Studio: international art (5.1895)

The South Downs as a Sketching Ground

and what graceful and ever-varying curves they
form against the sky as they swirl and eddy round
and round over the heads, or but a pace or two in
the rear, of the dun-coated, long-horned mellow-
eyed team, and their pilot.

Then, again, there are the towns abutting on the
verge or planted in the midst of the Downs. There
is Old Shoreham with its long picturesque wooden
bridge stretching across the estuary of the Adur,
and with the Norman tower of the church visible
amongst the lofty elms, for there are plenty of lofty
elms, remember, in many of the valleys, even in those
where the London and Lewes roads plunge into
the northern suburbs of Babylon-by-the-Sea. On
the latter route they abound especially in and near
the beautiful park of Stanmer, the seat of Lord
Chichester, which embraces a most secluded and
pretty village with church, parsonage, trim and
well-kept labourers' cottages, farms, barns, pond,
and the rest. Although they would perhaps ex-
press nothingvery characteristic of Downland, they
afford half a dozen admirable little subjects for the
water-colour sketcher. If they only made scenes
of English rural life that might be found anywhere,
they are none the less worthy of attention when
one is in their neighbourhood with colour-box and
easel. The way through this little self-contained
hamlet is by a road, which, if followed to the end,
will lead you up and up among the ever-thinning
foliage, and past stretches of cultivated fields out
on to the wild and bare track across the Downs to
where they shelve precipitously to the Weald of
Sussex at Ditchling—a charming walk, ride, or
drive. Then Lewes itself is a romantically situated,
up-and-down, in-and-out, quaint old town—a mass
of precious stones set in a casket of lofty green
hills, nearly every one of which is surmounted by
a windmill. The writer before quoted likens this
part of Sussex to the " home of the great white
giants who swirl their arms round in joy at the
sea-breeze that comes sweeping up to them over
the velvety Downs." Grouped around, and in
many places towering above, even the picturesque
Castle which dominates the town, those same
velvety slopes combine in endless variety to form
backgrounds eminently and strikingly characteristic
of Downland, whilst there are endless quaint bits,
architectural and otherwise, amongst the buildings,
inclusive of the Castle, that might court the pencil
of all who adopt the speciality of the architectural
picturesque. Distant views, too, of the place
abound from the water-meadows and marshy land
near by the river which finds an outlet to the sea
at Newhaven. Indeed, both that valley or the

other that forks off from it towards Eastbourne and
Beechy Head, are rich no less in paintable far-off
prospects than in closer studies.

Thus much for the Eastern possibilities of the
brick and masonry phase of the South Downs for
artists.

When we turn " Westward Ho " it becomes far
more extensive, for we have, to begin with, besides
Old Shoreham, already mentioned, the little market
town of Steyning, the situation of which, just
under the sheltering spurs of Chanctonbury Ring,
makes it a featuie in the landscape entirely un-
expected. The descent into it by a rough, steep,
almost alpine road from the lofty Ring might serve
as a standpoint for many a picture, and the same
can be said of several descents into various vil-
lages along the northern ridge of these " grand
steadfast forms," as George Eliot calls them.

Travelling still further west, of course we come
upon the gem of the country-side, the town, castle,
park, and river of Arundel, the haunt from all time
of " Richard Tinto " and his goodly company. It
is too well known and appreciated by him, as in-
deed is the whole course of the river Arun right
away up to Pulborough and further, to come within
my complaint that the district is neglected. No,
I simply speak of justice not having been done to
the South Downs proper as they present them-
selves bare and peculiar like the waves of some
mighty petrified sea, and where their individuality
is unbroken by the ordinary accessories to be
found in most other landscapes.

To the South Downs, then, if only on a trial
trip, O landscape painters all. Be not discouraged
or put off by their first appearance—the apparent
barrenness of these breezy, green billows of turf.
Get to know them well. Trust yourself with con-
fidence amongst them and they will enfold you
lovingly on their bosom—the bosom of the ever-
lasting hills. You will come to love them, I be-
lieve, even as I do, O my well-esteemed brethren!
for I feel I am still of your honourable quality, my
heart is still with you, and will ever so remain,
though my hand, alas ! is now but a comparatively
useless member. W. W. Fenn.

The hope recently expressed by Mr. Mundella
that a permanent Gallery would ere long be estab-
lished, in which to display to the best advantage
the rare and beautiful paintings annually collected
in Whitechapel, will be very generally endorsed by
all lovers of art. Any project formed for the pur-
pose of fostering the artistic instinct of the working
man should be heartily supported.

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