DOI Heft:
No. 136 (June, 1908)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: John Buxton Knight: an appreciation
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28254#0304
John Buxton Knight
manner of life. Born in the country—at Seven-
oaks, in 1843—he began at a very early age to
work out-of-doors, and to depend upon himself in
his investigation of the many problems which were
there presented for his solution. It is true that
his father, William Knight, was an artist and art
teacher, and was able to supervise and, to some
extent, to direct the boy’s efforts ; but the young
artist was not trained on any set system, and was
encouraged to hunt out things for himself rather
than to take on trust information which at that
stage of his evolution he could hardly have been
expected to understand.
Round about his home in Kent there was a great
variety of picturesque material well suited for pic-
torial treatment, so in his open-air work he was
not only able to study the ordinary subtleties of
illumination and atmospheric effect, but also to
cultivate a selective sense and to train his taste by
comparing various types of scenery. He grew up
in surroundings more favourable to the develop-
ment of a discriminating knowledge of nature than
are given to most young artists ; and his father’s
supervision, while it kept him on the right track,
had in it too little of dictation to make him hesi-
tate about forming impressions for himself. His
home life, indeed, was full of cheerful independ-
ence ; it was more one of comradeship between
sincere workers of different ages than one of formal
family relation, and it affected his character as an
individual as well as his temperament as an artist.
His own genial attitude towards existence, an atti-
tude which helped him to face the ups and downs
of his after years, was a sort of inheritance which
had come to him from a father who had taken a
cheery view of his family responsibilities.
That Buxton Knight’s unconventional prepara-
tion for the profession which he was destined to
follow with so much success was by no means ill-
judged appeared plainly enough when he com-
menced to test his powers seriously. He was only
eighteen when he exhibited his first picture at the
Academy; and during the next few years he
showed several other canvases at various exhibi-
tions, so that even before he had arrived at man-
hood he must have been able to express himself
with considerable facility. It was, perhaps, be-
cause he knew so much already that, when he was
twenty-two, he became a student in the Royal
Academy schools. He could see then what he
would gain from a spell of systematic training, and
his convictions were so well established that he
“MILL ON THE COLNE NEAR RICKMANSWORTH ”
BY J. BUXTON KNIGHT
284
(By special permission)
manner of life. Born in the country—at Seven-
oaks, in 1843—he began at a very early age to
work out-of-doors, and to depend upon himself in
his investigation of the many problems which were
there presented for his solution. It is true that
his father, William Knight, was an artist and art
teacher, and was able to supervise and, to some
extent, to direct the boy’s efforts ; but the young
artist was not trained on any set system, and was
encouraged to hunt out things for himself rather
than to take on trust information which at that
stage of his evolution he could hardly have been
expected to understand.
Round about his home in Kent there was a great
variety of picturesque material well suited for pic-
torial treatment, so in his open-air work he was
not only able to study the ordinary subtleties of
illumination and atmospheric effect, but also to
cultivate a selective sense and to train his taste by
comparing various types of scenery. He grew up
in surroundings more favourable to the develop-
ment of a discriminating knowledge of nature than
are given to most young artists ; and his father’s
supervision, while it kept him on the right track,
had in it too little of dictation to make him hesi-
tate about forming impressions for himself. His
home life, indeed, was full of cheerful independ-
ence ; it was more one of comradeship between
sincere workers of different ages than one of formal
family relation, and it affected his character as an
individual as well as his temperament as an artist.
His own genial attitude towards existence, an atti-
tude which helped him to face the ups and downs
of his after years, was a sort of inheritance which
had come to him from a father who had taken a
cheery view of his family responsibilities.
That Buxton Knight’s unconventional prepara-
tion for the profession which he was destined to
follow with so much success was by no means ill-
judged appeared plainly enough when he com-
menced to test his powers seriously. He was only
eighteen when he exhibited his first picture at the
Academy; and during the next few years he
showed several other canvases at various exhibi-
tions, so that even before he had arrived at man-
hood he must have been able to express himself
with considerable facility. It was, perhaps, be-
cause he knew so much already that, when he was
twenty-two, he became a student in the Royal
Academy schools. He could see then what he
would gain from a spell of systematic training, and
his convictions were so well established that he
“MILL ON THE COLNE NEAR RICKMANSWORTH ”
BY J. BUXTON KNIGHT
284
(By special permission)