International studio (35.1908)

The Recent Etchings of D. Y. Cameron

The recent etchings of
D. Y. CAMERON. BY FRANK
RUTTER.
When we view our contemporaries with un-
prejudiced eyes, when we think of the number of
beautiful and even distinguished works which may
be seen on exhibition within the short space of a
twelvemonth, it becomes more and more difficult
to pick out from the many able and accomplished
artists living in our midst the few who are destined
to wear the laurels for posterity. There are times
when we fear that much must be forgotten that
deserves to be remembered, that the occasional
triumph will be overwhelmed by the flood of con-
temporary production. To be sure of his seat in
Olympus, it is not enough, we feel, for an artist to
do well; he must excel, he must bring something
into art which has not been there before, some new
way of looking at the world, or of expressing what

he has seen, some new combination of elements old
as the primitives. To the artist achieving this
much, in however slight a degree, fame, we are
persuaded, will be kinder than to the conqueror of
the moment, whose sensation is flattered for a
season and forgotten in a year. For this new thing,
premised to give an artist an abiding reputation, is
very different from what is recognised by the crowd
as a novelty ; it evades the sensation-monger who
strives to be original and effective at all costs, and
capriciously settles in the work of some patient and
reverent student of old conventions.
Mr. D. Y. Cameron is guiltless of having made a
sensation. He- has never painted a “picture of
the year.” The development of his talent, and
especially of his etching, has been quiet and
gradual. For a score of years he has reverently
submitted himself to the masters of his art, not
seeking superficially to imitate their results, > but
delving deep into their secrets that he might


“ LAROCHE ” ... BY D. Y. CAMERON
(By permission of Messrs. James Connell Sons, 47 Old Bond Street, IV.)
XXXV. No. 138.—August, 1908.

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