DOI Heft:
No. 93 (December, 1900)
DOI Artikel:Hiatt, Charles T. J.: The work of Carton Moore Park
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19786#0195
Carton Moore Park
other outdoor sports, he does not seem at the out- the imagination of the inhabitants of nursery-
set of his career deliberately to have chosen the land should reach.
delineation of animals as his chief business as an It was the publication of the Alphabet of
artist. It chanced, however, that in 1897 he exhi- Animals which first brought Carton Moore Park's
bited at the Glasgow Students' Club a very vigorous work prominently to the notice of the public,
and original drawing of a bear. This attracted the The book was received with an enthusiasm which
notice of Messrs. Blackie & Son, who thereupon did credit alike to the critics who praised it and
gave Mr. Moore Park a commission to produce to the public who purchased it. His drawings
the Alphabet of Animals, which was published evidenced a very remarkable degree ot originality
in 1898. A short time before this he left and a sincerity not often found in conjunction
Glasgow and came to London, but previous to with it. His studies of all sorts of beasts, from
doing so he made several interesting and important the mouse to the elephant, are characterised by
experiments. At one of the Glasgow galleries he accurate anatomical knowledge, as well as a pro-
exhibited a series of drawings of the principal per found appreciation of the nicest details of the
formers in the local pantomimes. It need hardly habits and movements of the animals depicted,
be said that, early efforts as they were, they left a They display, moreover, that close sympathy with
good deal to be desired in the matter of technical their subjects, without which they would inevitably
accomplishment, but they proved that their author be little more than zoological diagrams, possessing
had a quite remarkable gift of seeing and realising a certain amount of incidental beauty. His treat-
the grotesque with simplicity and strength. In ment is refreshingly broad and invariably decora-
almost all of them, however extravagantly fantastic, tive. Sometimes he exaggerates in the interest of
there is a decorative quality which places them far decoration, but he is never guilty of that sentimen-
above most productions of their kind. It was in talising which we associate with Landseer and a
Glasgow likewise that Moore Park made his first host of animal painters who are without the excuse
essay in mural decoration. This consisted of a of Landseer's remarkable qualities. His dogs are
series of eight large panels,
inset into the walls of a
drill-hall, in which the local
volunteer regiments were
caricatured. Another work
undertaken by the artist
about the same time was
altogether congenial to him.
He was asked to decorate
a nursery with a series of
illustrations from the most
popular and best-loved
nursery rhymes. He de-
cided on his scheme after
much deliberation, very
carefully considering the
purpose for which his
designs were required and
the audience to which they
were to appeal. By treating
his subjects in the sim-
plest, broadest, most direct
fashion, he was enabled to
bring his task to a most
fortunate and delightful
conclusion. He studiously
avoided letting his imagin-
ation run to lengths to
which it was impossible that leopard by carton moore park
172
other outdoor sports, he does not seem at the out- the imagination of the inhabitants of nursery-
set of his career deliberately to have chosen the land should reach.
delineation of animals as his chief business as an It was the publication of the Alphabet of
artist. It chanced, however, that in 1897 he exhi- Animals which first brought Carton Moore Park's
bited at the Glasgow Students' Club a very vigorous work prominently to the notice of the public,
and original drawing of a bear. This attracted the The book was received with an enthusiasm which
notice of Messrs. Blackie & Son, who thereupon did credit alike to the critics who praised it and
gave Mr. Moore Park a commission to produce to the public who purchased it. His drawings
the Alphabet of Animals, which was published evidenced a very remarkable degree ot originality
in 1898. A short time before this he left and a sincerity not often found in conjunction
Glasgow and came to London, but previous to with it. His studies of all sorts of beasts, from
doing so he made several interesting and important the mouse to the elephant, are characterised by
experiments. At one of the Glasgow galleries he accurate anatomical knowledge, as well as a pro-
exhibited a series of drawings of the principal per found appreciation of the nicest details of the
formers in the local pantomimes. It need hardly habits and movements of the animals depicted,
be said that, early efforts as they were, they left a They display, moreover, that close sympathy with
good deal to be desired in the matter of technical their subjects, without which they would inevitably
accomplishment, but they proved that their author be little more than zoological diagrams, possessing
had a quite remarkable gift of seeing and realising a certain amount of incidental beauty. His treat-
the grotesque with simplicity and strength. In ment is refreshingly broad and invariably decora-
almost all of them, however extravagantly fantastic, tive. Sometimes he exaggerates in the interest of
there is a decorative quality which places them far decoration, but he is never guilty of that sentimen-
above most productions of their kind. It was in talising which we associate with Landseer and a
Glasgow likewise that Moore Park made his first host of animal painters who are without the excuse
essay in mural decoration. This consisted of a of Landseer's remarkable qualities. His dogs are
series of eight large panels,
inset into the walls of a
drill-hall, in which the local
volunteer regiments were
caricatured. Another work
undertaken by the artist
about the same time was
altogether congenial to him.
He was asked to decorate
a nursery with a series of
illustrations from the most
popular and best-loved
nursery rhymes. He de-
cided on his scheme after
much deliberation, very
carefully considering the
purpose for which his
designs were required and
the audience to which they
were to appeal. By treating
his subjects in the sim-
plest, broadest, most direct
fashion, he was enabled to
bring his task to a most
fortunate and delightful
conclusion. He studiously
avoided letting his imagin-
ation run to lengths to
which it was impossible that leopard by carton moore park
172