THE INFLUENCE OF WITLEY
It will be readily understood that such a beneficial change in her life
surroundings as that from Trafalgar Square, Chelsea, to Sandhills,
Witley, was not without its effect upon Mrs. Allingham's Art. Hitherto
her work had, by the exigencies of fortune, lain almost wholly and
entirely in the direction of the figure. It was studio work, done for
the most part under pressure of time, the selection of subject being
none of hers, and therefore oftentimes altogether unsympathetic.
Finding herself now in the presence of Nature of a kind that appealed
to her, and which she could appreciate untrammelled by any conditions,
it is not surprising that--unwittingly, no doubt, at first--the
preference was given to that side of Art which presented itself under
so much more favourable conditions.
The delight of painting _en plein air_ had first been tasted at Shere
in the spring and summer of 1878, where she was passionately happy in
watching the changes and developments of the seasons, being in the
fields, lanes, and copses all day and every day.[9] Almost as full a
feast had followed at Haslemere in 1880. When these were succeeded by
a permanent residence in front of Nature, studio work became more and
more trying and unsatisfactory.
To most people of an artistic temperament the abandonment of the
figure for landscape would never have been the subject of a moment's
consideration, for it would have appeared to them the desertion of
a higher for a lower grade of Art. But from the time of her arrival
in the country there seems to have never been any doubt in Mrs.
Allingham's mind as to the direction which her Art should take. The
pleasure to which we have referred of sitting down in the open air
before Nature, whose aspects and moods she could select at her own
will, and at her own time, was infinitely preferable to the toil and
trouble of either illustrating the ideas of others, or building up
scenes, oftentimes improbable ones, of her own creation. From this
time onwards, then, we find her drifting away from the figure, but not
altogether, or at once, for as her family grew up, scenes in her house
life passed across her view which she enjoyed to place on record, and
for which the world thanks her: scenes of infant life in the nursery,
such as "Pat-a-cake" and "The Children's Tea"; in the schoolroom, such
as "Lessons"; and out of school hours, such as "Bubbles" and "The
Children's Maypole." In one and all of these it is her own family who
are the chief actors.
The portrayal of her children in heads of a larger size than her usual
work was at this time seen by friends and others, who pressed upon
her commissions for effigies of their own little ones, a branch of
work which promptly drew down upon her the disapproval of Ruskin, who
wrote: "I am indeed sorrowfully compelled to express my regret that she
should have spent unavailing pains in finishing single heads, which are
at the best uninteresting miniatures, instead of fulfilling her true
gift, and doing what the Lord made her for in representing the gesture,
character, and humour of charming children in country landscapes."
But this change naturally did not pass over her work all at once,
or even in a single year. Mrs. Allingham's presentations of the
countryside commenced in earnest shortly after her settling down at
Witley in 1881; but as will be seen by the dates of the pictures which
illustrate this chapter, the figure as the dominant feature continues
for another six years; in fact, during the whole of her seven and a
half years at Witley we find it now and again, and do not part with
it as such until 1890. Since then hardly a single example has come
from her brush. Mrs. Allingham gives as her reason for the change that
she came to the conclusion that she could put as much interest into a
figure two or three inches high as in one three times as large, and
that she could paint it better; for in painting large figures out of
doors it was always a difficulty in making them look anything else than
they were, namely, "posing models."
But if the figure ceases to occupy the foremost position, it is still
there, and is always present to add a charming vitality to all that
she does. To people a landscape with figures, of captivating mien,
each taking its proper position, and each adding to the interest of
the whole, is a gift which is the property of but few landscapists. It
is indeed a gift, for we have before us the example of the greatest
landscapist of all, who the more he strove the more he failed. But
it is a gift which we believe many more might obtain by strenuous
endeavour. It is always a matter of surprise to the ignorant public
how it comes to pass that an artist who can draw nature admirably
should never attempt to learn the draftsmanship of the human figure,
by the omission of which from his work he deprives it of half its
interest and value. He often goes a step further, and shows not his
inability but his indolence by producing picture after picture, upon
the face of which no single instance occurs of the introduction of
man, beast, or bird, save and except a single unpretentious creature
of the lowest grade of the feathered creation; this, however, he
will draw sufficiently well to prove that he could, an he would,
double the interest in his landscapes. To the outsider this appears
incomprehensible in the person of those who apparently are thorough
artists, ardent in their profession. One meets such an one at table,
and even between the courses he cannot refrain from taking out his
pencil and covering the menu with his scribblings; but the same man
appears before Nature without a note-book, in which he might be storing
so many jottings, which would be of untold value to his work.
Mrs. Allingham's case has been the entire contrary to this; she has, I
will not say toiled, for the garnering must be a pleasure, but stored,
many a time and oft, for future use, a mass of valuable material, so
that she is never at a loss for the right adjunct to fit the right
place. Her so doing was, in the first instance, due entirely to her
husband. He said, truly, that the introduction of animals and birds,
in fact, any form of life, gave scale and interest to a picture, and
he urged her to begin making studies from the first. There is not the
slightest doubt that she owed very much to him that habit of thinking
out fitting figures, as she has always tried, and with exceptional
success, as accessories to every landscape.
Her sketch-books, consequently, are full not only of men, women, and
children, and their immediate belongings, but of most of the animal
life which follows in their train. I say "most," because for some
reason, which I have not elicited from her, she has preferences.
Horses, cattle, and sheep she will have but little of, only
occasionally introducing them in distant hay or harvest fields. The
only instances of anything akin to either in this book are the animals
in "The Goat Carriage," and "The Donkey Ride." Nor will she have much
to say to dogs, but for cats she has a great fondness, and they
animate a large number of her scenes. Fowls, pigeons, and the like she
paints to the life, and she apparently is thoroughly acquainted with
their habits; but other winged creatures, save an occasional robin, she
avoids. Rabbits, wild and tame, she often introduces.
Her pictures being always typical of repose, she avoids much motion
in her figures. Her children even, seldom indulge in violent action,
unlike those of Birket Foster, who run races down hill, use the
skipping-rope, fly kites, and urge the horses in the lane out of their
accustomed foots-pace.
* * * * *
As typical examples of the drawings made in the early days at Witley,
and whilst the figure was the main object, we have selected the
following:--
[Illustration:
23. THE CHILDREN'S TEA
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mr. W. Hollins._
Painted 1882.]
This is the most important, and, to my mind, the most delightful of any
of Mrs. Allingham's creations; quite individual, and quite unlike the
work of any one else. Not only is the subject a charming one, but the
actors in it all hold one's attention. It is certainly destined in the
future to hold a high place among the examples of English water-colour
art.
The scene is laid in Mrs. Allingham's dining-room at Sandhills, Witley,
and contains portraits of her children. The incidents are slight but
original. The mother is handing a cup of tea, but no one notices it,
for the eldest girl's attention is taken up with the old cat lapping
its milk, her younger sister, with her back to the window, is occupied
in feeding her doll, propped up against a cup, from a large bowl of
bread and milk, and the two other children are attracted to a sulphur
butterfly which has just alighted on a glass of lilies of the valley.
The _etceteras_ are painted as beautifully as the bigger objects;
note, for instance, the bowl of daffodils on the old oak cupboard, the
china on the table, and even the buns and the preserves. The whole
is suffused with the warmth of a spring afternoon, the season being
ascertainable by the budding trees outside, and the spring flowers
inside. Exception may be taken to the faces not being more in shadow
from a light which, although reflected from the tablecloth, is
apparently behind them, and to the tablecloth being whiter than the
sky, which it would not be. The fact, as regards the former, is that
the faces were also lit from a window behind the spectator, whilst the
latter is a permissible licence.
[Illustration:
24. THE STILE
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mr. Alfred Shuttleworth._
Painted 1883.]
The effort of negotiating a country stile, such as the one here
depicted, which has no aids in the way of subsidiary steps, always
induces a desire to rest by the way. Especially is this the case when a
well-worn top affords a substantial seat. Time is evidently of little
importance to the two sisters, for they have lingered in the hazel
copse gathering hyacinths and primroses. Besides, the little one has
asserted her right to a meal, and that would of itself be a sufficient
excuse for lingering on the journey. The dog seems of the same way of
thinking, and is evidently eagerly weighing the chances as to how much
of the slice of bread and butter will fall to its share.
The drawing is a rich piece of colouring, but the hedgerow bank,
with its profusion and variety of flowers, shows just that lack of a
restraining hand which is so evident in Mrs. Allingham's fully-matured
work. It was painted entirely in the open air, close to Sandhills, and
the model who sat for the little child is now the artist's housemaid.
[Illustration:
25. "PAT-A-CAKE"
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Sir F. Wigan, Bt._
Painted 1884.]
This drawing, although painted later than "The Children's Tea," would
seem to be the prelude to a set in which practically the same figures
take a part.
The motive here, as in all Mrs. Allingham's subjects, is of the
simplest kind. The young girl reads from nursery rhymes that
time-honoured one of "Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker's Man." It is
apparently her younger brother's first introduction to the bye-play of
patting, which should accompany its recitation, for the child regards
the performance with some doubt, and has to be trained by the nurse as
to how its hands should be manœuvred.
The drawing is full of details, such as the workbox, scissors, thimble,
primroses, and anemones in the bowl, the china in the cupboard, and
the coloured engraving on the wall, which, as we have seen in the case
of other painters who have practised it, opens up in fuller maturity a
power of painting which is never possible to those who have neglected
such an education.
[Illustration:
26. LESSONS
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mr. C. P. Johnson._
Painted 1885.]
The relations between the teacher and the taught appear to be somewhat
strained this summer morning, for the little girl in pink is evidently
at fault with her lessons, and the boy, while presumably figuring up a
sum on his slate, has his eyes and ears open for a break in the silence
which fills the room for the moment. However, in a short time it will
be halcyon weather for all the actors, for the sun is streaming in at
the window, the roses show that it is high summer, and a day on which
the sternest teacher could not condemn the most intractable child to
lengthy indoor imprisonment.
This drawing is of the same importance as regards size as "The
Children's Tea," and is full of charm in every part.
[Illustration:
27. BUBBLES
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mr. H. B. Beaumont._
Painted 1886.]
Lessons are over, a stool has been brought from the schoolroom, the
kitchen has been invaded, and the dish of soapsuds having been placed
upon it the fun has begun. Who, that has enjoyed it, will forget the
acrid taste of the long new churchwarden (where do the children of the
present day find such pipes if they ever condescend to the fascinating
game of bubble-blowing?) that one naturally sucked away at long before
the watery compound was ready, the still more pungent taste of the
household soap, the delight of seeing the first iridescent globe
detach itself from the pipe and float upwards on the still air, or of
raising a hundred globules by blowing directly into the basin, as the
smocked youngster is doing here. Such joys countervailed the smarts
which befell one's eyes when the burst bubble scattered its fragments
into them, or when the suds came to an end, not through their
dissipation into air, but over one's clothes.
[Illustration:
28. ON THE SANDS--SANDOWN, ISLE OF WIGHT
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mrs. Francis Black._
Painted about 1886.]
The family of young children that was now growing up round our artist
naturally necessitated the summer holiday assuming a visit to the
seaside, and much of Mrs. Allingham's time was, no doubt, spent on the
shore in their company. It is little matter for surprise that this
pleasure was combined with that of welding them into pictures; and, if
an excuse must be made for Mrs. Allingham oftentimes robing her little
girls in pink, it is to be found in the fact that the models were
almost invariably her own children, who were so attired. It certainly
will not be one of the least agreeable incidents for those who saunter
over the illustrations of this volume to distinguish them and trace
their growth from the cradle onwards, until they pass out of the stage
of child models.
This drawing was painted on the shore at Sandown, Isle of Wight, where
the detritus of the Culver chalk cliffs afforded, in combination with
the sand, splendid material for the early achievements in architecture
and estate planning which used to yield so healthy an occupation to
youngsters.
It was a hazardous task to attempt success with such a variety of tones
of white as here presented themselves, but the result is entirely
satisfactory. In fact the drawing shows how readily and with what
success the painter took up another phase of outdoor work, not easy
of accomplishment. In those collections which include these seashore
subjects they single themselves out from all their neighbours by the
aptitude with which figures and a limpid sea are painted in sunshine.
This, again, is no doubt due to their having been entirely out-of-doors
work.
[Illustration:
29. DRYING CLOTHES
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mr. C. P. Johnson._
Painted 1886.]
This important drawing, in which the figure is on a large scale,
makes one regret that Mrs. Allingham abandoned her portraiture, for a
more captivating life study it is hard to imagine. Flattery
apart, one may say that Frederick Walker never drew a more ideal
figure or conceived a more charming colour scheme. The only feature
which would perhaps have been omitted from a later work is that of
the foxgloves in the corner, which appears to be rather an artificial
introduction. The note of the little child behind the gate is charming.
It is evidently not allowed to wander in the field, although the
well-worn path shows that here is the main road to the cottage, and it
feels that a joy is denied it not to be allowed to participate in the
ceremony of gathering in of the family washing, as it was in younger
days when the clothes were hung out.
[Illustration:
30. HER MAJESTY'S POST OFFICE
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mr. H. B. Beaumont._
Painted 1887.]
This, at the time it was painted, was the only Post Office of which
Bowler's Green, near Haslemere, boasted, and from its appearance it
might well have served during the reigns of several of Her Majesty's
predecessors. It speaks much for the absence of ill-disposed persons
in the neighbourhood that letters were for so long entrusted to its
care, as it seems far removed from the days of the scarlet funnel which
probably now replaces it. I opine that the young gentleman whom we saw
a short while ago engaged in bubble-blowing has been entrusted here
with the posting of a letter.
[Illustration:
31. THE CHILDREN'S MAYPOLE
_From the Water-colour in the possession of Mrs. Dobson._
Painted 1886.]
May Day still lingers in some parts of the country, for only last year
in an out-of-the-way lane in Northamptonshire the writer encountered a
band of children decked in flowers, and their best frocks and ribbons,
singing an old May ditty. But lovers have long ago ceased to plant
trees before their mistresses' doors, and to dance with them afterwards
round the maypole on the village green, which we too are old enough to
remember in Leicestershire. The ceremony that Mrs. Allingham's children
are taking a part in was doubtless the recognition by a poet of his
illustrious predecessor Spenser's exhortation:--
Youths folke now flocken in everywhere
To gather May baskets, and smelling briere;
And home they hasten, the postes to dight
With hawthorne buds, and sweet eglantine,
And girlonds of roses, and soppes in wine.
The scene is laid in the woods at Witley.