Frank Reynolds, R.I. | Page 5

some quaint sentiment, perhaps in
quaint idiom, would set up a train of ideas ultimately resulting, after
much meditative elaboration, in a Mrs. Gamp or a Dick Swiveller. The
process is not dissimilar, one imagines, from that by which the artist
evolves a character sketch: with this difference, that whereas a solitary
trait, accidentally revealed, was to Dickens sufficient foundation upon
which to construct his fanciful portrait, such studies of types as Frank
Reynolds excels in must be the outcome, not of one "thing seen," but of
reiterated observation of the same thing in identical or closely similar
guise. The results in either case vary as the method employed. Mrs.
Gamp, the outcome of a single observation, is a type certainly, but
exaggerated and "founded on fact" rather than true to life. "The
Suburbanite" (see p. 24), though an equally imaginary portrait, is the

real thing--the absolute personification of a type or class.
[Illustration]
In the case of Reynolds, his studies of types are the result of an
exceptional power of observation coupled with a very retentive
memory. His keen eye notes--often unconsciously, as he admits--the
small eccentricities by which character is revealed; his sense of humour
emphasises them, and his memory retains them. As a result, when he
essays to portray a type, there rises before his mental vision, not the
figure of this individual or that, but a hazy recollection of all its
representatives that he has ever come into contact with. The misty
impression materialises as he works, and there grows under his hand a
portrait which draws from us an instant smile of recognition,
broadening as we perceive the veiled humour and satire that lurk
beneath the skilful emphasis which has been laid upon the subject's
salient characteristics.
[Illustration]
But though his character studies are so largely the result of memory, it
must not be supposed that his drawings are hastily conceived or carried
out. As a discerning critic can guess Frank Reynolds is slow and
careful in his method, and though the central idea of a drawing is
frequently the inspiration of the moment, its elaboration is a matter
which occupies time, and the picture passes through many stages before
attaining in the artist's mind completion. To lay readers it may be of
interest to be initiated into the mystery of the gradual development
from germ to finished drawing. For their benefit is reproduced (p. 24)
the initial rough sketch made for the portrait of "The Suburbanite," to
which allusion has been made above. It will be seen that all the
essentials are there in a raw state, and a comparison of this rough
sketch with the finished reproduction will give some hint of the patient
labour and careful thought which has gone to the making of the latter.
[Illustration]
To mix as an observer in all ranks of society--especially the lower and

more interesting ones--has always been to Frank Reynolds a matter of
reflective amusement. The comedy of life affords him never-failing
entertainment, for the world can never be dull to the man with the
saving grace of humour and a quizzical interest in his fellow men. All
is fish that comes to his net, for whether he touches off the foibles of
Belgravia or records the broader humours of Bethnal Green he is
equally happy. In the well-remembered series of "Dinners with
Shakespeare," for instance, he illustrated with genial humour in half a
dozen cartoons as many mannerisms of the dinner-table. The drawing
which is reproduced opposite to page 56 portrays types that are familiar
to all who know the small restaurants of Soho. The historian of the
future, I sometimes think, who may wish to describe society in the
early part of the twentieth century, will be fortunate if he contrives to
illustrate his volume with a collection of contemporary drawings by
Frank Reynolds. They will speak more eloquently than any narrative
which he may compile from the most diligent searching of written
records.
[Illustration: A TRAGEDY IN MINIATURE. From "Paris and Some
Parisians"]
[Illustration: OUR CLUB. IMPATIENT MEMBER.--Aren't there any
waiters in the Club? WAITER (politely). Yessir. How many would you
like?]

FRANK REYNOLDS. IV.
Of Reynolds' exquisite refinement in the art of character drawing, his
pictures of life in Paris afford excellent examples. Impressions of Paris
through English eyes are familiar enough; but too often they are
distortions. The artist is too concerned with the obtaining of an "effect"
to be troubled by a strict adherence to truth. No such charge can be
levelled against "Pictures of Paris and Some Parisians," as the series
of drawings which Frank Reynolds contributed to the Sketch in 1904
was entitled. He viewed Paris through eyes which magnified, perhaps,
but never distorted; and his impressions, as set down on paper, carry

that instant conviction, even to