DOI Heft:
No. 127 (September, 1907)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: Robert W. Little, R.W.S.: a review of his work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28252#0190
Robert IV. Little, R.JV.S.
long grass where he would see nothing but the blue
sky overhead.
Between thirteen and sixteen he added greatly to
his store of impressions, for he passed most of his
time during these three years on the Gareloch,
among rugged and romantic scenery, which fasci-
nated him by its grandeur. In this land of gorge-
ous sunsets and wonderful effects of atmosphere he
found much to stimulate his imagination, much
that helped to develop his sense of colour and his
understanding of qualities of tone; but he found
also a vast number of suggestions as to the way in
which what may be called the design of landscape
should be treated. He began to realise in this
district, with its lofty hills and large expanses of
distance, the necessity for right pictorial construc-
tion in the representation of nature’s beauties ; and
he was shown by a wealth of significant examples
how much the romantic sentiment of an impressive
scene depends upon the right relation of the forms
and masses by which the landscape is built up.
It was at this period, too, that he began to feel
the desire for production, the wish not merely to
observe but also to record the results of his obser-
vations. He had already, while at school at
Greenock, had some lessons in water-colour paint-
ing and by sketching out-of-doors he sought to put
to a practical test what knowledge he had acquired
of the mechanism of art. But, beyond these ten-
tative essays, he did little in the way of regular
study until, in his sixteenth year, he went to Edin-
burgh and in the intervals of his ordinary school
work attended the evening classes at the school of
art on the Mound. Then came an interval during
which he had very limited opportunities of satisfy-
ing his artistic inclinations ; after a winter at the
Glasgow University he went into his father’s office
with the idea of following a business career—in a
shipping concern which had been founded by his
grandfather.
However, he quickly discovered that he had not
the temperament needed for the business life, and
that he was wasting his energies in a wholly un-
congenial occupation. So, at the age of twenty-two
he made up his mind to abandon the office—after
much anxious consideration—and to take what
chances the future might bring him in the artistic
profession. The first necessary step was to go
through that systematic training in technical prac-
tice which he had not been able to obtain in his
“ MASSA-CARRARA : SUNSHINE IN WINTER” BY ROBERT W. LITTLE
174
long grass where he would see nothing but the blue
sky overhead.
Between thirteen and sixteen he added greatly to
his store of impressions, for he passed most of his
time during these three years on the Gareloch,
among rugged and romantic scenery, which fasci-
nated him by its grandeur. In this land of gorge-
ous sunsets and wonderful effects of atmosphere he
found much to stimulate his imagination, much
that helped to develop his sense of colour and his
understanding of qualities of tone; but he found
also a vast number of suggestions as to the way in
which what may be called the design of landscape
should be treated. He began to realise in this
district, with its lofty hills and large expanses of
distance, the necessity for right pictorial construc-
tion in the representation of nature’s beauties ; and
he was shown by a wealth of significant examples
how much the romantic sentiment of an impressive
scene depends upon the right relation of the forms
and masses by which the landscape is built up.
It was at this period, too, that he began to feel
the desire for production, the wish not merely to
observe but also to record the results of his obser-
vations. He had already, while at school at
Greenock, had some lessons in water-colour paint-
ing and by sketching out-of-doors he sought to put
to a practical test what knowledge he had acquired
of the mechanism of art. But, beyond these ten-
tative essays, he did little in the way of regular
study until, in his sixteenth year, he went to Edin-
burgh and in the intervals of his ordinary school
work attended the evening classes at the school of
art on the Mound. Then came an interval during
which he had very limited opportunities of satisfy-
ing his artistic inclinations ; after a winter at the
Glasgow University he went into his father’s office
with the idea of following a business career—in a
shipping concern which had been founded by his
grandfather.
However, he quickly discovered that he had not
the temperament needed for the business life, and
that he was wasting his energies in a wholly un-
congenial occupation. So, at the age of twenty-two
he made up his mind to abandon the office—after
much anxious consideration—and to take what
chances the future might bring him in the artistic
profession. The first necessary step was to go
through that systematic training in technical prac-
tice which he had not been able to obtain in his
“ MASSA-CARRARA : SUNSHINE IN WINTER” BY ROBERT W. LITTLE
174