International studio (43.1911)

Recent Work by Frank Brang'wyn, A.R.A.


“ LIFE AMONGST RUINS” (WATER-COLOUR SKETCH). BY FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A.

for the really strong man
to take refuge in a pigeon-
hole, or to depend for
his success upon adver-
tising devices and mutual
admiration tricks. It
proves too that there is a
very considerable section
of the public which can
and does appreciate work
which bears the stamp of
a dominating personality,
and that there are many
people who can approach
the consideration of
artistic accomplishment
in a non-partisan spirit.
It is an encouragement
to other artists, who are
impatient of being
grouped, to take the line
which will lead them
away from the influence
of a clique into those
spheres of activity which

certainly he cannot be said to show practical sym-
pathy with the mannerisms of any of the fashion-
able cliques. All his life he has stood apart on
ground of his own choosing, and he has been per-
fectly consistent in his effort to work out his own

offer them space for the expansion of their own
personal capacities and for the assertion of what
original convictions they may possess.
But if Mr. Brangwyn’s success points a moral, it
also provides a warning. There is to be learned

destiny in the way he
thought best. He has
taken the risk of being
ignored by the people
who were more concerned
with the party politics of
art than with the advance-
ment of great artistic
principles; he has chanced
the opposition of the
many members of his
profession who could only
see in his isolation a sort
of reflection on them-
selves; and he has
thoroughly justified him-
self as a man of judgment
and as an artist of rare
individuality.
There is something
especially significant in
the prominence which he
enjoys to-day. It proves
how little necessary it is


“ PIAZZA SAN SPIRITO, MESSINA” (ETCHING).

BY FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A.

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