Studio: international art (7.1896)

Studies by Sir E. Btime-Jones

any time a copyist of other men. Even at the outset art, and this is an equally steady progress in the
of his career his individuality was a marked one, and command which he has obtained over executive
his response to Rossetti's influence was, like his difficulties. The solving of technical problems
regard for Nature, evidenced more by the manner of which at first caused him evident trouble, and at
his adaptation than by the amount of matter which times came but incompletely off, has year by year
he directly derived from either model. He studied become to him a matter of far less anxiety,
them both closely and attentively, but always with Facility of expression and power to interpret have
the intention of using the knowledge which this with him grown with excellent rapidity. Nearly
study gave him to build up methods of his own, thirty years ago Mr. Sidney Colvin wrote of him
marked with characteristics which should be that " an exquisite perception of grace he has
expressive of his most cherished feelings and always shown; but in scientific precision in the
beliefs. copying of form he was long quite wanting. An

How consistently he has followed out the pur- indication, and a lovely kind of indication, of the
pose which he formed when he first decided to place occupied by limbs and outlines, had to
make the profession of painting the occupation of serve instead of any accurate making out of them,
his life can be easily seen by an examination of But every year has borne fresh signs of a deter-
the achievements that have
been the outcome of his
extraordinarily assiduous
devotion to the practice of
art. He has not wavered
in his aim to give to the
world only those pictures
which would help that
movement in the direction
of romanticism in which he
puts such sincere faith.
The simplicity of his earliest
efforts has given way to
more complex combina-
tions, to vigorous colour
studies and great decorative
arrangements; but these
later works are only expan-
sions of the ideas with
which he was occupied
while he was as yet feeling
his way towards the place
that he now holds by right of
sole possession. There has
been in his life none of the
coquetting with the fancies
of many schools which is
peculiarly an attribute of the
usual student who only
settles down into consistency
after he has passed through
every stage of contradiction.

There is one admirable
accompaniment of the
steady adherence which
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
has ever given to the prin-
ciples which govern his study ok head for "the garland" by sir e. burne-jones

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