It was not till four years after Strickland's death that Maurice Huret wrote that article in the Mercure de France which rescued the unknown painter from oblivion and blazed the trail which succeeding writers, with more or less docility22, have followed. For a long time no critic has enjoyed in France a more incontestable authority, and it was impossible not to be impressed by the claims he made; they seemed extravagant23; but later judgments24 have confirmed his estimate, and the reputation of Charles Strickland is now firmly established on the lines which he laid down. The rise of this reputation is one of the most romantic incidents in the history of art. But I do not propose to deal with Charles Strickland's work except in so far as it touches upon his character. I cannot agree with the painters who claim superciliously25 that the layman26 can understand nothing of painting, and that he can best show his appreciation27 of their works by silence and a cheque-book. It is a grotesque28 misapprehension which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly29 only to the craftsman30: art is a manifestation31 of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand. But I will allow that the critic who has not a practical knowledge of technique is seldom able to say anything on the subject of real value, and my ignorance of painting is extreme. Fortunately, there is no need for me to risk the adventure, since my friend, Mr. Edward Leggatt, an able writer as well as an admirable painter, has exhaustively discussed Charles Strickland's work in a little book[1] which is a charming example of a style, for the most part, less happily cultivated in England than in France.
[1] "A Modern Artist: Notes on the Work of Charles Strickland," by Edward Leggatt, A.R.H.A. Martin Secker, 1917.
Maurice Huret in his famous article gave an outline of Charles Strickland's life which was well calculated to whet32 the appetites of the inquiring. With his disinterested33 passion for art, he had a real desire to call the attention of the wise to a talent which was in the highest degree original; but he was too good a journalist to be unaware34 that the "human interest" would enable him more easily to effect his purpose. And when such as had come in contact with Strickland in the past, writers who had known him in London, painters who had met him in the cafes of Montmartre, discovered to their amazement35 that where they had seen but an unsuccessful artist, like another, authentic genius had rubbed shoulders with them there began to appear in the magazines of France and America a succession of articles, the reminiscences of one, the appreciation of another, which added to Strickland's notoriety, and fed without satisfying the curiosity of the public. The subject was grateful, and the industrious36 Weitbrecht-Rotholz in his imposing37 monograph[2] has been able to give a remarkable38 list of authorities.
[2] "Karl Strickland: sein Leben und seine Kunst," by Hugo Weitbrecht-Rotholz, Ph.D. Schwingel und Hanisch. Leipzig, 1914.
The faculty39 for myth is innate40 in the human race. It seizes with avidity upon any incidents, surprising or mysterious, in the career of those who have at all distinguished41 themselves from their fellows, and invents a legend to which it then attaches a fanatical belief. It is the protest of romance against the commonplace of life. The incidents of the legend become the hero's surest passport to immortality42. The ironic43 philosopher reflects with a smile that Sir Walter Raleigh is more safely inshrined in the memory of mankind because he set his cloak for the Virgin44 Queen to walk on than because he carried the English name to undiscovered countries. Charles Strickland lived obscurely. He made enemies rather than friends. It is not strange, then, that those who wrote of him should have eked45 out their scanty46 recollections with a lively fancy, and it is evident that there was enough in the little that was known of him to give opportunity to the romantic scribe; there was much in his life which was strange and terrible, in his character something outrageous47, and in his fate not a little that was pathetic. In due course a legend arose of such circumstantiality that the wise historian would hesitate to attack it.
But a wise historian is precisely48 what the Rev21. Robert Strickland is not. He wrote his biography[3] avowedly49 to "remove certain misconceptions which had gained currency" in regard to the later part of his father's life, and which had "caused considerable pain to persons still living." It is obvious that there was much in the commonly received account of Strickland's life to embarrass a respectable family. I have read this work with a good deal of amusement, and upon this I congratulate myself, since it is colourless and dull. Mr. Strickland has drawn50 the portrait of an excellent husband and father, a man of kindly51 temper, industrious habits, and moral disposition52. The modern clergyman has acquired in his study of the science which I believe is called exegesis53 an astonishing facility for explaining things away, but the subtlety54 with which the Rev. Robert Strickland has "interpreted" all the facts in his father's life which a dutiful son might find it inconvenient55 to remember must surely lead him in the fullness of time to the highest dignities of the Church. I see already his muscular calves56 encased in the gaiters episcopal. It was a hazardous57, though maybe a gallant58 thing to do, since it is probable that the legend commonly received has had no small share in the growth of Strickland's reputation; for there are many who have been attracted to his art by the detestation in which they held his character or the compassion59 with which they regarded his death; and the son's well-meaning efforts threw a singular chill upon the father's admirers. It is due to no accident that when one of his most important works, The Woman of Samaria,[4] was sold at Christie's shortly after the discussion which followed the publication of Mr. Strickland's biography, it fetched POUNDS 235 less than it had done nine months before when it was bought by the distinguished collector whose sudden death had brought it once more under the hammer. Perhaps Charles Strickland's power and originality60 would scarcely have sufficed to turn the scale if the remarkable mythopoeic faculty of mankind had not brushed aside with impatience61 a story which disappointed all its craving62 for the extraordinary. And presently Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz produced the work which finally set at rest the misgivings63 of all lovers of art.
[3] "Strickland: The Man and His Work," by his son, Robert Strickland. Wm. Heinemann, 1913.
[4] This was described in Christie's catalogue as follows: "A nude64 woman, a native of the Society Islands, is lying on the ground beside a brook65. Behind is a tropical Landscape with palm-trees, bananas, etc. 60 in. x 48 in."
Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz belongs to that school of historians which believes that human nature is not only about as bad as it can be, but a great deal worse; and certainly the reader is safer of entertainment in their hands than in those of the writers who take a malicious66 pleasure in representing the great figures of romance as patterns of the domestic virtues67. For my part, I should be sorry to think that there was nothing between Anthony and Cleopatra but an economic situation; and it will require a great deal more evidence than is ever likely to be available, thank God, to persuade me that Tiberius was as blameless a monarch68 as King George V. Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz has dealt in such terms with the Rev. Robert Strickland's innocent biography that it is difficult to avoid feeling a certain sympathy for the unlucky parson. His decent reticence69 is branded as hypocrisy70, his circumlocutions are roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified71 as treachery. And on the strength of peccadillos, reprehensible72 in an author, but excusable in a son, the Anglo-Saxon race is accused of prudishness, humbug73, pretentiousness74, deceit, cunning, and bad cooking. Personally I think it was rash of Mr. Strickland, in refuting the account which had gained belief of a certain "unpleasantness" between his father and mother, to state that Charles Strickland in a letter written from Paris had described her as "an excellent woman," since Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz was able to print the letter in facsimile, and it appears that the passage referred to ran in fact as follows: God damn my wife. She is an excellent woman. I wish she was in hell. It is not thus that the Church in its great days dealt with evidence that was unwelcome.
Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz was an enthusiastic admirer of Charles Strickland, and there was no danger that he would whitewash75 him. He had an unerring eye for the despicable motive76 in actions that had all the appearance of innocence77. He was a psycho-pathologist, as well as a student of art, and the subconscious78 had few secrets from him. No mystic ever saw deeper meaning in common things. The mystic sees the ineffable79, and the psycho-pathologist the unspeakable. There is a singular fascination in watching the eagerness with which the learned author ferrets out every circumstance which may throw discredit80 on his hero. His heart warms to him when he can bring forward some example of cruelty or meanness, and he exults81 like an inquisitor at the auto82 da fe of an heretic when with some forgotten story he can confound the filial piety83 of the Rev. Robert Strickland. His industry has been amazing. Nothing has been too small to escape him, and you may be sure that if Charles Strickland left a laundry bill unpaid84 it will be given you in extenso, and if he forebore to return a borrowed half-crown no detail of the transaction will be omitted.
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1 discreet | |
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的 | |
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2 pompous | |
adj.傲慢的,自大的;夸大的;豪华的 | |
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3 authentic | |
a.真的,真正的;可靠的,可信的,有根据的 | |
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4 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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5 eccentricity | |
n.古怪,反常,怪癖 | |
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6 perversity | |
n.任性;刚愎自用 | |
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7 extol | |
v.赞美,颂扬 | |
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8 complement | |
n.补足物,船上的定员;补语;vt.补充,补足 | |
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9 disparagement | |
n.轻视,轻蔑 | |
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10 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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11 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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12 proffers | |
v.提供,贡献,提出( proffer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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14 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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15 aesthetic | |
adj.美学的,审美的,有美感 | |
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16 akin | |
adj.同族的,类似的 | |
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17 fascination | |
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋 | |
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18 riddle | |
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜 | |
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19 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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20 tormented | |
饱受折磨的 | |
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21 rev | |
v.发动机旋转,加快速度 | |
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22 docility | |
n.容易教,易驾驶,驯服 | |
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23 extravagant | |
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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24 judgments | |
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判 | |
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25 superciliously | |
adv.高傲地;傲慢地 | |
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26 layman | |
n.俗人,门外汉,凡人 | |
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27 appreciation | |
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨 | |
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28 grotesque | |
adj.怪诞的,丑陋的;n.怪诞的图案,怪人(物) | |
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29 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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30 craftsman | |
n.技工,精于一门工艺的匠人 | |
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31 manifestation | |
n.表现形式;表明;现象 | |
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32 whet | |
v.磨快,刺激 | |
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33 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
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34 unaware | |
a.不知道的,未意识到的 | |
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35 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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36 industrious | |
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的 | |
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37 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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38 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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39 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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40 innate | |
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的 | |
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41 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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42 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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43 ironic | |
adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的 | |
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44 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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45 eked | |
v.(靠节省用量)使…的供应持久( eke的过去式和过去分词 );节约使用;竭力维持生计;勉强度日 | |
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46 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
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47 outrageous | |
adj.无理的,令人不能容忍的 | |
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48 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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49 avowedly | |
adv.公然地 | |
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50 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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51 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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52 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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53 exegesis | |
n.注释,解释 | |
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54 subtlety | |
n.微妙,敏锐,精巧;微妙之处,细微的区别 | |
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55 inconvenient | |
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的 | |
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56 calves | |
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解 | |
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57 hazardous | |
adj.(有)危险的,冒险的;碰运气的 | |
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58 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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59 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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60 originality | |
n.创造力,独创性;新颖 | |
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61 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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62 craving | |
n.渴望,热望 | |
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63 misgivings | |
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕;疑虑,担心,恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 );疑惧 | |
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64 nude | |
adj.裸体的;n.裸体者,裸体艺术品 | |
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65 brook | |
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让 | |
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66 malicious | |
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
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67 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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68 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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69 reticence | |
n.沉默,含蓄 | |
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70 hypocrisy | |
n.伪善,虚伪 | |
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71 vilified | |
v.中伤,诽谤( vilify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72 reprehensible | |
adj.该受责备的 | |
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73 humbug | |
n.花招,谎话,欺骗 | |
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74 pretentiousness | |
n.矫饰;炫耀;自负;狂妄 | |
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75 whitewash | |
v.粉刷,掩饰;n.石灰水,粉刷,掩饰 | |
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76 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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77 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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78 subconscious | |
n./adj.潜意识(的),下意识(的) | |
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79 ineffable | |
adj.无法表达的,不可言喻的 | |
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80 discredit | |
vt.使不可置信;n.丧失信义;不信,怀疑 | |
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81 exults | |
狂喜,欢跃( exult的第三人称单数 ) | |
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82 auto | |
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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83 piety | |
n.虔诚,虔敬 | |
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84 unpaid | |
adj.未付款的,无报酬的 | |
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