The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online

RECORD: Collier, J. 1929. [Recollection of and quote by Darwin]. A famous artist's recollections. The Straits Times (8 October): 17.

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe. 10.2019. RN1

NOTE: See record in the Freeman Bibliographical Database, enter its Identifier here. John Collier gave another interview in 1930 that was published in The Singapore Free Press where there is a longer account of this recollection of Darwin. See A1092.

[page] 17

A FAMOUS ARTIST'S RECOLLECTIONS.

(Continued from page 10)

[…]

Two notable ones were those of Darwin and Huxley. The originals are not, however, those which hang in the National Portrait Gallery. These are replicas of the original pictures and were also painted by me.

The Darwin portrait was painted at his own house in Down near Bromley, as he was too ill to come to my studio. Contrary to what most people believe he was a very mild, gentle old man, not at all controversial, and more than once he said to me, "Huxley has always fought all my battles for me." The Huxley portrait I painted in the first instance for myself for he was the father of my wife. Within the last few years I have painted replicas of the Huxley and Darwin portraits for the Athenaeum club also for Down House presented to the Nation by Mr. Buckston Brown [Browne].

[…]

Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)