The Moon and Sixpence | Page 5

had not brushed aside with impatience a story which disappointed all its craving for the
extraordinary. And presently Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz produced the work which finally set
at rest the misgivings of all lovers of art.

[3] "Strickland: The Man and His Work," by his son, Robert Strickland. Wm. Heinemann,
1913.
[4] This was described in Christie's catalogue as follows: "A nude woman, a native of the
Society Islands, is lying on the ground beside a brook. Behind is a tropical Landscape
with palm-trees, bananas, etc. 60 in. x 48 in."

Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz belongs to that school of historians which believes that human
nature is not only about as bad as it can be, but a great deal worse; and certainly the
reader is safer of entertainment in their hands than in those of the writers who take a
malicious pleasure in representing the great figures of romance as patterns of the
domestic virtues. For my part, I should be sorry to think that there was nothing between
Anthony and Cleopatra but an economic situation; and it will require a great deal more
evidence than is ever likely to be available, thank God, to persuade me that Tiberius was
as blameless a monarch as King George V. Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz has dealt in such
terms with the Rev. Robert Strickland's innocent biography that it is difficult to avoid
feeling a certain sympathy for the unlucky parson. His decent reticence is branded as
hypocrisy, his circumlocutions are roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified as
treachery. And on the strength of peccadillos, reprehensible in an author, but excusable in
a son, the Anglo-Saxon race is accused of prudishness, humbug, pretentiousness, deceit,
cunning, and bad cooking. Personally I think it was rash of Mr. Strickland, in refuting the
account which had gained belief of a certain "unpleasantness" between his father and
mother, to state that Charles Strickland in a letter written from Paris had described her as
"an excellent woman," since Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz was able to print the letter in
facsimile, and it appears that the passage referred to ran in fact as follows: my wife. She is an excellent woman. I wish she was in hell.> It is not thus that the
Church in its great days dealt with evidence that was unwelcome.
Dr. Weitbrecht-Rotholz was an enthusiastic admirer of Charles Strickland, and there was
no danger that he would whitewash him. He had an unerring eye for the despicable
motive in actions that had all the appearance of innocence. He was a psycho-pathologist,
as well as a student of art, and the subconscious had few secrets from him. No mystic
ever saw deeper meaning in common things. The mystic sees the ineffable, and the
psycho-pathologist the unspeakable. There is a singular fascination in watching the
eagerness with which the learned author ferrets out every circumstance which may throw
discredit on his hero. His heart warms to him when he can bring forward some example
of cruelty or meanness, and he exults like an inquisitor at the of an heretic
when with some forgotten story he can confound the filial piety of the Rev. Robert
Strickland. His industry has been amazing. Nothing has been too small to escape him,
and you may be sure that if Charles Strickland left a laundry bill unpaid it will be given
you , and if he forebore to return a borrowed half-crown no detail of the
transaction will be omitted.


Chapter II

When so much has been written about Charles Strickland, it may seem unnecessary that I
should write more. A painter's monument is his work. It is true I knew him more
intimately than most: I met him first before ever he became a painter, and I saw him not
infrequently during the difficult years he spent in Paris; but I do not suppose I should ever
have set down my recollections if the hazards of the war had not taken me to Tahiti.
There, as is notorious, he spent the last years of his life; and there I came across persons
who were familiar with him. I find myself in a position to throw light on just that part of
his tragic career which has remained most obscure. If they who believe in Strickland's
greatness are right, the personal narratives of such as knew him in the flesh can hardly be
superfluous. What would we not give for the reminiscences of someone who had been as
intimately acquainted with El Greco as I was with Strickland?
But I seek refuge in no such excuses. I forget who it was that recommended men for their
soul's good to do each day two things they disliked: it was a wise man, and it is a precept