1. Matthew White Ridley, The miner, engraved by Eugène Froment, in The Graphic 13 (15 April 1876), p. 376. The print belongs to the series Heads of the people. The estate has two copies. Ill. 1278 [1278]. (t*123; and t*469).
[1278]
2. Van Gogh is referring to the series of engravings ‘Types of beauty’, which was published in 1880-1882 as a supplement to The Graphic; it included portrait no. 1 by Frank Dicksee (Ill. 1993 [1993]) and no. 6 by Frederick Leighton, engraved by Charles Roberts (Ill. 1994 [1994]). See The Graphic 22 (28 August 1880), between pp. 221 and 222, and The Graphic 24 (24 December 1881), between pp. 650 and 651, respectively. The sheet Types of beauty, No. 1 – Mrs. Braddyll, after a painting by Joshua Reynolds, had served as the frontispiece for the ninth volume of The Graphic (3 January 1874), Supplement; nos. 4 (Edwin Long) and 5 (J.J. Tissot, in colour) were in volume 24. The current volumes 25 and 26 (1882) contained no. 7 (Paul Baudry), no. 8 (Henri Lévy) and no. 9 (G.A. Storey).
[1993] [1994]
3. Matthew White Ridley, The East London Hospital for children, engraved by Joseph Swain, in The Illustrated London News 60 (27 April 1872), pp. 408-409. Ill. 1276 [1276].
[1276]
4. Hubert von Herkomer.
5. These words are Van Gogh’s own; they are not found in Herkomer’s article – of which Van Gogh only had Van Rappard’s extract (see letter 278).
6. The series ‘Bavarian sketches’ consisted of nine prints that appeared in The Graphic in December 1871 to April 1878. Some of them are in the estate: A wood carving school in the Bavarian Alps, in The Graphic 4 (2 December 1871), p. 549. Ill. 161 [161] (t*164); A Wirtshaus, engraved by Eugène Froment, in The Graphic 11 (30 January 1875), p. 112. Ill. 183 [183] (t*92); Auf der Alm (In the Alps), in The Graphic 11 (27 March 1875), p. 297. Ill. 1995 [1995] (t*461); and Sketches in the Bavarian Alps – Arrest of a poacher, engraved by Charles Roberts, in The Graphic 7 (17 May 1873), p. 465. Ill. 159 [159] (t*460).
[161] [183] [1995] [159]
7. For Richard Caton Woodville (ii), The state of Ireland: distributing relief tickets in the turf-market, Westport, County Mayo [1972], see letter 278, n. 11.
[1972]
8. Van Gogh most probably means the print after Howard Pyle’s Christmas morning in Old New York, in Harper’s Weekly 24 (25 December 1880), pp. 828-829; it is mentioned in letter 346. Ill. 1224 [1224].
[1224]
9. In his article Herkomer disparages the virtuosity of the engravers for American magazines like Harper’s Weekly because they steal the limelight from the original draughtsman: ‘You marvel at the handling of the engraver, and forget the artist. Correct or honest drawing is no longer wanted; complete designs are no longer in request; a “bit,” just covering an awkward corner of the page, is all that is required. And if the dress of a lady hangs into the letter-press, or a tree grows out of the margin of the drawing, breaking the margin line, people are made to believe that it is the newest and most enlightened style of illustration’ (Herkomer 1882, p. 167, col. 2).
10. Woodville travelled as an illustrator to the Russo-Turkish War in 1878 and to the Egyptian War for The Illustrated London News in 1882. He also painted military scenes.
11. Dickens first visited America in 1842. His calls for an Anglo-American copyright law put an end to the enthusiasm with which he was initially greeted. The American press turned against him and he was accused of being the mouthpiece of British publishers. Dickens incorporated his experiences, and his objections to such things as slavery, in the satirical ‘American chapters’ of Martin Chuzzlewit (which appeared in book form in 1850). In the preface Dickens wrote about the earlier clashes with the Americans. When he also published American notes, which included an attack on the American press, irritation escalated into a wrangle that would continue for 25 years.
When Dickens was preparing for a new visit for a series of readings in 1867, he toned down his pronouncements in a foreword he wrote to Martin Chuzzlewit, which was being published in American newspapers. Through this conciliatory gesture he won over public opinion and the tour was a success. See Martin Chuzzlewit. Ed. Margaret Cardwell. Oxford 1982, pp. 855-856; Dickens on America & the Americans. Ed. Michael Slater. Austin and London 1978; and Sidney P. Moss, Charles Dickens’ quarrel with America. New York 1984.
In The life of Charles Dickens (1871-1873) John Forster deals with this matter at length, especially in vol. 1, chapter 19: ‘First Impressions of America’ and 20: ‘Second Impressions of America’; vol. 2, chapter 3: ‘Chuzzlewit disappointments & Christmas Carol’; and vol. 3, chapter 15: ‘America Revisited. November and December, 1867’ and 16: ‘America Revisited. January to April, 1868’. Van Gogh knew this biography, which was included as the last volume in the Household Edition of Ch. Dickens, Works. With illustrations. 22 vols. London 1877-1880: see letter 280.
12. Matt. 13:29.
13. The word ‘saleable’ would have been suggested by what Herkomer expects from the artist: ‘an independent spirit that is free from the anxiety of sale’ (Herkomer 1882, p. 168, col. 2).
14. The ‘Zevende tentoonstelling van teekeningen door de gewone- en eereleden van de Hollandsche Teeken-Maatschappij’ (Seventh exhibition of drawings by the ordinary and honorary members of the Dutch Drawing Society), held at the Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague; see letters 256 and 257. The term ‘Pictura’ comes from the earlier name of the academy, ‘De schildersconfrerie Pictura’. See Johan Gram, De schildersconfrerie Pictura en hare Academie van Beeldende Kunsten te ’s Gravenhage, 1682-1882. Rotterdam 1882. For the Hollandsche Teeken-Maatschappij, see letter 256, n. 8.
15. Jozef Israëls; Albert or Jozef Neuhuys; Jacob or Willem Maris; Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch.
16. A literal reference to Herkomer; see letter 278, n. 3.
17. Herkomer writes ‘Effect is the one aim’: see Herkomer 1882, p. 167, col. 2.
18. For this expression, see letter 234, n. 4.
19. For Arti’s refusal of Van Rappard’s work, see letter 268, n. 11.
20. Particularly at the beginning of his career, Charles Degroux was fiercely criticized for his realistic paintings of scenes of misery. See exhib. cat. Ypres 1995, pp. 21-32.
a. Means: ‘belasterd’ (despised).
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