Incidentally, it may be remarked, _apropos_ of this drawing, that
the London coster (whom he knows and loves) has provided some of
his most admirable studies from life. To that class belongs the
sympathetic study which faces page 1 in the present volume. The broad
humours of Whitechapel could scarcely fail to appeal irresistibly
to an artist of Reynolds' peculiar temperament, and few men have
depicted them with such relish or--thanks to his rare gift of
restraint--with such fidelity and truth.
To a certain extent, Frank Reynolds has already recorded contemporary
manners in England, and especially in London, in his well-known
series of "Social Pests," though it would perhaps be more correct
to say that he has pilloried therein the more extravagant of our
social freaks. Probably the delighted recognition with which these
ruthless analyses of character were hailed was due to the satisfaction
which attends the exhibition of a proper object of satire meeting
with its just deserts.
[Illustration: THE WARRENER.
_Exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours,_ 1907.]
No ridicule could be more serene, nor yet more biting, than that
with which the artist touches off the desperate efforts to attract
attention of the rowdy group of callow youths whom he names, with
a flash of inspiration, "The Dare-Devils" (page 10).
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