A breezy bantering letter to to “My Dear Agnew,“ surely a member of the art dealing family coaching him on an as yet unlocated painting titled “Œnone” which he was showing at the 100th Royal Academy: the letter casts light on the relationship between commercial galleries and the Royal Academy.
The painting references Tennyson’s poem of that name, but because he has not quoted the poem, he jokingly asks Agnew “therefore learn ye these lines by heart. -
Ah me, my mountain Shepherd, that my arms
Were wound about thee, and my hot lips prest
Close, close to thine in that quick falling dew
Of fruitful kisses, thick as autumn rains
Flash in his pools of whirling Simois
“Pretty, I think, and loving - eh? I like that about the arms, close round about him - I’ve got two arms - but his Shepherd where is he? - Ah____h!”.
Given the extraordinary size of this exhibition, he issues a guide to finding his picture, “ … in the West room on the wall on the right as you come in - Armitage in the middle, Leighton under - I on one side with Nicol, Faed etc etc.“
