International studio (49.1913)

The Art of Robert H. Nisbet

such as J. Alden Weir, Childe
Hassam, Willard Metcalfe,
Birge Harrison, W. Elmer
Schofield, Bolton Brown and
Robert H. Nisbet, the last
named may be found to be
working with a theory which
seems to embody the more
practical as well as the more
esthetic elements of the
theories of his contempor-
aries. To call it a theory
is, perhaps, misleading, for
theories in painting are
dangerous to freedom of
rendering, and Mr. Nisbet’s
working idea might better be
called a “point of view.”
Stated in broad terms it
seems astonishingly simple,
and even obvious, yet calls
for qualities of accuracy in
observation, sympathy in
understanding and training
in the finer theories of color,


as well as for a splendid versatility in tech-
nique. It is an acceptance, in fine, of the idea
that there should be no set “rules” governing
the rendering of a landscape, but rather that its
rendering should be first suggested and then
governed by the particular mood or phase of
the subject, and expressive of such atmospheric
values as shall create an impression with the be-
holder identical with that under which the
painting was produced.
This seems far more simple than it is—in fact
if one were to tell a painter to make his rendering
of “A Mid-Summer Afternoon” suggest an after-
noon in mid-summer, he would say, “Of course”
—with some surprise.
This phase of realism is taken so much as a
matter of course that, like many “tremendous
trifles,” it often escapes adequate attention.
Now Mr. Nisbet once pointed out that this sort
of accuracy is generally missed on account of the
power of those traditions which have become so
strongly imbedded in one’s mental vision that they
do not affect one’s physical vision.
Thus the average painter, upon being asked
what color he would use as the keynote of his
“Mid-Summer Afternoon,” would probably say
“green.” Therein his painting would fail to give
the impression which was intended, for green is
essentially a cool color, whereas the idea of a mid-

summer afternoon carries with it ideas of heat,
more accurately rendered in patches of brilliant
yellow sunlight.
And so around the calendar, there are moods
of season and hour which must be both seen and
rendered as they are, and not as the mental pre-
disposition of the painter may sub-consciously
suggest. With Mr. Nisbet there is another
quality accompanying this accuracy of vision—
the capable technical versatility which enables
him to portray the more unexpected phases of
nature as well as the every-day aspects. A man
may have painted “Early Days in Spring” all his
life—a dozen or so each year—but if he uses the
same palette, mentally and actually, either
through mental or actual habit, he runs the
danger of being at any time confronted with a
different sort of “Early Day in Spring” than he
is used to. Then he fails to render it. He is as
helpless as one who has learned to ask, in French,
for bread (no matter how fluently) and finds him-
self confronted with the necessity of asking for
butter. We accept the fact that the thunder-
machine behind the scenes at the theatre can
produce but one kind of thunder—because it is
only a machine, but we heap harsh criticism upon
the painter who can give us but one kind of
Spring day—because he is an artist, and we expect
keener perception.

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