DOI issue:
Nr. 335 (April 1925)
DOI article:Quigley, Jane: A modern English painter
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0066
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lie has made his own, turning a
deaf ear to the then current
vogue for Post-Impressionism,
Cubism and the rest. True, the
influence of Richard Wilson has
become paramount with him
during the last few years, but
the ground was already pre-
pared for this influence. He has
a sense of decoration and knows
the value of definition, but has
never placed these qualities fore-
most in art. If his paintings
lack the carrying power which
is aimed at in working for public
exhibitions, they have that re-
pose and intimate charm which
makes them good to live with.
"the king's barn, steyning, Sussex" by Bertram nicholls Mr- NichoIIs is an exceptionally
slow worker. Slowly a picture
grows under his hand; he likes
The simplicity of his technique is less simple than to live with it, and frequently leaves a work in
it appears. The painting of "The Bridge" is progress while he works at another, returning to
almost austere in its bare solidity, and the dark, the first with a fresh eye.
subtle tones almost monochromatic to the super- These methods doubtless appear reactionary
ficial observer. It is all to the good that the artist to those in favor of direct painting, perhaps corn-
is making for greater luminosity and a wider range pleted at a sitting, in which it is difficult to differ-
of color, for the effect of time cannot be disre- entiate between the sketch and the finished work,
garded even though, as in his case, the painter be Without a transforming imagination paintings
scrupulously careful of the pigment employed. of architecture are merely dull records, but there
His mind is too alert to rest in a groove, or to is emotion in buildings as painted by Bertram
think that he has arrived at finality in craftsman- NichoIIs. One feels that he has the historic sense,
ship. Where, indeed, would be the great adven- and that bricks and stone-work are to him eloquent
ture of art if a man not yet forty could feel that of human associations, of the splendor and the
there is nothing left to acquire?
Even though the art of painting "evening in the harbor" by Bertram nicholls
reached its zenith centuries ago, '' "" """"
the art has to be re-discovered
by each artist for himself, and
the upward path is never easy,
nor the summit so near as it
may appear to the light-hearted
climber.
In the preface to the cata-
logue supplied by Barbizon
House, an excellent preface, free
from ecstatic praise, we are told
that Bertram NichoIIs, in com-
mon with other young artists,
found an increased individual-
ism owing to the war; but from
this I venture to differ, and to
say that he is an individualist
in spite of that upheaval. Be-
fore the war was thought of he
had begun to work on the lines
sixty-six
April 1925
lie has made his own, turning a
deaf ear to the then current
vogue for Post-Impressionism,
Cubism and the rest. True, the
influence of Richard Wilson has
become paramount with him
during the last few years, but
the ground was already pre-
pared for this influence. He has
a sense of decoration and knows
the value of definition, but has
never placed these qualities fore-
most in art. If his paintings
lack the carrying power which
is aimed at in working for public
exhibitions, they have that re-
pose and intimate charm which
makes them good to live with.
"the king's barn, steyning, Sussex" by Bertram nicholls Mr- NichoIIs is an exceptionally
slow worker. Slowly a picture
grows under his hand; he likes
The simplicity of his technique is less simple than to live with it, and frequently leaves a work in
it appears. The painting of "The Bridge" is progress while he works at another, returning to
almost austere in its bare solidity, and the dark, the first with a fresh eye.
subtle tones almost monochromatic to the super- These methods doubtless appear reactionary
ficial observer. It is all to the good that the artist to those in favor of direct painting, perhaps corn-
is making for greater luminosity and a wider range pleted at a sitting, in which it is difficult to differ-
of color, for the effect of time cannot be disre- entiate between the sketch and the finished work,
garded even though, as in his case, the painter be Without a transforming imagination paintings
scrupulously careful of the pigment employed. of architecture are merely dull records, but there
His mind is too alert to rest in a groove, or to is emotion in buildings as painted by Bertram
think that he has arrived at finality in craftsman- NichoIIs. One feels that he has the historic sense,
ship. Where, indeed, would be the great adven- and that bricks and stone-work are to him eloquent
ture of art if a man not yet forty could feel that of human associations, of the splendor and the
there is nothing left to acquire?
Even though the art of painting "evening in the harbor" by Bertram nicholls
reached its zenith centuries ago, '' "" """"
the art has to be re-discovered
by each artist for himself, and
the upward path is never easy,
nor the summit so near as it
may appear to the light-hearted
climber.
In the preface to the cata-
logue supplied by Barbizon
House, an excellent preface, free
from ecstatic praise, we are told
that Bertram NichoIIs, in com-
mon with other young artists,
found an increased individual-
ism owing to the war; but from
this I venture to differ, and to
say that he is an individualist
in spite of that upheaval. Be-
fore the war was thought of he
had begun to work on the lines
sixty-six
April 1925