First Major U.S. Tour (1877-1878)
In 1877, Neal made a year-long whirlwind trip to the United States, bouncing from city to city, traveling and painting as he went. In a personal letter dated February 2, 1878 he writes back to a childhood friend and art collector, on Middlesex Street in Lowell, Massachusetts, addressed to Mrs. F. Cutting, that describes his hectic work schedule as an artist:
"I have four engagements here to meet, and two in New York, before I can engage to paint any more. I left three unpainted in Chicago, which I had half promised to do. ...I must positively be in Munich by the 1st of May as I have an appointment there with a gentleman who desires to purchase my next large historical picture. I am at present painting Mr. & Mrs. Talbot and shall visit Boston for a day or so and will have the pleasure of talking over the matter of your portrait with you."
Neal did not make it back to Munich till November, and not before his wife met him in Paris, where he later wrote:
"Mrs. Neal met me in Paris. Had it not been for the exhibition nothing could have kept me from hurrying home by the first train, such was my longing to see my babies. My arrival there was the occasion of a great festival on the part of the children, who had the rooms you know so well handsomely decorated. They all seemed at first to be at least a head taller, but after a week they managed to get back to their old proportions. Thirteen months are a great deal upon a child's head."
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