DOI issue:
No. 95 (January, 1905)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26963#0328
Studio- Talk
New Forest, which, simply true as it is as a record
of nature’s facts, has all that is requisite for a noble
design and for a carefully planned artistic achieve-
ment. It sums up completely what is best in his
art, and reveals his mastery in a most convincing
way.
Mr. Borough Johnson’s work is so well known,
and with the pencil he has arrived at such happy
results, that his work with the latter medium sets
an example always of value to the student. The
example that we give here from his painting
Darby and Joan is interesting, as showing how the
character of his work is maintained and the same
qualities sought for whether he works in paint or
pencil. The work in pencil by Mrs. Borough
Johnson that we give shows that to her the pencil
has become as ready a means of ex-
pression as it is with her husband;
and, whilst in her work there is an
equal appreciation of its capabilities
as a medium for something more than
tentative sketching, so there is in her
sketches an individuality which is quite
her own. The study of a child sucking
an orange that is illustrated in colour
displays draughtsmanship masculine in
its'mastery, expressing what is feminine
in its tenderness of outlook and choice
of subject and sympathetic handling
of that subject with its half-humorous
side. The children in the street-scene
have been carefully noted and studied
from life; as character studies they are
perfect. The earnestness which is so
characteristic of these studies does not
allow Mrs. Borough Johnson to depart
from reality to the careless technique
which so easily overtakes an artist if
the difficulties of fresh subjects are
shirked, and constant comparison with
nature avoided.
Government, and it is to find a permanent
resting-place in the Luxembourg Gallery. As a
technical exercise, dealing successfully with very
difficult problems of tone and colour, it is unques-
tionably most memorable; it has qualities which
can be sincerely praised, and it proves that the
artist, unequal as he is, can rise, when the occasion
comes, to remarkable heights. That there is
nothing else in the exhibition of the same level
must be admitted, but there is much nevertheless
that claims approval on the score of technical
cleverness and originality of view. Mr. Lavery
achieves most when he gives the freest rein to his
own individuality; and of the pictures he has
brought together the most enjoyable are those in
which he has not sought too obviously to imitate
Whistler and other masters. That he should ever
Mr. J. Lavery’s collection of pictures
and sketches on view at the Leicester
Galleries is made particularly memor-
able by the inclusion in it of the de-
lightful picture Spring, which was
recognised, when it was exhibited not
long ago at the New Gallery, as the
greatest of all his performances.
More recently this opinion has been
fully endorsed abroad, for the canvas
has been purchased by the French
“A SWEETSTUFF STALLBY MRS. BOROUGH JOHNSON
256
New Forest, which, simply true as it is as a record
of nature’s facts, has all that is requisite for a noble
design and for a carefully planned artistic achieve-
ment. It sums up completely what is best in his
art, and reveals his mastery in a most convincing
way.
Mr. Borough Johnson’s work is so well known,
and with the pencil he has arrived at such happy
results, that his work with the latter medium sets
an example always of value to the student. The
example that we give here from his painting
Darby and Joan is interesting, as showing how the
character of his work is maintained and the same
qualities sought for whether he works in paint or
pencil. The work in pencil by Mrs. Borough
Johnson that we give shows that to her the pencil
has become as ready a means of ex-
pression as it is with her husband;
and, whilst in her work there is an
equal appreciation of its capabilities
as a medium for something more than
tentative sketching, so there is in her
sketches an individuality which is quite
her own. The study of a child sucking
an orange that is illustrated in colour
displays draughtsmanship masculine in
its'mastery, expressing what is feminine
in its tenderness of outlook and choice
of subject and sympathetic handling
of that subject with its half-humorous
side. The children in the street-scene
have been carefully noted and studied
from life; as character studies they are
perfect. The earnestness which is so
characteristic of these studies does not
allow Mrs. Borough Johnson to depart
from reality to the careless technique
which so easily overtakes an artist if
the difficulties of fresh subjects are
shirked, and constant comparison with
nature avoided.
Government, and it is to find a permanent
resting-place in the Luxembourg Gallery. As a
technical exercise, dealing successfully with very
difficult problems of tone and colour, it is unques-
tionably most memorable; it has qualities which
can be sincerely praised, and it proves that the
artist, unequal as he is, can rise, when the occasion
comes, to remarkable heights. That there is
nothing else in the exhibition of the same level
must be admitted, but there is much nevertheless
that claims approval on the score of technical
cleverness and originality of view. Mr. Lavery
achieves most when he gives the freest rein to his
own individuality; and of the pictures he has
brought together the most enjoyable are those in
which he has not sought too obviously to imitate
Whistler and other masters. That he should ever
Mr. J. Lavery’s collection of pictures
and sketches on view at the Leicester
Galleries is made particularly memor-
able by the inclusion in it of the de-
lightful picture Spring, which was
recognised, when it was exhibited not
long ago at the New Gallery, as the
greatest of all his performances.
More recently this opinion has been
fully endorsed abroad, for the canvas
has been purchased by the French
“A SWEETSTUFF STALLBY MRS. BOROUGH JOHNSON
256