The Argosy — page 218: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A Ramble on Copper. 199 I shall strengthen both my idea and yours ; you will learn as much by what I leave out as by what I put in; you will share my pleasure, and thus we shall go hand in hand.” As we examine the President’s landscapes and figures, the same truth is forced upon us. We see in all he does the strength, not the weakness, of art, and the power of ‘the lost and found.” The drawing is always powerful, but it is not merely powerful and obtrusive—it does not exhibit itself because of itself, but because of its truth. for let us remember that there is plenty of good drawing in this world at present, and yet very little force derived from it. Is it because nobility of mind must go hand in hand with clever technique that we fail to see results? Let us quote again the words copied by Mr. Seymour Haden in his pamphlet, ‘“‘ About Etching,” written in 1878 :— “‘ Je crois que le vrai sentiment artistique n’est donné quw’aux natures élevées ; que |’esprit vulgaire ne saurait produire le beau de méme que Yesprit déloyal ne saurait trouver la vérité.” Many of the etchings exhibited in this exhibition by the President are still to be bought, and no doubt collectors have already secured most of his works, so that those who could not visit the gallery will see for themselves, or already know, most of his etchings. Brought together, it was difficult to make a choice of favourites. Here is the “Water Meadow,” full of quiet strength, and there ‘‘ Coombe Bottom ” the essence of loveliness. The various ‘‘states” of the well-known ‘‘ The Breaking-up of the Agamemnon,” each deserve attentive study. One has been washed with sepia, to give another idea. ‘Though we prefer the unwashed etching in all its vigour, which no washing can improve. The calm water and the unruffled trees of ‘‘ A Sunset in Ireland,” and the exquisite and well-known Shere Mill Pond show us that quiet does not mean passive nonentity, and that more artistic strength is required to express true rest than to give an idea of raging storms. The two etchings of “The Turkish Bath,” with figures, exhibit Mr. Seymour Haden’s mastery of the human form more than many a study of the nude which so-called artists give us to show us how well they are acquainted with the anatomy of the human body. The President’s training as a physician here tells powerfully, and we feel sure that he must suffer acutely when he sees the ignorance of many artists on this point. If you can get a copy of “ Battersea Reach,” look at the water in all its clearness, expressed by master strokes, and the simple lines in “ Kilgaren Castle ” will tell you everything you ought to know about it. Study what true broken and flickering lights are in “‘ Kensington Gardens,” and how a sunset can be described in glory lines in “Sunset on the Thames.” As to the country scenes they are too numerous to name sepa- rately, but we should never tire of “Old Wellesby House” and “The Moat House.” COMM () NOOKS (©)