Rossetti was a well-known figure at Scott's and at Rule's
oyster-rooms at the time he encountered 'Henry Aylwin.' That scene at
Scott's is, in my opinion, the most living thing in the book--a
picture that whenever I turn to it makes me feel that everything said
and done must have occurred. 'De Castro' seemed to belong not merely
to the Rossetti group, but to all groups, for he was brought into
touch with almost every remarkable man of his time, and fascinated
every one of them. Literary and artistic London was once full of
stories of him, and no one that knew him doubted he was what must be
called a man of genius--although a barren genius. Among others, he
was brought into close relations with Ruskin, Burne-Jones, and, I
think, Smetham ('Wilderspin'), and others.
[Footnote: This was George Hake, who died in Central Africa a few
years ago.]
Rossetti used to say that since Blake there has been no more
visionary painter in the art world than Smetham. Rossetti had a quite
affectionate feeling towards Smetham, and several of his pictures
(small ones) were on Rossetti's studio walls.
Pages:
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831