Девять рассказов
De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period
Thetallestboy,intheforegroundofthepicture,appearedtohavericketsinonelegandelephantiasisintheother—aneffect,itwasclear,thatMissKramerhaddeliberatelyusedtoshowthattheboywasstandingwithhisfeetslightlyapart.
Mysecondstudentwasafifty-six-year-old"societyphotographer"fromWindsor,Ontario,namedR.HowardRidgefield,whosaidthathiswifehadbeenafterhimforyearstobranchoverintothepaintingracket.HisfavoriteartistswereRembrandt,Sargent,and"Titan,"butheadded,advisedly,thathehimselfdidn’tcaretodrawalongthoselines.Hesaidhewasmostlyinterestedinthesatiricratherthantheartysideofpainting.Tosupportthiscredo,hesubmittedagoodlynumberoforiginaldrawingsandoilpaintings.Oneofhispictures—theoneIthinkofashismajorpicture—hasbeenasrecallabletome,overtheyears,as,say,thelyricsof"SweetSue"or"LetMeCallYouSweetheart."Itsatirizedthefamiliar,everydaytragedyofachasteyounggirl,withbelowshoulder-lengthblondhairandudder-sizebreasts,beingcriminallyassaultedinchurch,intheveryshadowofthealtar,byherminister.Bothsubjects’clothesweregraphicallyindisarray.Actually,IwasmuchlessstruckbythesatiricimplicationsofthepicturethanIwasbythequalityofworkmanshipthathadgoneintoit.IfIhadn’tknowntheywerelivinghundredsofmilesapart,ImighthaveswornRidgefieldhadhadsomepurelytechnicalhelpfromBambiKramer.
