DOI article:
Field, T.: A note on some dry-points by William Lee Hankey
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43448#0041
Dry-Points by LP. Lee Hankey
A NOTE ON SOME DRY-POINTS
BY WILLIAM LEE HANKEY.
Whistler was not by any means the only
artist to bring etching back to its true character
and save it as an art from the hands of those who
entirely subordinated it to the purpose of making
copies of paintings. But Whistler with his gift of
epigrammatic verbal expression did define the
position the art should take as an alternative
method of expression to painting. Previous to this
revival, it might have been assumed from the way the
etching-needle was handled and the uses to which
it was put that the glorious precedent of Rembrandt
had never had any existence. With the revival of
the true characteristics of etching it became at
once one of the most living of our modern arts.
But a thing cannot have life and not grow.
While Whistler helped this art out of one groove,
he showed a tendency to confine it to another, and
his strict disciples in etching seem to refuse to
hear of its expansion. And yet the plate as
handled by Mr. Frank Brangwyn, Sir Alfred East,
and now Mr. Lee Hankey, makes a great departure
from the tenets of Whistler—in letter at any rate,
though the strictest regard may be paid to the
spirit upon which the principles of Whistler’s
own practice were framed. They are no more
laborious than he was in practice ; but they are not
seeking such fine shades. The character of his
method is too slight for them. His line was not
vigorous, for he was not seeking beauty in the
direction of things that are strong, immediate and
direct in effect: but these newer comers are.
Such an art as Mr. Brangwyn’s must override in-
timacies of feeling that were everything to Whistler,
who will never be rivalled in his own vein. There
are, however, other things worth attaining besides
this intimacy : definiteness and strength, the
mystery of impenetrable blacks and the blinding
effects of light by contrast.
Somewhere between the extremes represented
by Whistler and Brangwyn, Mr. Lee Hankey is
making a place for himself. Though not perhaps
■“ SAINT-VALERY-SUR-SOMME ”
BY' W. LEE HANKEY
27
A NOTE ON SOME DRY-POINTS
BY WILLIAM LEE HANKEY.
Whistler was not by any means the only
artist to bring etching back to its true character
and save it as an art from the hands of those who
entirely subordinated it to the purpose of making
copies of paintings. But Whistler with his gift of
epigrammatic verbal expression did define the
position the art should take as an alternative
method of expression to painting. Previous to this
revival, it might have been assumed from the way the
etching-needle was handled and the uses to which
it was put that the glorious precedent of Rembrandt
had never had any existence. With the revival of
the true characteristics of etching it became at
once one of the most living of our modern arts.
But a thing cannot have life and not grow.
While Whistler helped this art out of one groove,
he showed a tendency to confine it to another, and
his strict disciples in etching seem to refuse to
hear of its expansion. And yet the plate as
handled by Mr. Frank Brangwyn, Sir Alfred East,
and now Mr. Lee Hankey, makes a great departure
from the tenets of Whistler—in letter at any rate,
though the strictest regard may be paid to the
spirit upon which the principles of Whistler’s
own practice were framed. They are no more
laborious than he was in practice ; but they are not
seeking such fine shades. The character of his
method is too slight for them. His line was not
vigorous, for he was not seeking beauty in the
direction of things that are strong, immediate and
direct in effect: but these newer comers are.
Such an art as Mr. Brangwyn’s must override in-
timacies of feeling that were everything to Whistler,
who will never be rivalled in his own vein. There
are, however, other things worth attaining besides
this intimacy : definiteness and strength, the
mystery of impenetrable blacks and the blinding
effects of light by contrast.
Somewhere between the extremes represented
by Whistler and Brangwyn, Mr. Lee Hankey is
making a place for himself. Though not perhaps
■“ SAINT-VALERY-SUR-SOMME ”
BY' W. LEE HANKEY
27