cester Square from which proceeded such shouts of laughter that none could have dreamed it was a painter’s studio. From this enchanted castle were sent many masterpieces which have made the youthful originals household names, like Penelope Boothby and Miss Bowles. Not content with filling a multitude of orders, the painter seized every opportunity to make ideal or “fancy” subjects of children for his own amusement, using his little niece and grandniece as models. It is thus that we have the Strawberry Girl, the Age of Innocence, Simplicity, and Little Samuel. Gainsborough, like Van Dyck, inclined to the more poetic and serious aspects of child life, and therefore does not so readily win a child’s attention, But the Blue Boy should be introduced to all our children as a notable work of art, and no one can fail to respond to the intimate charm of his expression. The works of the lesser painters of the English school, Romney, Opie, Hoppner, and Sir Thomas Lawrence, have not been widely enough reproduced to become familiar to the general public. But little by little, as they find their way to large collections, we may hope to add to our knowledge of this marvelous setting-forth of child life in its happiest and most wholesome vein.
When we come down to our own period in our art study, our troubles increase, as we try to collect reproductions of some modern masterpieces of child portraiture. Costly copyrighted photographs we cannot all possess, but we derive such satisfaction as we may from poring over chance cuts in magazines
