of his eminence as an artist1 but also because he had been intimately connected for nearly sixty years with the institution over which he was then called to preside4 ,to this connection he referred in his speech at the ,academy banquet in #ahie1 at which he took the chair in the place of ,leighton whose illness prevented him from occupying his accustomed position4 ,the words which ,millais used on this occasion expressed generously and affectionately his sense of obligation to the ,academy by which he had been trained in his boyhood1 and from which he had received encouragement and support at the most critical period of his career1 and declared with characteristic frankness that he owed to it a debt of gratitude which he never could repay4 ,to those1 however1 who know how loyal he was to the institution that he loved so well it would seem that the debt was1 indeed1 fully paid4 ,few men have done more to uphold the repute of the ,academy1 few have by the brilliancy of their powers and their charm of personality done it more credit4 ,that ,leighton was the ideal ,president can be readily admitted1 but ,millais1 as his successor1 would have carried on a great tradition with dignity and sympathy and with no diminution of his predecessor's generous tolerance and earnest sense of artistic responsibility4 ,he would have kept the ,academy on broad lines1 and by his impatience of empty formalities he would have prevented it from losing touch with the movements in modern art4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4--,,the ,,north-,,west ,,passage 7,tate ,gallery7 ,even if the ,north-,west ,passage were not the masterly piece of painting that it is1 it would still be a picture of importance because it appeals so vividly to the national spirit of adventure4 ,the old ,arctic explorer1 no longer able to satisfy his still strenuous inclinations1 listens to the record of his past activities which is being read to him by his daughter1 and yearns once more to battle with the hardships which must be faced by the traveller in the frozen north4 ,the old man's head1 one of the finest technical achievements in modern art1 was painted from ,trelawny1 the friend of ,byron1 and ,shelley4 ,but1 unfortunately1 he was destined to hold his honourable office for but a brief time4 ,even before ,leighton's death he had been suffering from a throat trouble which not long after was pronounced to be cancer2 and in the months that followed immediately on his election the disease made rapid progress4 ,not long after the opening of the #ahif ,academy ,exhibition his condition became so serious that an immediately fatal result was expected2 but by an operation he obtained some temporary relief and his life was prolonged for a few weeks4 ,this1 however1 was only a brief respite2 he died on ,august #ac1 and was buried a week later in ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 where little more than six months before he had followed his old friend's body to the grave4 ,to speak of his death as premature would be scarcely a misapplication of the word4 ,although ,millais had completed his sixty-seventh year he was still in art a young man4 ,his vigour had not waned1 and there was no perceptible diminution of his artistic vitality even in those last works which he painted under the shadow of nearly impending death4 ,to a man of his splendid physique and buoyant temperament age would have come slowly1 and the inevitable degeneration of his powers would have not begun for many more years4 ,the possibility of great achievement remained to him1 and it would be true to say that his death robbed us of much which would have added greatly to the sum total of ,british art4 ,yet we may be grateful to fate for allowing him to develop the promise of his youth in the splendour of his maturer years2 it is so often the lot of the precocious genius to die young with his mission but half fulfilled4 ,if death had come to ,millais as it did to ,bonington or ,fred ,walker1 our loss would have been sad indeed4 ,in discussing ,millais as an artist the part which his personality played in making him what he was must by no means be overlooked4 ,something of the vitality and the virility of his art was due to the way in which he kept touch with the life about him1 and interested himself in people and things4 ,he was no recluse who fed in secret upon his own ideas1 or narrowed his outlook by hedging himself round with prejudices and preferences for one special class of artistic material4 ,instead1 he went out into the world and acquired his impressions of humanity in all directions and at first hand1 finding much pleasure in association with his fellow-men4 ,to his own human nature he gave free rein2 he was a keen sportsman1 a lover of children--of whose ways he had1 as he proved in scores of pictures1 a perfect understanding--and a man who was always happy in congenial society1 and always welcome4 ,he lived his life1 in fact1 largely1 genially1 and wholesomely1 and he was as much unspoiled by the prosperity which came to him in his maturer years as he was unshaken by the opposition which he had to face in that brief period of his youth when1 as he used to say himself1 he was so dreadfully bullied4 ,that this brief taste of unpopularity did him good rather than harm can well be imagined1 for without making him bitter it tested with some severity his tenacity and his power to fight vigorously for what he believed to be right--and such a test has always its value as a means of developing the finer qualities of a strong man1 or as a warning to the weak one of the need for self-examination4 ,millais did not require any incentive to self-examination1 because he knew well enough what he intended to do when he deliberately set up his own conviction against that of the men who practically ruled ,british art1 and he did not enter upon the fight with any idea of backing out if he found it was likely to go against him4 ,but after the kind of triumphal progress which he made through the ,academy schools1 the discovery that the wider public was not disposed to accept him as infallible was possibly necessary to prove to him that successes as a student did not give him1 as a matter of course1 an assured place among the chiefs of his profession4 ,he was taught roughly1 and in a way that roused both his fighting spirit and his pride1 that this position was to be won only by sustained and strenuous effort2 and this lesson he never forgot4 ,its effects persisted long after he had become a popular favourite1 and they helped1 it can be fairly believed1 to strengthen his character and to keep him from that easy contentment with his own works which is the first step towards degeneration4 ,he did not degenerate after he had secured what he had been striving for2 although he had silenced his critics1 and had won them over to his side1 he continued to sit in severest judgment upon himself1 and to the last he exacted from his own capacities the utmost they could give him4 ,the plates are printed by ,,bemrose ,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,derby and ,london ,the text at the ,,ballantyne ,,press1 ,edinburgh