International studio (45.1912)

Hon. Walter James, A.R.E.


“the knowe”

l-'ROM AN ETCHING BY THE HON. WALTER JAMES, A.R.E.

truth of colour, of tone, of form, indeed of the whole
pictorial aspect and sentiment of the scene, one feels,
too, in such masterly pictures as Northumberland
Moors—Autumn, Simonside, and the Cavalcade, so
full of romantic suggestion, with the dark crags on
the Roman wall; in the beautiful, restful river scene,
The Rede at Elis haw, with its rich August tones, and
the light on the distant Border hills ; in the charm-
ing July Evening, and such distinguished things as
Old Pines on the Moor, Northern Pastoral, a finely
composed picture rich and harmonious in colour,
and a splendid study of birches and rowans, trees
of which Mr. James knows their every secret, and
which he has introduced so impressively in his
weirdly beautiful picture of 2'he Three Ravens,
illustrating the old ballad of “ the new-slain
knight.”
Mr. Walter James seldom makes drawings in
water-colour, but he uses that medium often as a
ground over which to paint with translucent effect
in oils. For sketching out of doors, however, he
finds very happy and fertile expression upon the
copper-plate; indeed, although he did not begin
seriously to work with the needle until he had
thoroughly matured his art as a painter, etching has
now become with Mr. James a very important form
of his artistic work. He learnt the etcher’s craft
from Sir Frank Short, R.A., and, thanks to the
teaching of that past-master of the art, aided by
the facilities afforded by the School of Engraving
at South Kensington, he has acquired a sure
command of technique, through which he is able to
express his art with as much individuality of out-
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look and distinction of style as he does through the
medium of the paint-brush or the stump of pastel.
So we have in his etchings the same pictorial
largeness of vision, the same fine decorative feeling
for composition, the same spacious sense of atmo-
sphere, the same vitality that distinguish his
pictures. The long lines and undulations of the
Northumbrian moorlands appeal, of course, to the
eye of the true etcher, and Mr. James, being a true
painter-etcher, sees also how the forms of the clouds
of the great northern skies will make noble pictorial
patterns upon his copper-plates, while suggesting
the whole truth of the scene. How successfully he
has seen this is shown by the impressive Moorland
and After the Rainstorm, reproduced' here, as well
as by The North End of Wat ling Street, The Wire
Fence, Summer Afternoon on the Moors, Sewingshiel
Crag, and those two powerful dry-points, The Huel
Crags—Northumberland, and Evening Calm. The
stems and branches of trees, of course, suggest by
their lines and patterns rich material for the etcher,
and Mr. James, with his masterly knowledge of the
structure and growth of trees, and a true apprecia-
tion of their beauty, has made them the subjects
of some of his best etchings. The graceful Rowans
on the Hillside has already been seen by Studio
readers in association with the work of the School
of Engraving,* and here are reproductions of The
Fringe of the Wood, in which the rhythm of line is
particularly happy, The Knowe, Redesdale Birches,
and Northbourne Abbey Garden in its wintry
aspect. I would like to draw the attention of
* See The Studio, May 1911, p. 289.