Mr. Abbey has invariably practiced what he advises other artists to do.
Before beginning the decorative paintings for the delivery room of the
Boston Library, he spent many months traveling in Italy, collecting
information which might aid him in the paintings of the Holy Grail. But
in the end he decided that the scene should not be in Italy at all,
and his effort went for nothing, as far as that particular series
was concerned. He spent four years of unsurpassable toil, study and
application in completing the first five of the pictures, and when
they were done the public was not slow to appreciate the effort he
had evidently put forth. Mr. Abbey could not have chosen a subject
more worthy of his talent. He has confidence in his ideas of what is
best in art, is full of mediæval feeling, and is endowed,—in spite of
his sunny, hopeful temperament,—with an appreciation of the tragedy
underlying so much of human life. In historical pictures, he considers
no toil too great to make sure of accuracy, and his university training
has been of the greatest assistance to him in his work.
“No artist can be too well educated,” he said, during my conversation
with him; “every bit of information is sure to be of use to him sooner
or later, in one painting or another.
“I am glad,” he said, “if I can encourage anyone to hard work, for
surely that is the chief aid to success in any career. The young person
who believes that an artist’s life is a bed of roses, and that he needs
only to ply the brush a few hours each day, is mistaken. He must be
scholarly by nature, must have a wide and minute acquaintance with art,
and must never consider that he has learned it all if he hopes for
lasting fame. I might add that he must also have earnest convictions
regarding his work, and the courage to carry them out. Given these
qualifications, combined with talent, of course, any person should
succeed as well in the field of art as in any other profession,
providing he is willing to give a reasonable time to study and
preparation. Although the world may call him master, the true artist
will never regard himself as other than a student.”