ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 62

ART AND ARTISTS.

MEISSONIER'S METHODS.

Artists, as a class, have earned for them* selves the .reputation of being thoroughly uixbusinesslilce in all their methods of work; -but in this respect there are few who could be compared with the great French painter, Meissonier. Meissonier has ever been famous for the extraordinary conscientiousness of his work. No detail was too small to be noticed, yefc at the same time he would overlopk the most important matters. Few painters ever worked harder. He refused to take rest or j holiday, devoting every moment of his time to his work ; and yet he sold the outcome of his labours through an unscrupulous agent, who took half the price realised by his masterpieces as commission. Meissonier built himself a house that was a marvel of beauty and luxury, perfect in its minor details. Yet he apparently took but little trouble over the studio arrangements, the most important part of the whole. So badly were the studios designed that it was onlypossible to obtain a good light on.a model by making" lh_e unfortunate man or woman take up a position o"n a balcony outside the house. Another curious instance of. Meissonier's methods, is afforded by the manner in -which he set about painting his famous masterpiece; '.'Napoleon in 1814." When asked, to. explain how he_painted the snow road on which Napoleon is marching' with . l uch realism, he \vould produce a low platform, about llyds square, and describe how, with the help of clay and salt, he had constructed a model road. Having kneaded the clay and spread it over the platform, a small cannon wheel was pushed up and down several times to I produce rut-. Then, by taking an old horseshoe, and pressing it upon the clay, the marks of the horses' feet were represented. The clay was otreWn with flour to represent snow, the i cannon wheel was again purfied across, and j more horseshoe marks were indented, to obtain the semblance of a road over which many hordes and guns "had passed at different times. ; Finally, finding that the flour was not of j sufficient brilliance, the whole was given a ! sprinkling of salt, and the model road was j completed. | When asked by hi? friends why he had ; not vipifcod Russia, instead of making this elaborate substitute for a snow-covered road, j whic'i ho might have studied ?o easily from Nature, Meissonier would merely shrug hia shoulders and say,' "Yes, yes, bufc we Pari- | sians do not move about so easily." — Pearson's foj; June. ! . I Couldn't Do It. — A commissioner represent-i-j",B'.i!ne -American art section of a certain exI hibition way to arrive in Paris a while ago | to ai range with the American painters and sculptors lesident there for their contributions. Wishing to be "brisk and businesslike, he wrote ahead to several artists stating that he would be in Paris on a certain day, and at. a certain hotel, and naming an -hour at which, he hoped each man would call upon him. On his list for the day was the name of Mr M-Ncill Whistler, and the hour, "4-.30 precisclj-." The note he received is worthy of tho clover author of - "The Gentle Art of | Making Enemies": — "Dear Sir.— l have received your letter announcing that you will arrive in Paris on the — th. I congratulate you. I have never been able, and never shall be able, to be anywhere at '4.30 ~>recisely.'—Yours most faithfully, J. M'N. "Whistler." Military Engraving. — For some years military engraving in England seemed doomed to extinction by the competition of the illustrated papers. A new school of artists arose, however, whose works, influenced by the contemporary French painters, were at once more realistic and dramatic. The pictures which perhaps did most to give the art a new lease of popularity was Lady Butler's famous "Roll Call,"' which was followed up by "Quatro Bras," 'Balaclava," "Inkerman," and a number of others whose names are household! words. Perhaps the most popular painter at the present moment is Mr Caton Woodville, of "Absent-minded Beggar" fame. He works with extraordinary rapidity, his wellknown picture of "Saving the Guns at Maiwand," now in the Liverpool permanent collection, having been painted within a fortnight, when he was laid on his back with a broken limb, the canvas being slung above him. Selecting the Academy Pictures. — A writer in the cuirent number of Knowledge graphically describes tho doings at our National Temple of Art at Burlington House during the few days granted to would-be exhibitors. "When the viewing day comes, a council -of 10 members of the Academy sii. and sa& tho whole of these works. It is obvious that" j men of the highest standard in their art, | trained in eye and mind, are able to reckon | up the relative merits of Very many of the ! work 3 brought before them in a moment. A I council of examiners conducting a vive voce examination on some hundreds of students, seeking to pass in' French, would dispose in an instant of such as could not speak three words- of that language.. Thus fall some thousands of woiks, which their authors and friends esteemed highly, no doubt on the principle, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."' Tolerable works receive more attention, but the greater number of these follow the multitude downstairs into the cellars. Anything that the eaerle-eyed council regard as good work is set aside as doubtful (that is, accepted to be hung if space permits), and these works are do mtmerous'.thafe it is utterly impossible for anything like the whole of them to obtain a place tipon the walls. A very small quantity of exceptionally good works — seldom more than 80 — are 'accepted' to be 'placed' in excellent positions. The labour of viewing some 14,000 works is enormous. A procession of bearers carry, the pictures in a stream before the council, the names of the various artists not being mentioned. Sometimes the stream rolls on, dull and heavy, at other times it sparkles with 'good things.' Woe to the mediocre work that finds itself among the pearls; had it appeared in the midst of the dull and heavy} it might have had a chance, but in all things comparisons, if odious, tell. A very small part of a second can be given to the larger number of the works, as here described. A 1 vast number of the works have now tcTrefcurn to tho collars. As the works leave the large gallery, wlioro the council sit, they are classic iied at once by a staff of commissioners stationed in (he various galleries, and are thus alphabetically registered. Some thousands of cards aro Issued to thevauthors of these works, tho educational effect of which should be to make each recipient 'a sadder but a wiper man.' "