So here we have a likeness of Turner in the period of his decline and disappearance from his old haunts, an authentic likeness at one of his re-appearances—chatting with a guest over a cup of tea in a Herne Hill drawing-room.
[CHAPTER LIV]
1850: AGED SEVENTY-FIVE
HIS LAST FOUR PICTURES PAINTED IN HIDING AT CHELSEA
In 1850, the year before his death, Turner sent four pictures to the Royal Academy, an heroic attempt on the veteran's part to assure the world that his power had not deserted him; but these canvases are but the tottering ruins of his genius, and they have been hung among other 'splendid failures' in the large, lower room of the Turner Gallery. But, as I have said before, Turner's 'splendid failures' are merely less great than his triumphs. His 'failures' in the large, lower room of the Turner Gallery, would easily make a lesser man's reputation. These four valedictory works entitled 'Æneas relating his Story to Dido,' 'Mercury sent to admonish Æneas,' 'The Departure of the Trojan Fleet,' and 'The Visit to the Tomb,' were painted between January and April, 1850, in a small room, with a small window, in the little house at Cremorne. We are told that at this window, and on the roof balcony, he would spend a long time each day studying the ways of the sun, the effect of light on the river and on the open places of rural Chelsea; and that he would often rise early, paint for a little, and then return to bed. Mrs. Booth declared that some of his last work was inspired by his dreams; that one night she heard him calling out excitedly; that she gave him the drawing materials he asked for, and that he made some notes, which he afterwards used for a picture. Mrs. Booth also confessed that she could not resist whispering in the neighbourhood that 'Booth' was a great man in disguise, and that when he died he would surely be buried in St. Paul's. This local gossip was collected later by John Pye the engraver.
Here I may print, for what it is worth, a letter, that was sent to me by an unknown correspondent in reference to a small book on Turner I wrote three years ago:—
'Clapham, March 1907.
'Re Turner.
'Dear Sir,—In the eighties (I think) there resided at Haddenham Hall, Haddenham, Bucks, a Mrs. Booth, whom it was understood was Turner's widow. I expressed a wish to look over the Hall, and was received by the old lady herself (she was a very homely body, and always wore a big cotton apron). In one of the rooms I recognised a miniature portrait of the late Dr. Price of Margate. Mrs. Booth said, "Yes! it was painted by my husband, Mr. Turner the artist; he and the Doctor were great friends." I also understood that Turner lodged with her when painting his pictures of Margate.
'When Mrs. Booth died she was taken to Margate to be buried. As I have never read of Turner's marriage, this may prove interesting.
'P.S.—The son of the late Dr. Price still resides at Margate.'
In a letter to Hawkesworth Fawkes, dated December 27th, 1850, Turner wrote: 'Old Time has made sad work with me since I saw you in town.' But a certain dinner at David Roberts's house shows that old Time did not prevent him from being merry and sociable after his manner. The account of this dinner in 1850 is printed in a note to Ballantyne's Life of David Roberts. Turner's manner at the feast is described as—