"I soon found myself engaged four or five hours almost daily in
painting for him fresh-water fishes from the life, while he was at
my side, sometimes writing out his descriptions, sometimes
directing me. . .He never lost his temper, though often under great
trial; he remained self-possessed and did everything calmly, having
a friendly smile for every one and a helping hand for those who
were in need. He was at that time scarcely twenty years old, and
was already the most prominent among the students at Munich. They
loved him, and had a high consideration for him. I had seen him at
the Swiss students' club several times, and had observed him among
the JOLLY students; he liked merry society, but he himself was in
general reserved and never noisy. He picked out the gifted and
highly-learned students, and would not waste his time in ordinary
conversation. Often, when he saw a number of students going off on
some empty pleasure-trip, he said to me, 'There they go with the
other fellows; their motto is, "Ich gehe mit den andern." I will go
my own way, Mr. Dinkel,--and not alone: I will be a leader of
others.' In all his doings there was an ease and calm which was
remarkable. His studio was a perfect German student's room. It was
large, with several wide windows; the furniture consisted of a
couch and about half a dozen chairs, beside some tables for the use
of his artists and himself. Dr. Alex Braun and Dr. Schimper lodged
in the same house, and seemed to me to share his studio. Being
botanists, they, too, brought home what they collected in their
excursions, and all this found a place in the atelier, on the
couch, on the seats, on the floors. Books filled the chairs, one
alone being left for the other artist, while I occupied a standing
desk with my drawing. No visitor could sit down, and sometimes
there was little room to stand or move about. The walls were white,
and diagrams were drawn on them, to which, by and by, we artists
added skeletons and caricatures. In short, it was quite original. I
was some time there before I could discover the real names of his
friends: each had a nickname,--Molluscus, Cyprinus, Rhubarb, etc."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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