MEN I HAVE PAINTED
For the first time I rose from my chair, to stand off and see from a distance what had been done. To my great delight, the look I wanted had come into the face. It had come unbidden, unsought, without any effort of mine to produce it.
Through long years of experience I have learned to believe that a perfect sitter is nearly a perfect man. It is a test of many qualities, of which goodwill is not the least, and patience and endurance not the best. When I have measured great men by this high standard, it is surprising how really few have been found wanting. But there have been some so disregardful of goodwill that they can only be considered as selfish churls.
Of all the men I have painted, that one whose motto should be suaviter in modo, fortiter in re is Charles Ludington. No one has ever seemed to be just as uniformly gentle or so relentlessly firm as he.
When generous and kindly acts are performed with grace and charm, even a higher feeling than gratitude inspires and elevates the mind. When I recall the great taste displayed by Mr. Ludington in the selection of some fine specimens of old Chinese portraits for the decoration of the panels in his room in the Curtis Building, then the secret link that binds men together in common sympathies begins to reveal itself.
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