Early memories; some chapters of autobiography

The author presents a series of autobiographical chapters that trace his emergence as an artist through childhood memories, family dynamics, and formal education. He describes solitary early years spent in reverie and drawing, his father's enthusiastic encouragement juxtaposed with his mother's thrift and practicality, and formative influences such as a trusted servant whose physical prowess shaped his tastes. He reflects on the pull between a conventional profession and pictorial vocation, on habits of absentmindedness, and on technical struggles and self-criticism in painting. A prefatory note by a son sketches the author's later years abroad, his tireless portrait work, and the fragmentary nature of the memoir.