Faldoni, parts 2844 - 2847

 2844. John M. had also been recently looking at the photographs in the new photography establishment on Oxford Street and his reaction to the new process was quite the opposite of Holman Hunt’s. Not only did he not think the new portraiture would detract from their portrait commissions, on the contrary, he felt it was a great advantage for the painters, and would solve many an intractable problem.

 2845. Under his arm John had a black portfolio, and he invited Holman to have a look at its contents. In the portfolio he had a dozen photographs which he had commissioned from the photographic establishment. One was of a bowl of water with roses floating in it, another was of a chair with clothing thrown over the seat.

 

 2846. He had a picture of a Mulberry bush, an ornate cast iron fence, a trellis covered with ivy, and the knees and feet of a marble statue. As Holman looked through the collection this is what John M. had to say about his pictures. 

2847. “You know Holman, there are a lot of backward obtuse painters out there who actually believe that photography will be the death of portrait painting in oils but then, as you know, there is no cure for the medieval mind. How, I say, how could an entirely mechanical process ever compete with the artistic vision, it is silly even to consider it. Just consider this.”