DOI chapter:
Chapter II: Aims
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62482#0054
IO REMINISCENCES OF G. F. WATTS
Watts being clearly the only judge of his own pecuniary
necessities. The view he took as regarded his first duty
in life was other than that of aiming at making money, so
far as he explained it to us. Whether he made money or
not was of little consequence to him, provided he had suffi-
cient means to meet his own very modest requirements and
the necessary expenses involved by his work. He had a
great horror of extravagance ; he had a great horror of ever
falling into debt. He often said he would like to have
money to give away in order to alleviate suffering, but he
considered his first duty was to give to the world the best
that was in him, and to present to the public the fruits of
his gifts and of his labour. He had already, as is well
known, offered to paint the history of the world in a large
public building for the price only of the materials he used,
and that offer had been refused; but, nothing daunted, he
still aimed at working out such ideas and conceptions in art
which would elevate the minds of his own countrymen, and
by presenting them to his nation he hoped to carry out his
views of patriotism. Watts had very decided ideas and
feelings as to the duty of every man of every class effecting
something for the good of his country, and all he asked was
to be allowed to work and to make his art a factor in en-
nobling the thought and feeling of his generation. His
letters, written when he was about sixty years of age, are
full of sentences expressing this desire to benefit mankind
through his art, and to live an unmolested working life.
There were two things he wrote that his experience proved
to be worth living for—one to do as much for humanity as
possible, and the other to have friends. Much that the world
held to be valuable seemed to be within his reach were he
to study the taste of the age. He did not think it would
be difficult to achieve a certain amount of celebrity, and
Watts being clearly the only judge of his own pecuniary
necessities. The view he took as regarded his first duty
in life was other than that of aiming at making money, so
far as he explained it to us. Whether he made money or
not was of little consequence to him, provided he had suffi-
cient means to meet his own very modest requirements and
the necessary expenses involved by his work. He had a
great horror of extravagance ; he had a great horror of ever
falling into debt. He often said he would like to have
money to give away in order to alleviate suffering, but he
considered his first duty was to give to the world the best
that was in him, and to present to the public the fruits of
his gifts and of his labour. He had already, as is well
known, offered to paint the history of the world in a large
public building for the price only of the materials he used,
and that offer had been refused; but, nothing daunted, he
still aimed at working out such ideas and conceptions in art
which would elevate the minds of his own countrymen, and
by presenting them to his nation he hoped to carry out his
views of patriotism. Watts had very decided ideas and
feelings as to the duty of every man of every class effecting
something for the good of his country, and all he asked was
to be allowed to work and to make his art a factor in en-
nobling the thought and feeling of his generation. His
letters, written when he was about sixty years of age, are
full of sentences expressing this desire to benefit mankind
through his art, and to live an unmolested working life.
There were two things he wrote that his experience proved
to be worth living for—one to do as much for humanity as
possible, and the other to have friends. Much that the world
held to be valuable seemed to be within his reach were he
to study the taste of the age. He did not think it would
be difficult to achieve a certain amount of celebrity, and