The Restless SexChambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
General
The Restless Sex
Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
American fiction -- 20th century
And who do you suppose I ran into? Oswald Grismer! Jim, he certainly is
the best-looking fellow—such red-gold hair,—such fascinating golden eyes
and colouring.
We chatted most amiably and he took us to tea, and then—I suppose it
wasn’t conventional—but we went to his studio with him, Helen Davis and
I.
He _is_ the cleverest man! He has done a delightful fountain and
several portrait busts, and a beautiful tomb for the Lidsey family, and
his studies in wax and clay are wonderful!
He really seems very nice. And the life he leads is heavenly! Such a
wonderful way to live—just a bed-room and the studio.
He’s going to give a little tea for me next time I have an afternoon
off, and I’m to meet a lot of delightful, unconventional people
there—painters, writers, actors—people who have _done_ things!—I’m sure
it will be wonderful.
I have bought five pounds of plasticine and I’m going to model in it in
my room every time I have a few moments to myself. But oh, it does
smell abominably, and it ruins your finger nails.
After that, Oswald Grismer’s name recurred frequently in her letters.
Cleland recognized also the names of several old schoolmates of his as
figuring at various unconventional ceremonies in Grismer’s studio—Harry
Belter, now a caricaturist on the New York _Morning Star_; Badger Spink,
drawing for the illustrated papers; Clarence Verne, who painted pretty
girls for the covers of popular magazines, and his one-time master, Phil
Grayson, writer for the better-class periodicals.
It’s delightful, she wrote; we sometimes have music—often celebrated
people from the Metropolitan Opera drop in and you meet everybody of
consequence you ever heard of outside the Social Register—people famous
in their professions—and it is exciting and inspiring and fills me with
enthusiasm and desire to amount to something.
Of course there are _all_ kinds, Jim; but I’m old enough and experienced
enough to know how to take care of myself. Intellectuals are, of course,
broad, liberal and impatient of petty conventions: they live for their
professions, regardless of orthodox opinion, oblivious of narrow-minded
Philistines.
The main idea is to be tolerant. That is the greatest thing in the
world, tolerance. I may not care to smoke cigarettes myself or drink
cocktails and highballs, but if another girl does it it’s none of my
business. That is the foundation of the unconventional and intellectual
world—freedom and tolerance of other people’s opinions and behaviour.
_That_ is democracy!
As for the futurists and symbolists of various schools, I am not narrow
enough, I hope, to ridicule them or deny them the right to
self-expression, but I am not in sympathy with them. However, it is
most interesting to listen to their views.
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