In his early portraits there is little attempt at this interpretation. There is, indeed, the charm of atmosphere never absent from Watts’ work at any time, and there is a very obvious decorative purpose; but these early portraits do not grip the attention as the later portraits do, because the technique of interpretation is lacking.
I have heard people say they liked his male portraits better than his portraits of women, but I cannot share this preference; each in its degree is perfect. Watts will paint a young lady in fashionable evening attire—surely the most modern and up-to-date arrangement possible—and he will so paint her, so gild her with the heavenly alchemy of his art, that she shall appear like a Venetian beauty gazing at us from the page of history.
Indeed, over all his portraits, whether of men or women, he spreads a sort of dim religious light; so that while painted with Dutch realism, they yet seem to come to us out of the mists of memory and romance.
Before speaking of his pictures of imagination, I will discuss a little the whole purpose of art and artists.
The moralist says: I teach morality, without which society would not hold together.
The trader says: I teach trade, without which there would be no wealth, and life would not be worth living.
The religious teacher: I teach religion, without which people would forget that there was another world or a judgment to come.
And the scientist says: I teach truth, which is the basis of everything.
What can the artist say for himself in presence of this congress of teachers, before whom we stand silent with hats off in age-long reverence?