DOI Heft:
No. 8 (November, 1893)
DOI Artikel:Etchings by Colonel Goff and Mr. Charles J. Watson
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17189#0054
Etchings by Col. Goff and Mr. C. /. Watson
ft
only to be determined by the comparative finality thorne's charming little Gallery in Vigo Street, we
of the proof. The result is seen in imagination find a distinct recognition of the traditional limits
of the Art. Arbitrary though its rules may appeal
to be, they have, like the sonnet form (to borrow
an illustration from a sister Art), grown to be not
merely tacitly admitted, but are regarded as well-
nigh inflexible laws by experts to-day.
When Mr. Watson begins to set down one of
his street scenes, for instance, he chooses a small
plate and forbears any attempt to rival the in-
numerable details of a photographer. In the
etching of Saint Etiemie du Mont, Paris, which
we are told won the unique honour of unanimous
approval from the jury at Chicago, one sees the
artist's ideal. Contrast it with the popular etch-
ings of various cathedrals, excellent enough in
their way—on plates as big as eight or a dozen of
these pages—which any printseller's window exhi-
bits, and the difference strikes you at once. Yet has
Mr. Watson lost an essential fact by his omissions,
or failed to express all that his subject suggested ?
A very decided negative may be readily hazarded.
On the other hand, he has brought far more im-
portant qualities into his work and made it not
merely a transcript of things seen, but an artist's com-
plete version of the impression it yielded to him.
In the Cefalu, Sicily, we find a delight in build-
ings running out of sight in acute perspective, that
dissimilar as the subject is, recalls the very
the rialto, Venice, from an etching by col. goff beautiful Camden, Gloucestershire, of some four
only, as the bright lines glitter
through the background to be
merged in bubbling streaks
of poisonous-looking green,
when the acid attacks the
copper, and the etcher, like
a surgeon at the critical point
of an operation, has to bring
all his knowledge and expe-
rience to a supreme moment
of decision. So much is
needful by way of preamble ;
for even to-day etchings and
pen-drawings are not quite
separate things in the mind
of a visitor to a gallery.
Photogravure and other kin-
dred crafts have helped to the old chain pier, Brighton, from an etching by col. goff
confuse the public, while mez-
zotint, aquatint, and other allied methods have also years ago. The Pontc del Cavallo is another in-
added to the bewilderment of the ignorant. stance of this special delight in closely huddled
In an exhibition of works by Col. Goff and buildings which is peculiarly his own; no
Mr. C. J. Watson, now arranged at Mr. Dun- photograph could bring the place itself more
42
ft
only to be determined by the comparative finality thorne's charming little Gallery in Vigo Street, we
of the proof. The result is seen in imagination find a distinct recognition of the traditional limits
of the Art. Arbitrary though its rules may appeal
to be, they have, like the sonnet form (to borrow
an illustration from a sister Art), grown to be not
merely tacitly admitted, but are regarded as well-
nigh inflexible laws by experts to-day.
When Mr. Watson begins to set down one of
his street scenes, for instance, he chooses a small
plate and forbears any attempt to rival the in-
numerable details of a photographer. In the
etching of Saint Etiemie du Mont, Paris, which
we are told won the unique honour of unanimous
approval from the jury at Chicago, one sees the
artist's ideal. Contrast it with the popular etch-
ings of various cathedrals, excellent enough in
their way—on plates as big as eight or a dozen of
these pages—which any printseller's window exhi-
bits, and the difference strikes you at once. Yet has
Mr. Watson lost an essential fact by his omissions,
or failed to express all that his subject suggested ?
A very decided negative may be readily hazarded.
On the other hand, he has brought far more im-
portant qualities into his work and made it not
merely a transcript of things seen, but an artist's com-
plete version of the impression it yielded to him.
In the Cefalu, Sicily, we find a delight in build-
ings running out of sight in acute perspective, that
dissimilar as the subject is, recalls the very
the rialto, Venice, from an etching by col. goff beautiful Camden, Gloucestershire, of some four
only, as the bright lines glitter
through the background to be
merged in bubbling streaks
of poisonous-looking green,
when the acid attacks the
copper, and the etcher, like
a surgeon at the critical point
of an operation, has to bring
all his knowledge and expe-
rience to a supreme moment
of decision. So much is
needful by way of preamble ;
for even to-day etchings and
pen-drawings are not quite
separate things in the mind
of a visitor to a gallery.
Photogravure and other kin-
dred crafts have helped to the old chain pier, Brighton, from an etching by col. goff
confuse the public, while mez-
zotint, aquatint, and other allied methods have also years ago. The Pontc del Cavallo is another in-
added to the bewilderment of the ignorant. stance of this special delight in closely huddled
In an exhibition of works by Col. Goff and buildings which is peculiarly his own; no
Mr. C. J. Watson, now arranged at Mr. Dun- photograph could bring the place itself more
42