DOI Heft:
No. 39 (June, 1896)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: The work of Solomon J. Solomon
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17297#0023
The IVork of Solomon J. Solomon, A R.A.
congenial course than because he has been in- arrangements, for frequent variations upon a theme
fluenced to follow the school which favours a which has endless executive difficulties ; and it is
subject as a necessary consideration in the in his pictures the starting-point and centre of all
planning of a work of art. the accessory colour details instead of being made,
As far as his own inclinations lead him, he is as it is so often in other men's work, itself an
essentially an experimentalist. The fascinations accessory to a pictorial idea which regards its
of novel effects influence him greatly; and, above beauties as only incidental. His method of colour
all, he is attracted by the problems which flesh construction is usually to build up for his flesh
painting presents. He is especially a painter of surfaces a setting which will encourage and accen-
the nude, delighting in its colour effects and in the tuate them, carrying through his draperies and
opportunities which it offers for dealing with deli- backgrounds whatever range of tints will most
cate modulations of gentle tone and subtle tint, helpfully enhance the quality which he has secured
Flesh has been to him a motive for many delicate in the nudity which his subject permits.
His latest picture, the Birth
of Love, illustrates this manner
of working perhaps more ade-
quately than anything which he
has as yet exhibited. The
motive which led him to paint
this allegory was the lighting of
delicate flesh by warm-coloured
sunlight, and the rich tones of
the glowing skin of his Venus
settle the entire plan of the
canvas. To countenance them,
and to give to them their fullest
value and importance, he has
surrounded the figure with an
atmosphere of delicate irides-
cence, with gradated purples,
blues, and golden yellows,
which combine into harmonious
agreement one with the other,
and make no points of discord-
ance with the flesh. So with
his other Venus, whose nudity
is the central motive of his
Judgment of Paris, the painting
of the background of flower-
laden branches, the treatment
of the draperies which veil the
other goddesses, the colour of
the sky and ground are only
subsidiary. Even his Echo and
Narcissus, with its elaboration
of detail, shows the same sub-
ordination, a finer abstraction
of tone than a strict realist
would permit to himself in any
effort to give the exact aspect of
any such scene. In Niobe and
Samson, which are earlier pic-
mrs. Patrick campbell as "paula tanqueray " tures, showing less full develop-
from a painting by s, j. solomon, a.r.a, ment of his convictions, there is
9
congenial course than because he has been in- arrangements, for frequent variations upon a theme
fluenced to follow the school which favours a which has endless executive difficulties ; and it is
subject as a necessary consideration in the in his pictures the starting-point and centre of all
planning of a work of art. the accessory colour details instead of being made,
As far as his own inclinations lead him, he is as it is so often in other men's work, itself an
essentially an experimentalist. The fascinations accessory to a pictorial idea which regards its
of novel effects influence him greatly; and, above beauties as only incidental. His method of colour
all, he is attracted by the problems which flesh construction is usually to build up for his flesh
painting presents. He is especially a painter of surfaces a setting which will encourage and accen-
the nude, delighting in its colour effects and in the tuate them, carrying through his draperies and
opportunities which it offers for dealing with deli- backgrounds whatever range of tints will most
cate modulations of gentle tone and subtle tint, helpfully enhance the quality which he has secured
Flesh has been to him a motive for many delicate in the nudity which his subject permits.
His latest picture, the Birth
of Love, illustrates this manner
of working perhaps more ade-
quately than anything which he
has as yet exhibited. The
motive which led him to paint
this allegory was the lighting of
delicate flesh by warm-coloured
sunlight, and the rich tones of
the glowing skin of his Venus
settle the entire plan of the
canvas. To countenance them,
and to give to them their fullest
value and importance, he has
surrounded the figure with an
atmosphere of delicate irides-
cence, with gradated purples,
blues, and golden yellows,
which combine into harmonious
agreement one with the other,
and make no points of discord-
ance with the flesh. So with
his other Venus, whose nudity
is the central motive of his
Judgment of Paris, the painting
of the background of flower-
laden branches, the treatment
of the draperies which veil the
other goddesses, the colour of
the sky and ground are only
subsidiary. Even his Echo and
Narcissus, with its elaboration
of detail, shows the same sub-
ordination, a finer abstraction
of tone than a strict realist
would permit to himself in any
effort to give the exact aspect of
any such scene. In Niobe and
Samson, which are earlier pic-
mrs. Patrick campbell as "paula tanqueray " tures, showing less full develop-
from a painting by s, j. solomon, a.r.a, ment of his convictions, there is
9