CHAPTER IX.

ROYAL ACADEMY, "BRACEBRIDGE HALL," ETC.

The "opinions of the press" on Washington Irving's _Old Christmas_, which Mr. J. D. Cooper, the wood engraver, is depicted reading to the artist with so much glee, were all that could be desired; and they fully justified the second venture (_Bracebridge Hall_), on which Caldecott was already engaged.

In February he was "painting a frieze for Mr. Pennington's drawing room" at Broome Hall, Holmwood, Sussex; and, later on, was "carving panels for a chimneypiece."

In this year, 1876, Caldecott exhibited his first painting in the Royal Academy, entitled, "There were Three Ravens sat on a Tree." The humour and vigour of the composition are well indicated in the sketch. It was hung rather out of sight, above (and in somewhat grim proximity with) a picture of "At Death's Door," by Hubert Herkomer. Both artists were then thirty years of age.

In the same room (Gallery V.) were collected that year, the works of painters whose names are familiar--W. B. Richmond, A. Gow, H. R. Robertson, E. H. Fahey, W. W. Ouless, Val C. Prinsep, Henry Moore, and others.

Besides "The Three Ravens" he exhibited in 1876 the metal bas-relief of a "Horse Fair in Brittany," reproduced opposite. This was a more masterful production than the picture, and attracted great attention in the Royal Academy Exhibition. It was mentioned in the _Times_ of that year, and in the _Saturday Review_, June 10th, 1876, we read:--

"Of low relief--taking the Elgin frieze as the standard--one of the purest examples we have seen for many a day is Mr. Caldecott's bas-relief, 'A Horse Fair in Brittany.' Here a simple and almost rude incident in nature has been brought within the laws and symmetry of art."

In 1876 Caldecott also produced a relief in metal of "A Boar Hunt," which was exhibited in the Grosvenor Gallery in 1878.

To the world at large and in the opinion of many critics, there was, in his Academy work of 1876, promise of an exceptionally successful career. Decorative design and modelling in relief were Caldecott's especial forte, and it is to be regretted that so few of these works remain to us. "The Horse Fair in Brittany," in the possession of the writer, is one of the few completed works of this character. He was not destined to be a prolific painter, although strongly urged at this time by members of the Royal Academy to devote his energies to painting. Neither his health nor his previous training justified his leaving a branch of art in which he was already becoming famous, that of book illustration.

In 1876 the system of reproducing sketches in pen and ink by photo-engraving became general in England, and in the pages of _Academy Notes_ of that year there appeared, for the first time, sketches by the painters of their exhibited works.

Amongst well-known artists--who powerfully aided in founding a system of illustration which was destined to spread over the world--were Sir John Gilbert, R.A., H. Stacy Marks, R.A., Marcus Stone, A.R.A., and, the comparatively young, Randolph Caldecott. The three first-named are masters in line each in his own style, and their methods were studied and imitated by many other painters in England to whom line drawing was then a sealed book. Several sketches of pictures in the _Academy Notes_, 1876, were drawn by Caldecott, including the portrait of Captain Burton, painted by Sir Frederick Leighton, P. R. A.

In June he made a series of illustrations, entitled "Christmas Visitors," for the _Graphic_ newspaper; and about this time the drawings for _Bracebridge Hall_ were finished.

In _Bracebridge Hall_ we meet the fair Julia again in one of the most graceful illustrations Caldecott ever drew. An extract from the text is necessary to show the subtle touch of the illustrator.

"I have derived much pleasure," says Washington Irving, "from observing the fair Julia and her lover.... I observed them yesterday in the garden advancing along one of the retired walks. The sun was shining with delicious warmth, making great masses of bright verdure and deep blue shade. The cuckoo, that harbinger of spring, was faintly heard from a distance; the thrush piped from the hawthorn, and the yellow butterflies sported, and toyed and coquetted in the air.

"The fair Julia was leaning on her lover's arm, listening to his conversation with her eyes cast down, a soft blush on her cheek and a quiet smile on her lips, while in the hand which hung negligently by her side was a bunch of flowers. In this way they were sauntering slowly along, and when I considered them, and the scenery in which they were moving, I could not but think it a thousand pities that the season should ever change or that young people should ever grow older, or that blossoms should give way to fruit or that lovers should ever get married." The harmony here between author and illustrator needs no comment.

There were 120 drawings made for _Bracebridge Hall_, remarkable for artistic qualities and fully sustaining the reputation of the artist.

The originals were drawn about one third larger, in pen and ink, photographed on wood and engraved in facsimile. The effect of many of the drawings in the first editions was injured by the want of margin on the printed page; but an _édition de luxe_ is now printed with _Old Christmas_ and _Bracebridge Hall_ in one volume.

As it is the object of this memoir to record facts--and as the originator of good ideas is seldom recognised--it should be stated here that it is owing to Mr. Cooper, the engraver, that Washington Irving's books were ever illustrated by Caldecott. The idea, he says in the preface, "has been delayed in execution for many years, mainly from the difficulty of finding an artist capable of identifying himself with the author;" modestly adding--"whether this result has now been attained or no, must be left to the verdict of the lovers of the gifted writer in both hemispheres."

The two next sketches mark with touching emphasis the serious change in Caldecott's health which took place in the autumn of this year.

In August he is writing from the country in high spirits as usual, and planning out much work for the future. _Bracebridge Hall_ was finished, and the success of _Old Christmas_ had brought him many commissions. His illustrations on wood had turned out well, being fortunate in his engravers, especially Mr. J. D. Cooper and Mr. Edmund Evans, who always rendered his work with sympathetic care. He may also be said to have been fortunate in his connection with the _Graphic_ newspaper under the direction of Mr. W. L. Thomas, the artist and wood engraver.

But alas! in the autumn of this year his health failed him, and in October he was advised to go to Buxton in Derbyshire.

On the 2nd November, 1876, he writes:--

"I am as above. Walking solemnly in the gardens, or sitting limply in the almost deserted saloon listening to an enfeebled band."

The result of that visit was a series of delightful sketches, which appeared in the _Graphic_ newspaper, the originals of which are in the possession of Mr. Samuel Pope, Q.C.