There was an " Approaching Tornado " in
which a whole tragedy lay latent just in
the way the atmosphere was painted; and
a "Norther — Key West" that was tragedy
made palpable through three bending, ago-
nizing palm-trees, splendid in line, and as
vital and passionate as though they had
been human creatures.
These too, you may say, were "fortu-
nate" subjects for an artist; — could Homer
have done as well had he observed and
worked at home ? Happily the answer has
come from himself. Since his West Indian
voyage he has lived on the coast of Maine,
where, if anywhere, we might anticipate a
dearth of fortunate themes in so far at least
as humanity is concerned. Yet he has not
dwelt there in communion with his memo-
ries of the Fortunate Isles. He has let his
portfolios lie with all their luxuriant sug-
gestions, has painted what he found close
at hand, and has given us the best work of
his life. I cannot speak of his latest water-
colors, with their magnificent rendering of



260 SIX PORTRAITS.
waves on rock -bound shores; or of his
"Eight Bells" with its two finely charac
terized figures relieved against the seething
waters and flying clouds which follow after
tempest ; or of that slow tragedy so quietly
yet forcibly suggested in his "Lost in the
Fog off the Banks." I can give but a word
to the two pictures which exhibit him at
his very best, showing us the f uU measure
of a man who is at once a realist in lum
and an idealist in feeling, a painter with a
personal style and an artist with an indi-
vidual message to deliver.
