International studio (50.1913)

Studio-Talk


characteristically interesting, and many technically
striking.
What is it that attracts an artist to a particular
sketching-ground? In years gone by Wells was
wont to find near Lancashire fishing villages, and
around Sunderland Point, great flat stretches of
country exactly suited to his fine sense of distance;
he became indissolubly identified with this par-
ticular treatment, and the natural expectation was
that he would follow to kindred sketching fields in
the North Country by the Moray Firth, where
pasture-land becomes lost in distant perspective ;
to the sweeping moorlands of Argyll and Perth ;
the flat Fen counties, and the broad, billowy South
Downs of England. But all this has been disre-
garded for the abundance of sunlight, bright spark-
ling sunlight, that lurks in Manxland. This attracts
the artist, fascinates him, he makes it an all-pervad-
ing force, in big sea-meadow, farmyard, cottage in
a country garden, growing corn, potato digging,
stackyard, hedgerow, glimpse of the sea, and all
the rural loveliness and incidental country life that
are the subject-matter of his transcriptions.

The keynote in Wells’s work is an enveloping
atmosphere in which highly diffused light is attained
by a scale of tones closely approximating to truth,
the colour-box not holding the requisite media to
produce absolutely the full tones in sunlight. A
careful study of his art reveals an utter disregard of
tradition in point of method, and complete inde-
pendence in the matter of technique. To-day in
versatility he is stronger, in composition more
interesting, in method more individualistic, in
technique more convincing than he has ever been.
In his recent exhibition there were pictures he
has never excelled. His October Morning fascinates
by reason of atmospheric clarity and suggestion
of genius that can so entrancingly represent such
a commonplace subject. Sorting Potatoes attracts
because of fine natural colour harmony and
rare sense of distance. The big canvas with
title, Bright skies, bright sea, from T. E. Brown’s “ In
Memoriam ” has been acquired for the Glasgow
Corporation permanent collection. The subject, a
difficult one, is handled with conspicuous skill. The
difficulty here lay in making the huge empty spaces in
the foreground and sky
interesting without dis-
tracting attention from
the central point of at-
traction in the picture.
The skill is shown in
utilisation of the cloud
shadows, and the hand-
ling of the figures. The
latter occupy the space
without being unduly ob-
trusive; they rest the eye
rather than concentrate
the attention, while the
upright line in the figure
of the woman greatly
accentuates by force of
contrast the horizontal
lines in the landscape on
which the graduation that
gives the. feeling of dis-
tance depends. The
prospect, overlooking Port
St. Mary, is one seen
from the artist’s window,
yet for a long time
neglected.

Wells is temperament-
ally equitable; he must be

“A MANX FARMYARD” (WATER-COLOUR) BY WILLIAM WELLS
(In the Collection of James Craig, Esq.)

226