| Description | Letter dated 27 February 1869 to Macdonald from George Reid, R.S.A., Hotel d'Isly, Rue Jacob 29, Paris, with thanks for newspapers sent to him giving news of art: 'they are so loud and strong in their praise of what after all is but very poor art. There are a few fellows of the right sort in Edinburgh, who are really searching in earnest after the truth - Cameron, Chalmers, and McTaggart perhaps exhaust the list … What can be said of Scottish art when its representatives the academy delights to confer their honours upon a Ross and a Cameron in the same breath - these two are wide as the poles asunder', visit to see what Maris was preparing for the Salon, description and sketch of painting of mother with sick child, with an effort to describe the odd light effects in the painting, 'although the picture is fine it is queer, and almost defiant of all tradition or precedent', description and sketch of the other painting, a corner in 'an old church close by Montmartre', 'very curious', 'that same defiant unusual look about it', Wallis' purchases from Artz, Artz is much influenced by Israels, Macdonald would not like either Kaememerer or Pinchard: both are well taught, but lack a feeling for colour, description of their drawings for the Salon, criticism of the Parisian art education process, Aubert is better, Reid's French is still not good, 'Why have you such a longing desire to have a nude figure? for my own part I cant see where the beauty lies', the models at the atelier are not worth looking at, when a new one comes along she will wait until the model being drawn is resting, then undress and stand up to be examined, account of a smartly dressed young woman doing the same: 'she stripped to the skin and stood up on the platform before nearly a score of young fellows to be looked at and criticised round and round … It is simply disgusting', visit from Longmuir, not in a rush for money that Macdonald has for him. |