THE DICKENSIAN
Tegen Dickens' vrouw Catherine zegt Scheffer dat hij met de gelijkenis niet tevreden is en
er toch nog wat meer aan wil doen. Forster deelt de mening van Dickens: "I was not
satisfied with it. The picture had much merit, but not as a portrait. From its very
resemblance in the eyes and mouth, one derived the sense of general unlikeness. But the
work of the artist's brother, Henri Scheffer, painted from the same sittings, was in all ways
greatly inferior".
Het portret dat Ary Scheffer van Dickens geschilderd heeft, wordt hetzelfde jaar nog
tentoongesteld op de Royal Academy Exhibition, en zal daarna worden opgehangen in de
National Portrait Gallery.
Het portret dat broer Henri van Dickens schilderde en dat als "in all ways greatly inferior"
werd bekritiseerd, zal na een eeuw weer ontdekt worden, in een eetzaal van de Harvard
University. In "The Dickensian" van maart 1956 verschijnt het volgende bericht over de
omzwervingen van dit schilderij:
Spring Number
WHEN FOUND-
- 77 -
Vol. LI IMARCH 1956 No. 318
Portrait by Close upon the heels of the discovery, and gift to
Henri the Dickens House, of the long-lost Angus Fletcher
Scheffer bust of Dickens, as reported in our last number,
comes news of another portrait of the novelist that
was also lost sight of for many years, that by Henri Scheffer,
which forms the frontispiece to this issue. It was painted in Paris
in 1S55, at the sittings given to Ary Scheffer for the well-known
portrait now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Both
brothers peg away at me at the same time," wrote Dickens to
Forster. Although Ary's picture was admired by many, it was not
considered a very satisfactory likeness, and Henri's portrait
Forster thought in all ways greatly inferior." Kitton, in his
Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil, 1S89, says that he made a
long and fruitless search for the Henri Scheffer picture. Ley
wrote erroneously in 1928 that it was then in France. It now hangs
in the Dining Hall of the Harvard Union building, in Cambridge,
Mass., and we are indebted to Mr. John Coolidge of the Fogg Art
Museum for the opportunity of reproducing it. On the back of it
there is a brief history of the picture, cut from a newspaper, which
states that it was once the property of a Dr. Beggi in London, and
afterwards in Florence. After his death it was purchased by a
Florentine dealer who was unaware of the subject, and in his shop
it was recognised by W. C. Spence. It was presented to Harvard
University in 1915 by Francis L. Higginson, who had bought it
from a friend in England. As far as we can discover, the attention
of Dickensians has not hitherto been drawn to its presence there.
