exist, so
long as good and evil are leading forces of life. They are the aphides
on the rose of art. But the men and women I speak of as ARTISTS are
those who work day and night to attain even a small degree of
perfection, and who are never satisfied with their own best efforts. I
was one of these some years ago, and I humbly assert myself still to be
of the same disposition; only the difference between myself then and
myself now is, that THEN I struggled blindly and despairingly, and NOW
I labour patiently and with calmness, knowing positively that I shall
obtain what I seek at the duly appointed hour. I was educated as a
painter, mademoiselle, by my father, a good, simple-hearted man, whose
little landscapes looked like bits cut out of the actual field and
woodland, so fresh and pure were they. But I was not content to follow
in the plain path he first taught me to tread. Merely correct drawing,
merely correct colouring, were not sufficient for my ambition. I had
dazzled my eyes with the loveliness of Correggio's 'Madonna,' and had
marvelled at the wondrous blue of her robe--a blue so deep and intense
that I used to think one might scrape away the paint till a hole was
bored in the canvas and yet not reach the end of that fathomless azure
tint; I had studied the warm hues of Titian; I had felt ready to float
away in the air with the marvellous 'Angel of the Annunciation'--and
with all these thoughts in me, how could I content myself with the
ordinary aspiration of modern artists? I grew absorbed in one
subject--Colour. I noted how lifeless and pale the colouring of to-day
appeared beside that of the old masters, and I meditated deeply on the
problem thus presented to me. What was the secret of Correggio--of Fra
Angelico--of Raphael? I tried various experiments; I bought the most
expensive and highly guaranteed pigments. In vain, for they were all
adulterated by the dealers! Then I obtained colours in the rough, and
ground and mixed them myself; still, though a little better result was
obtained, I found trade adulteration still at work with the oils, the
varnishes, the mediums--in fact, with everything that painters use to
gain effect in their works. I could nowhere escape from vicious
dealers, who, to gain a miserable percentage on every article sold, are
content to be among the most dishonest men in this dishonest age.

"I assure you, mademoiselle, that not one of the pictures which are now
being painted for the salo