DOI Heft:
No. 81 (November, 1903)
DOI Artikel:Van der Veer, Lenore: The London Sketch Club and its members
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26230#0045
Zl%t?
holding the ofhce of ßrst president from 1898
to 1902.
On the opening night the suggestive titles ^4
and ^4 were chosen for
the launching of the first London Sketch Club
work, titles which have not rung false, for as
exhibition follows exhibition there is seen a
steady advance upward in the quality of work
displayed, work which speaks well for the sin-
cere attempts of capable artists to do themselves
and their club justice. These exhibitions are pos-
sessed of far greater interest than that which
belongs to the ordinary picture show, for they
represent a composite purpose, a strong United
effort of men who understand exactly how to make
their pictorial points without hesitation or inde-
cision between possible courses, and the results are
gained from a concentration of well-deßned
methods, and show what can be done in the way
of expressive and interesting art practice by men
who have in mind one common purpose. The
ordinary picture intended to catch the public fancy,
is seldom to be found on the walls of the Club
exhibitions, but even the most simple and unpre-
tentious little canvas has its story to teil, and teils
it in the very best language at its command.
Perhaps no other sketch club in the world is
made up of such a stränge medley of the serious
and the humorous, the excessively dignißed and
the uproariously funny brushes of talent. On the
members' list one comes upon the name of an
Academician, one which calls to mind all the
old-time art of the academic school from a
bygone time, and side by side with it comes a
name known to all of us through the owner's con-
tributions to various populär humorous weeklies.
Then another name, made
familiär through pictures of
angry seas and terrible ship-
wrecks, and farther down the list
is the man who convulses one
with laughter over his studies
of prehistoric days. Then comes
the best-known sporting artist
and the names found scattered
through the pages of the latest
illustrated novels, and further
on we meet the man who does
those little " old mastery"
portrait gems in water colour.
Then again there is the one
who caricatures himself so
relentlessly, and the clever artist
whose studies of mongrel dogs
are known the world over. A
little lower down one meets the
painter of skies that make you
feel the tender mystery of fading
day, and on whose canvas
you have looked with misty
eyes, so subtly has he brought
home to you some half-forgotten
memory.
To this very admixture of talents
and temperarnents so adversely
constituted, and yet so wholly
and interestingly in harmony
with the same working intent, the
London Sketch Club owes its
unique position in the art world
of to-day. It is always the urr-
expected that catches our fancy
32
holding the ofhce of ßrst president from 1898
to 1902.
On the opening night the suggestive titles ^4
and ^4 were chosen for
the launching of the first London Sketch Club
work, titles which have not rung false, for as
exhibition follows exhibition there is seen a
steady advance upward in the quality of work
displayed, work which speaks well for the sin-
cere attempts of capable artists to do themselves
and their club justice. These exhibitions are pos-
sessed of far greater interest than that which
belongs to the ordinary picture show, for they
represent a composite purpose, a strong United
effort of men who understand exactly how to make
their pictorial points without hesitation or inde-
cision between possible courses, and the results are
gained from a concentration of well-deßned
methods, and show what can be done in the way
of expressive and interesting art practice by men
who have in mind one common purpose. The
ordinary picture intended to catch the public fancy,
is seldom to be found on the walls of the Club
exhibitions, but even the most simple and unpre-
tentious little canvas has its story to teil, and teils
it in the very best language at its command.
Perhaps no other sketch club in the world is
made up of such a stränge medley of the serious
and the humorous, the excessively dignißed and
the uproariously funny brushes of talent. On the
members' list one comes upon the name of an
Academician, one which calls to mind all the
old-time art of the academic school from a
bygone time, and side by side with it comes a
name known to all of us through the owner's con-
tributions to various populär humorous weeklies.
Then another name, made
familiär through pictures of
angry seas and terrible ship-
wrecks, and farther down the list
is the man who convulses one
with laughter over his studies
of prehistoric days. Then comes
the best-known sporting artist
and the names found scattered
through the pages of the latest
illustrated novels, and further
on we meet the man who does
those little " old mastery"
portrait gems in water colour.
Then again there is the one
who caricatures himself so
relentlessly, and the clever artist
whose studies of mongrel dogs
are known the world over. A
little lower down one meets the
painter of skies that make you
feel the tender mystery of fading
day, and on whose canvas
you have looked with misty
eyes, so subtly has he brought
home to you some half-forgotten
memory.
To this very admixture of talents
and temperarnents so adversely
constituted, and yet so wholly
and interestingly in harmony
with the same working intent, the
London Sketch Club owes its
unique position in the art world
of to-day. It is always the urr-
expected that catches our fancy
32