Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 6).djvu/125

lay the bricks. But he vanished into thin air.

Studies for the child in "The Casuals."

In 1877 Mr. Fildes painted "Playmates," a strong and marked change from his previous work. In 1878 there was no picture in the Academy. He was in Venice.

"I had visited Venice previously in 1874," he said, "when I made my first visit to the Continent. It was there that I saw my artistic ideal of all that was beautiful. At first I was disappointed. I went there hot after painting 'The Casuals'—I was steeped in Casuals—and I did not find the Queen of the Adriatic as Turner and Byron defined it. But the squalor was soon transformed into the romantic, the gay and buoyant. It took my fancy, and I made up my mind to some time come and paint there. This opportunity came in 1878, and I soon began to flirt with Venetian art. I think my experience in this glorious city influenced me very much in my choice of a subject for the Academy of '79. Now, I always work best if I have a definite motive in my mind. 'The Return of the Prodigal' had been painted again and again—the picture of the man returning home once more was known; but what would be the attitude towards a poor woman under like circumstances? how would she be treated? Then people were beginning to chide me. Why were my pictures always so gloomy? How could I expect such subjects to go with the curtains in the drawing-room? So I thought I would paint a strong dramatic picture in pleasant places.

"One day I was in a Berkshire village. Whilst talking to an old dame at her door, I noticed a pale-faced girl walking along the path. When anybody came along she crossed to the other side; she cast her eyes upon the ground, and people looked her up and down. She seemed to tremble beneath their gaze.

"'Who is that?' I asked.

"'That's Mary Brown, sir. She's just come out of Reading Gaol!'

"'What for?'

"'Well, sir—well, she had a baby, and—and it died. and it died. This is her first day home!"

"That gave me the idea for 'The Penitent.' So I painted the home-coming of the prodigal daughter, the village and the villagers, the woman who knew all about her as she looked upon the form of the poor girl who, in an agony of grief and despair at finding the old cottage deserted, sinks down upon the threshold. But, somehow, few people saw my point. I don't think Piccadilly liked it, though it was a big success in other places. I was going to call it 'The Return of a Prodigal'; but the gentleman for whom I painted it insisted that there was no such thing as a Prodigal Daughter!"

"The Village Wedding" was exhibited in 1883. In 1883—84—85 Mr. Fildes made considerable stays in Venice, painting many pictures, chief amongst them being a large one for Mr. John Aird, one now in the possession of the Corporation of Manchester, "A Venetian Flower Girl," which hangs in the Schwabe Gallery, Hamburg, "The Daughter of the Lagoons," etc., etc., and since then he has been much engaged in portraiture.

Then came the story of "The Doctor," which is reproduced in these pages for the first time in any publication.

"Some six or seven years ago," Mr. Fildes said, "I met Mr. Henry Tate.