By your past letter and the picture enclosed therein I find that you are a
tolerably good Pop Artist, as such an occupation is called, and can present several arch, colorful impressions of supermarket dairy isles to the curious. Your mother
delights in your series of rows of industrial yogurts and puddings. For my part, I am very glad on’t, as it is a
proof of some attention towards your craft---and a certain bringing forth of fruit in our
lavish investment in your Art School education.
But I hope you will be as good a Portrait Painter,
which is a much more noble occupation, than that of a Pop Artist. By portraits,
you will easily judge, that I do not mean the mere outlines and the coloring of
the human figure---as one might do with a pudding container---but the inside of
the heart and mind of man. This art requires more Attention, Observation, and Penetration, than the other. Search, therefore, with the greatest care, into
the characters of those whom you converse with. And through the perspective of
a Portrait Painter, endeavor to discover their predominant passions, their
prevailing weaknesses, their vanities, their follies, and their humors, with
all the right and wrong, wise and silly springs of human actions, which makes
such inconsistent and whimsical beings of us supposed rational creatures----and
learn to represent this upon the canvas through the person’s natural likeness or
a satiric construction thereof.
You will find that being a Portrait Painter
will enable you to reach a deeper understanding of your fellow human creatures
and ultimately your own self. To achieve this end, you are not to
shrink from any physical blemishes, nor make too many allowances for people’s
moral shortcomings. Pray, do not forget that the final purpose of Higher Education is to deepen one’s knowledge of Human Nature. I
must therefore urge you to devote more of your hours in studying the human face instead of yogurt and pudding containers. Endeavor by all means, to acquire this talent,
for it is a very great one.
To learn to become an excellent Portrait
Painter you are advised to study the works of Mr. Francis Cotes, Mr. Joseph
Highmore, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and for the satiric modes of representation Mr. William
Hogarth. Unless you submit to this transformation, my boy, you will continue to give
anxious thoughts to
Your
loving, affectionate father,
