William Fuller Curtis , Pyrographer 
KING ARTHUR 
A Series of Panels executed by William Fuller Curtis , noiv in the possession of Robert D. Benson , Esq. 
ing and surprising. Breadth and freedom, 
large effects and the smallest minutiae are 
shown in one and the same panel, rendered 
moreover with exquisite finish. 
Mr. Curtis possessed from the beginning 
an intensely artistic temperament, a keen 
appreciation of subtle beauty, and a breadth 
of comprehension which included literature 
and music in its definition of art. On these 
natural qualifications was laid, in the best 
Paris schools, a foundation of knowledge 
of the a h c’s of art, and to them was added 
ideals found in 
the great gal- 
leriesof the Old 
World. All of 
which, how¬ 
ever, without 
his ability for 
application, his 
originality of 
thought and 
dogged perse¬ 
verance, would 
have been of 
little avail. 
At first he 
had little idea 
of becoming a 
specialist or of 
the possibilities 
within the 
scope of the 
new medium. Gradually, as he worked, 
these possibilities presented themselves. Step 
by step progress was made, each completed 
effort witnessing a widened vision. As he 
became more expert in the use of the burn¬ 
ing pencil, greater gradations of tone and a 
finer rendering of texture became possible, 
and when the limit of these was apparently 
reached the artist took up the carver’s tool 
and found a new and untrod field before him. 
Subjectively as well as technically there was 
marked progress. From the conventional 
decorative motif 
the first ad¬ 
vance was to 
the painter’s 
realm, when he 
executed a full 
length portrait 
of Mrs. Rob¬ 
ert Coleman 
Child, his sister 
and fellow- 
student, who as 
a pastel list, is 
rapidly win¬ 
ning distinc¬ 
tion. This 
work was far 
from satisfac¬ 
tory, however, 
and proved that 
such subjects 
ST. AGNES OF MONTEPULCIANO 
A work of fVilliam Fuller Curtis, now in the possession of Mrs. George IVestinghouse 
292 
