He worked with all his marvellous energy, collecting pictures,
directing their hanging, soothing artists whose canvases were not
placed to their liking, making out the catalogue, and arranging all the
details which in such a connection are fatiguing and well-nigh
innumerable.
The exhibition was opened on Wednesday evening with a reception to
ladies, and by nine o'clock the gallery began to fill. Fenton had
decorated the rooms a little, chiefly with live pampas grass and palms
and India-rubber trees. It is difficult to see how mankind in the
nineteenth century could exist without the India-rubber tree. If that
plant were destroyed, civilization would be left gasping, helpless and
crippled; and of late years, not content with making it serviceable in
every department of practical life, men have brought the shrub into the
domain of aesthetics by using it for decorative purposes.
The collection of paintings was an interesting one, made up of the work
of the best artists in town. Fenton had spared no pains either in
procuring what he wanted, or in arranging the gallery. The _Fatima_
hung in a position of honor opposite the main entrance. The selection
of so prominent a place for his own work offended Fenton's taste, and
annoyed him with an uncomfortable sense of how strongly the picture was
in evidence. The exigencies of hanging, and the fact that the canvas
was the most important one in the room forced him to place it as he
did; and Bently, whom he called to his assistance, laughed at his
scruples.
Pages:
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332