A PROMISING ARTIST
The large oil painting in the picture store under the Russ House, of the "Blind Fiddler," is the work of a very promising California artist, Mr. William Mulligan, of Healdsburg, formerly of St. Louis, Mo. In the main, both the conception and execution are good, but the latter is faulty in some of the minor details. Dr. Bellows has a smaller picture, however, by the same artist, which betrays the presence of genius of a high order in the hand that limned it. The subject is a dying drummer boy, half sitting, half reclining, upon the battle field, with his body partly propped upon his broken drum, and his left arm hanging languidly over it. Near him lie his cap and his drum-sticks - unheeded, discarded, useless to him forever more. The dash of blood upon his shirt, the dreamy, away-at home look upon the features, the careless, resigned expression of the nerveless arm, tell the story. The colors in the picture are not gaudy enough to suit the popular taste, perhaps, but they represent nature truthfully, which is better. Mr. Mulligan has demonstrated in every work his hands have wrought, that he is an artist of more than common ability, and he de serves a generous encouragement. One or two of his pictures will probably be exhibited at the Mechanics' Fair now being held in this city.
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