It was through my old friend, Archie Stuart-Wortley, that I first knew
John Scott-Montagu, now Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, his first cousin and
great pal, and we spent many delightful days together, at the Palace
House, Beaulieu, and in his delightful bungalow on the Solent. John
was a brilliant and most versatile young man; it was difficult to say
what he could not do, and there is very little about which he does not
know something. At one time he will be absorbed in engineering, at
another in commerce or in literary work, or may be political. He is a
very fine shot, a keen fisherman, in fact, a good all-round sportsman
and a most entertaining companion. He has driven a railway engine, but
although now absorbed in plans and buildings for the development of
Beaulieu, and also in the building of another beautiful house on the
Solent for himself, he is, of course, always tremendously keen on
everything relating to _The Car_. His brain power and energy are
amazing. I have drawn him and also his wife, who is a daughter of the
late Marquis of Lothian. She is an accomplished musician and a
charming hostess. I always think of Lord Montagu in connection with
the difficulty of conveying a correct sense of height in these
full-length _Vanity Fair_ cartoons. For instance, to insure a clear
impression of his moderate height, in my drawing I lowered the head
considerably below the margin of the paper upon which it was drawn,
while in its published form the printers had placed it on a level with
the margin, thereby giving the impression of increased height, and
consequently of a decidedly tall man.
Naturally the proportion of a figure being relative to the space
surrounding it, I took good care in the case of Major Oswald Ames, who
is something like 6 feet 8 inches, to make his head almost touch the
margin; the same rule applied to the feet, and with the aid of a
miniature chair in the background the effect was produced.
I conclude I was fortunate with sketches of the late Lord Salisbury,
as a lady, a great friend of his, said that a grease paint picture I
made of him, in Cyril Maude's dressing-room at the Haymarket Theatre,
was quite the best she had ever seen of that distinguished statesman.
In 1902, I made another, after watching him again in the House of
Lords. It happened to be on the easel one day when Lord Redesdale came
to my studio, and he, being struck with it, complimented me by asking
if I would part with it, so that the original is now in his
possession, and by his permission is reproduced in this book.
[Illustration: THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY, 1902.]
[Illustration: Letter of Appreciation]
[Illustration: Dinner given to Joseph Knight by the Dramatic Profession
At The Savoy Hotel June, The Fourth, 1905]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account