A Basket of Chips: An Autobiography

Basket of Chips, page 125

Kumindtions of Life and Art but was not successful. I was told later that the one to whom the position was given had been very highly recommended. And this woman had to come to me for private lessons in order to carry on her art teaching as she never had a lesson in her life, she said. I had a letter of recommendation from the Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris but that was turned down. The University of Utah has made some growth since then. I mention this inci- dent for had I received what was rightfully mine, my wife would have had a much easier time in our first years of partnership. As it was, for four years, all I could turn over to her was twentv-five dollars a month and that was never regular. That paid for food, clothing, etc. My earnings were through private pupils and an occasional sale of a picture. At this time I made two very remarkable sales. Each picture brought six dollars. One was sold to the woman who worked for Auntie, and the other to one of the city's wealthiest men. Fortunately there were other art patrons and it was at this very close period in our his- tory that we had the joy of a sale which really meant something to us. It was at Christmas when we were with my parents at Lehi. A telegram came to us stating that one of my important landscapes had been sold for two hundred dollars. Think of what that meant to us! Heber J. Grant, President of the L.D.S. Church, a good, kind, appreciative man, was instrumental in the purchase of a large oil "The Wasatch Range" to represent me in the Salt Lake Temple." We started a bank account for a rainy day. We had many interesting experiences at this uncertain period. Many times we would be down to the last cent with no possible sign of the next dollar, and the studio rent due, when a new pupil would appear and pay for a term's lessons in advance. With a light heart I would rush home and she could see that we were once again taken care of. The money was in gold then, and to drop some five, ten or twenty dollar pieces into her hands was a joy to us both. 3 See Part Two, note 39.