The Moon And Sixpence 1.3

It was nottill four years after Strickland's death that Maurice Huret wrote that articlein the Mercure de France which rescued the unknown painter from oblivion andblazed the trail which succeeding writers, with more or less docility, havefollowed. For a long time no critic has enjoyed in France a more incontestableauthority, and it was impossible not to be impressed by the claims he made;they seemed extravagant; but later judgments have confirmed his estimate, andthe reputation of Charles Strickland is now firmly established on the lineswhich he laid down. The rise of this reputation is one of the most romanticincidents in the history of art. But I do not propose to deal with CharlesStrickland's work except in so far as it touches upon his character. I cannotagree with the painters who claim superciliously that the layman can understandnothing of painting, and that he can best show his appreciation of their worksby silence and a cheque-book.直到思特里克兰德去世四年以后，莫利斯·胥瑞才写了那篇发表在《法兰西信使》上的文章，使这位不为人所知的画家不致湮没无闻。他的这篇文章打响了第一炮，很多怯于标新的作家这才踏着他的足迹走了下去。在很长一段时间内法国艺术评论界更没有哪个人享有比胥瑞更无可争辩的权威。胥瑞提出的论点不可能不给人以深刻的印象，看起来他对思特里克兰德的称许似乎有些过分，但后来舆论的裁决却证实了他评价的公正；而查理斯·思特里克兰德的声名便也在他所定的调子上不可动摇地建立起来了。思特里克兰德声名噪起，这在艺术史上实在是最富于浪漫主义味道的一个事例。但是我在这里并不想对查理斯·思特里克兰德的艺术作品有所评论，除非在这些作品涉及到画家性格的时候。我对某些画家的意见不敢苟同，他们傲慢地认为外行根本不懂得绘画，门外汉要表示对艺术的鉴赏，最好的方法就是免开尊口，大大方方地掏出支票簿。