ARTS AND CRAFTS GUILD.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12968, 22 November 1907, Page 10

ARTS AND CRAFTS GUILD.

"Are the works of the old mastoits superior to those of modern painters?" was the subject of a debato by the memhers of the Arts and Craft.. Guild at a meeting held in the School of Art last evenin 2 . The chairman ning-0 invited the contributors to tho dc&to to endeavour, in parisons, to see the works of tho old masters witli the eves of tho world in which they moved. It was, in his opinion, impossible to make a definite comparison between the works ot modern artists and the old masters as circumstances and environment had changed so much. If they allowed ior this, any comparison could be only a general one. , ~ Mr J. Herdman Smith expressed the opinion that a great deal of. the work of old masters was considerably overestimated. A demand, or craze, .bad arisen for the works of antique painters, and this had been fostered by dealers, to the exclusion or neglect ot the meritorious works of modern artists. Enormous prices had been paid for paintings merely because they were the work of an old master, and not because they possessed artistic merit. To compare the real old masters, the leaders of the schools, with the new masters, would be a difficult, or impossible, task. In his opinion the modern painters had shown moro original research, and had found and developed fields that remained in subordination in the old works. There was an air of vibration apparent in their works which wa6 absent in many of the productions of the old masters. This might be attributed in some degree to the fact that modern artists did much of their work out of doors, whereas the old painters were seldom outside their studios. There was more colouring and tono in modern painting and sculpture than was .shown in the works of the old painters. Tho host men of modern times, he thought, came well up to the antique, and ho would not like to say that tho works of the' old masters would never be excelled. Mr Walsh maintained that tho old masters Mere greater painters and sculptors than those of the modern schools. The painters of the old pictures, ho said, worked purely for the lovo of their art. Their paintings were not realistic, but were drawn from thoir imaginations, and wero usually spiritual or religious in theme. This induced a higher flight of art than the picture that was painted from a sitter. Modern painters had tho advantage of being able to examine the works of the old masters, and thus had a wide field from which to draw inspiration. The speaker referred to tho innumerable difficulties that beset the road of the artist in the good old days, and argued that the old masters must have possessed the true artistic spirit to overcome them. Tlie subjects they selected for pourtrayal, and their reverent and sympathetic treatment of them, combined witn their true artistic spirit and ability, enabled them to produce greater and far more brilliant pictures than the world was likely to see again. The discussion was continued by other members, who made interesting ov/i_i/ii but ions to the debate. At the conclusion of the dehate the members inspected a small exhibition or work. Tho results of the year's work in the monthly competitions were given as follows: —Landscape, Mr A. F. Nicoil; figure, Mr A. F. Nicoll, still Hfe. Miss A. Howell, black and white, Miss Kit Turner; architectural, Mr L. Freeman; craft, Miss A. B. Waymouth; design, Mr S. Brister; elementary, Mr B. Broadhead.