International studio (25.1905)

RTHUR RACKHAM: A PAINT-
ER OF FANTASIES. BY A. L.
BALDRY.

ONE of the best and most interesting charac-
teristics of the British Water - Coiour School
has always been its wonderful variety. During
the century and a half which is approximately
the period that has elapsed since water-colour
painting began to be seriously studied in this
country there has been an astonishing develop-
ment in this form of art practice. The first
attempts of the early water - colourists were, it
can be admitted, purely tentative technical
essays, and aimed at nothing more than the
representation of commonplace facts in a timid
and conventional manner. But in a very short
time, as the school increased
the number of its adherents
and acquired fuller authority,
a broader conception of the
functions of the art was sub-
stituted for the earlier formali-
ties and a much more vigorous
type of effort was encouraged.
AH kinds of subjects quickly came
to be regarded as permissible
in water colour, and the widest
varieties of treatment were allowed
to the men who had the strength
and originality necessary for
marked departures from the
beaten track. Conventions gave
way to freedom of action and to
the legitimate experiments which
led to substantial and valuable
progress.
Fortunately, this love of ex-
periment has not diminished
with the lapse of years. The
present day water-colour painters
are as ready as their predecessors
to seek for new ways of expressing
themselves, and consequently
there has been no slackening in
the progress of the school, and
no decrease in the vitality of the
art itself. New men who have
something fresh to say are con-
stantly making their appearance
and are adding steadily something
of value to the sum total of
England's artistic achievement.
There is evidence of continuous
XXV. No. 99.—SfAY, 1905.

movement, of that vigorous expansion which
better than anything else proves the sincerity
of the workers to whose efforts it is due, and,
as well, the thoroughness of their recognition of
their professional responsibilities. Among these
workers, neither enthusiasm nor capacity is want-
ing ; they are amply fulfilling their mission in the
art world, and are doing complete credit to the
school to which they belong.
There is most certainly no apology necessary for
assigning to Mr. Arthur Rackham a prominent
place among the most distinguished of these
modern water-colourists. We have no one who
can quite be compared with him, no one who uses
his particular executive method with a tithe of his
ability or approaches him in fanciful originality.
Nor is there any of his predecessors who can be

THE OLD MAN : ILLUSTRATION
FOR GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES

BY ARTHUR RACKHAM

189