Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/lifepaintingsofv01chig r THIS EDITION, Being specially prepared for Subscription, is not obtainable through the general booksellers. CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited. THE LIFE AND PAINTINGS OF VICAT COLE, R.A. THE SOURCE OF THE THAMES. THE LIFE AND PAINTINGS OF YICAT COLE, R.A. DESCRIBED BY ROBERT CHIGNELL, BARRISTER- A T-LA IV. 151928 §CCustraftff> |(umerous {Bxampiesi of $>is ^9orft. HIS ART IS PURELY AND THOROUGHLY ENGLISH — ENGLISH IN SUBJECT, ENGLISH IN FEELING, ENGLISH IN TREATMENT AND EXECUTION. — Redgrave on Constable. VOLUME III. CASSELL and COMPANY, Limited: LONDON, PARIS &> MELBOURNE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONTENTS. PAGE The Thames. Origin of the series — The Blanche — Some features of the river: Plants — Birds — Barges — Boats, etc. — Tribute of .Sir Frederic Leighton, P.R.A 1 The Sources of the Thames 18 Oxford from Iffley. Impression of the city on the Artist — Sentiment expressed in Painting . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Iffley Mill 29 Abingdon 32 Day's Lock. Picture not traced — Substitute ....... 36 Dorchester. Position — Early importance — Misty morning in the churchyard . 41 Streatley. Scenery of Streatley and neighbourhood — Cornfields ... 46 Pangbourne. Sunset effects — ■ Power of the Artist to awaken sympathy with Nature ............ 61 Mapledurham. Picture not traced — Studies reproduced . . . . • .67 SONNING. "The Mist of the Morning" — Comparison with "Pangbourne" . 69 Wargrave. Features of place — Careful studies — Still a learner — Close study of artists' work by observer — " August Days " .... 75 Marsh Lock. " A Thames Backwater " — " A Backwater at Bolney " — Admiration of brother artists — Perfect reflections ...... 81 Medmenham. " On Silver Thames " — Perspective in landscape — Impression made by pictures of 1880— Elected R.A 88 V] VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. PAGE BlSHAM. Ancient Buildings — Associations ....... 92 Great Marlow. Difficulties of subject : how overcome — Pathos of landscape . . 98 COOKHAM 103 Bray. Impressive study for landscape . . . . . . .105 Windsor. Atmospheric Illusion — Solidity of painting buildings — " Windsor Castle from a Backwater" — The last finished picture — Tenderness of finish — The Artist's farewell to Nature and his Art . . .107 Richmond. Earliest Thames picture — Mr. Ruskin's praise . . . .114 Westminster Last Picture exhibited at R.A. — Method of work on buildings — Notice in Art Journal — Wordsworth and Vicat Cole . . .120 London. " The Pool " — Long thought of — Impression made by picture — Letter from Mr. Gladstone — Bought by Trustees of Chantrey Bequest — Its present position and state — The Artist's heart in the subject 125 Greenwich. Features of the landscape — Associations of the place . . . 133 Gravesend. The Artist's farewell .136 The Nore. Suggestion for last picture of series 138 Last Wreaths. Death of the Artist — Tributes from brother-artists . . . 139 Final Notes. Manufacture of spurious works — Vicat Cole's family — -His in- fluence on modern Landscape Art — Disparagement and deep appreciation of Vicat Cole's art 147 Appendix by Mr. Reginald Vicat Cole. Notes on Vicat Cole's setting of palette — What colours were used and what rejected — Method of work . . . . . .150 LIST OF PLATES. The Sources of the Thames To face ■page 19 Oxford from Iffley page 23 Iffley Mill To face page 30 Abingdon 33 Sinodun Hill from Day's Lock, Dorchester . 1 >"(/<' 37 The Meeting of the Thames and [sis at Dorchester To face page 41 Streatley 47 Streatley from near Cleeve Lock .... page 49 The Sultry Hour (Gatehampton ) .... To face page 53 A Cornfield at Gatehampton I'"!/ 1 ' 57 A Cornfield at Goring To face page 59 The Thames at Hartswood page (51 Pangbourne To face page 65 Sonning — The Mist of the Morning page 71 Wargrave 77 A Thames Backwater To face page 81 A Backwater at Bolney page 85 On Silver Thames (Medmenham) .... To face page 89 BlSHAM page 93 Great Marlow 99 COOKHAM To face page 104 Windsor page 109 Windsor Castle from a Backwater. To face page 113 Richmond Hill page 117 Westminster To face page 121 The Pool of London, Showing St. Paul's 129 Greenwich . ■ . , J? 133 LIST OF STUDIES AND SKETCHES. PAGE The "Blanche" 3 The Abbey Churchyard, Study of Foreground 4 Dorchester 45 Dainty Details 5 Streatley Hill 46 The Dock ..... 6 Study for " Streatley " 51 Reeds ...... 7 Study for " Pangbourne " 64 Pencil Sketch of Water-lily 8 Study of Old Pangbourne Study of Water-lily 9 Weir 66 The Barge (1) . 10 Study at Mapledurham 67 The Barge (2) . 1 1 Study for "The Mist of The Punt 12 the Morning " . 69 The Ferry . 13 Study of Magpie Island 74 The Lock 14 Study of Willows at the Eel-Bucks . . . . 15 Mouth of the Loddon . 75 Water-lilies .... 17 Study of Cattle at the On the Thames 18 Mouth of the Loddon . 80 Study for " Oxford from Study of a Thames Back- Iffley" . 21 water .... 83 Study for the Left of the Study of Reflections . 87 Picture .... 27 Study at Bisham . 92 Study of " Iffley Mill " 29 Study at Great Marlow 102 Study of "Abingdon" . 32 COOKHAM 103 Study of the Bridge at Church and River, Cookham 104 Abingdon .... 35 Study of Bray 105 Study of " Day's Lock ". 36 Study of Windsor 107 Sepia Sketch of Sinodun Early Sepia Sketch of Hill from Day's Lock . 40 Richmond .... 114 Study of a Mower. 42 Skktcii at Richmond 114 The Abbey Church, Dor- Sketch at Richmond 116 chester .... 43 Sketch for "Gravesend" 136 Capital at Dorchester . 44 Study at the Nore 139 THE LIFE AND PAINTINGS OF VICAT COLE, R.A. 151928 THE THAMES. HE last thirteen years of Vicat Cole's life were mainly devoted to painting the beauties of England's royal river and its surroundings. As early as the year 1874 he was at work on its banks and produced several small pictures of Streatley and other spots, besides studies for the fine picture, " Richmond Hill," which was ex- hibited at the Royal Academy in 1875. But it was not till 1880, the year in which he was elected an Academician, that the grand series of pictures of the Thames began to appear, on which, perhaps, his fame will chiefly rest. The idea of attempting a complete series first took shape in 1881. The proposal originated with Mr. W. Agnew, who had bought those already painted, and it was intended that the whole number should be reproduced in a B 2 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. set of costly engravings ; but, as the work went on, the pictures were sold to various owners and scattered beyond recall. Vicat Cole, for whom the scenery had peculiar attractions, entered heartily into the plan. He regarded it as a national work, and spared no pains in carrying it out. His pictures have hitherto been presented in chron- ological order, but the subjects painted on the Thames will now be arranged, not by date, but, in accordance with his own idea, by locality. The chief reason for the maintenance of the order of time — namely, to show the gradual development of the artist's powers — no longer exists. He has now reached his prime, and stands an acknowledged master in his art. Not that he ceased to show a, continual growth of power year by year, for there is no standing still in art ; the moment the artist ceases to advance he falls back. Happily for his fame, Vicat Cole did not live, as too many do, to reach the period when feebleness of hand or failing eyesight deprives the painter of vigour of touch or sense of proportion and colour. The pictures of the Thames will, therefore, be arranged so as to carry out his idea of a series in order of locality, "from the source to the sea." It is characteristic of the man that he did not actually paint the subjects THE THAMES. 3 in the proposed order. Change was essential to his happiness in his work, and, to avoid monotony, he THE "BLANCHE." flitted, year by year, to spots which offered the variety for which he craved. To save time, and to gain readier access to distant points on the river, he bought a steam-launch, which he named The Blanche, after his eldest daughter. The launch, of which a representation is given with the artist on deck, soon became well-known on the Thames, and its owner's consideration for others in the matter of speed, as attested by Mr. Leslies note, caused its presence to be viewed with good-will, whilst that of 4 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. many others was justly regarded as an intolerable nuisance. It would be almost impertinent to offer any de- scription of scenes which are so familiar to most people, STUDY OF FOREGROUND. and about which much has already been so ably written. At the same time, attention may be called to certain minor features, in which Vicat Cole himself took special interest, illustrated by a few of his sketches. First among these is the material for the foreground of a picture, which to him was always of much importance. He was not content with a vague THE THAMES. 5 generalisation of those objects which could be clearly distinguished, still less could he endure the indefinite blotches, representing impossible monstrosities of plant- life, which are often made to do duty for the dainty realities of Nature. Actual and definite forms of plants were objects of constant study with him, and, where in his pictures they are near enough to be distinguished, a botanist may recognise leaf and flower. The banks of the Thames are peculiarly rich in DAINTY DETAILS. flowering-plant and reeds. In addition to those that are found almost everywhere, such as the dock, sorrel, meadow-sweet, ox-eyed daisy, etc., there are many 6 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. plants of delicate form and hue that flourish chiefly beside streams, and some which are peculiar to the Thames. The comfrey, with its clusters of bell- THE DOCK. shaped flowers of every shade of colour ; the tall spikes and broad leaves of the loosestrife (purple and yellow) ; the bright forget-me-not ; the tall, rose- coloured large - flowered - willow - herb ; the wild teasel, and the meadow-crane's bill, with its large serrated leaf and wide purple flower, yield abundant variety of form and tint. The reed, too, adds a continual charm to river scenes, and on the Thames it is wonderfully effective, whether in the season when its feathery crest of flowers waves in the wind, or 77/ A' THAMES. 7 when its curved leaves alone break the line of the stream. Water-plants also abound — the ever-welcome water-lily, whose level leaves are so effective in indicating surface : the water crowfoot, with its broad flower and thread-like leaves ; the arrow-head, so named from the shape of its fine leaf, displaying its open flower of three petals ; the delicate persicaria, REEDS. whose leaves of variegated green and red float on the surface, whilst the spikes of its pink flowers stand boldly out of the water ; and, last, the flowering rush, raising its graceful stem adorned with a crown of flowers, purple or white, whilst its long grassy leaves rise from the base of the stem in many a curve above the water. 8 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. The stillness of the river is at places broken only by bird life. Vicat Cole delighted in introducing the sudden rush of the moor-hen over the glassy surface, deepening by this one touch of life the impression of perfect soli- , • — ~ * , tude. The bright tints of the king- fisher at rest, the darting of swallow and swift, gave him points of colour and PENCIL SKETCH OF WATEB-LILT. perspective. Critics complained of the frequent presence of the latter birds in his pictures ; but, as he himself would ask, when are they ever absent from the upper reaches of the river in summer? Only once does he introduce a swan, and once a duck, each where its presence is characteristic of the place — the swan at Wargrave, the duck at Sonning. Barges, both those in use on the lower and upper Thames, are often prominent in his pictures. They were special favourites with him, and for many good reasons. THE THAMES. !) What picturesque forms the sea-going barges present! How telling the lines of their half-furled lateen-like sails ! What variety of tones are ottered by the rich colour of the sails and the piled-up cargo of hay or straw in light and shadow! How suggestive they are of move- ment, of phases of human life, of human interests ! The canal barge, again, in the solitary reaches of the river, is often the only sign of life, as it glides by silently, towed by its horse, on which a man or boy sits side- i 51928 THE WATER-LILT. ways. The peaceful movement is in perfect harmony with the river gliding " at its own sweet will/' and brings no interruption to the artist's contemplative mood. Barge and figures associate themselves with, and become part of, the dreamy scene, and he paints them with evident c 10 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. happiness. Once or twice, as in the pictures of Abingdon and Sonning, lie marks with special favour, and lays claim, as it were, to the barge by putting his own name THE BARGE (1). in place of the owner's, and this, with the name of the place, serves for signature and description. Doubtless considerations of colour, with which these barges are usually gaily decorated, determined their introduction and place in the picture ; but there w r as further a sentiment, partly perhaps the human interest, which touched the artist's mind. Lingering where they moored their boats in the evening, he would make THE THAMES. 1 1 friends with the bargemen, and show by his talk a regard for their pursuits and manner of life. They are rough fellows with rough tongues, but neither they, nor THE BAKGE (2). any of their sort, could resist the charm of Vicat Cole's genial nature. His admiration of their barge would alone secure their good-will ; but perhaps it was the absence of anything like patronage in his way of speaking to them, and his genuine sympathy with their daily life, which moved them most. Anyhow, he was an exceptional favourite with them ; and one of the roughest of them, one day after he had passed by, expressed the 12 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. general feeling about him in the words " Ay, there goes a gentleman as good as God makes 'em ! " The punt, again, the only other form of boat which he brings into his sketches of the Upper Thames, adds to, rather than detracts from, the sense of perfect rest which pervades all his pictures of that region. Hurry and speed are foreign to the tranquil peace which reigns in those still reaches and backwaters. The punt suggests THE PUNT. neither, whether it lies motionless at its moorings or drifts lazily across the stream. The ferry is another kindred feature of life on the river, which, by his treatment of it, is suggestive of THE 77/. 1 MES. 13 many thoughts. In fact, simple as it is, the sketch is rendered in his hands an imaginative work. The still- ness of the scene and its utter loneliness are in them- selves impressive enough, but the impression is deepened THE FERRY. intensely by the quiet old ferryboat, with its suggestions of the human life which has lately deserted it, and of the generations which it has carried across the stream in past years. The old picturesque lock, now, alas ! rapidly dis- appearing on the river, has many attractions for the eye of the painter. Depth of shadow, contrasted with soft gleams on the water ; bright patches of colour, where VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. tufts of flowers and leaves light up the subdued tones of the masonry ; varied hues, gay and sombre, and manifold lines combine to make the lock a feature of the greatest value in river scenery. In the artist's THE LOCK. sketch there is a sentiment which he rarely fails to convey. No figure is introduced, but the sense of the presence of traces of life and its interests adds a hidden pathos to the restfnl scene. It was this sense which gave even such ugly things as the eel-bucks sufficient importance in his eyes to make them worthy of representation. Anyhow, they form part of the surroundings of life on the river, in all of which he took a keen interest. THE THAMES. 15 at the Royal Academy banquet only three weeks after the artist's death — " English landscape-painting has lost in Vicat Cole one of its most conspicuous names, Typically English were the scenes on which he loved to dwell — the coppice, the glade, the rolling pasture fading from green to distant blue, summer slumbering on brown-tipped corn. But, most of all, our English Thames had won his heart and occupied his hands. He had followed its stream with faithful brush throughout its length — from where its first 16 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. sweet gurgle is heard within the grass, to where, far away, salt and sullied, it rocks on turbid tides the carriers of the commerce of the world." On this speech a correspondent of the St. James s ( razette remarks — " Sir Frederic Leighton's tribute to the memory of Vicat Cole was not only poetic in feeling, but perhaps even more so in form than he himself supposed. It only wanted a touch or two of the lightest kind to turn it into mellifluous blank verse, and this I venture to give — "'A type of England were the scenes on which He loved to dwell — the coppices, the glades, The rolling pastures fading from the green To distant blue, the summer slumbering On brown-tipped corn. But, most of all, our Thames Had won his heart and occupied his hands. Its stream he followed down with faithful brush Throughout its length, from where, within the grass, Its gurgle first is heard, to where, far off, Sullied and salt, it rocks on turbid tides The carriers of the commerce of the world.'" A few of Sir F. Leighton's own words have been restored in the above, in place of others substituted unnecessarily, the verse being thus rendered almost identical with the prose. In some ways it may be regretted that Vicat Cole THE THAMES. 17 should have fixed on a series which tied liim for a Long time to one class of scenery; but truly "our English Thames had won his heart," and an artist cannot go far wrong so long as he paints what he Loves. Moreover, he had at his command the mists of the morning, the towering clouds and silvery tones of noon, the glowing hues and deep shadows of evening. It was the spirit, the deep pathos and repose of the stream, which he set himself to interpret, and his tender rendering of these converts each view into a vision of the ideal. WATER-LILIES. D ON THE THAMES. THE SOURCES OF THE THAMES." " Where, crowned with flowerets and green herbs, The infant river to the sun conies forth, Like human life from darkness." HIS, the first picture of the series in local order, was painted in 1882 from studies made in May, 1881. It was no easy matter to determine what spot has the honour of seeing the first welling of the springs which form the source of the river. As many places lay claim to being the birthplace of the Thames as " THE SOURCES OF THE THAMES. L9 cities the birthplace of Homer. After much inquiry and many journeys, Vicat Cole satisfied himself that the true source of the river is at a spot called "the Seven Springs/' a few miles from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. The place where the fountains of the great river first issue from the rocks, much as it is to be venerated, is not a promising subject for a picture. But the artist lias thrown over it a glamour of his own. Choosing a spring day,, when the ground was gay with flowers and the trees just breaking into leaf, he has surrounded the infant stream with the charms of the budding season of the year, and made his picture a study of new birth alike of rivulet and plant. No figure is introduced ; the ring-doves only add to the loneliness, which is as complete as it is appropriate. In its later course the stream will flow past the haunts of men, serving their pleasure or business, and will gather round it an ever-increasing volume of human interests. But here the solitude is unbroken. The spot may have worn the same look in the time of the ancient Britons. Already, in the seclusion of its first rising, the brook seems to murmur the refrain — " For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever." 20 VIC AT ('OLI-rs LIFE AND WORKS. As a work of art, the picture is full of interest. There is a freshness about it of which the eye is never tired. The exquisite painting of the foreground is in itself a study. The forms of leaf and flower are marvellously exact, and they are grouped with un- surpassed grace and feeling and harmony of colour. For accuracy of drawing and colouring the trees are specially remarkable, and the play of light over the whole scene is wonderfully effective. It is a picture to which the eye may return again and again, and always with fresh pleasure. Owing to its very bright- ness, it loses more than most when rendered in black- and-white from the photograph. Its tender greens and greys come out almost white, with a frosty look which does injustice to the painting. But this very fault testifies to the brilliancy of the soft light which fills the picture and adds so much to the charm of the effect. STUDY FOB "OXFOBD FROM IFFLEY. 1 51928 " OXFORD FROM IFFLEY." " Where Isis' waters wind, Along the sweetest shore, That ever felt fair Culture's hands Or Spring's embroidered mantle wore, Lo ! where majestic Oxford stands." Warton. XFORD from Iffley," the next in order of place, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884. No spot has greater claims on the reverence and affection of Englishmen than the old University city. It is linked with all the past of England — with its history, learning, VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AXD WORKS. religion and statesmanship. To none of these influences was Vicat Cole insensible. The place touched his national feeling ; its old buildings had a strange charm for the painter's eye, and the memories which they call up of past generations of scholars, poets and statesmen, appealed to his imagination. He had, also, a true respect for that learning and scholarship which he himself never had an opportunity of gaining. This respect, which he would constantly express in conversation, added much to the interest he felt in the seat of learning. Moreover, he was admitted by his many admirers among the residents to the inner life of the place, and thus felt its full influence. To select a point on the river, from which a com- prehensive view of the city could be obtained, was no easy matter. Turner had been fortunate in his choice, but the growth of trees since his time had hidden the city from the spot whence he drew it. Vicat Cole found it necessary to go so far away, that the buildings become a distant vision on the line of the sky in his picture. But they are so effective there, and give so happy an impression of the whole, that this is hardly to be regretted. Naturally, to a landscape- painter the liver and its surroundings are more pro- minent features than the city itself, and these take ' ' OX FO II I) FU OM I FFL A' ) '. - ' 25 up the main part of the canvas. But the many towers and spires of Oxford are painted in their place with much feeling. Each is most accurately drawn and is easily recognisable. Distance, too, lends an air of mystery which is entirely in keeping* with the sentiment attached to the venerable old city and its buildings, the varied forms of which are treated lovingly by the artist. He has, however, brought the full force of his art to bear on the river and its banks, and a most powerful picture he has made of them. The light of noonday in all its brilliancy is reflected from the surface of a long winding reach of water, varied only by the reflections of a few pollarded willows. This is a very fine effect and is designed and painted with equal skill and boldness. There is a breezy freshness in the day, which is shown by the movement of the clouds, the stir in the leaves and the lines of the dresses of the women employed in hay-making. These figures are extremely life-like, and the whole hay-making incident is most natural and full of vigour. The foreground is a delightful study of rural beauty, emphasised by the artist with the intention, perhaps, of suggesting contrast between the transient forms of Nature and those of the distant city, with E 26 VI GAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. its memories of a thousand years. Seldom have shadow and half-shadow been painted with such truth and charm as in the left of this picture. The depth of shade here is as grateful to the eye as it is effective in bringing out the brilliancy of sunlight over the rest of the scene. Nothing, indeed, could be more admirable than the design and working - out of the whole of the foreground. It seems possible to walk down the shady lane to the edge of the water, and watch the loose rope tighten and the barge swing round to its course. To a mind capable of entering into it, the picture is full of imaginative sentiment. A glorious day of June throws its beams over the landscape ; the foliage is in its summer prime ; the sky tells of movement and change ; the scene is peaceful, yet imbued with life. Beyond lies the city which the painter delights to honour. How many such summer days have shone on its spires and towers? What generations of men have come forth from its walls to gaze on the stream, and watch the unfolding of life and the play of light over the landscape ! Everything changes ; but the city remains : it will see many such a glorious day, and be the chosen home of learning for many a year. Still, Nature renews herself, and outlives man and all his l< OXFORD FROM TFFLEYP 27 works. The stream reflects the sky as it has done for thousands of years, and will do for thousands to come. A double suggestion of mutability is thus conveyed ; the daily changes of Nature are contrasted with the stability of man's work ; and, again, as a further thought, the inner permanence of Nature is compared with the STUDY FOE THE LEFT OF THE PICTURE. brief life of even the most enduring structures reared by human hands. A landscape-painter is rarely, perhaps, entirely 28 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. conscious of all the sentiment which his picture reveals to others. He feels it and expresses it in his painting, in which his power of realisation lies ; but he would often be surprised to see the same feeling described in words. The more imaginative the artist, the less likely it is that he will put his thoughts into definite language. His art gives him a quicker and surer power of ex- pressing his voiceless imaginations, and his silent per- ception of that which lies beneath the outward form converts the simplest scene into an artistic poem. Vicat Cole did not say, even to himself, what ideas inspire this Oxford picture. He has expressed them in the language of Art ; and to those who understand that language no translation is needed. Any translation must be weaker than the original, and none would have been attempted here if the persistent denial in some quarters of imaginative power to the artist did not render it necessary to call attention to the conspicuous presence of that power in his work. STUDY OF IFFLEY MILL. " IFFLEY MILL." FFLEY MILL," exhibited at the Royal Aca- demy in 1884, is one of those silvery pictures which have a special charm to the artistic eye. The scene is, in itself, extremely picturesque, and its details group themselves naturally into a most attractive landscape. The old mill, with its broken lines and delightful variety of colour, stands out effectively against the background of dark foliage. Taken by itself, this part of the canvas is a 30 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. realisation of a restful and simple rural scene. But the rush of water through the sluices and the swirl of its current bring in life and movement, and these are developed further by the force of the wind shown in the swaying of the poplars. The sky is stormy and charged with thunder, whilst stillness again rests on the stream and bank to the left. It is a fine subject, and the artist has treated it worthily. He makes us feel the windy day, the living air, the coming rain. There is life in the water, life in the trees, life in the clouds — the life of the forces of Nature. No object reveals the effect of wind with such reality as the Lombardy poplar. Its leaves, like those of all the Aspen tribe, are sensitive to every breath, and, in a fresh breeze, turn their white under-sides continuously to view. Its towering stem, tapering like a yacht's mast, yields to the pressure, and, at the summit, bends as a slender reed does. All this the artist represents here with great fidelity and artistic feeling. The painting of the water and sky is equally forcible. The gliding stream on the left and the rush of waters on the right are each rendered with marvellous skill and truth. But, powerfully as all these parts are brought out, they would lose half their effect were the sky not equally " TFFLEY MILL. vigorous and so entirely appropriate. What diversity of cloud-form, alluring perspective, and fine contrasts of light and darkness it displays ! How vividly the dark cloud behind them shows np the gleaming poplars ! Each separate feature of the landscape is in perfect harmony with the rest, and bears its part in completing that unity which so fully satisfies the eye. This picture was received with universal approbation. No word of hostile criticism was directed against it. It was recognised as a masterpiece. No interpreter was needed ; it tells its own tale with a simplicity and force which appeal to all. One charm it has in common with all the artist's works — it is a poetic rendering of a lovely scene, and may be regarded day by day with ever-fresh delight. To Oxford men who loved the view — alas ! now much changed — in old days, the painting is especially interesting, and they will value the plate as much as any in this work. One of the studies from which each picture was painted is given, when possible, as an illustration of Vicat Cole's method of work. The study for " Iffley Mill," very suggestive and full of instruction as it is to artist and amateur, affords besides to all a sweet glimpse of a lovely view, and a record of a day in the artist's life. STUDY OF ABINGDON. " ABINGDON." BINGDON," exhibited in 1882, is as calm and serene as " Iffiey Mill" is gusty and full of movement. In the clear light of a still evening every detail appears vivid and distinct, far more so in the plate, indeed, than in the painting, where the rich colours soften the lines. Under the effect of light chosen the distinctness is per- fectly true to Nature, and gives the picture a character of its own, as rare as it is charming. It is, in truth, a wonderful piece of painting, apart from its sentiment and pathos. Every quality of artistic skill is shown in " abingdon:' 33 perfection. The buildings are grouped with consummate taste. Both in drawing and colouring they show know- ledge and power such as is rarely seen in landscape art. The clear lines of the graceful tower and spire of the church, standing out against the serene sky, are strangely effective and suggestive of solemn feeling, which the houses in deep shadow help to intensify. From the bridge in the foreground to the distant arches, the bank on the left of the canvas is full of happily-arranged details, the reflections of which on the surface of the water greatly enrich the tone of the picture. This surface, with the images mirrored on it, is painted with an indescribable delicacy and tenderness, and the reflected glow of the evening sky forms a radiant path in the midst, The chief details of the foreground — the water-lilies and rushes, the gliding stream and the barge moving to its moorings for the night — are features which add much to the charm of the scene, and they are painted with singular force. Not less important are the figures, which are well drawn and skilfully placed ; they are so excellent, indeed, that they are well worth separate study. The calm of evening penetrates the scene, the tranquil beauty of which is rendered with loving touch. No one but a man of peaceful, happy F VI CAT rOLF/ H L TFE A ND 1 1 r /,' KS. temperament could have realised it with all its depth of repose, enforced by simple human incidents which only add to the universal sense of rest. Few landscapes leave so deep an impression on the mind, and this is the more remarkable, because its dis- tinctness would seem to leave little room for that sense of mystery, which usually attends poetic feeling in a picture. It is true that the mellow light of evening sheds a lustre over some parts, and deepens the shadows in others ; that the sky, in its profound serenity, throws a spell over the whole scene ; that the river itself is a vision of dreamy reflections. By many a subtle sug- gestion, too, throughout the picture the artist strengthens that impression of tranquillity and peace, which he evidently felt and wished to express on his canvas. Not a little of his success in so doing is due to the perfect harmony and truth of colouring, which distinguish this and all his works. It will be seen from the accompanying study, made on the spot for the left of the picture, that he did not hesitate to make any alteration of particular facts, in order to represent more forcibly the central features of a view. By so doing he increases the resemblance, whilst ap- parently sacrificing accuracy. Abingdon, where it touches the bank of the river, has suffered changes since the picture " ABINGDON. 35 was pain te< 1 , which ruin the quaint, picturesque view ; bul those who remember its appearance in 1882 will acknow- ledge that the picture represents it far more really than the study, though every line of the latter was accurately copied from the place as it stood. The great artist seizes essential forms, and groups them in such a manner that the place in its living reality is presented to view : and this the more forcibly, because he omits or changes such lines as interfere with its main characteristics, and introduces others more important, which may not be visible from the spot where he makes the sketch. The study of the bridge will also be appreciated by artists, and by others who have attempted painting from Nature. STUDY OF THE BRIDGE AT ABINGDON. STUDY 01' DAY'S LOCK. DAY'S LOCK." INODUN HILL, from Day's Lock, Dorchester," was painted and exhibited in 1885. The picture is in America, and it has not been possible to obtain a photograph of it ; but the series would be incomplete without some view of Day's Lock — a spot which Vicat Cole considered one of the most picturesque on the river. The form of Sinodun Hill, too, with its clump of trees, was very attractive to his eye, and he took a keen interest in the story which its ancient British (or Roman) camp tells. Fortunately the study for the "DAY'S LOOK.' :>><) picture gives a good representation of the scene, and by its help we see the spot just as it appealed to the painter's eyes. An American., who took a great fancy to the picture after it was sold, induced the artist to paint him one somewhat similar, and of this a plate is given from a photograph taken in America. It would seem that the improvements in plates and lenses, such as produce the perfect results obtained on this side of the Atlantic, have not come into use on the other side ; the photograph is weak, and the plate, therefore, is not a good representation of the painting. The latter the writer remembers well. Its tone was particularly rich — the effect of the mellow light and deep shadows of sunset. This is entirely absent in the plate, but form and softness of light are well rendered, and the charac- teristics of the place are preserved sufficiently to make the impression a fair presentation of the scene. It is much to be regretted that no plate of the exhibited picture can be shown, for it represents perfectly many of the distinctive qualities of the artist's work. As in all his evening effects the colouring is enchanting, and the sense of rest complete. Cattle, water, foliage, and the harvest on Sinodun Hill itself, are painted with true artistic feeling. It is one of the loveliest views of Nature, rendered more than ever lovely by its poetic treatment. 40 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. For want of a better representation the sepia sketch, made by Vicat Cole for "Academy Sketches," is here reproduced. It will be interesting to some to notice how, by a few rough lines, he gets the required effect, and what knowledge he shows of the means by which the engraver produces imitations of tone and texture. SEPIA SKETCH OF SINODUN HILL FROM DAY'S LOCK. DC LU I- co LU I o DC O a CO CO Q z < CO LU E < I h- LU I I— UJ LU 2 THE MEETING OF THE THAMES AND ISIS.'' fc*s^iHE Meeting of the Thames and I sis at Dor- tels Chester," exhibited in 1890, is cool in tone Sp" throughout, the effect represented being that of a changeable mid-day in June. Sky and water first attract the attention. Both are studied with care and painted with much spirit. In both there is a vivid sense of life and movement, which is heightened by contrast with the quiet line of level meadows and the peaceful old Abbey Church of Dorchester lying between. Both are designed with great fidelity and power, and with the assurance of touch which knowledge gives. The sky forebodes rain, as the haymakers see, and they are hurrying to get in their crop before it comes. The tranquillity on the right of the picture is in marked contrast with the stir on the left. Heedless of the coming rain, the shepherd-lad pursues his fishing. The restful attitudes of the sheep, the dainty still-life of the foreground, and, above all, the delicious reach of the unruffled Thame, with its sleeping reflections, bring out with great force by their stillness the effect of the rushing G 42 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. waters below. The painting of the latter is an admirable study of a surface current sweeping onwards with its eddies and whorls, and of the confused inter- mingling of two streams. A grey picture, such as this is, loses far less in the reproduction than one warmer in tone. The plate, in this instance, gives a very good impression of the effect of the painting, and the study of its details will reveal many further beauties which should not be passed over. STUDY OF A MOWER. , THK AURKV (HntCIl, IXHiCHESTER. STUDIES AT DORCHESTER. HERE is much in the old town of Dorchester and its surroundings to attract the eye and awaken interest in the mind of an artist. It is a place with a history ; a history, too, which is lost in the dimness of the far past. Small as the village is now, it was once a city, and its old church a cathedral. Earlier still, as its name shows, it was a Roman station, the importance of which may be estimated by the traces of its fortifi- cations and amphitheatre. A dyke, once flooded, and ramparts cut oft' a strip of land between the two VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. rivers, and on this the town stands. In Saxon times it was the cathedral city of the largest see in Britain, and this accounts for the spacious design of the church, although it is questionable whether any part of the Saxon edifice still exists. The Norman work inside, of which Vicat Cole's sketch of a capi- tal is a good example, is very fine. With the meadows and winding Thame for foreground, it makes a picturesque study, which as here, in the hands of an artist who is not afraid to paint light, has all the elements of a powerful picture. The CAPITAL AT DORCHESTER. grand old building is lit up by soft rays, as it has been any day during many past centuries, and is hallowed by the memories, which cling around it, of hundreds of generations of men. Still more touching is the artist's study of the grave-yard attached to it. It represents a misty morning of autumn. The light on the hoar-frost is ST r DIES AT DO II CHESTER. 45 as fair and sweet as ever morning saw, and is painted with Indescribable brilliancy and tenderness. It is one of those strange effects which take the mind out of the region of prosaic thoughts and lift it into the rarer atmosphere of poetic visions. The morning beams, which awake the living, fall with ineffable softness on the tnrf that covers the dead, bearing hints, shadowy and vague it may be, of immortality. STREATLEY HILL. STREATLEY (1). TREATLEY," painted and exhibited in 1881, is one of those landscapes in which Vicat Cole brings before ns a vision of dreamy repose, such as he loved to paint and the spectator is never weary of looking at. Of all spots on the banks of the Thames this was his favourite, and the two views of Streatley given here, with the cornfield subjects taken from the adjoining Goring and Gatehampton, would, by them- selves, justify his preference. The picture of 1881 has many rare qualities. If it were only for the delightful rendering of the soft - CO " STREA TLEY." 17 afternoon sunlight and shadows on the wooded chalk down it is a landscape which, once seen, can never be forgotten. The tenderness of this hit of painting is simply marvellous ; the softness of texture on the whole hill-side is inexpressibly lovely, and the delicacy of tone lends to it an enchantment which fills eye and heart with a sense of perfect rest. Repeated on the smooth surface of the river it is. if possible, still more tender and lovely, and hill and reflection form one dream of beauty. Much of its charm is due to the force of the deep shadows, and their reflections, on the right of the canvas. The painting of trees with the light behind them is always a powerful feature in Vicat Cole's work, and in none of his pictures is it more effective than here. Black-and-white can give no idea of the truth and variety of tone of this shadow-painting, still less of the same qualities in his reflections, but the softness of light and intensity of shade can be seen well in the plate. On the bank to the left there is much worthy of observation and admiration ; the exquisite foreground, the sheep as natural as though they were alive on the canvas, and, last, the distant cattle and their reflections which, as points of perspective, have a wonderful effect in widening the scene. 48 VICAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. Such being the main features of the picture, what shall be said of the whole and the impression it makes ? It is the creation of the artist's serene and contemplative mind. Everything in accord with his contemplative serenity is seized upon and emphasised, anything in the scene discordant with it is rejected. Thus the picture becomes a true image of Nature, pervaded by the one sentiment of calm repose which touched the artist more deeply than any of her varied moods. For unity of thought and unity of composition it is remarkable both in its conception and execution. Few landscapes convey to the mind of the beholder so perfect a sense of rest, or so happy an impression of Nature's serene loveliness. II STUDY FOB "STKEATLEY STREATLEY (2). HE second Streatley plate is taken from a smaller picture, painted in 1887, described in the artist's diary as " Streatley, from near Cleeve Lock, afternoon, looking down river." There is a depth and mystery about this painting which render it most impressive even at first glance. The whole landscape is in shadow, save for the glimpse of sunlight on the meadow and cattle to the left, and on the grassy slope and bend of the stream in the middle-distance. Its light is derived from the brilliant cumuli in the sky and their gleams reflected in the water. The effect is one often seen on a river's VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. bank, but rarely on canvas ; one which a fisherman watches for, and welcomes with delight. Environed by hills, the stream seems barred in its course ; hence the suggestive value of the touch of light where it turns to the right. Simple as the subject is, the effect chosen and the artist's treatment of it render it very powerful and captivating as a work of art. The sky is finely designed with a view always to its predominant influence on the landscape. Whilst the clouds on the left overshadow the scene, those on the right are luminous to a marvellous degree. The painting is a tour de force of chiaroscuro, but of this the artist was thinking little as he worked on it. His thoughts were fixed on the beauty and feeling of Nature, and, in representing these, he reaches the highest skill of Art, which is, to hide itself — " ars est celare artem." From whatever point of view it is regarded, the picture is one to be lingered over and studied, with ever fresh perceptions of its charms. It is an admir- able example of Vicat Cole's art — of that subtle combination of force, delicacy and poetic feeling which, as a faithful pupil in Nature's school, he had learned from his great Mistress herself. In this, as in so many of his paintings, he realises in its perfection the love- liness of stream and hill in stillness and solitude. • THE SULTRY HOUR," HE next three pictures are given as illustrating the character of the scenery of the Thames Valley round Streatley, and also the artist's later powers in depicting the harvest-field, a subject which is always welcome to many of his admirers. The first, " The Sultry Hour," exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1886, represents a lane and cornfield at Gatehampton. A single bright line shows the river, the hills beyond are misty with the haze of heat. It is well-named "The Sultry Hour," for never has the sense of intense heat been painted more suggestively. The cornfield glows with it, the hills slumber in its effect. The left of the picture is one blaze of summer sunshine, the warmth of colour on the corn is incredibly brilliant. Much of this intense feeling of heat and brilliancy is due to the contrast which the masterly painting and grouping of the trees afford. Such shade is only conceivable on a sultry day ; it is the de/t.sior umbra of the Latin poets, which the Northern school-boy finds 54 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. a difficulty in understanding — the "grateful shade" of our own earlier poets, grateful to the slumbering girl and lad and to the drowsy sheep. The beholder realises perfectly Tennyson's lines : — " 0> j°y t° him in this retreat, I lnuumtled in ambrosial dark, To drink the cooler air, and mark The landscape winking thro' the heat." On the canvas itself the tones of the foliage are wonderfully fresh and delightful to the eye. The whole lane is a green bower of varied depths of tone, and the hedge in the foreground is a lovely study of plant- life. As a whole the picture is a vivid presentation of an idyllic English landscape, rejoicing in the richest hues of summer's golden prime, painted by one who loved it, as only one who loved it could have painted it. Like all Vicat Cole's works, it is a picture one can live with, and not only never tire of its charms, but day by da} r discover fresh ones. "A CORNFIELD BY GATE HAMPTON 1 ." HE next picture, " A Cornfield by Gate- hampton," was also painted in 1886, from a spot a little higher up the stream, where ;i wider view opens out. Here the reapers are busy and a soft breeze is stirring ; masses of clouds are drifting slowly over the sky ; there is nothing suggestive of sultry heat. Subject is, as usual, penetrated by effect — an effect which sets the scene and its chief characteristics before the eye in their loveliest aspect, It is a typical English view, one which would deeply touch the heart of an English- man living in distant climes, recalling the fair fields of his native land as none other could. To such a one the harvest -field would be as rich in sentiment as it is in colour. Everything breathes memories of the old home ; the farm-house sheltered by the trees, the lane passing by it, the bits of common below where the sheep are feeding, the men at work, the stubble, the sheaves — he remembers them all. To him it is like looking at the portrait of the mother he has 56 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. lost ; to an Englishman at home it is the likeness of a mother still with him. The beauty of the scene is apparent to all, and in this the artist at once asserts his power, but the rare qualities of the picture as a work of art are to be perceived only by observation and study of the painting itself. With all its apparent finish, it is painted with great breadth ; the sky is finely designed, the clouds are soft and luminous and lend a delightful variety of light and shade to the landscape ; the dis- tance is worked out with infinite gradations of tender tones, and the colonring throughout is as truthful as it is rich and harmonious. \ 51923 o z DC O CD Q _l HI QC o O 'A CORNFIELD AT (JOKING." HE next picture, "A Cornfield at Goring," painted in 1888, is different in subject and effect, but is equally charming. The sky is tranquil, and the wooded hills, slumbering in the after- noon sunlight, are varied and graceful in form. If possible, the colouring is even richer and more attractive than in the last. It is a perfect picture of a happy valley at the happiest season of the year, and few can be insensible to its beauties. Such simple scenes of rural beauty were dear to the heart of the artist. On his canvases they are transfused with the glow of sunshine, radiant with a sense of happiness, and inspired with a sympathy for Nature and for humanity. This is the last of the artist's harvest scenes re- produced in this work, with the exception of that in the next plate, where the cornfield is a minor feature. The admiration, excited by his vivid representation of the subject, is natural and reasonable. For, in truth, these harvest pictures of Vicat Cole's are precious for 60 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. many rare qualities. They are renderings, perfectly unaffected and free from mannerism, of sunny views familiar to all Englishmen. Knowledge of Nature and of every resource of Art is conspicuous throughout. Splendour of colouring, masterly designing, accuracy and feeling in the representation of tree-forms and foliage, harmonious balancing of light and shade, and happy grace in composition are noticeable features in all. Much as Vicat Cole disliked being classed as a painter of cornfields, he could not but be gratified by the universal and hearty admiration which these pictures inspired. That admiration may be felt and expressed without doing injustice to his fame, pro- vided that it does not cause the great range of the artist's powers, and the force and beauty of his painting of other scenes and effects, to be overlooked or undervalued. " THE THAMES AT HARTS WOOD." ALE- WAY between Streatley and Pangbourne there is a bend in the river where the rower almost involuntarily lifts his sculls out of the water, and turns to watch the scenery as the boat drifts slowly down stream. From this spot, so irresistible in its attractions, Vicat Cole took " The Thames at Hartswood," painted in 1891. This picture is full of light and colour, and is, perhaps, the only one in which the artist has depicted the attractions of the river and of the harvest-field on the same canvas. Both are painted as he alone could repre- sent them. The light on the hills and on the woods, tinged with the hues of early autumn, is very soft and sweet. It would be difficult to imagine a more lovely sky. Radiant cumuli clouds, bold in form and ex- quisitely soft in texture, stand out from the blue ether, whilst films of light cirrus melt away into its bosom. It is an ideal scene of tranquil beauty, perfectly realised, perfectly presented. STUDY l'lU! ■• PANCISurUXK. -pangbourne/' ANGBOURNE," painted and exhibited in 1886, is one of Vicat Cole's wonderful representa- tions of the deep repose and entrancing solitude which pervade the river scenery at the hour of simset. Of these effects he is the lyric poet, and in none of his pictures are they more eloquently celebrated than in this of " Pangbonrne." It would matter little whether it were a view of a real place or an entirely imaginary one ; the profound sentiment that inspires it is the true measure of the value of the painting. As it happens, the artist takes his facts from Nature, and, on the whole, it is a real scene which may m cc o CD o z " pangbourne: .still he looked for and found on a like sweet summer evening. Every line declares the fidelity of the portrait ; it is an ideal likeness, but in its very ideality lies its supreme truth. The subject is intensely lovely, and the artist's treatment of it renders it simply enchanting. A dreamy sense of rest and peace steals over the mind of the beholder ; Nature's softened mood is reflected in his heart, It has been given to few landscape-painters to touch the chords of human feeling as Vicat Cole does. In this picture his own intense sympathy with the sentiment of the scene awakens a like sympathy in others. What he felt whilst painting it he makes them feel as they look at it. The atmosphere and glow of sunset lend a touch of magic to the whole. The serene sky is flushed with rosy light ; the same light bathes the foliage on the left with a soft splendour, and, gleaming between the stems of the trees on the right in ruddier hues, is reflected amid darker tones on the water. Sky, trees and cottages are i»iven back from the smooth surface in images of many tints, the high lights and low lights being contrasted with consummate skill and feeling. Never have reflections been rendered with more per- fect truth and delicacy of form and colour. The very river seems asleep, and the visions mirrored on its surface j 66 VICAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. reveal the profound stillness which penetrates the whole scene. Only where the water rushes over the weir on the left are strong movement and sound indicated, and these are suggested in a manner which renders the universal sense of repose more impressive. The study from which this corner of the picture was painted is very powerful, and characteristic of Vicat Cole's method, as well as of the manner of work which he did out of doors. STUDY OF OLD PANG BOURNE WEIR. MAPLEDURHAM." ELOW Pangbourne, before Reading is reached there is only one other spot where Vicat Cole found a subject for one of his exhibited pictures — " Mapledurham Lock." shown at the Royal Academy in 1884. This fine painting cannot be traced, but so lovely a place must not be passed by unnoticed. By good fortune the studies for the picture are available, and will give some idea of the beauty of the river at this point, and of the artist's treatment of it. The study of the lock will be found early in this volume (p. 14) ; the other, of the river and its banks, is reproduced here. 68 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. Among the great charms of the spot are the love- liness of its level pastures and the grace of its trees. These are well brought out even in the rough study ; in the picture itself they were represented with great tenderness and delightful effect, which leave a distinct impression on the mind. As a representative picture of the scenery of the Thames it is as important as any of the series. STUDY FOR " THE MIST OF THE MORNING." " THE MIST OF THE MORNING " — SONNING. HE subject of "The Mist of the Morning," exhibited in 1880, is taken from Sonning, below Reading, with certain changes in the composition ; the effect was seen and recorded on canvas by the artist, as mentioned in the first volume, shortly after sunrise, September 4th, 1879. The title is a quotation from Sir Walter Scott. It would be difficult to name a landscape, taken from a purely English scene, more imbued with poetic charm, or painted with more exquisite taste and artistic feeling than this. Not only is the transient effect of the mist 70 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. of the morning seized and reproduced with intense power and truthfulness, but everything is brought into perfect harmony with it by that masterly grace of composition, which is one of the most marked characteristics of Vicat Cole's art. Not less remarkable is the refinement in selecting and combining, that manifestation of the im- aginative faculty which converts the scene into an ideal vision of beauty. It is ideal art in its truest sense : " Nature, not altered, but to advantage dressed." The contrast between the silvery light of early morn in this picture, and the deep hues of sunset in " Pang- bourne," is very striking. It is his complete command over atmospheric effects which renders the artist's paintings of similar scenery so utterly free from same- ness. Placed side by side, these two pictures are seen to differ as widely in their impression as the actual dawn and sunset of Nature. With the same grace of treatment, the same power in foliage, the same vigour in light and shade, the same delicate tenderness in reflections, they are totally diverse in sentiment as in colour. The freshness of morning is opposed to the rest of evening. Tranquillity is the prevailing feeling- inspired by both ; but in the one it is the tranquillity "77//; MIST <>F THE MOEXLXG "SOXXIXG. 7-\ of wakening life, in the other of the pause at the close of the day's labours. In "The Mist of the Morning" a new day is beginning; the smoke from the chimneys tells of the wakening of the hamlet ; the boy is w atering his horse before starting with the barge on its voyage for the day through the silent reaches ; the sound of his voice, as he shouts to the man in the distant punt, is carried over the smooth water. But, as the artist shows by the title he gives to the picture, what he intends the eye to dwell on is the effect of the mist of the morning on the scene. This is the main thought in his mind, and he has succeeded in impressing it on the canvas with such vividness that the idea is for ever linked with this particular picture. No one, who has once seen it, will ever look on such a morning without recalling it to mind, or without feeling the beauty of the effect more deeply because the artist has taught him to see it. Under its influence what a fairy expanse of light and soft reflec- tions the river presents ! How unsubstantial the distance ! The designing and drawing of the trees, and the gradation of tones in the painting of them, are essen- tial to the perfection of the impression. It is chiefly by these that the full effect of the mist is made visible ; but every detail, even the minutest, has its part in K 74 VIC A T COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. contributing to the conception of the idea and to the unity of the picture. In the words of Pope, — •• No single parts unequally surprise, All comes united to the admiring eyes." The whole is, indeed, what Thomson calls "a dream of waking fancy." Yet, with all its dreaminess, we recognise it as a faithful transcript of one of Nature's loveliest aspects. It is the very poetry of her waking hour, revealing the worship of the lover no less than the genius of the artist. STUDY AT MAGPIE ISLAND. STUDY OF WILLOWS AT THE MOUTH OF THE LODDOX. WARGRAVE." ARGRAVE,' 7 exhibited in 1881, is a picture which owes much of its attraction to its great simplicity. The chief features of the place itself are its trees and the long stretch of river. These the artist has seized on and rendered with his usual strength and sweetness. He has shown the late afternoon of a still day in August, the time when the scene is at its best, and has brought in many incidents of human life such as may be seen at that hour and place on any fair summer evening. Trees, river and sky form the greater part TO VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. of the subject, but the essence of the picture is its sweet radiant light. Vicat Cole was always especially happy in representing all these in their perfection. His trees are living trees, as perfect in design, proportion and form as Greek statues ; these qualities, together with depth of light and shade and truth of tone and colour, render them unequalled in landscape art. His power in de- picting the surface of water and reflections in all their subtle delicacy has been frequently noticed, and is well illustrated in this picture ; as are also the fine drawing and perspective which, combined with luminous splendour, give to his skies their singular beauty of effect. This luminous splendour in the sky, reflected in finely gradated tones on the surface of the stream, transforms the landscape into a vision of loveliness. " Wargrave " is perhaps the last of his pictures which was begun, and in great part completed, on the spot. The artist was staying with his family in the village during the previous summer, and painted on the canvas which was exhibited the following year. Wet weather prevailed during much of the season, and many days could only be used in making studies. In his diary the entries run day by day : — " Painting (16 in. by 23 in.) study of water-lilies " ; Made study (on 30 in. by 20 in. canvas) of loosestrife and docks"; "Made sketch of " \vmk:il\ vi:r 79 'arrow-heads 5 up the backwater"; "Made study of ferry- boat at Wargrave"; "Made study of weeds for left bank of Streatley picture"; "Making studies of moving water"; "Made sketch of reeds and osiers, etc., on 30 in. by 18 in. canvas"; "Made sketch (30 in. by 18 in.) of willow trees and water at the mouth of the Loddon " ; " Made sketch of cattle and trees at mouth of the Loddon " ; " Made sketch of man in a punt with sedge." " Making sketches of skies " is sometimes a daily entry for a week in succession. Thus the Royal Academician was a learner still in Dame Nature's school, as he was, indeed, to the end of his life. Many of these very studies have been reproduced in this work. Two of them — the man in a punt with sedge, and the ferry-boat — are introduced very effectively in this picture. Enough has, perhaps, been said to call attention to the many fine qualities of "Wargrave," but the more this artist's pictures are studied, the more excellences will be discovered in them. He was unsurpassed in his close observation of Nature, and his canvases are full of the results of that observation. These are often half-concealed and their presence unsuspected until a careful study of the picture reveals them. Of one thing we may be well assured — whatever the artist has thought it worth his while to paint, it is 80 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. worth the spectator's trouble to discover. However minute the detail or delicate the stroke, if it was considered by him necessary to complete the effect, it is necessary to the right understanding of his work. In fact, looking closely into his pictures is like looking into an actual scene ; fresh points of interest, new features of beauty repay continually the observer's study, delighting both eye and mind. The " Sketch of cattle and trees at the mouth of the Loddon " and the " Sketch of willow trees and water at the mouth of the Loddon " furnished the sub- ject of a line picture exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881 under the title of " August Days." STUDY OF CATTLE. ETC., AT THE MOUTH OF THE LODDOX. cc III I- < o < m CO LU 33 LU —A > i " ro U) "A THAMES BACKWATER ' HE river between Wargrave and Henley abounds in delightful views, many of which were taken by Vicat Cole as subjects of pictures which have not been traced. Two, however, from the neighbourhood of Marsh Lock, above Henley — " A Thames Backwater," exhibited in 1880, and "A Backwater at Bolney " (1888)— powerfully represent one aspect of the scenery and the artist's treatment of it. " A Thames Backwater " is described in his diary as " A late autumn, trees and water at Bolney, near Marsh Lock, looking up the river." It was further described in the Royal Academy catalogue by the words : " A watery Maze, Haunt of still Solitude." Of all his pictures, none attracted more attention or called forth higher admiration from his brother- artists than this. It was not only that the subject, and the effect under which it was presented, appealed VICAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. to their artistic tastes, but also that they recognised the difficulties involved and the masterly manner with which they were met. They, beyond all others, could appreciate the wonderful accuracy and knowledge with which every limb, branch and twig of the trees is drawn, and which are still more wonderfully shown in the painting of the reflections. The picture, indeed, is one to which the least in- accuracy would be fatal. Simple as the subject appears to be, its lines are so woven and interwoven, that the mere displacement of any one of them would be a change for the worse, whilst a faulty reflection would destroy the illusion of the whole. And a perfect illusion it is which the picture presents to one who stands before it and looks long enough. Gradually the sur- roundings are forgotten, and the frame becomes a window through which he is gazing on the actual scene. He is admitted to the "watery maze," and stands silent in the presence of the " haunt of still solitude." The painting is cool and quiet in tone throughout ; the high lights of the sky and gleaming water on the left are silvery and bright, but the rest of the picture has a depth, and even a solemnity about it which cannot be described. Deep as the shade is among the trees, 11 A THAMES BACKWATER. 83 and impressive as arc the breadths of half-shadow, their effect is forgotten in the contemplation of their repetition on the surface of the water. Reflections more perfect in tone and drawing cannot be imagined, but the wonder inspired by their perfection is quickly merged and lost in the feeling which they inspire. Tin- spectator is possessed with a sense of utter loneliness, of a weird stillness, to which the grace and tenderness of the work, however, lend such enchantment, that the whole impression is soft and pensive and strangely soothing to a receptive mind. STUDY OF A THAMKS BAC KWATKK. "A BACKWATER AT BOLNEY. the artist himself the subject was so attractive that, coming down the river in 1888, he painted it again from nearly the same point of view, but under a different effect of light. This picture, which he calls " A Back- water at Bolney," is so brilliant an example of his power of rendering light and shade, and of the trans- formation of a scene under their influence, that the similarity of view must not be held a valid objection to its being reproduced here. It will even be instructive to many to mark the points of diversity which cause the wide difference between the impressions conveyed by the two pictures. The later picture has all the force of shadow and depth of reflection which lend to the former its subtle sense of mystery, but its powerful sky, radiant with intense light, and the gleams reflected on the stream in the foreground, brighten both the scene and the feeling which it inspires. Silence and loneliness still prevail, and the pensive impression is even deepened by the leaves of autumn floating by, but the sweet light relieves it A BACKWATER AT BOLXEY. « A B. 1 < 'K WA TEE . I T BOL NE F." 87 of the trace of sadness which is felt in the former picture. Another Landscape from the same neighbourhood was exhibited in L880, with the line from Shelley- "The leaves of wasted autumn woods" for its title. This was a most poetic picture, and it is much to he regretted that it cannot he traced. STUDY OF REFLECTIONS. ON SILVER THAMES. HE fourth picture exhibited in 1880—" On Silver Thames "■ — comes next in order of place, being taken from a spot near Med- menham. It is not a little remarkable that Vicat Cole passed by Henley, a representative place on the Thames, and one in which he took much pleasure. Those who know it well will recognise how little it lends itself to picturesque treatment. Under certain powerful atmospheric effects it would be possible to make a picture of it ; but it would seem that the artist never succeeded in catching' the effect he desired, for, though he frequently expressed his inten- tion of painting it, he never carried out his purpose. Medmenham and its neighbourhood, on the other hand, furnished him with several subjects, of which " On Silver Thames" was the only one exhibited. The title of this picture is peculiarly appropriate. ( )f all the many attractions of the river, that which struck the old poets, from Spenser downwards, most, was its exceeding brightness. " Silver Thames," their favourite phrase in speaking of it, was no fanciful CO UJ S < I I- QC LU > CO O " OX SILVER THAMES? 89 or meaningless term ; it expressed the most striking and most characteristic aspect of the stream. It is this aspect which Vicat Cole represents with such singular force and vivid truth in the picture. Much of the brightness is visible in the plate, but on the canvas itself the silvery effect is intensely brilliant. The clouds are luminous with the radiant lustre of a June mid-day. Their lustre is reflected on the water in all its dazzling brightness, and the whole painting is penetrated with a soft brilliancy which can only be described by the word " silvery." This effect constitutes the foremost and most evident charm of the picture, but it is further remarkable for many beauties of composition and execution. Looking at the surface of the stream, the observer is first attracted by the daintily painted foreground and perfect reflections. These will repay close study, for they are designed and worked out with consummate taste and skill. The point of view was a favourite one with the artist, opening out the full breadth of the river. He takes his stand in a boat in mid-stream and places us with himself facing the current. The impression thus given of being actually on the water adds to the pleasure and reality of the scene. We feel the freshness of the air and watch the eddies as they pass. M 90 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. It should be noted also how effectively the artist makes use of the lines of these eddies to indicate perspective. By following them up far into the picture, the eye is enabled to form a correct estimate of distance, to convey which is not the least of a land- scape painter's difficulties. He has none of the regular lines which guide the architectural draughtsman, and has to make the most of every suggestion of retiring forms. A winding bank, the proportion of trees at various distances, and of cattle near or far off, even the glancing swallows, bear their part. But most important of all is the subtle gradation of tone by which the great artist, on a few inches of canvas, throws back hills and trees, and makes the plains recede to the far-away horizon. The perspective of the river in this picture is worked out in a masterly manner, and the art by which it is effected is the more perfect because its methods and means are hidden. Complete satisfaction is given to the eye and as complete unity to the picture, but how it is done becomes apparent only after much study. The impression made by these four pictures — " The Mist of the Morning/' "A Thames Backwater," "The Leaves of Wasted Autumn Woods," and " On Silver Thames " — when they appeared in the Royal Academy " ON SILVER THAMES: 01 Exhibition of 1880, was very great. It was a notable year's work for one man, notable not only for the amount, but even more for its variety, and the high artistic skill and imaginative power displayed. One part of the general appreciation was peculiarly pleasing to Vicat Cole. He heard on all sides expres- sions of approval and admiration from his brother- artists, the only art-critics whose opinion he valued. Nor was it long before their appreciation was shown in a form which was most grateful to him. On the 16th of June, six weeks after the exhibition opened, he was elected, by an almost unanimous vote, full Academician — an honour which had not been conferred on a landscape painter since the election of Creswick in 1851, a period of nearly thirty years. STUDY AT BISHAM. "BISHAM." |ISHAM," exhibited in 1884, is not only a lovely portrait of a spot thoroughly repre- sentative of the Thames scenery, but also a painting remarkable for many of the highest qualities of landscape art. The place itself is full of associations with the past. Its old Norman Church, the remains of its abbey and the Tudor mansion attached to it, are objects of great interest. To the artist's eye their lines and tones were most attractive, and he has rightly given to them a prominent place on his canvas. " BIS HAM." 95 The abbey was originally a preceptory of the powerful order of Knights Templars, and, after their suppression, it was converted into a priory for the Canons of the order of St. Augustine by Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, in 1338. Here the great Earls of Salisbury were buried, as was also Warwick, " the king - maker/' in 1471. The Tudor mansion is still in good repair and inhabited. These buildings are, therefore, something more than picturesque features in the painting ; their story, their old-world appearance and continuous associations with human life through long centuries, impress them with a sentiment which has a large share in emphasising the peaceful feeling inspired by the tranquil stream. The quiet grave-yard, the moored punt and still cattle, the stately trees, and slumbering reflections are all in harmony with the same feeling. Every feature in the landscape serves to deepen the sense of repose, from the massive, luminous clouds poised in the blue ether to the tiniest flower that sleeps in the bright foreground. The artistic qualities of the picture are of the highest order. Light and shade are rendered with much force, and the colouring is as rich and harmonious as it is truthful. Grand as is the designing, and masterly as is the drawing of the cloud-forms, the chief beauty of the 96 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. sky lies in its radiant effulgence. The light is not merely painted on the clouds, but shines through them and out of them, as it does in the sunny skies of Nature. This effulgence it is which gives tone to the whole painting, deepening the shadows and adding lustre to the high lights — an effect which is worked out with much skill and artistic power. A test of the perfection of reflections on water may be applied to this picture. Where they are entirely true, as here 7 the well-trained eye, in its satisfaction, passes them without conscious notice at a first glance, whereas a single false line would break the illusion. When looked into closely on this canvas, they will be found full of instruction as well as of delight. The abbey, the church and the cattle are mirrored on the stream with admirable delicacy and grace, while nothing could exceed the force and depth with which the trees in shadow are pictured on the flowing water. To those who take pleasure in naturalistic studies, the exquisitely-painted foreground on the right will appear not the least attractive part of the canvas. It is a wonderful study of plant-life, painted with minute- ness, which, however, does not detract in the smallest degree from the unity of the landscape, whilst it plays an important part in the perspective of the whole. - i:isir.\M. 97 This is one of the pictures which superfine critics name as an instance of Vicat Cole's " commonplace " style. The term with them is apparently synonymous with "like Nature." If it be "commonplace" to repro- duce, with every artistic perfection of form and colour, a lovely scene so like Nature that we seem to be gazing on Nature herself as we look, and pervaded by the pathos of her tenderest moods, combined with touching associations of human life — Vicat Cole has no defence against the charge. He stands condemned, and with him the whole of the great School of English landscape painters. N "GREAT MARLOW. REAT MARLOW-ON-THAMES " was painted and exhibited in 1886, the same year as " Pangbonrne," and, like that picture, repre- sents a calm evening scene in late summer, but differs from it in tone and feeling as much as in subject. It is transfused with that pale primrose light which is at times seen at sunset, and which is as beautiful as it is rare. To seize and reproduce an effect so fleeting and so seldom visible, requires the highest powers of memory in a painter. His position may be compared with that of a musician undertaking to write down, note by note from memory, a long sonata which he has heard but once. To do this, deep knowledge as well as memory is needed, and a further touch of genius, lacking which no man can be a great painter or musician. Vicat Cole has surmounted every difficulty in this picture with masterly success. To begin with the sub- ject, it is a view which presents many uninteresting lines. The writer remembers going down the river to Marlow with the artist when he was thinking of " GREA T MARLOWE Kil painting it, and pointing out how the otherwise graceful spire of the church was hopelessly disfigured by the huge crockets, and how completely the stiff line of the bridge cut the scene in two. In a clear light these defects would have ruined a picture, however ably treated : hut the artist removes every trace of unsight- liness in the painting by the mysterious effect, which softens, and renders undefined, every harsh form. It would be difficult to imagine a picture more completely penetrated by one atmospheric effect. A veil of light* incredibly soft and mellow, is thrown over all. The sun has just set behind the trees on the right : the last beams of parting day infuse a pathetic solemnity into the scene. It is another perfect rendering, different from all others, of the strain : — " Sweet is evening's tranquil time, When the day of toil is clone." The man watering his horses and the smoke from the barges add the one touch of human interest needed to complete the sentiment. So entirely does the pathos of the landscape over- power the beholder, that it is only after an effort, and an intentional exertion of the will, that his thoughts turn to the artist and the splendid qualities of art 102 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. revealed in the painting. Here again, brilliantly as the details are worked out, and clearly as the painter's special skill, knowledge and power are shown, it is the unbroken unity of the picture which makes the deepest impression. Everything else is made to yield to this unity, and the result is a landscape perfect as a whole, imbued with one complete and most impressive sentiment. STUDY AT GREAT MARLOW. I'DOKHA M . COOKHAM." |OOKHAM," which was also painted and ex- hibited in 188(5, is a cool grey picture, and presents a very powerful contrast to " Great jp^jjl Marlow." It represents a mid-day scene in summer under a stormy sky. The right of the canvas, where the stream is sheltered from the wind, is comparatively calm, and there, the barge at rest, and the solid ivy-mantled church-tower add to the quietude. This stillness brings out with greater force the sense of movement, which is so effective on the left of the picture. There, a thunder storm is seen approaching ; 104 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. the wind sweeps over the ruffled surface of the water, bows the reeds, and turns the white under-sides of the leaves of willows and poplars to the light. Beyond are the woods of Hedsor, dimmed with rain. " Cookham *' abounds in the conscientious work and many hue qualities which distinguish Vicat Cole's pictures. The drawing throughout is without flaw, the CHURCH AXD RIVER. COOKHAM. designing and composition are masterly, and the details are worked out with a view always to secure breadth and unity. There is a freshness alike in subject, tone and effect, which is delightful to the eye, and leaves a happy impression on the mind. " SKETCH OF BRAY CHURCH." ETWEEN Cookham and Windsor no subject for a picture seems to have been chosen by Vicat Cole, but a fine sketch of one repre- sentative spot on the river at Bray must not be left out. It was evidently his intention to make a finished painting of it on a large canvas, and, simple as the materials are, under the grand evening effect which he has caught so happily, it u 106 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. would have formed a most impressive landscape. The details of the church are not worked out ; the artist's aim at the moment being to record the strong contrast of its dark mass against the bright sky. As a forcible study of a sky alone, the sketch is well worth re- producing ; but it is, throughout all its features, a fine example of the artist's power of grasping in a few minutes the full meaning and power of a scene. Roughly as the strokes are dashed in, he has caught by their means the solemn impression in its com- pleteness. The effect and sentiment being thus secured, his great knowledge, and the stores of his accurate memory, supplied what else was needed to finish a picture. It is much to be regretted that so fine a subject, inspired with such deep feeling, was never worked out as a finished landscape. STUDY Or WINDSOR. WINDSOR CASTLE." p5^|INDSOR CASTLE," exhibited in 1883, is one of Vicat Cole's masterpieces. The one fine view, embracing castle, town and river, has been destroyed by the hideous viaduct of the Great Western Railway. Yet no other would satisfy the artist. He, therefore, boldly effaces the monstrous structure and restores, in all its grandeur, a view which no one of the present generation has been happy enough to see. For this alone he deserves hearty thanks from all lovers of the Thames. But he has done more. Without sacrificing a particle of truth, by the magic of his art he has invested the scene with a sublime loveliness which 108 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AXD WORKS. belongs to it, yet is rarely visible. Those who do not understand the subtle power which an atmosphere of hazy light has in enlarging the appearance of distant objects, complain that the height of the castle is immensely exaggerated. If it were so, the artist would only be making use of an acknowledged liberty in art, that of giving prominence to the most charac- teristic feature of his subject ; but lie has, in reality, secured the desired effect by legitimate means. The smoke of the town, lit up by the rays of sunset, forms an atmosphere at the base of the castle which gives to the whole hill a striking appearance of increased height and size. This is a well-known natural illusion, and the artist has availed himself of it with great skill and entire fidelity. With all the transparency which the effect gives to the buildings, the sense of massive strength is preserved. This is accomplished by the artist's thorough method of work. He first painted every detail, every line, as firmly and solidly as they would appear in a clear atmosphere, and then threw over them the golden veil of evening light. The result is marvellously effective. In the words of Mr. Ruskin, quoted in the previous volume, " The forms, once so laboriously realised, come out with a startling and 1 1 7. WAV o// CASTLE. 1 1 1 impressive truth, which the uncertainty in which they are veiled enhances rather than diminishes." The rays of the setting sun illumine the walls with an ethereal splendour, and transform the majestic pile into a poetic vision of some empyrean city. Beyond, filmy clouds catch, and give back, the golden sunset glory. Nothing could be more exquisite than the rendering of the shadows, touched with reflected light, on the buildings and trees below them on the hill. Like shadows, mingling with soft gleams of sunshine, add a sense of mystery to the town itself. Across the river, the fine group of the Brocas elms stand, steeped in sunlight, and tinged with the same mysterious charm. We look down the broad sweep of river, its current flowing from us. Its surface reflects the glowing hues of the sky ; reflections are broken up by many an eddy and swirl, for here the current is strong. Only on the right of the picture is depth of complete shadow and its reflections introduced, and there with a force which intensities the fairy brightness of the rest. It is a scene of ideal beauty, radiant with sw r eet light and soft colour, and penetrated with a profound and refined sense of aerial perspective. In it the artist has realised, not only what Byron calls " the majesty of loveliness," but also the loveliness of majesty. " WINDSOR CASTLE, FROM A BACKWATER. HIS picture was painted towards the end of the year 1892, and was the last finished picture from Vicat Cole's easel. As such, an unusual interest is attached to it. The first thought that arises, as we mark the force and vitality of the work, is one of lingering regret that the artist was taken from us in the fulness of his mature powers. It represents the last of the fair scenes he delighted in painting, the last complete touches of the art he loved. In none is the delight more conspicuous, or the touch more decided and refined. The view is a well-known one from Magpie Island, but from the actual spot the castle is not visible. Little excuse, however, is needed for the introduction of the hill and buildings in any scene of the valley in which they form so prominent a feature. The plate renders form and detail with much distinctness, but the magic of the colouring, on which the beauty of this picture especially depends, is sorely missed. As a study of light and shade and harmonious tints, the cc LU I— < o < 00 o cc LU _l h- CO < O CC O (X) Q "WINDSOR CASTLE, FROM .1 BACKWATER." L13 trees on the left and their reflections are unrivalled, whilst the plant life in the foreground on the right is painted with a loving tenderness, as if the artist were consciously bidding farewell to the bright objects on which his eye had been wont for long years to dwell so fondly. The elaborate finish of the foreground in this very last picture from the hand of a master, and a master who has shown a complete command of breadth of treatment, may be taken as a deliberate expression of his conviction that the minutest attention to details is not inconsistent with the highest efforts of landscape art. Nay, more, it may be considered a proof that, in his opinion, a landscape is not perfect in truth and feeling unless the painter has shown, as definitely as his art allows, every form which is distinctly visible to his eye. He throws down, as it were, a challenge to the critics who had, all his life long, been decrying his work on account of this very finish, and stamps, with the warrant of a master of his craft, his final apj^robation of the practice of the modern School of English landscape of which he is the foremost repre- sentative. Full of beauty as the picture is, those who loved Vicat Cole will always regard with tender regret this, his farewell to Nature. p EARLY SEPIA SKETCH OF "RICHMOND.' " RICHMOND HILL.'' T happens, strangely enough, that the next picture of the series — " Richmond Hill," ex- hibited in 1875 — is the earliest of the Thames landscapes painted by the artist ; it is also one of the most striking. The view from the Terrace at Richmond is, perhaps, the best-known representative view of the river. It has been celebrated often by painter and poet, and with good reason. The tine trees, the grand sweep of the river's curve, and the wooded plain stretching to the horizon combine in presenting a landscape which enchants the eye by its surpassing loveliness. i; K'liMo.xn niLLr Vicat Cole had Long been taken by its beauty; it Mas a scene which liis art was peculiarly fitted to represent worthily on canvas — a perfect type of all that is fair in English scenery. And as such he lias portrayed it, with all the force and exquisite feeling which distinguish his work. His mastery of the mysteries of the infinite delicate gradations of tone, by which the perspective of receding distance is ex- pressed, is admirably shown, and the silvery gleam and soft reflections on the river are rendered with an indescribable charm. The part of the canvas occupied by these presents an ideal scene of loveliness and grace, to which the finely designed, and as finely painted trees at the foot of the hill form a most effective setting. Remarkable as the left of the picture is for the skill of its artistic grouping, its chief power and attrac- tion lie in the marvellous shadow-painting. Of this part of the canvas Mr. Ruskin, in his notes on the Royal Academy of 1875, remarks : — " The passages on the left, under the trees, of distant and subdued light, in their well - studied perfection, are about the most masterly things in landscape work in this exhibition." Unfortunately, no adequate impression can be given 116 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. in black - and - white of the extraordinary power and delicacy shown here in the rendering of light and shade. The long; shadows on the grass, the intense depth of shade and half-shadows tinged with reflected light, with here and there a stray penetrating gleam, form a masterpiece of Art. Knowledge, feeling, and executive skill of the highest order have conspired to render this representation of Richmond Terrace in afternoon light simply enchanting. It was, perhaps, „_ SKETCH AT RICHMOND. necessary to introduce the figures, as characteristic of the place, and they are excellently drawn and painted ; bnt the picture, as a landscape, would be far more -in ill mux/) ii ill: 110 effective without them. They take away somewhat from the serene beauty which is the distinguishing quality of the artists presentations of Nature. But still the eye turns to the whole landscape with a deep sense of contentment and true happiness. It is. indeed, a fair scene ; one much lauded, much admired, by all Englishmen ; and perhaps the highest praise which can be bestowed on the picture is to acknowledge that it realises the loveliness of the view in its perfection. The sepia sketch of Richmond, at the head of page 114, was made in 1854. That following below was perhaps, one of the artist's original ideas for the Richmond picture. "WESTMINSTER." ESTMINSTER," exhibited in 1892, was the last work of Vicat Cole's which appeared on the walls of the Royal Academy. If he could but have brought the Abbey forward, and thrust back the Houses of Parliament, he would have been quite happy in his subject. In his eyes, the details of the one were as impressive as those of the other were uninteresting. How was a painter to bring into a picture a mass of buildings, the details of which are impressed with the blank sameness of stencil - work ? A master of atmospheric effects is never at a loss for expedients. By throwing over the buildings the veil of evening's golden light the artist has dimmed all that is trivial and finical, whilst preserving the fine proportions of the mass. His method of designing and painting the buildings in this picture should be described, if only to show the want of knowledge, or want of candour, of certain newspaper critics, one of whom wrote at the time : — " There is a flimsiness and slightness about the painting of the Abbey and Houses of Parliament which, " \vi:sTMi\sTi:nr 121 etc." Now Vicat Cole's conscientious thoroughness was nowhere more conspicuous than in the elaborate pains which he took with the buildings in his pictures. The writer saw them in all stages of their progress, and can therefore give testimony as an eye-witness. In the "Westminster," as in other pictures in which architecture is prominent, the canvas during the designing stage presented a perfect network of lines of perspective. No architect could have been more particular or more exacting than the artist was in securing absolute accuracy. After the buildings were drawn distinctly, to the last line, they were painted with the greatest solidity, every detail being as well- defined as when seen in the light of mid-day. Then, and not till then, was the golden atmosphere of sun- set thrown over them. To speak of the " flimsiness and slightness" of such work betrays ignorance or prejudice, or both. The solidity and definiteness of the painting are visible in the plate beneath the soft veil of light which gives such delicate aerial perspective to the picture. Amongst the many appreciative notices which appeared at the time, that in the Art Journal gives a very just estimate of the painting : — " Anyone who looks up or down the river as he Q 122 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AXD WORKS. crosses the bridges must perforce see the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, wharves, boats, steam-tugs, and the turgid river. But most people look with the eye that merely glances at a scene and receives no impression. To the artist is given that subtle power of seeing not only what exists in actual fact, but the greater truth, the au (Ida, as Corot used to say, the poetic spirit and very soul of the place ; and the plate before us shows that Mr. Vicat Cole has been touched with this sense of the beyond. For, apart from the excellent technical work, the harmonious composition and colouring which we may always expect from him, he has evidently been moved and stirred by his subject, and has given us a really sympathetic and suggestive picture. " He has caught Westminster in one of its happiest moods. . . " Past and present are delightfully blended, and, with the truth and poetic insight which are the artist's prerogative, are so presented that he who runs may read. For this picture is an epitome of the life of the English nation — of the three chief factors of its greatness — England's faith, England's commerce, England's government." " Westminster is, in truth, a very forcible and noble picture, and one worthy in every way to be the " WESTMINSTER." 1 23 last of the splendid scries by which the artist won and maintained his fame on the walls of the Royal Academy. Its subject is, as was fitting, intensely English, the very centre of England's national life, and in it England's great river, which he had so long- been celebrating, is the prominent feature. Had he known that it was the last he would exhibit, what more appropriate view could the English landscape-painter have chosen ? Every feature of England's rural beauty " had filled his heart and occupied his hands," but his work w^as not complete until he had revealed the poetry with which sky and soft sunshine touch the busy haunts of his countrymen. This evening picture of Westminster recalls Wordsworth's exquisite morning sonnet composed on Westminster Bridge, September 3rd, 1802. Nor is there a lack of resemblance between poet and painter, as well as betw r een their point of view and feeling. Both thoroughly English, both fresh from that rural solitude of which they were devout lovers, they touch the life of the City with the magic of their art. To the poet was given the vision of the stillness and silence of dawn ; to the painter, ninety years later, a widely-differing view, and one far more difficult to treat, but he has thrown over it a like poetic enchantment. 124 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. His picture is a corresponding evening sonnet. The scene is treated with consummate skill and artistic feeling, and the painting embodies most of the rare qualities which distinguish the artist's work. His line sense of colour, of light and shade, of proportion, of aerial perspective ; his masterly drawing ; his power of representing the surface and movement of water ; and, above all, his fearless painting of sunlight, are all brought in most effectively, and render the picture a notable work of art. City view though it be, he has thus introduced into the picture some of the highest characteristics of pure landscape art, and by many a subtle touch reminds us of the primitive Nature which underlies the human element. Generally in a landscape the latter is rather suggested than brought into pro- minence, and the sentiment of the picture is deepest when Nature's contact with traces of man and his works is indicated by unobtrusive signs. But here man's works are overpowering, and all the skill and feeling of the artist are used in restoring the balance, by bringing out every simple, natural beauty of which the scene is capable.* * A fine etching of this picture has been published by Messrs. Agnew. -THE POOL OF LONDON. HIS picture, exhibited in 1888, is generally acknowledged to be Vicat Cole's chef d'oeuvre. The subject had long engaged his attention. As early as September, 1878, an entry appears in his diary — " Designing for large Picture of the Pool " ; and for the next nine years his sketch- books are full of pencil studies of shipping, rigging, and sails, showing that the subject still occupied his thoughts. In 1883 he began to paint it on a 7-foot canvas, but a brother Academician, coming into his studio at the time, expressed his opinion that the subject and design were too grand for the scale, and advised him to transfer it to a 12-foot canvas. When in 1887 he finally adopted it for his Academy picture, he decided on 10 feet by 6 feet as its dimensions. The vastness of the scene and the multiplicity of its details needed longer time than he had allowed for completion, and, for the first and only time since his connection with the Academy, that year he was not represented on its walls. But the delay proved, in the end, of the greatest advantage to the picture. He 126 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. changed and improved the composition, and painted out a great part of the foreground, thus adding immensely to the solidity of the work ; but he preserved the main idea, which had been in his mind for so many years, intact. When the painting appeared at the Royal Academy in 1888, it created a great sensation. Few, even of his ardent admirers, knew that the painter of the loveliness of Nature in her solitude was endowed with such reserves of power, as to enable him to cope in so masterly a manner with a scene so full of life and movement. It was as though a new genius had sud- denly appeared ; and loud and hearty was the applause with which the work was greeted on all sides. Amongst the many expressions of approval, the following from the pen of Mr. Gladstone will be read with much interest. His warm admiration of the painting was made known at the time to the artist, and since the death of the latter, Mr. Gladstone has been kind enough to put down in writing the impres- sion which the picture made on him : — " Biarritz, ■« * * * * * "January 15 th, 1894. " You do me much more than justice in attaching any weight to my estimate of Mr. Cole's powers and " THE POOL <>E fJ/XDOX. 127 performances. It is, therefore, as a rather selfish act of pure pleasure to myself that I record the feeling with which I was inspired by his picture of 'The Thames below London Bridge.' I do not remember whether it was called 'The Pool' or not, but the identification is easy. What I do recollect is the seizure, 1 cannot use any other word, which the picture made upon me as I first came up to it in the exhibition. I was walking with Mr. Agnew, and he gave his really valuable warrant to my rather hot eulogy. " I cannot now recollect details. But the dominant idea was that of admiration for the genius of a man who had been able, not only to produce a very large and effective combination — effective alike for the eye and for the mind — but had been able so to represent a scene of commercial activity as to impress upon it, as I thought, the idea and character of grandeur. The picture seemed to speak and to say, ' You see here the summit of all the commerce of the world.' "Apologising for this reminiscence, " I remain, dear Sir, " Your very faithful servant, "W. E. Gladstone." 128 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. " The Pool " was painted for Mr. Agnew as one of the Thames series, but he readily waived his claim to it when the trustees of the Chantrey Bequest expressed a wish to secure it for the nation. It now hangs in the temporary galleries at South Kensington ; but in what a position and what a state ! The writer, on going to look at it again before describing it, found the picture, after some search, in a dark corner of a narrow room, the canvas begrimed with London soot, and its colours, on the permanence of which the artist bestowed such care, exposed to the action of the (to paintings) poisonous London atmosphere. Its fine qualities are completely hidden, and to look at it excites only disappointment and regret. Not until it has been cleansed, and the colours brought out by a coat of varnish, will it appear again as it did in its brilliancy at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1888. This, with a sheet of glass to protect it, and a bright space on some wall where it can be seen, seems little enough to ask for one of the most distinguished and most powerful paintings of the latter half of the century. For, whatever difference of opinion there may be as to the subject chosen, there can be none as to the force, solidity, and masterly skill of the rendering. A small plate cannot possibly convey an adequate impression of B " THE I'ooL OF LONDON." so vast a scene any more than black-and-white can represent the superb colouring. On the canvas the subject is presented on a scale proportioned to its magnitude. The whole of the fore- ground and middle-distance is a scene of life and move- ment, designed with extraordinary vigour. Craft of every description and form are portrayed with a faultless accuracy which excites the admiration and wonder of sailors. The effect of the tide working up against the wind is shown with great fidelity. Smoke on the left, and a storm-cloud on the right, both painted with intense power, obscure the sky on each side ; but throughout the centre of the picture the light is as fair and sweet as ever shone on lonely valley. In the midst of this fair light are seen the chief buildings of the busy city. It is a startling- contrast, alike of artistic effect and of sentiment, and it is carried out with a harmony and unity which could not be surpassed. Those who, like the writer, linger more fondly over the painter's lovely presentations of rural peace and tranquil solitude must remember that Vicat Cole himself was irresistibly attracted by this stirring subject. He brooded over it for years, and studied it during the more than two hundred visits which he made to the 132 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AXI> WORKS. spot. Moreover, as he told his son, whereas, as a rule, he grew very " stale " when finishing a picture, and envied Alma Tadenia, who seemed to love the actual technical part of the work — and he mentioned the persevering way in which he had seen him painting more roses on his picture of " Heliogabalus " on var- nishing day — lie never grew tired of working on " The Pool," so interesting was the subject to him. He would even have liked to continue working on it after it was bought, especially to repaint certain parts of the sky round St. Paul's, which are disfigured by the pin-holes made in pinning up, as was his habit, the sketches from which he was painting ; but the rules of the Chantrey Bequest forbade. The picture itself affords the best evidence that the artist's heart was in the subject. Under no other condition could he have thrown such life-like vigour and virile strength into his work — a vigour and strength which stamp this painting as one of the masterpieces of art. I o z UJ LU o "({ REENW ICH. REENWICH/ 5 the last in local order of the finished pictures, was exhibited in L890. The view is as well known as it is beau- tiful and striking, and is one which could not be omitted from a series representing' those most characteristic of the Thames. With his usual felicity, Vicat Cole has chosen a point of view from which the eye takes in a scene complete in every charm essential to a fine landscape, and in which every prominent local feature finds its appropriate place. Greenwich Park is presented in all the natural beauty which no drawback can entirely disfigure. The Hospital, the grand sweep of the river, the shipping, and the far-off city combine in forming a picture full of interest and suggestive of thought. Two old pensioners and a sailor-boy are figures proper to the place, and the stags, to whose peculiar tameness at Greenwich the artist wishes to call attention, stand close beside them in natural positions. In no other picture is the remarkable power of composition and arrangement, for which the painter 134 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. was distinguished, more signally shown. The scene itself is strikingly picturesque, but its beauty is much heightened by the skill and taste with which its several parts are grouped in the painting. With all its varied forms and details, the eye is attracted at once by its perfect unity. A masterly breadth of handling, associated with a singularly successful rendering of gradations of tone, brings the scene together into a complete whole in which no part assumes undue prominence. The designing and painting of the Spanish chestnut- trees, and of the entire foreground on the right, are very forcible. They are typical of the many grand old trees of their species to be found in the park, which have shaded generations of men for three centuries or more. They may have seen Queen Bess when she " rose to chase the deer at five." James I. may have passed under them in his hunting, as described by Sir Walter Scott in "The Fortunes of Nigel." Cavalier and Roundhead, with their wives and children, spent the day,, each after his own manner, beneath their shade : — " The slight she-slips of loyal blood And others, passing praise, Strait-laced, but all too full in bud For puritanic stays," wandered with their lovers beneath the branches. Greenwich:' 135 King William III. and Queen Mary, perhaps, sat under the old trees while discussing plans for converting the palace, built by Charles IT., into a hospital for sailors wounded in the sea-fight off Capo la Hogue. In truth, the whole scene is full of historic memories, not the least touching of which is connected with the hospital itself. In all such memories Vicat Cole took a sympathetic interest, and some of them, at least, were present to his mind whilst he was painting the scene. The hospital, Wren's work and good Queen Mary's memorial, is drawn with loving care, it is painted with solidity, and his usual conscientious accuracy is shown in the designing and perspective. The grassy slopes of the park, where the sweet low rays and long shadows fall across them, are chequered with tender light and shade. In the trees on the left there is a trace of weakness very unusual in the artist's work ; but this may have been intentional, so that they should not attract the eye from the more important distant view. As a whole the picture is a fine example of the English School of landscape painting, and will bear comparison with those of any other School. SKETCH FOR " GRAVESENJ). " GRAVESEND." N affect in Li' interest is attached to the above sketch. It is taken from the charcoal- drawing on a large canvas which the artist had only begun to transfer to another in oils at the time of his death. The subject is conceived and designed with deep feeling and skill. A boat is putting off to the emigrant vessel, already spreading her sails. Sky and river are lit up by the beams of early morning, and a soft haze of pure white mist lends a tender charm to the scene. Through the haze, " gka ves i:\nr 137 Gravesend appears on the right, Tilbury Fort on the left. Had Vicat Cole but lived to finish it, it would have been a picture of unusual power and beauty, pervaded by a strange pathos and sympathy with human life and feeling. The unfinished sketch remains as an example of his wonderful powers of composition and design, and still more of the poetic feeling which inspired his conceptions from their very birth. The farewell of the emigrants in the boat to their native land is the painter's own farewell to the scenes of England and England's river which he loved so dearly — his farewell to the sweet and noble art which had been his very life from his boyhood. And a deeply touching farewell it is to those who loved the man and delighted in his work, whose hearts are moved by tender regret alike for the loss of the artist and of the master-hand that will charm them no more by its fair creations. s STUDY AT THE NORE. " THE NORE." NE other sketch, a suggestion only for what was to have been the last picture of the series — " The Nore " — and we reach the end. It was to have been a painting of sea and sky, with the Nore lightship and a distant vessel or two alone visible. The sun is setting, and its beams transfuse the clouds with a golden glory. Another lingering adieu, a last regretful farewell we utter, and the sun sets on the life of one of Englaud s great landscape painters, whose name and fame belong henceforth to the history of English art, LAST WREATHS. ICAT COLE had been ailing and unable to paint for some weeks before his death. On Thursday, April 6th, 1893, he had been persuaded for the first time to stay in bed, where he lay reading a book. He quietly passed away, from failure of the heart's action, whilst left alone for a few minutes. If he had lived to the 17th of the month he would have completed the sixtieth year of Ins life ; but he looked more like a man of forty. His abundant hair and brown beard had scarcely a grey thread in them, and his boyish merriment was unabated. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery beside his father and mother. The tendency of modern biography is to enter into every minute detail of a man's private life, in a manner which the subject himself would deeply resent were he alive. In accordance with Vicat Cole's frequently- expressed opinion on such biographies, little more than an artistic life of himself has been attempted in this work. In addition to the public eulogy, quoted before by UO VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. the President of the Royal Academy, the following selections, from letters written by some of his brother- artists after his death, form a fitting final tribute to Vicat Cole's high qualities as a man and a painter. Mr. H. W. B. Davis, R.A., wrote: " We shall collectively — personally, I know / shall — miss indeed his gladdening pictures from our show and his genial presence amongst us at our annual gathering of members on the ' varnishing days.' " Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A., wrote: " I liked him exceedingly, as everyone did, and I think I may say that Vicat Cole had no warmer admirer of his admirable work than I am. No one out of his own family more sincerely regretted his loss, a serious one indeed for the Academy, of which he will ever be considered an honoured member/' Mr. J. Calcott Horsley, R.A., was kind enough to write at some length, thus : " My acquaintance with my late friend and colleague, Vicat Cole, was of the slightest kind. Being so very much younger than myself, he was in no way associated with my early professional career, and I do not re- member ever seeing him till he was elected into the Academy. So it came to pass that we had no personal intimacy. At the same time Academicians and Associates LAST WREATHS. 1 11 of the Royal Academy are a veritable s band of brothers/ a truly ' happy few,' and my relations with Cole, as with every individual of the body, were and are of the most cordially friendly nature. I shall always entertain a lively remembrance of his genial and generous nature, and no one can regret more sincerely than I do his early departure from this life, or mourn with more heartfelt sympathy for those parted from him." Mr. Horsley then goes on to describe the incident already alluded to (Vol. I., p. 89), and adds : " His delightful rendering of the most charming aspects of English landscape will be sorely missed on the walls of the Academy for years to come." Mr. B. W. Leader, A.R.A., writes thus : "It is not much that I can tell you about my old friend Vicat Cole. We first met in the charming Surrey village of Albury in 1S58. He was staying there with his young wife and infant daughter. We went out sketching together daily, often painting the same subject, and there formed a friendship for each other that lasted until his death. His honesty, sincerity, and the entire absence of littleness or pro- fessional jealousy, endeared him to me and to all his brother-artists. He was most good-tempered, liberal and hospitable, fond of a joke, and would sometimes 142 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. indulge in an innocent practical one, but I never knew him say an unkind word of anyone, or speak harshly of the works of his contemporaries. His own were most popular from the first, and deservedly so. They were thoroughly English, charming in sentiment and feeling, and always beautifully composed. They were harshly treated by a certain portion of the press, but he refused to read the criticisms, and seldom spoke of the authors of them, whom we both knew. He was a great admirer of the works of Turner and Constable, and was fond of talking about electricity and light. With his Academy pictures he was generally behindhand, owing to his fastidiousness and the frequent alterations he would make, but his energy and application to his work were untiring. Never satisfied with his pictures, lie improved in his art up to the last. His advice was always disinterested and sincere ; envy was not in his nature. By his death I have lost a true friend." Mr. G. D. Leslie, R.A., writes as follows : " I met the late Mr. Vicat Cole chiefly on the river, and I need scarcely say I shared with him an enthusiastic love of its beauties. Cole was a most genial and delightful companion, kind and generous, and full of information on natural and scientific subjects. LAST WREATHS. 1 t3 On the river he had many friends, and, what was greatly to his credit considering that lie was the owner of a steam-launch, no enemies. To the universally considerate manner with which he navigated The Blanche he no doubt owed this immunity from hostility. He set an example by his conduct which it is much to be regretted has not oftener been followed by other launch-owners. As a result of this kind and thoughtful management, his boat was welcomed and respected everywhere. So many of my old friends on the river have passed away that my delight in its beauties is fast becoming mixed with memories and associations of the past, and deeply do I regret that I shall never again see the genial face or hear the kindly hail of Vicat Cole on its waters. " In his art Cole was a rapid, dexterous, and hard worker, ready and willing at all times to give to others friendly help and useful hints in the techni- calities of the art. He was a thorough Englishman, and his landscapes are, in my estimation, enhanced by the fact that he never gave way to the prevailing- fashion, as so many English painters are prone to do, of portraying English scenery in the French style. Curiously enough, the French artists founded their present style very greatly from studying the works 144 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. of the English Constable, and it is this Frenchified imitation of an English artist which has now found its way back to England. " Constable himself said that, when he was paint- ing from Nature, he always tried to forget all other pictures whatsoever — a manly self - reliance which insured the individuality of his work, and in this respect Cole resembled the Suffolk master." Mr. H. Stacy Marks, R.A., adds a kindly touch of interest : He was a hard worker and devoted to his art. Not merely an artist : he had considerable stores of general knowledge, among other things, of chemistry. He once gave me a list of colours, not only permanent in them- selves, but when combined or mixed with others which he named. He was always ready to impart Ins in- formation to his fellow-artists, and was, in fact, one of the most kindly-natured and good-tempered men I have known. I never heard him make a caustic or ill-natured remark on any painter or on his work. And, as he spoke evil of no man, so no man spoke evil of him. Genial and generous, his lovable nature endeared him to all, nor had he, so far as I know, a single enemy." In a brief note, Mr. W. W. Ouless, R.A., says : LAST WREATHS. 1 15 1 can assure you I had a very great admiration for Vicat Cole's work and a sincere regard for him personally. I remember, too, with pleasure, that he was the first to bring me the good news of my election as an Associate. 1 always found him the same warm-hearted, good fellow." Mr. J. Sant, R.A., adds a feAv graceful words : " I regret to say I seldom had the pleasure of meeting Vicat Cole, but he was always delightfully genial and kind whenever we met. His work was always refined and full of charms for me, who so love the delicious bits which captivated him, on our sweet Thames in particular. 1 wish now I had known more of my friend, indeed." Mr. Marcus Stone, R.A., writes, in the same strain : " Although I had the privilege of knowing my late illustrious confrere for many years, it so fell out that I never saw much of him. I always held him and his work in high esteem." One other artist, a landscape-painter, and Vicat Cole's only pupil — Mr. Frank Walton, R.I. — who writes of him as " My dear old master," must be heard, though he wrote without thought of publication : "I think his chief trait was his kindness and con- sideration for his fellow-artists. I never heard him T 146 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. say a hard word of anyone, and he was always ready to help, if he could in any way, one that was in trouble with his art or otherwise. He was the best friend I ever had, and from the first (1867) was willing to give me his advice, which was in all art matters invaluable." The following notes by Dr. Buzzard illustrate another aspect of the artist's capabilities and tastes : " What always struck me, in addition to his singu- larly genial and warm-hearted nature, was the fact — a rare one according to my experience of artists — that he possessed an eminently scientific turn of mind. " Vicat Cole was always, as it seemed to me, more than a painter. He was a member of the Royal Institution, intensely attracted by problems in electricity and chemistry, and ever wishful to bring his experience in this direction to bear upon his own work in life as a landscape painter. He was a great admirer of the late Professor Tyndall, at whose lectures at the Royal Institution he was a frequent attendant, and I can remember that in 1891, when they were both under my professional care, I was the medium of kindly messages between them of mutual liking and sympathy, although they had no personal acquaintance." FINAL NOTES. 1CAT COLE'S paintings were so much sought after that, even during his lifetime numerous spurious works were manufactured and sold as his Since his death the trade lias been carried on extensively, but on a different footing. Under his will the executors had to sell all his studies and sketches. It was his custom to sign these, and they all. however slight, bore the well-known (S device. Many of them fell into the hands of unprincipled dealers, who have had them finished in a tricky popular manner by equally unprincipled "devils." The writer has seen many such, and can even identify one of the "devils" by the same flashy work on canvases signed with the "devil's" own name. Anyone, however, who has the least knowledge of Vicat Cole's style, can detect the imposture at a glance. Vicat Cole's family consisted of three daughters and a son. The last, the youngest of the four, his father intended for an engineer, but the lad's passion for art was not to be denied. It was with much pride, after all. that the father watched the development of his son's 148 VIC AT COLE'S LIFE AND WORKS. talents, of which he formed the highest opinion. Should his anticipations be realised, three generations of land- scape-painters, all different in style, but all thoroughly English, will have made the name memorable in the annals of English landscape art. It is too early to attempt to assign to Vicat Cole his place in English art, but of his influence on modern landscape painting it is possible even now to speak with some certainty. Had not others adopted his methods and imitated his style, the originality of both would appear in its full force. As it is, the extent of his advance in the faithful representation and interpretation of English landscape is hidden by the progress of others following in his paths. It is, perhaps, the highest tribute to his genius that the work of the best of the young landscape-painters shows such clear traces of his influence. If they but emulate his sincerity, his thoroughness, his industry, his love of Nature, and his devotion to Art, that influence will prove entirely healthful and of lasting value to the future of landscape art. Like all men of genius whose work is marked by strong individuality, he was violently decried by some, and as ardently admired by others. Amongst his fellow- artists there were very few who did not recognise his knowledge and skill, few who did not appreciate his FINAL NOTES. 14<) remarkable gifts of hand and eye, and the charm of* his conceptions. To all w ho love the beauties of earth and sky his pictures will always be precious. They are reflections of Nature's sweetest looks or varied moods of loveliness and grandeur, painted with a loving touch, and with ;i depth of feeling of which a reverent heart alone is capable. The terms in which Vicat Cole's paintings are described and estimated in this work will not appear extravagant to those who admire and appreciate their singular beauty and artistic power ; others will attribute to the partiality of friendship the high praise here accorded to his work. An attempt has been made to show good reason for the belief that he will, in the future, take his rightful place as one of England's greatest landscape-painters. The surest foundation of this belief rests on the knowledge, the conscientiousness, the sincerity, as well as the technical power and skill, displayed in his art. Genius, supported by industry and tempered with modesty, cannot but produce lasting work, and such as is valued at its true worth, if not now, in years to come. The shallow', and at times spiteful, criticism will soon be forgotten ; the paintings remain to win ever-increasing fame for the painter, and to maintain the honour of the English School of landscape art. APPENDIX. HE following particulars as to the painter's setting' of his palette, the colours used, and method of work, are furnished by his son, Mr. Reginald Vicat Cole. Usual Method of Setting Palette (Starting from Thumb End). 1 . Flake white. 2. Lemon yellow. 3. Cadmium pale. 4. Cadmium. 5. Cadmium orange. 6. Yellow ochre. 7. Raw sienna. 8. Cobalt blue. 9. Light red. 10. Burnt sienna. 11. Vermilion. 12. Indian red. 13. Emerald oxide of chromium. 14. Cobalt green (pale). 1 5. Raw umber. 1 6. Cappah brown. 17. Robertson's medium for oiling out. 18. Blue black. Benzine. Linseed oil Copal varnish Mediums. mixed in the proportion of about 1 of varnish to 3 of oil. Complete List of Colours Used by Vicat Cole. 1. Flake white. 2. Zinc white (for alterations repainting on). 3. Lemon yellow, pale 4. Lemon yellow 5. Cadmium yellow (4). 6. Yellow ochre. 7. Brown ochre. 8. Roman ochre. 9. Raw sienna. 10. Trans, gold ochre. 11. Cobalt blue. 12. Cuerulean blue. 13. Light red. 14. Rose madder. 15. Vermilion, for 16. Orange vermilion. 17. Indian reds (1 and 2). I not used in painting skies. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. Emerald oxide of chromium (2). Oxide of chromium. Cobalt greens (2). Raw umber. Cappah brown. Vandyck brown. Blue black. Ivory black (not often used). Terra verte (never set in the palette with cadmium yellow^ APPENDIX. L51 This list of colours shows those used in Vicat Cole's later life. When a young man he used other colours which he afterwards discarded, having- found them unsafe by experience. Amongst others discarded were : Indian yellow (water-colour): Chrome yellows. Prussian blue. Emerald green. French blue. Crimson lake. Yellow lake. Some were not used as being fugitive, or because they destroyed the colour of other paints with which they were mixed. Many of Vicat Cole's early water - colour sketches were partially spoilt by Indian yellow being mixed with indigo for foliage ; the yellow going, leaving the indigo. In Vicat Cole's early oil paintings lie used his colours very thinly, almost as water - colours, more especially for skies and for dark tones in shadows. He found many of his early works were damaged by this thin painting on the canvas as prepared by the colourmen. In later life he covered his canvas with a thick coat of white (usually with a tint of yellow in it, or sometimes a light brown, as in the case of the picture " The Pool of London "). His method of work was to paint first with bright 152 VI CAT COLE'S LIFE AXD WORKS. transparent paints, and to allow the first coats to show through those laid on later. The bright lights he laid on thickly, as also his skies, using the palette- knife and thumb in the execution of the latter. His palette in general use was a small square one, about 10 inches by 6 inches. He usually made a separate drawing in charcoal on a canvas (often the same size as the picture would be) before beginning a painting. Sometimes he painted in, in brown and white, all the light and shade of a picture, painting over this afterwards in colour. His brushes were of the usual description of hog- tools (square and round), and included some long- haired hogs, with some of the bristles cut out, and then the hairs slightly curved. This brush was his usual one in finishing; foliage, and was used in preference to the fan-shaped brush. He also used long-haired riggers and sables. Most of his sketches for pictures were done in water-colour (body colour with Reeves' wax water- colour magilp). In later life he regretted having made finished water-colours in body colour, saying he preferred the breadth of a pure wash drawing. PRINTED BY CASSELL & CO., LIMITED. LUDGATE HILL. LONDON. E.C. GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 3 3125 01203 7558