PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
Volume 108, April 6, 1895.
edited by Sir Francis Burnand
"ANIMAL SPIRITS."
No. X.—"Easy All!" Pumped Out
THE STUDIO SEEKER'S VADE MECUM.
Question. On what occasions do you particularly seek the studios?
Answer. On two Sundays in the year—the consecutive sabbathsdevoted to the exhibition of proposed academy pictures by "Outsiders,"and "A.'s," and "R.A.'s."
Q. Do you haunt the abodes of artists at other times?
A. Never; or, to cover all possibilities, hardly ever.
Q. Then you are not a lover of paintings for their own sake?
A. Certainly not; on the contrary, I am, as a rule, a better judgeof frames than canvases.
Q. Then why do you go to St. John's Wood, Chelsea and WestKensington?
A. To see and be seen.
Q. Is it necessary to know the artist whose pictures are "onview"?
A. Certainly not. You can usually single him out by the absenceof an overcoat, and can generally spot his wife and daughter by thenon-appearance of promenading head-gear.
Q. What have you to do when you have discovered your involuntaryhost and hostess?
A. To shake hands with them with condescension, and partake oftheir refreshments with gusto.
Q. Will this invasion of the domestic circle be resented?
A. No; because it is highly probable that you will be mistakenfor a newspaper Art critic, and respect for the Press in Art circles isuniversal.
Q. Are not artists, as a body, a community of highly accomplishedgentlemen?
A. Certainly; and, consequently, on ordinary occasions entitled towell-merited respect.
Q. Then why should that "well-merited respect" be refused tothem a month before the May opening of Burlington House?
A. Because it is the fashion.
Q. Surely this fashion does not exist amongst the better classes ofthe community?
A. To some extent; although it certainly is in greatest favourwith cads and snobs, to say nothing of their female relations.
Q. Has any effort been made to stem this tide of unauthorisedand unwelcome invasion?
A. In isolated cases the master of the studio has sought theprotection of the police to keep his studio free of the unknown andthe unknowable.
Q. But could not the scandal be removed with the assistance ofthe leaders of Society?
A. Assuredly. It would only have to become unfashionable tovisit studios on the Show Sundays for the painter to be left at peace.
Q. Would that be pleasing to the artists?
A. That is the published opinion, but the matter has not been putabsolutely to the test. However, the pleasure of the artists is not to beconsidered when the recreations of Brixton and Tooting are at stake.
APRIL FOOLOSOPHY.
(By One of Them.)
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Well, this only showsour valiant disregard of danger, our readiness of initiative, our championshipof forlorn hopes. We are the heaven-sent leaders of all"New" enterprises, whether literary, theatrical, or artistic. It iswe who penetrate the my