'It is only when the work that I am on is in some degree mechanical
that I can talk while at work. These flowers, which were brought to
me this morning for my use in painting this picture, will very soon
wither, and I can put them into the picture without being disturbed
by talk; but if I were at work upon this face, if I were putting
dramatic expression into these eyes, I should have to be silent.'
He then went on talking upon art and poetry, letting fall at every
moment gems of criticism that would have made the fortune of a critic.
After a while, however, he threw down the brush and said,
'Sometimes I can paint with another man in the studio; sometimes I
can't.'