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Robert Louis Stevenson-Part27_Alexander H.Japp(1839-1905)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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holding the constant cigarette an inseparableassociate and

accompaniment.



He acknowledged himself that he was a difficult subject to paint -

not at all a good sitter - impatient and apt to rebel at posing and



time spent in arrangement of details - a fact he has himself, as we

shall see, set on record in his funny verses to Count Nerli, who



painted as successful a portrait as any. The little miniature,

full-length, by Mr J. S. Sarjent, A.R.A., which was painted at



Bournemouth in 1885, is confessedly a mere sketch and much of a

caricature: it is in America. Sir W. B. Richmond has an



unfinished portrait, painted in 1885 or 1886 - it has never passed

out of the hands of the artist, - a photogravure from it is our



frontispiece.

There is a medallion done by St Gauden's, representing Stevenson in



bed propped up by pillows. It is thought to be a pretty good

likeness, and it is now in Mr Sidney Colvin's possession. Others,



drawings, etc., are not of much account.

And now we come to the Nerli portrait, of which so much has been



written. Stevenson himself regarded it as the best portrait of him

ever painted, and certainly it also is characteristic and



effective, and though not what may be called a pleasant likeness,

is probably a good representation of him in the later years of his



life. Count Nerli actuallyundertook a voyage to Samoa in 1892,

mainly with the idea of painting this portrait. He and Stevenson



became great friends, as Stevenson naively tells in the verses we

have already referred to, but even this did not quite overcome



Stevenson's restlessness. He avenged himself by composing these

verses as he sat:



Did ever mortal man hear tell o' sic a ticklin' ferlie

As the comin' on to Apia here o' the painter Mr Nerli?



He cam'; and, O, for o' human freen's o' a' he was the pearlie -

The pearl o' a' the painter folk was surely Mr Nerli.



He took a thraw to paint mysel'; he painted late and early;

O wow! the many a yawn I've yawned i' the beard o' Mr Nerli.



Whiles I wad sleep and whiles wad wake, an' whiles was mair than

surly;



I wondered sair as I sat there fornent the eyes o' Nerli.

O will he paint me the way I want, as bonnie as a girlie?



O will he paint me an ugly tyke? - and be d-d to Mr Nerli.

But still an' on whichever it be, he is a canty kerlie,



The Lord protect the back an' neck o' honest Mr Nerli.

Mr Hammerton gives this account of the Nerli portrait:



"The history of the Nerli portrait is peculiar. After being

exhibited for some time in New Zealand it was bought, in the course



of this year, by a lady who was travelling there, for a hundred

guineas. She then offered it for that sum to the Scottish National



Portrait Gallery; but the Trustees of the Board of Manufactures -

that oddly named body to which is entrusted the fostering care of



Art in Scotland, and, in consequence, the superintendence of the

National Portrait Gallery - did not see their way to accept the



offer. Some surprise has been expressed at the action of the

Trustees in thus declining to avail themselves of the opportunity



of obtaining the portrait of one of the most distinguished Scotsmen

of recent times. It can hardly have been for want of money, for



though the funds at their disposal for the purchase of ordinary

works of art are but limited, no longer ago than last year they



were the recipients of a very handsome legacy from the late Mr J.

M. Gray, the accomplished and much lamented Curator of the Scottish



National Portrait Gallery - a legacy left them for the express

purpose of acquiring portraits of distinguished Scotsmen, and the



income of which was amply sufficient to have enabled them to

purchase this portrait. One is therefore almost shut up to the



conclusion that the Trustees were influenced in their decision by

one of the two following reasons:



"1. That they did not consider Stevenson worthy of a place in the

gallery. This is a position so incomprehensible and so utterly



opposed to public sentiment that one can hardly credit it having

been the cause of this refusal. Whatever may be the place which



Stevenson may ultimately take as an author, and however opinions

may differ as to the merits of his work, no one can deny that he



was one of the most popular writers of his day, and that as a mere

master of style, if for nothing else, his works will be read so






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