DOI Heft:
Nr. 44 (November 1896)
DOI Artikel:Jope-Slade, Robert: A man of Liverpool and his art
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17298#0101
A Man of Liverpool and his Art
buyer. Of the many pictures exhibited about this direct from nature, subtle in colour, and exquisite
time, those I have described are fairly representa- beyond words. Upon the easel is a mystic com-
tive of his work which ranged through the whole position, The Silver Shell, a soft, far-away, delicious
gamut of fertility and invention. harmony, in pearl and silver-grey, with slender-
But Mr. Fowler does himself the injustice of trunked trees, and the subdued murmur of a vague
disliking reference to this most honourable part of and distant sea. In the foreground, two maidens,
his career, and will not thank me to be more who appear to have been just materialised, whose
explicit. He has been seen with distinction at gracious curves have the simplicity which is art,
the regretably defunct Grosvenor, where the catho- and feeling that is Athens—intensely modern
licity of Sir Coutts Lindsay's hospitality placed his antique. As a shadow which passes, one recalls
Ancient Mariner, now in Munich, amongst the Albert Moore; but to a very much greater extent
very elect. the decorative arrangement and the pattern sug-
A detail not to be overlooked is Robert Fowler's gest Japan. If I have laid much stress on The
genius for poster-designing. Amongst his best are Silver Shell, it was with intention. It goes
those for the Walker Art Gallery, and a bizarre without saying that in many of his canvases
green one, quaintly Japanese, which I saw all over will be found matter not the least degree akin;
Liverpool, advertising a fancy fair ; whilst several but, in the main, features on which I have dilated
ideas for wall ornamentation were remarkable by will re-occur, and I can more crisply deal with
reason of their lack of resemblance to his ordinary them.
work. Confound him (Gainsborough used a robuster Fowler's thoughts frame and flow with too great
expletive), how various the man is, referring, of velocity. But it is weighty matter ; and, phrase for
course, to Sir Joshua. To escape the feverish come- phrase, succinct enough. Words come easily in
and-go of South Castle
Street, in the very heart of
the pulsation of Liverpool's
great affairs, up the stairs
into what is essentially a
painting-room, is a fresh
and pleasant contrast..
There are two chambers,
both spacious and bare ; a
few chairs and bits of things,
an Empire couch, an item
from Hipplewhite's classic
chisel, and another from
Sheriton's prettier shop;
some superb and many-
coloured Japanese prints,
and, writ on the wall in
charcoal, Emerson's lines :
" Life is too short to waste
in critic peep or cynic bark,
quarrel or reprimand, 'twill
soon be dark; up, mind
thine own aim, and God
speed the mark ! " Three
or four tiers of small land-
scapes (which are, in the
opinion of many, Robert
Fowler's best work), show
an interesting and some-
what impressionistic ex-
pression of the mood of
the moment, and are all A study in chalk by robert fowler, r.i.
89
buyer. Of the many pictures exhibited about this direct from nature, subtle in colour, and exquisite
time, those I have described are fairly representa- beyond words. Upon the easel is a mystic com-
tive of his work which ranged through the whole position, The Silver Shell, a soft, far-away, delicious
gamut of fertility and invention. harmony, in pearl and silver-grey, with slender-
But Mr. Fowler does himself the injustice of trunked trees, and the subdued murmur of a vague
disliking reference to this most honourable part of and distant sea. In the foreground, two maidens,
his career, and will not thank me to be more who appear to have been just materialised, whose
explicit. He has been seen with distinction at gracious curves have the simplicity which is art,
the regretably defunct Grosvenor, where the catho- and feeling that is Athens—intensely modern
licity of Sir Coutts Lindsay's hospitality placed his antique. As a shadow which passes, one recalls
Ancient Mariner, now in Munich, amongst the Albert Moore; but to a very much greater extent
very elect. the decorative arrangement and the pattern sug-
A detail not to be overlooked is Robert Fowler's gest Japan. If I have laid much stress on The
genius for poster-designing. Amongst his best are Silver Shell, it was with intention. It goes
those for the Walker Art Gallery, and a bizarre without saying that in many of his canvases
green one, quaintly Japanese, which I saw all over will be found matter not the least degree akin;
Liverpool, advertising a fancy fair ; whilst several but, in the main, features on which I have dilated
ideas for wall ornamentation were remarkable by will re-occur, and I can more crisply deal with
reason of their lack of resemblance to his ordinary them.
work. Confound him (Gainsborough used a robuster Fowler's thoughts frame and flow with too great
expletive), how various the man is, referring, of velocity. But it is weighty matter ; and, phrase for
course, to Sir Joshua. To escape the feverish come- phrase, succinct enough. Words come easily in
and-go of South Castle
Street, in the very heart of
the pulsation of Liverpool's
great affairs, up the stairs
into what is essentially a
painting-room, is a fresh
and pleasant contrast..
There are two chambers,
both spacious and bare ; a
few chairs and bits of things,
an Empire couch, an item
from Hipplewhite's classic
chisel, and another from
Sheriton's prettier shop;
some superb and many-
coloured Japanese prints,
and, writ on the wall in
charcoal, Emerson's lines :
" Life is too short to waste
in critic peep or cynic bark,
quarrel or reprimand, 'twill
soon be dark; up, mind
thine own aim, and God
speed the mark ! " Three
or four tiers of small land-
scapes (which are, in the
opinion of many, Robert
Fowler's best work), show
an interesting and some-
what impressionistic ex-
pression of the mood of
the moment, and are all A study in chalk by robert fowler, r.i.
89