DOI issue:
No. 140 (October, 1908)
DOI article:Some drawings by J. W. Waterhouse, R.A.
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28255#0266
Drawings by J. IV. Water house, R.A.
eccentricities unworthy of his solidly respectable
position in the world.
All this misapprehension has its origin in the
fact that what artistic taste he possesses has not
been sufficiently developed to enable him to judge
a work of art by its own inherent merits rather than
by outside circumstances. His perception is not
acute enough to guide him in forming an opinion
about things which do not conform to everyday
conventions, and consequently he cannot see why
the slighter artistic exercises, with their absence of
elaboration and want of what is inappropriately
enough called finish, should be given the close
attention demanded by the
serious lovers of art. His im-
perfect testhetic intelligence
leads him to despise what he
does not understand, and causes
him to overlook the actual im-
portance of work which lies
outside the narrow range of his
experience. This imperfection
of taste is the more annoying
because it has the effect of dis-
couraging the production of
beautiful things which would
give infinite joy to the real con-
noisseur. Many artists who
have the power of exquisite
draughtsmanship would in-
crease their activity in this
direction if their performances
were accorded a more general
appreciation, and many more
would take pains to preserve
the drawings they do for their
own purposes of reference.
But because the drawing as a
work of art is undervalued by
the people who profess to be
art patrons, it is to a great
extent excluded from the recog-
nised forms of expression ; or,
if it is produced, it is destroyed
by the artist himself as not
worth keeping because there is
no one by whom it is likely to
be wanted.
Yet there is proof enough in
the studies by Mr. Waterhouse,
which are reproduced here, that
the drawings of a painter with
so marked a personality, and
such a true sense of style, must
be ranked among the greater achievements of
modem art. To deny that work of this order is
important, to suggest that its existence is a matter
of no moment, to dismiss it as something trivial
which the discreet collector need not notice, would
be sheer folly; such productions claim the most
serious consideration and they have qualities
which only the man who is blinded by conven-
tion could fail to perceive. They sum up de-
cisively most of the salient characteristics of a
painter who, by his consistent pursuit of a noble
ideal, has won his way to the front rank of the
British school, and they suggest with exquisite
STUDY IN SANGUINE
BY J. W. WATERHOUSE, R.A.
eccentricities unworthy of his solidly respectable
position in the world.
All this misapprehension has its origin in the
fact that what artistic taste he possesses has not
been sufficiently developed to enable him to judge
a work of art by its own inherent merits rather than
by outside circumstances. His perception is not
acute enough to guide him in forming an opinion
about things which do not conform to everyday
conventions, and consequently he cannot see why
the slighter artistic exercises, with their absence of
elaboration and want of what is inappropriately
enough called finish, should be given the close
attention demanded by the
serious lovers of art. His im-
perfect testhetic intelligence
leads him to despise what he
does not understand, and causes
him to overlook the actual im-
portance of work which lies
outside the narrow range of his
experience. This imperfection
of taste is the more annoying
because it has the effect of dis-
couraging the production of
beautiful things which would
give infinite joy to the real con-
noisseur. Many artists who
have the power of exquisite
draughtsmanship would in-
crease their activity in this
direction if their performances
were accorded a more general
appreciation, and many more
would take pains to preserve
the drawings they do for their
own purposes of reference.
But because the drawing as a
work of art is undervalued by
the people who profess to be
art patrons, it is to a great
extent excluded from the recog-
nised forms of expression ; or,
if it is produced, it is destroyed
by the artist himself as not
worth keeping because there is
no one by whom it is likely to
be wanted.
Yet there is proof enough in
the studies by Mr. Waterhouse,
which are reproduced here, that
the drawings of a painter with
so marked a personality, and
such a true sense of style, must
be ranked among the greater achievements of
modem art. To deny that work of this order is
important, to suggest that its existence is a matter
of no moment, to dismiss it as something trivial
which the discreet collector need not notice, would
be sheer folly; such productions claim the most
serious consideration and they have qualities
which only the man who is blinded by conven-
tion could fail to perceive. They sum up de-
cisively most of the salient characteristics of a
painter who, by his consistent pursuit of a noble
ideal, has won his way to the front rank of the
British school, and they suggest with exquisite
STUDY IN SANGUINE
BY J. W. WATERHOUSE, R.A.