[Boston—Monday, 31 December 1866]
Monday morning Miss Anne Whitney came in on her way to the studio—bringing me flowers from a friend’s green-house—talked of her work of the hard fight she had always with loneliness in her art, of entire lack of true recognition from any quarter though only too much praise from the world—she told me in strict confidence that her statue of the boy and the palm now on exhibition at De Vries had one inch cut off the thigh by the bad workman who was engaged upon the marble—also the open window with angels at Doll’s now, is less interesting than the model. I asked her why she did not have copies of the model—she said the difficulties of working up the finer parts of the plaster made it appear very unfinished. Her face suffused with color as she talked of plans and hopes but no tears fell. She is a noble ardent creature. Why should she come to me—or what can I be to her. We shall see, thank God!
