A Pictorial Illusion

   Philip H. Calderon was elected A. R. A. in 1864 - the same year and at the same time as Frederick Leighton. Nor has the Royal academy ever elected two men who have been more devoted to its service. Those student days in Paris with his friend Marco, when they had rather to rough it --- those doleful days of doubt when he feared he would have to give np all thoughts of art were all past. He was in a pleasant and lofty studio in Marlborough place, built at his own expense, and there were pictures on tho easel that commanded four figures. His painting partook of the happy times. His touch was firm and confident, his color joyous, and he showed that in dexterity at least he was not to be outdone.

    Among other things he painted, chiefly tor amusement, or as a "fetch," as we used to call it, a portrait of his wife, life size, standing in a doorway with her hand on the door handle and her foot on the step, looking back over her shoulder, as though she were quitting the room. The picture was placed against the paneled wall of the studio and was such a perfect illustration that it looked, not like a picture, but a reality --- so much so that genial Torn Landseer, the engraver, who called one day, made a most profound bow to it and, addressing the effigy, said, "Pray, do not leave us, madam." ----G.A. Storey, A.R.A., in Magazine of Art