DEATH OF JOHN RUSKIN

Otago Witness, 25 January 1900, Page 13

DEATH OF JOHN RUSKIN

— ♦ w LONDON, January 21. j '■ John Ruskin, the eminent art critic and writer, is dead ; aged eighty-one years. 1 [Euskin John, M.A., LL.D., son of a London merchant, was born in Hunter street. " -brunswick square, London, in February 1819 and was educated privately, and at Christ ! Onurch, Oxford, where he gained the Newdigate prize in 1839. He then devoted himself ta painting, and worked tinder Copley Fielding and J. D. Harding. A pamphlet in defence ot 1 timer and the modern English school of land-scape-paintmg was his first effort in the cause of modern ait, and it was enlarged into a standard work, entitled "Modern Painters," the first volume of which appeared in 1843. ' -j , author s success as a writer on art was decided by the warm reception accorded to this . volume, of which several editions have since been published. Mr Ruskin's views, however - were combated with bitter asperity by some oi the art critics of the clay, who resented with an affectation of contempt his free expression oi dissent from the trammels of their school In his second volume of -'Modern Painters," written after a residence in Italy, and published i m 1846, he took a much wider survey of the subject originally entered upon, including the works of the great Italian painters, and discussed at length the merits of their respective schools. This, his chief work, has been com- ! pleted by the publication of three additional volumes, the last of which, published in 1860, ! contains illustrations by himself. Mr Buskin. " ■ temporarily diverted his attention from the study of painting to' that of architecture, and wrote The Seven Lamps of Architecture," published in 1849, as a first Tesult, followed by { the first volume of '■ The Stones of Venice," . in 1851, the second and third volumes of which" appeared in 1853. The illustrations in the lastj named productions, which excited some of the | same professional hostility that his first publication evoked, displayed to much advantage | his artistic powers. Mr Euskin .has ex» I pounded his views both in lectures and in* newspapers and reviews, having, as early aa 1847, contributed articles to the " Quarterly " on Lord Lindsay's " Christian Art." In 1851 he advocated Pre-Eaphaelitism in letters to The Times; and in 1853 he lectured m Edinburgh on Gothic architecture. In addition to the above-mentioned works, Mr Euskin h,aa written " Notes on the Construction of Sheepfolds," the "King of the Golden River," a . story for children ; " The Two Paths : Lectures on Architecture and Painting," in 185 d; . s "Notes to Pictures in the "Royal Academy; j and a long list of others, which it would be ! tedious to enumerate, and was a contributor , to the Art Journal and the Eeviews. lie also edited a number of selections fiom general literature under the title of " The Shenhcrd's Library." Mr Euskin was appointed Eede lecturer at Cambridge in 1P67, and the senate conferred the degree of LL.D. unon him. Ha was also elected Slade Piofessor of Fine Arl . at Oxford, and in 1872 published "Aratra Pen. telici: Six Lectures on the Elements of Sculpture." In 1871 he proposed to devota JCSOOO for the purpose of an endowment to pas a master of drawing in the Tavlor Galleries, Oxford, and this handsome offer was, with some modifications, accepted by the university. In 1883 he was again elected Slade Professor, and at his inaugural lecture was received with unprecedented enthusiasm. So great was the , crowd that thronged to hear his lectures thai it was impossible to accommodate the audij ence, and Professor Euskin undertook to deliver each lecture twice. He was obliged to resien the post in 1884 on account of failine; • 1 health. Of late years he has lived in tranquil retirement.] : ! In response to an invitation by the Wvnd- , ham Liberal League, the Hon. Mr Seddon has consented to deliver an address at Wynd1 ham as soon as his engagements will permit : o_f_his doing so.