Stories Pictures Tell. Book 8

by Flora L. Carpenter

Story of the artist. In reading the life of John La Farge, the artist, we cannot fail to be interested also in the more adventurous one of his father before him. For it was in the days of Napoleon the Great that Jean La Farge, then a young officer under General Leclerc, was sent to the West Indies to suppress an insurrection in Santo Domingo, Haiti. Here he was offered the rank of lieutenant if he would remain with the land forces, and this he decided to do.

Hardly had the small force of men which he commanded reached the shore, when they were surrounded and captured by the natives. He endured the agony of looking on while every member of his company was put to death by slow torture. Expecting every moment that it would be his turn next, he was quite overcome when told that his life would be spared that he might teach the rebel leader how to speak and write French. But he was closely guarded and allowed very little liberty while the rebellion lasted. Then, although still under guard, he was given more freedom.

Most of the natives were of African blood, or a mixture of Spaniard, Indian, and negro; but after the rebellion many white men settled on the island on account of the advantages of commerce. About a year after La Farge was taken prisoner he learned that a general massacre of all the white people on the island had been planned. Feeling sure that he would be included this time, with two others he made his escape. They secured a small rowboat and rowed along the shore until they reached a part of the island that belonged to Spain. Here they were fortunate enough to find a ship just ready to sail to Philadelphia. All took passage at once.

Arrived in America, Jean La Farge became much interested in this country. He saw at once the great possibilities in this new land and decided to make it his home. He became a trader and for twenty-five years he went from place to place, growing very wealthy. Then he bought plantations in Louisiana and farm lands in northern New York.

A number of French aristocrats and others formed a French colony in New York City, and here Mr. La Farge finally came to live. He married the daughter of a former Santo Domingan planter who had joined the colony, and it was in New York that their boy, John La Farge, the artist, was born, March 31, 1835. The boy was named after his father, Jean Frédéric de La Farge, but the name was abbreviated and the English spelling used, so that it became John La Farge.

It was a very comfortable home, in some ways luxurious, and his boyhood was passed under most favorable circumstances. His grandfather was a miniature painter of some note and he gave La Farge his first drawing lessons. The boy, however, showed no especial interest or talent for drawing. After he had finished a classical course at school, he decided to become a lawyer. When he had completed the law course he was sent abroad to Paris, to visit his father’s relatives, who were very prominent people. Here he met many writers and artists of note, and finally began to study painting under Couture. He spent most of his time copying the famous paintings in the Louvre, and the etchings of Rembrandt. His idea at this time was not to become a painter by profession but only to use art as a pastime—he was to earn his living as a lawyer. He says, “No one ever struggled more against his destiny than I. Nor did I for many years fully acquiesce in being a painter, though I learned the methods and studied the problems of my art.”

It was about this time that he met the enthusiastic American painter, William Hunt, who so inspired La Farge that he left everything and followed him back to Newport, Rhode Island, where he began studying in earnest under his new master. The two men became close friends.

It was at Newport that La Farge married Miss Margaret Perry, who was the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin and the granddaughter of Commodore Perry, so well known as commander of the American fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie. They lived in Newport during the summer, but spent their winters in New York City.

At the time of the Civil War, La Farge wished to enlist, but failed to pass the physical examination because he was nearsighted. Then, giving himself entirely to his art, he succeeded in working out his own methods.

His first paintings were for church decorations—the most important being “Saint Paul,” “The Madonna,” and “Saint John.” The last two were painted for the Church of St. Peter in New York City.