DOI Heft:
No. 139 (September, 1908)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: Modern miniature painting
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28255#0189
Modern Miniature
M
Painting
ODERN MINIATURE PAINT-
ING. BY A. LYS BALDRY.
It has often been asserted that minia-
ture painting as an art has suffered greatly from
the competition of photography. This assertion,
like so many which obtain general credence, is by
no means justified by facts, for the work of the
miniaturist is probably more popular to-day and
more in request than it ever was before. The
reasons for this popularity are quite intelligible;
the miniature is an artistic performance with
BY MARTHA S. BAKER
particular qualities and a particular
purpose, and the photograph, no matter
how admirable it may be in its own
way, can neither possess these qualities
nor fulfil this purpose. Photography
has its undeniable value as a means of
giving rapidly and effectively a more
or less literal likeness, and when it is
used with intelligence and taste its
results are not wanting in artistic in-
terest ; but the miniature which has
XXXV. No. 139.—September, 1908.
any right to consideration at all aims at some-
thing more than simple likeness-making. It may
well be that the mechanically exact miniature,
intended merely to represent the obvious facts
of the sitter’s personality, has found the photo-
graph a serious rival, for commonplace art is
very liable to be ousted by a process which is
adaptable and possessed of a sufficient measure
of flexibility. The work of the miniaturist who has
the proper endowment of artistic capacity, who
studies the refinements of his art and is master of
its principles, has nothing to fear from the com-
petition of the camera, and can hold its own as
successfully now as it did a century or more ago
before photography had begun to make any serious
bid for attention.
The miniature originally, it must be remembered,
was a decorative object, an article, usually, of
personal adornment, and designed with strict regard
for the function it had to fulfil. That it should be
of small size was essential, because a painting on
any considerable scale could not be conveniently
carried about; and there was an equal necessity
that it should have sufficient daintiness and deli-
cacy of effect to make it suitable as an ornament.
MISS RAYXA SIMONS OF CHICAGO
BY MARTHA S. BAKER
171
M
Painting
ODERN MINIATURE PAINT-
ING. BY A. LYS BALDRY.
It has often been asserted that minia-
ture painting as an art has suffered greatly from
the competition of photography. This assertion,
like so many which obtain general credence, is by
no means justified by facts, for the work of the
miniaturist is probably more popular to-day and
more in request than it ever was before. The
reasons for this popularity are quite intelligible;
the miniature is an artistic performance with
BY MARTHA S. BAKER
particular qualities and a particular
purpose, and the photograph, no matter
how admirable it may be in its own
way, can neither possess these qualities
nor fulfil this purpose. Photography
has its undeniable value as a means of
giving rapidly and effectively a more
or less literal likeness, and when it is
used with intelligence and taste its
results are not wanting in artistic in-
terest ; but the miniature which has
XXXV. No. 139.—September, 1908.
any right to consideration at all aims at some-
thing more than simple likeness-making. It may
well be that the mechanically exact miniature,
intended merely to represent the obvious facts
of the sitter’s personality, has found the photo-
graph a serious rival, for commonplace art is
very liable to be ousted by a process which is
adaptable and possessed of a sufficient measure
of flexibility. The work of the miniaturist who has
the proper endowment of artistic capacity, who
studies the refinements of his art and is master of
its principles, has nothing to fear from the com-
petition of the camera, and can hold its own as
successfully now as it did a century or more ago
before photography had begun to make any serious
bid for attention.
The miniature originally, it must be remembered,
was a decorative object, an article, usually, of
personal adornment, and designed with strict regard
for the function it had to fulfil. That it should be
of small size was essential, because a painting on
any considerable scale could not be conveniently
carried about; and there was an equal necessity
that it should have sufficient daintiness and deli-
cacy of effect to make it suitable as an ornament.
MISS RAYXA SIMONS OF CHICAGO
BY MARTHA S. BAKER
171