Letter R26 The Hague, c. 12 February 1883
Amice Rappard,
Yesterday I assembled some duplicates which I have found since I sent you the last ones. But all this has nothing to do with the Graphics, which for the time being I am going to leave in the condition they were in when I got them, although I feel strongly inclined to mount the sheets as soon as I have time and mounting board.
I think you will probably appreciate Régamey’s “Convicts, Outdoor Work.�I’m sorry I have no duplicates of the other “Convicts�or of some other sheets representing “A Stroll�and “A Dinner,�which are surprisingly soberly done, and possibly even fuller in character than this one. I think Hopkins’s “Boat Race�and “Weather�p style="line-height:25px;text-indent:32px"> are reminiscent of Percy Macquoid, if I may say so. How much character there is in them, and what a peculiar daylight tone.
Can you guess who did “The First Warm Days� Beautiful, isn’t it? The little Jules Férats, “Prisons d’autrefois et d’aujourd’hui�[Prisons of the Past and Present], harmonize well with the little Renouards of Majos.
If there should be some among them that you already have, please return them sometime, but there’s no hurry,
of course.
Now I have a duplicate of a large Heilbuth, “Au Bord de l’eau�[At the Waterside], which has a little figure of a lady sitting on a log; this detail and the title will probably enable you to verify whether or not you have it already. I have not sent it because I feel almost sure you have it �yet I am in doubt, and it is very beautiful, so please look it up.
That sheet by Dodd harmonizes quite nicely with Green’s “Signboard Painter.�“Poor Irish Scholar�is another one by that same M. F. who did the “Merthyr Tydfil Pawn Office.�However small this print may be, it’s marvelously good, isn’t it?
I don’t know who did the little Irish sketches “Arch,�“Cottage�and “Labourer’s Home,�but I think particularly the last one excellent. Well, this is no more than a few things jumbled together.
I think “Good Friday�is by Barnes. It just occurs to me that for a long time now I have had a fine portrait by Corot ready for you; I shall add it to the others at once. Whenever I have time I rummage among those Graphics; there are treasures in them I am writing in a hurry; I have collected these sheets while tidying up the studio. I hope there will be something that you will like among them.
Adieu, with a handshake,
Ever yours, Vincent