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Advice to young artist (in part)
by Sir Frederick Leighton
at the Royal Academy Banquet 1893
In brief, I do not believe - to change the metaphor - that they who, in our time, have wedded their lives to art have clasped to their breasts a lovely but lifeless corpse. To the very young then, I would fain offer one or two matters for thought, if, perchance, they will hearken to one who has grown old in unwavering sympathy with their struggles and doubts. I would beg them to keep ever before their eyes the vital truth that sincerity is the well-spring of all lasting achievement, and that no good thing ever took root in untruth or self-deception. I would urge them to remember that if every excellent work is stamped with the personality of its author, no work can be enduring that is stamped with a borrowed stamp; and that, therefore, their first duty is to see that the thoughts, the emotions, the impressions they fix on he canvas are in very truth their own thoughts, their own emotions, their own spontaneous impressions, and not those of others: for work that does not spring from the heart has no roots, and will of certainty wither and perish. The other maxim also I would urge on them - that true genius knows no hurry, that patience is of its essence, and thoroughness its constant mark; and, lastly, I would ask them to believe that the gathered experience of past ages is a precious heritage and not an irksome load; and that nothing will fortify them better for the future, and free development, than the reverent and loving study of the past.
Lord Frederick Leighton:
Phoebe 22x24
Music Lesson 36x46 c.1877
The Painters Honeymoon 33x30
Self Portrait 30x25 1880
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Mike McCarty
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