DOI Heft:
Nr. 157 (March 1910)
DOI Artikel:Baker, C. H. Collins: The paintings of Prof. Henry Tonks
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19866#0029
Henry Tonks
promise. For all the while in secret he had From 1891 he became an exhibitor in the " New-
fostered an ambition to become a painter, and as English " shows. His first oil, a little and charming
a means of fostering it had put in his evenings at piece full of Walker's and Millais' delicate refinement,
Westminster School of Art. No method, as it was hung in 1894. The following year, with The
happened, could have been so successful, since Chestnut Roasters, he began upon the problem that
thus he came under Professor Brown's notice. still engages him, of painting the effects of firelight.
From 1887 Mr. Tonks studied under him, at In those two pictures are the principal motifs of
night, till 1893, when Professor Brown, becoming all his work in oils: the interpretation of young
Principal at the Slade School, invited him to come womanhood, surprised by us in some wistful
there too as his assistant. In this way, then, reverie; the intricate subtleties of tone and atmos-
our artist finally cut himself clear of his medical pheric light in interiors; and the mass and texture
attainments and their prospects. and iridescences of silks and stuffs suffused by the
For some sixteen years Mr. Tonks has been at full vibrant light of day, or smouldering in the
the Slade, and it would be difficult to exaggerate shadows of a firelit room. While in the main
the influence he has exercised. His especial gift, finding new inspiration from similar themes, his
I think, was an impetuous enthusiasm for a beauti- colour scheme, execution and tonality have passed
ful ideal. With it he could make, as he would say, through marked phases.
a student see—see, that is, not only the surface What is, I think, the most personal and valuable
facts and accidents, or the
incidental ugliness of any
given model, but rather the
high potentialities of every
form, bringing home to the
student not so much how
bad his drawing was as
how much more a Watteau
or a Holbein had seen in
the particular given case.
In short he could pass on
his own zest for the fine
interpretation, and some-
thing of his scientific appre-
ciation of bone-form and
structure. Above all he
did not leave the student
quite discouraged on his
"donkey," since he man-
aged to leave with him an
ideal. Realising that the
great thing is to fan intelli-
gent enthusiasm, he spared
no trouble to raise a tone
of taste and aspirations.
Guided in all this by the
Principal, whose impec-
cable science and justice
were to the students the
background for his own
impetuous, and sometimes,
I daresay, rapid advances
to new points of view, Mr.
Tonks must have part re-
sponsibility for the striking
r 1 b "the bird cage" by henry tonks
record of the Slade. (/„ tlie Collection of His Honour Judge Evans)
promise. For all the while in secret he had From 1891 he became an exhibitor in the " New-
fostered an ambition to become a painter, and as English " shows. His first oil, a little and charming
a means of fostering it had put in his evenings at piece full of Walker's and Millais' delicate refinement,
Westminster School of Art. No method, as it was hung in 1894. The following year, with The
happened, could have been so successful, since Chestnut Roasters, he began upon the problem that
thus he came under Professor Brown's notice. still engages him, of painting the effects of firelight.
From 1887 Mr. Tonks studied under him, at In those two pictures are the principal motifs of
night, till 1893, when Professor Brown, becoming all his work in oils: the interpretation of young
Principal at the Slade School, invited him to come womanhood, surprised by us in some wistful
there too as his assistant. In this way, then, reverie; the intricate subtleties of tone and atmos-
our artist finally cut himself clear of his medical pheric light in interiors; and the mass and texture
attainments and their prospects. and iridescences of silks and stuffs suffused by the
For some sixteen years Mr. Tonks has been at full vibrant light of day, or smouldering in the
the Slade, and it would be difficult to exaggerate shadows of a firelit room. While in the main
the influence he has exercised. His especial gift, finding new inspiration from similar themes, his
I think, was an impetuous enthusiasm for a beauti- colour scheme, execution and tonality have passed
ful ideal. With it he could make, as he would say, through marked phases.
a student see—see, that is, not only the surface What is, I think, the most personal and valuable
facts and accidents, or the
incidental ugliness of any
given model, but rather the
high potentialities of every
form, bringing home to the
student not so much how
bad his drawing was as
how much more a Watteau
or a Holbein had seen in
the particular given case.
In short he could pass on
his own zest for the fine
interpretation, and some-
thing of his scientific appre-
ciation of bone-form and
structure. Above all he
did not leave the student
quite discouraged on his
"donkey," since he man-
aged to leave with him an
ideal. Realising that the
great thing is to fan intelli-
gent enthusiasm, he spared
no trouble to raise a tone
of taste and aspirations.
Guided in all this by the
Principal, whose impec-
cable science and justice
were to the students the
background for his own
impetuous, and sometimes,
I daresay, rapid advances
to new points of view, Mr.
Tonks must have part re-
sponsibility for the striking
r 1 b "the bird cage" by henry tonks
record of the Slade. (/„ tlie Collection of His Honour Judge Evans)