International studio (24.1904/1905(1905))

Frederick
not sufficient refutation of my artist friend’s state-
ment, surely his theory can be traversed on other
grounds. Is not—or, at any rate, ought not—a
painter’s technique to be the outcome of his own
ideas and requirements, and not the result of the
fashion of the moment, the fad of the day ? And
this method of Frederick Sandys, this fine and
Memlinc-like touch, was part of the man himself.
He once said to me that he never was a Pre-
raphaelite, and strictly speaking this was so, for
he was not a member of the Brotherhood ; but his
spiritual kinship with them was undeniable, his in-
spiration was identical, and he evolved for himself
the fashion of painting that he always adhered to,
the method of Millais in his early days, the method
for which we have no word but Preraphaelism.
Thus was he inspired, thus he saw things, and thus
he rendered them, and it is possible that his reward
will not be lacking, and that
pictures so painted will outlast
hundreds of the perfunctory and
sloppy canvases that are fashion-
able to-day.
These pictures, linked together
as a series by the individuality
of the painter, are yet full of
varying inspiration—are the out-
come of diverse moods. Some are
monumental in their intensity,
others are simple records of beau-
tiful themes. Of the first type is
the Morgan-le-Fay, which has been
already alluded to; of the second
are Vivien and Gentle Spring.
Sandys was always attracted by the
beauty of a scornful face, and in
Vivien he renders the proud
beauty of Merlin’s temptress with
great power, emphasising and ac-
centuating the loveliness of the
statuesque head and shoulders by a
background of charmingly painted
peacock’s feathers; in the Mag-
dalen he painted with equal skill
the simple pathos of grief; and
in Gentle Spring he strikes a note
that is purely idyllic. In this beau-
tifully decorative panel the stately
and gracious woman chosen by
the artist as symbolic of spring is
seen advancing to the spectator,
while behind her a rainbow gleams
against grey clouds and an orchard
glows with a wealth of blossom.

Sandys
Her white robe has a border of blue, and in its
folds she carries flowers; around her crown of
auburn hair copper butterflies hover and flutter,
and beside her spring poppies, gorgeous in colour
and exquisitely painted. The whole composition
is peaceful and serene, and its motif is in strong
contrast to the power shown in Oriana and the
sombre tragedy that characterises Medea.
It is in the last-named that this phase of his art
may be said to culminate; indeed, in this picture we
find to the full the artist’s perfect manual equipment
fitly employed to render a mighty theme of poetry
and passion. The canvas shows at half-length the
unfortunate wife of Jason, distraught with grief,
at work with spells and enchantments, the instru-
ments for which lie on a marble slab before her.
In a gleaming shell lies clotted human blood, from
a strangely shaped vessel of glass she feeds the flame


:-33

“THE RED CAP” BY FREDERICK SANDYS
(By permission of W. Connal, Esq.)

IO