ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 82

ART AND ARTISTS.

THREE FAMOUS PAINTERS.

— MorJand, Hogarth, Turner. —

In view of the eeeentially rural character that distinguishes George Morland's work, it is worth remarking that he was not only bern but brought up in London j the more so as, of all the painters born in England in the eighteenth century wh# may be classed ns of the first order, ther« were but two others — Hogarth and Turner — who were similarly circumstanced, of whom neither fell into line 6O ac tc become fashionable portrait or historical painters, but each, like Morjand. struck out a line of hie own. But while Hogarth, on the one hand, spurning the conventional methods of "face-makers" with their assistants in making names and 1 fortunes for themselves, took his eubjecte from the everyday life he caw going on around him. in London ; and wh'lo Turner, on the other hand, soared ptraight into regions beyond the clouds, painting th-j clouds, as it were, from the other Bjdeof th*?rri, and only by intense concentration and extraordinary skill drawing the vision down so as to come within the> limits of human- observation — for that ie the best possible way jf explaining Turner when subjected to the "bewildering questions of one's friends in front of hia unfinished 6tudies a 1 the Tat© Gal'ery— Moriand, though born and trained in a conventional London jointer's ho.use t was ho gpoftex

emancipated from the paternal control diatf lie went into the stables, or into the fields, and simply painted what he actually • saw and what he fondly loved exactly as he saw it and loved it. —Westminster Gazette. A RARE FRENCH PAINTER. —Gericault. — In an exhibition of nineteenth-century ; pictures at Messrs Obaoh's gallery in Bond ""* ; street, London, one picture, writes Mr - i Laurence Binyon in the Saturday-Review, ' stands pire-cminent. It is by that rare "Franch master, Georicault. Gericault is little known in this country. There are two small works of his in the Wallace collection, one a water-colour, but nothing, of course, in the National Gallery.Born in 1791, he grew to manhood while Napoleon was transforming Europe and th« eagles of France we.ro being carried to countless victories. As a boy he had a passion for horses; he- spent his evenings at the circus at Rouen. Beginning to paint, he chose Rubens for his idol. The picture now at Obach's, which is called "Lo j Passage dv Ravin," is ©aid to have been painted in 1816, three years before tho famous "Raft of the Medusa," now in tho Louvre. The latter picture, roused passionate attacks and created the historic opposition between the Classics and Romantics. Gericault brought it to England, and! ite exhibition in • London^was a great success. ' He found congenial stuff in English' painting and congenial themes in Englishlife. He" painted races at Epsom; and! " some of hi 6 fine lithographs are of English subjects. We- have therefore a link} with this Frenchman of genius, who, like others of his famous countrymen, bothf artiste and men of letters, found a stimulus { for his art in England. He died young-, ; and his paintings are rare. THE ISSUE IN ART. —Subject and Treatment.— A battle is constantly waged in art between the champions 7>i subject and treatment. Of course, neither side can- exist; without the other, for a subject must be ' treated to attain existence on, the canvas, and treatment must have a subject on which ; to display itself. The real point at iseoe is what it is that moves the artist to paint —does- he wish to express an idea or to create a thing ox beauty by means of farm and colour? A 1 badly:painted picture can no doubt express a fine, idea quite' clearly, but is it worth? having? The painting in this case is mere ■ hieroglyphic or picttpe-writing," which is but & cumbrous mganß of expression, much inferior to language. On the other hand; pure painting for, its own sake becomes cold, ■ and rises no 'higher than a fineiy* woven caxpet or an ornament made of 'coloured jewels. The painter who leaves out of account the emotions and poetry of the human mind errs as much on one-side as tha artist who cares little for the purely artistic qualities, provided his picture tells A story. In all great periods of art the two elements have gone hand-in-hand, for theyn are not Ornrazd and Ahrimen, but reoori* oilable forces, which, properly understood, ar© the complement of -each other. But it i* observable that the greatest painters in\ the past have always beeni quite clear that the treatment must bd artistically beautiful, whatever ihappeapr, and that no amount « emotion can ever b6" . an excuse for inartistic treatment. By *his humility end his poejfcry, Memling makes a more lasting impression on us than Vermeer of Deift, though as mere painters there is not much, to choose between them after allowing for the difference between, the modern and the mediaeval style. —Spectator. PAINTING WILD ANIMALS FROM LD7E. The Bronx Park lion house, in the Cen* tral Park, New York, w fittedl up with a unique studio, which will enable artigts to make a study of wild animals from actual life. The new Btudio cage is at one end of the building, shut off from the main Hon. houw. There are two parts to it— the auditorium and the cage. The former ia 20ft by 17ft, with platforms ranged one above the other, so that a number of artiste can work at the same time. About 30 artists can be accommodated at once. The studio cage ie arranged directly, under & big skylight, and when ft lion is wanted by the artists the animal ie driven into a shifting oar, and lowered to a subway communicating with a. studio cage. Then it is an easy matter to get the animal from the shiftfn* car safely inside th« ntudio by simply opening the gates and throwing in a piece of meat. With too animal inside the cage in a i perfect light, awl no bystanders to disturb them, the artists are free to begin work. |